I have two LT1 engines; one is out of a 95’ Trans-Am which I have at the shop. The other is out of a 95’ Impala SS and has iron heads and probably a little lower hp. The Trans-Am motor had issues and was sitting for about 2years I think it is a bad wrist pin or broken piston skirt. Anyway, I asked the shop to put the heads on the Impala motor, along with other basics like new water pump, pan gasket, rear main seal. My question is should I swap over the cam thats on the Trans-Am motor too, and is the bottom end the same on both engines?

This may help.

I do not have much knowledge when it comes to Cam’s… but it seems the Trans-Am would probably have a bigger cam. Bigger is better right?

Its only very slightly bigger.

I vote for a NEW cam, and abandon the old ones...

I vote for a NEW cam, and abandon the old ones...

I agree... the LT4 hotcam or the Comp '503' are good choices for a stockish LT1.

Well, I found out what was wrong with the TA motor… bad crank bearing on number 7. Which would explain why I was losing oil pressure, this started after it broke down. I wonder if there is something wrong with the crank or if it just had too many miles. This build is quickly eating a hole in my pocket, but I’m going to check on the LT4 cam. This car has sat for a long time and its time get it going again.

After some thought on power vs. cost. I realized I was happy with the engine the way it was, even if I only drove it for three months before it broke down it was a fun car. Going to stick with the TA cam, after I verify the Impala LT1 is a 350 and not a 305 from my research online. Otherwise I’ll be putting a crank rebuild kit in the original motor.

Take the numbers off block and we will tell you quickly.

If its the iron head 350, those are actually better heads as-cast than the aluminum heads... they breathe a bit better than the aluminum heads, even though they do have larger chambers (64cc vs 53cc)

After some thought on power vs. cost. I realized I was happy with the engine the way it was, even if I only drove it for three months before it broke down it was a fun car. Going to stick with the TA cam, after I verify the Impala LT1 is a 350 and not a 305 from my research online. Otherwise I’ll be putting a crank rebuild kit in the original motor.

The Impala SS (if it's a true SS) will have an LT1. Period.

From 1994, Caprices got the L99 (263 cid V8) or the LT1 up until 1996.

You guys were right… the shop has the heads off the Impala motor and it’s a 350 with flat top pistons, basically it’s identical to the LT1 bottom out of the TA. So they are moving forward with new gaskets and swapping over the top from the TA. Now my thoughts are what to do with the leftovers, ideally I’d like to rebuild it and stick it in the 80 Camaro but that’s more money with all stuff it would take to retro-fit it. What do you guys think about putting a carburetor on it is it even possible? The Camaro has a LM1 in it right now, its 5 years old and never had much power. A lot of that might be due to the stock rear-end though, it was and still is a Berlinetta.

Its possible to put a carb on it. The LT1 still has the hole in the block and the gear on the cam to use a distributor. GMPP makes an intake to put a carb on an LT1.