Kojote

I've seen people on here talk about taking months to a year plus to put an LT1 in their third gen....am I missing something? it just doesnt seem like it could take that long as long as you got all the prep parts before you started and run thru it all to make sure you have everything.... I mean hell, pulling the 4.3 out of my brothers truck that threw a rod and moving all the parts over to a new shortblock and putting it back in only took a couple days so how could pulling one complete engine out and putting another complete engine in be so hard? Is it pas experience (or the lack ther of) that causes people problems? I'm really freakin used to working on the impossible (my other car is a '93 3000GT VR4 and ive done the full 60K tune up, changed the clutch, taken the transmission out/apart to change a shaft in it all in my driveway with crappy tools). Just don't make sense to me.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

I just did one for someone else and it took 2 or 3 weeks working on it for a few hours at a time after work and some days not at all. Sometimes you run into snags and it takes longer, if not for having to come into work, i'd say i could get one done in 3 days. It really comes down to what was in the car, what you've got to fix or straighten out from previous owners, what year the car was and how prepared you are for the most part.

Kojote

well my cars a 92 305 TBI 5speed, everything on the cars factory setup...no jerryrigging or anything, when i start working on something i can kinda zone out on it and wor for 13 hours straight and i usually take a friday off work and go all weekend when i have something major like this to do.

mat89RS

Well you will find out that the biggest problem you'll run into is dropping the gaz tank to change the fuel pump, it's not has easy has it sounds. Next big step is the wiring, the rest is childplay .

92 zzz28

I'll be helping a guy with an LT1 swap in a few months once he gets the engine together so I'll comment on that later. I can comment on having a severe lack of time...My latest project, a simiple R & R of my 383 in my 92...I started back in late June and am still not finished. My problem, at first parts were all late, then the machine shop took forever for a simiple overbore!!, and now I have school 2 days a week and work the other 5...I have only a few hours a day, and am mostly studying, writing papers, or just too dam tired to work on it...I think that is why many people take months or even a year to do a major swap...

I remember back in my high school days starting an engine swap on Fri. afternoon, having the new engine in by Sat night, finish is up Sunday, and drive it to school Mon. morning. Of course on a 71 Monte Carlo, there is way less crap to deal with, but we were just kids with little knowledge, but big ideas...

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

If you know how and do it the right way its pretty easy to drop the tank.

Kojote

Bummer you gotta drop the tank to get to the fuel pump, in my VR4 theres a pannel in the hatch floor you can unbolt and you can get to it right there.

TexasLT1

Thats the key. But the problem was that when many of us completed the swap, no one really had a compplete list of everything you needed to change out. We just had to wing it and get the needed parts as they came up. Plus not all of us have the luxury of spending 13 hours straight on our projects. I did my swap over 6 weeks because every weekday I had school and football practice from 8-6. On the weekends, sure I spent 10-12 hours straight on it, but once we got to the wiring that 12 hours might be spend connecting about 5 wires. The problem was when we did my swap there just wasn't enough information out there to know exactly what needed to be done. Now that there are a bunch of us that have completed the swap and know what needs to be done, I would think somebody could do a complete, running swap in a 1.5-2 weeks, even only working on it nights and weekends.


If you had read through the older LT1 swap posts you would know that just about all of us ran into problems at some point or another that took time to figure out. Now that some of us have found solutions, anyone else doing the swap shouldn't run into them or take as long as we did.

TexasLT1

Yup. The first time was hell, but now dropping it is no problem.

Dave Y

what took you so long??

in my senior year of HS, starting friday after school, me and a buddy pulled the 427 and trans out of a 72 nova, pulled a 350 and trans from a 70 chevelle, put the 350 from the chevelle in the nova , and had the nova running and driving by about 3 AM sat.

we took th nova to the track sat. afternoon


we didnt reinstall the 427 in anything

TexasLT1

I think that explains it Similar to what happened with my swap. If it wasn't for my dad, it probably would have taken me 3 times as long. I did my swap Junior year of high school, I knew quite abit beforehand about cars and stuff, but I learned so much more doing this swap.

Kojote

Well, I guess the fact I can get my hands on the GM service manuals gives me some amount of confidence (friend of mine works for the local dealership).

TexasLT1

That alone makes the process so much easier. But really the only thing you need them for is the wiring diagrams. The Haynes and Chilton's diagrams are alright, but life is so much easier when doing the wiring with the Service Manuals because the diagrams are so much more detailed and have more information.

D M N

if your swapping a engine it would probably be quicker if you "prep" the car 1st like adding strenght to the chassise and changine the fuel pump change some of the fuel lines and so on that will probably make it a faster swap and you wont have a problem with "rejection of the donor"

windowlicker

I have had this Lt1 project on my hands for about a year now, but I don't have a garage--so when it rains or snows I don't get much done. The original car is also a V6, so there is more swapping involved.

One thing that has slowed me down a lot is having a girlfriend (not that I would trade her for anything) because I simply can't devote all my weekend time to my car. It doesn't fly...

windowlicker

Oh, and I also cut myself a hatch above my fuel tank, took about 5 minutes with a cut-off wheel.

I know a lot of people will boo the idea of "cutting up" their cars, but it is a v6 firebird that will never be worth anything, and I didn't have to spend half a day dropping the tank. With a plate installed and carpet overtop no one will ever know the difference and I can get to the fuel pump whenever I need to. Just a thought...