You were bound to find out sooner or later, so I thought I'd tell you exactly what's going on so you won't have to process rumors.

It all started off with talk about using some "extra" funds for a car upgrade. The more I thought about it, I preferred upgrading the Camaro rather than getting something else. My real desire was to get a manual transmission - it's been so long since I had a manual, and I really would love having one again. I had long ago given up on the idea of going T5, so T56 was the obvious choice.

The more I looked into that, the more sense a powerplant upgrade made as well. Bottom line: An LS1/T56 is on it's way here, planned installation this winter. And, no, it is not getting a carb.

So, while I will still have the Holley on the 396, the Camaro is going higher tech ("high" tech would be LS2/6/7, etc.). I have learned a lot about carbs in the last 8 years, I'm sure I won't be forgetting most of it anytime soon.

I just hope you all can forgive me. . .

 

NO!!!!

 

carb ls1 motors are still easier to tune and don't require a $500 dyno tune session with a laptop after every cam swap, etc Everyone knows where my passion lies.

 

maybe you could stick the qjet on there! ccqet ls1....wow.


but seriously, i'm jealous.

whats the price difference these days between a ls1 and a ls2? not worth it or just not available?

I've learned alot of carb knowledge from reading your posts 57, please don't forget about us carb guys once you go GENIII...

 

I'm with ya man, I'm going to an LT1 setup and going to keep it computerized too, nothing wrong with that. Better drivability, better mileage, better everything just about, only negative I forsee is the loss of that beautiful 4 barrel sound. No fuel injected engine will ever take that away from me. But just to keep my mind at ease I'll also be building a 400 sb and keeping it carbed, so I wont label myself as a traitor just yet. Besides why limit ourselves to gen 1 small blocks when there is better stuff to be had. I wish I could afford the LS1 but I am settling for the middle of the road LT1. I dont think I will regret it, just the initial cost that I'll regret..lol

 

Passion can be deceiving. I have yet to see an LSx carb combo that makes more power than EFI, and the cost is higher. Tuning is a matter of getting the equipment (not that expensive) and learning to do it yourself (not that hard - how many people do we have to coach through a simple jet change?). It doesn't require a dyno session each time.
The price difference is about 2x. Not to worry, not going anywhere.
LT1 would have been a power downer from what I've got now, the main reason I didn't go that way. Getting the power would have cost about what going LS1 would cost. Plus, LS1 has more power potential. Then everything else you mentioned with regard to why to do it.

And, yes, I'll still have another vehicle with carb. For now, anyway. . .

 

a local guy has a ls1 w/ a custom cam, exhaust, and aftermarket heads, and is putting down a dyno tuned 494RWHP.

makes me wonder why i've spent over 10 grand on my 13 second car...

 

soo.. welcome to the light.

 

yeah i hear ya...i'll just pick up a 5th gen after i get back from the mediterranean in 09

 

i have to wait until the convertible comes out.. but im there with ya.

 

I am realy interested in how your swap goes, I am thinking about doing the same thing. Where do you plan on getting your motor and tranny from? I am thinking about looking for a smashed up donor car myself as I would have just about everything I would need. What I am worried about the most is my car is an auto transmission and I would like to swap in an LS1 and 6 speed. Does your car have an auto right now? Do you know what is going to be the hardest part in changing from auto to a stick.

 

The engine/transmission are coming from a yard in South Carolina. Coming out of a 2000 Camaro.

Details are available on the Engine Swap forum, the Transmission forum, and a tech article from the homepage. I have an automatic now, I anticipate the biggest grunting to come from getting the pedals installed and hole drilled for the master cylinder, getting the tranny crossmember positioned & mounted, and drilling the hole for the shifter. Notching the crossmember for the AC compressor is another task I'm not looking forward to, but the only alternatives are Vette accessory mounts (more expense), or a tubular crossmember - the cost really starts adding up when you go that way. I'm not particularly looking forward to all of the details, but I am looking forward to the end result. Early 3rd gens weigh less than 4th gens and Vettes - and we all know what that means.

 

you're gonna have to put those v6 springs back into the berli to offset the lighter ls1, tack that to your ever growing list.

SC...did you go Hawks?

 

that was my question... did you use hawks thirdgen?


if so, look it over VERY carefully.... bruce likes to "overlook" little things, and they add up fast.

 

I think youll like the EFI. Its a bit of a cold slap in the face at first, but once you get teh hang of it, its not bad at all. One thing that I really like baout tuning EFI is that its back and white. Either it works, or it doesnt. No guessing...

One thing I dont like about some of those packages is taht they dont give you enough defined calibration items. This is especially on the e-trans side. They give you next to nothing. I swapped in a cam with enough overlap to lope at modest idle speeds, and I had to change just about everything on my '95 PCM to get it to idle steadily and not surge up and down or crap out. Throttle follower, PID IAC gains, alternator drag compensation, initial % IAC flow, desired idle speed...

 

not to sound harsh, but you're dead wrong.

its NOT black and white.. not anymore then a carb is.
there is some guessing and seeing what the engine wants not what you want to give it.

as for "packages" i have no idea what you're talking about.
i can do ANYTHING to the transmission.. from linepressure to gear selection..and base it on any number of factors... OOOOR i can zero them all out and base it off one or two simple things.. MY CHOICE.

and not to sound mean, but your LT1s PCM is bearly a step above the GMECM of the thirdgen era... jump up to a MODERN computer, and things become alot better.




oh and one last thing:
Throttle follower -- Carb pump shot
alternator drag compensation -- throttle stop kick silinoid
initial % IAC flow - throttle blade adjustment
desired idle speed - throttle stop/mixture screw/timing

 

Well, since this is the Carburetor forum, I don't want to get into a big discussion about EFI, LTx, LSx, etc.

I will be a little better informed about carb vs. EFI, though. I've had grocery-getter V6 EFI, but never performance V8 EFI, so that is the new part to me.

 

Congrats on the new motor, man. It may seem like a LS1 is a ripoff at first, often costing in the mid 4 figures and delivering less than 400 hp most of the time. But you get an aluminum block, fuel injection, and arguably more upside potential.

Do that with a small block? EFI= several thousand by itself. And have you priced aluminum blocks? Usually $4000 for a bare block.

-Not that I'm one to talk. I've been trolling this board for the better part of a decade, just bought my car last year.

 

it wont happen at first.. but after you're used to it.. one day you're going to swap a cam (or something) whip out the laptop, and go "damn! that was MUCH easier then opening a float bowl to change jets!"

 

To think im going from FI to Carb now...what the hell am i thinking?! lol.

Ive been thinking/planning for a long time on what to do with my car and what direction to go with my car and thats what led me to the choice im doing. I simply cant afford an LS1/T56 swap...sure its great, more power pontential, less weight, more driveability but i just cant afford it its as simple as that.

Im going carb, and i just got a killer deal from a buddy of mine, my car isant a daily driver anyway, its driven to the track, car shows, weekends, nice weather kind of thing so it never really sees traffic. Also already spent a fortune on a T56 so i dont want to spend more money on another T56, if it swaped over to an lsx motor i would have thought about an lsx swap a lot more.

Someday i will go back to FI, and go to gen III,IV motors cause i love em...but for now ill take a lopey camed gen 1 carbed motor.