LT-1 $$$$ Question

[Ceth]

I know the hot swap is the LS1 build, but it looks not only a lot more expensive, but a true pain in the ass. From what ive seen, the lt-1 is way more of a "drop in" exchange. How much am I looking for an installation for an lt-1 into a 78? Basically not counting the actual engine/transmission itself ( it varies too much here, but assume I already have an lt-1, t56, and wiring pulled from a wrecked 4th gen ), what kind of money am I looking at here? Doing all work myself, except for that which is not easily done, such as modifying the driveshaft. I think I will be surprised how much it can be done for. Hell, Im thinking about getting a 94 or so z28, ive seen em go as cheap as $2k.

[BonzoHansen]

lt1tech.com

[BC's71']

I'm dropping an LT1 with TH-350 in my car one of these days.....

What you are looking at is modifying the fuel tank since fuel slosh & starvation to an electric pump is a problem. Most recommend cutting open a new fuel tank ($150-$200) and welding in a slosh baffle system. Then you can use an external electric fuel pump (which can be noisy) or find a third gen Camaro sender which drops right into the 2nd gen tank and get your elec fuel pump that way. I paid about $50 for a used sender and roughly $80 for a new pump. Also need a high-flow fuel filter ($15?) and possibly upgrade fuel lines to bigger diameter.

The accessory bracket routing is interesting..... If using AC then I believe an F-body setup has the compressor hitting the frame. I know a B-body setup (Caprice/Impala) hits the frame.
So you have two chices: use a Corvette accessory bracket ($65 through Dal) which moves the AC compressor to the driver's side (this may screw up your wiring) -or- you can delete the ac compressor with a $25 ac delete pulley.
I guess a third option is Street and Performance's stuff......they have a website but I'm pretty sure their item/solution would cost more than the genuine GM piece.

Supposedly pow steering lines from a B-body car will adapt right to the 2nd gen late style metric fitting steering box. I think 78 was the first year for metric style.

Wiring can be difficult to some people. I'm going to try to use the stock LT1 wiring and adapt to my old antiquated Camaro to save money and for the added challenge. Otherwise Painless Wiring has a kit with directions and labels for like $500. Street and Performance might be cheaper for wiring also but maybe not by much. Haven't looked into this much since I really want to make my stock harness work.

Aside from that stuff, it is pretty straightforward, I think. In your case you will need to consider the trans crossmember differences (may need a new one altogether, either custom fabbed or Street and Perf.). Also your driveshaft will likely have to be modified and rebalanced which is like $100.
Your exhaust system would then be changed somewhat. The heads on LT1 engines use D-shaped exhaust ports so finding headers may be a challenge - if you keep the stock exhaust manifolds then you'd need custome hook-up pipes more than likely...... If you don't use the cat converters to go along with the manifolds then you don't have o2 sensors located in there. So you'd need cutsom 02 bung locating in the pipes.

One other thing to note is PCM (computer) tuning. The security system VATS may need to be disabled at the least. There is a lot of performance potential by a simple tune, which can run anywhere from $75 to $250 for mail order stuff. In-person or dyno-tuning is $250 or more usually.

Whew, hope that helps. Hopefully I'll get mine done and all bugs worked out before winter 2006 so I can log some driving time. Been a long time planning this swap.....

[ProStreetZ28]

Originally Posted by BC's71'

Wiring can be difficult to some people. I'm going to try to use the stock LT1 wiring and adapt to my old antiquated Camaro to save money and for the added challenge. Otherwise Painless Wiring has a kit with directions and labels for like $500. Street and Performance might be cheaper for wiring also but maybe not by much. Haven't looked into this much since I really want to make my stock harness work.

You should check out the EZ-Swap harness I build to run the LT1 and LS1 engines for engine swaps. If you in my webshots photo album in the Thunder Performance section you can see a quick picture of the EZ-Swap harness for an LS1.
Webshots Photo Album

[Ceth]

Ok, thanks. It looks WAY cheaper than the LS1 swap. Waaaaay cheaper. Yeah I think Id be very happy with an LT-1 and it looks like something closer to my ability. If I can get a junked lt-1 and t56 for say $2,000 ( taking a guess on ebay prices ), would anyone say I could probably do it for about $1,000 in parts after the engine/transmission, not including a painless wiring system ( i will try the stock wiring harness )?? I think a $3,000 LT-1 swap is possible.

[Ceth]

Also I checked that website, I didnt see any info about swapping to a 2nd gen, I actually didnt see a whole lot of info period. Also I am not doing A/C, so it should save some hassle and money. One question, I never understood on the driveshaft... can I take the 4th gen driveshaft and bolt it up, or do I have to shorten mine???

[sbca96]

Originally Posted by Ceth

can I take the 4th gen driveshaft and bolt it up, or do I have to shorten mine???

From what I read a mid 80's 2wd Blazers driveshaft is exactly the right length
for the swap of an Lt1/4L60 combo. I got one from a local salvage yard for
about 20 bucks. Sure beats paying to have one cut and balanced. I think I
read it on here somewhere about the required length.

This is for my wifes 78 Camaro, we bought a wrecked 94 Firebird, which will
be giving up its seats and etc also, has 67,000 miles on it, and she paid only
2300 bucks for the whole car. Runs nice. So far the only holdup is getting
the 94 into the backyard to strip. We have the Painless kit, and A/C delete
I found a cheaper alternative to the now discontinued Corvette bracket on
the Avanti website : http://www.bowersrodshop.com/home.htm. I contacted
the maker of the bracket and it WILL work with the factory A/C delete pulley.

The only real issue that I need to overcome is the exhaust, the LT1 has "D"
port exhaust, the stock 4th gen manifolds supposedly dont fit. I also need to
be smog legal, so the rest of the exhaust is up in the air too. I have thought
about using a single CAT like the 94/78 with the 3 inch single exhaust to the
muffler then split at the rear. What have others done??

Tom

[3_z28camaro]

You will have to shorten your second gen Camaro driveshaft.

[Ceth]

Yeah I had figured. So $3,000 for an LT-1 t56 set up with no A/C. Anyone?

[tgw323]

The 1978 steering gear still had flare fittings. I have a 1994 LT1/4L60E combo for sale if anyone is interested. 117,000 miles, just a few thousand on the timing set,Opti & water pump. Ran 14.70s in a big boat Impala 2 weeks before its untimely demise. $1200 complete with wiring harness & accessories + delivery. I'm in Indiana,will travel a ways to deliver. If you live along I-70 or 80, I might go all the way to Denver (my brother lives there).

[primate]

i picked up an lt1 from the junkyard from a wrecked cop car without the trans, but complete with wiring, ecm, fans, and everything elsei could grab for 150 bucks.....
i would have grabbed the trans too but it was swapped for a th350, but thats ok because i want a 4l80e.

ebay is high. i would look into the for sale sites on the normal 4th gen camaro boards, and in the local papers. you dont want to know what we got a complete ls1 from ecm to gas tank to trans to fans and everythin in between off of cz28....

[BonzoHansen]

Hell, you might see a running LT1 car for $3000. Sell off some parts to defray costs

[Mike1970RS]

The only thing bad about a LT1 is the parts are expensive.Need a new optispark 250-400 depending on year.Want to do a tune up like cap and rotor $150 and 2-3 hour worth of work.Waterpump lets go your looking
at 150-200 for a new one.I would not even bother with a rebuilt.Want to up the power with heads a cam down the road.Aftermarket heads are usally 600-700 more the a standard SBC.You could alway have the stocker poerted to save soem cash.And H/C change almost aways reguired a injector upgrade at 250 and up depending on rating along with a throttle body.

The LT1 is easier than a LS1 as it will drop right in.You can use your old header and trans which is nice.But cheap it is not.

You might have to right click and paste http://www.geocities.com/hardimon01/Conversion.html

[BC's71']

Originally Posted by Mike1970RS

The only thing bad about a LT1 is the parts are expensive.Need a new optispark 250-400 depending on year.Want to do a tune up like cap and rotor $150 and 2-3 hour worth of work.Waterpump lets go your looking
at 150-200 for a new one.I would not even bother with a rebuilt.Want to up the power with heads a cam down the road.Aftermarket heads are usally 600-700 more the a standard SBC.You could alway have the stocker poerted to save soem cash.And H/C change almost aways reguired a injector upgrade at 250 and up depending on rating along with a throttle body.

The LT1 is easier than a LS1 as it will drop right in.You can use your old header and trans which is nice.But cheap it is not.

You just have to look in the right places! Through Dal a brand new GM optispark is $200. What other distributor do you know of that goes 100K+ miles with no service? Some guys have been known to get 250K miles out of theirs.... Napa sells a decent water pump for $85. I picked up a used GM water pump I installed the other day for $25.

The cast iron heads (off of B-bodies like Impala, Caprice) actually flow better in stock form than the aluminum head cars (Firebird and Camaro) and are the basis for Vortech heads. Aftermarket heads are not really needed unless you really want to go fast and have a heavy-duty cam and bottom end to support it. Stock heads have pushed 4200 lb B-body sedans into the 12's with no problems.....

I bought my LT1 engine from a wrecked Caprice for $1000. It included almost everything I needed for the swap to my car and had only 30,000 miles. Wire harness, PCM, engine accessories, radiator, etc.
I picked up a $50 cam, free F-body MAF (normally only $50 anyway), had my TB ported to 52mm for $180, bought complete ported alum heads with 1.6RR and aftermarket springs for $650 (saved me machine work).
Along with a fancy torque converter for my TH350 this combo should easily push me into the 12s running naturally aspirated. I may be running close to 85% or higher on fuel inj. output which may require an upgrade, but if that's the case then it is only $200 or so for a new set of SVOs.

All parts I removed I can resell and recoup some money on, like stock cat converters I got with the deal, stock cast heads, fuel inj, stock exhaust manifolds, etc.
I hang out in the B-body circles already so I have some connections, but really anyone can find deals at www.impalaclub.com and www.impalassforum.com and places like that on message boards. Just can't mind using used parts for some stuff.

[Ceth]

Damn, you're right this can be pretty cheap. I could probably find one more easily from an impala though than a camaro. Did impalas come with 6 speeds and is there a difference between camaro and other lt1's I should be aware of?