Alright i have made up my mind insted of my plained tbi build up i want to just go with cheap hp. theres a local place down here that sells used f-body parts and i have tabulated the cost of an lt1 swap with some extras: 1997 65k miles LT1 with 4l60e and harness 1800,Dual Fan setup with radiator 200, alum driveshaft 125 and finaly a 11.7 inch disc brake 10 boilt rear with 3.42 posi for 500 . that puts me at $2625 im tabulateing with lines a fluids ect a solid 2.7k and considering in our lighter cars with a nice 285 hp it will sun a low low 14 mabey even a 13 and for 2.7 and a week or two thats damn good (will have the help of my dad and brother, pops has been hotroding since he turned 16 and is now 42 so im shure he can help lol) but i mean is this a good price this 2700? and most importantly how hard will this be im asumeing alot easyer than a ls1 swap and looks like half the cost.but realisticly will this be a 1 or two week project or a whole summers down time? oh crap i forgot the the tpi fuel pump that cant go for more than 100 bucks. so what im trying ot get at is with the hel p i listen is it posable to get it doen in 2 weeks? it will be summer and ill be able to work all day

 

Its very possible to get it done in two weeks so long as you do the research, skip that rad / fan setup if its from the 4th gen, and the axle will make your wheels stick out if its from a 4th gen also, there are a few things you'll need besides a fuel pump, do a little more research, all the info is around here, then come back with more specific questions if you need.

 

its a 90-92 rear and what your saying is my radiator (which is brand fricken new) is useable and from what ive rear i think from texas lt1s site was i need to fab up some fuel lines and such but i also head on hpsalvage (i think) is i will need to work with some brackets if i want to get the a/c in. also what kinda cooling setup will i need just my stock one or just the 4th radiator with my single fan? or can i jsut get a tpi alum one? also do i need to splice the harnesses? what other things will i need to get the swap done besides the fuel pump lines bracket work? any help would be great

 

Keep the radiator you have now. If its a good one, you should be fine with single fan, might need dual fans. Use '93 hoses.

There are a number of different ways to do the fuel lines. By far the simplest is to get them from lt1intake.com and simply screw them right on. You can also use barb fittings and the 4th gen plastic lines, or any combination of hydrualic fittings.

If you don't want to notch the crossmember, use vette accessories if you want to keep the a/c, or get the 1LE a/c delete pulley.

You can splice in the 4th gen harness if you want to do it cheap, or get any number of the aftermarket swap harnesses.

You will need to do something about the powersteering, but its not that difficult. Apparently the B-body pressure hose can be used with slight modification.

 

thank you. but the painless wireing is just way too much for a 97 lt1 its 500 or 600 bucks and i just dont have 500 for just wireing when i could do it myself but i just found out my stock 15's wolnt clear the disc brakes so i think ill stay drumand find a used posi and buy gears which is great cuase the project cost has gone down quite a bit do you know any places i could find good fuel pumps and also used posi units cuase im really lost when it comes to that.

 

You should just use the harness with the motor, a good idea would be to swap the ecm for a 94-95 piece to get rid of the obdII, the clearancing for the a/c compressor isnt very bad, order the lt1intake.com fuel lines instead of attempting something yourself, you can get whats needed to run a braided line for the ps pressure hose for about 60 or 70 bux, and whoever said your 15" wheels wont clear must not know what they're talking about, if its a stock 3rd gen disc axle, and they are stock 15" aluminum RS/Z28 wheels, they clear just fine.

 

i asked my dad about fuel lines and he can crimp them and such easly hes in business for himself and is a handyman so im quite shure after all this time he is quite able hes been working cars and construction since he was 16 so im not really botherd by stuf like that. also i found a site that sells used gm posis for 150 and gm 3.73's for 125 so that with the drive shaft is only 325 and im thigh on money so thats great i am ordering the rear and driveshaft tomarrow and installing it hopefuly next week end so now i gota find 1800 for the motor also i will be installing the new guage cluster do you think one of thoes hypertech programers could dial in my spedo and tach corections? also is it a good i dea ot get my pcm programed by one of thoes sites ive seen around here and along with that is it a good idea to get a 160 thermo? and also why does lt1's optispark get such a badrap i mean jesus it seems to me if its not tpi or ls1 it gets no respect around here well thats about it for now

 

It gets a bad rap because its a bad design and some people have had problems with them. The 93 and 94 design had a very bad problem of getting moisture inside of them and quickly going bad. I think in 95 they changed the design to a vented one that is a much better design for what it is, but still not that great. I've got almost 70K miles on my LT1 and have and zero problems with the optispark, never hesitating to drive it in the rain and even after having a waterpump go out and drench the opti. Some people seem to do alright with them, others seem to have never ending problems.

Anyway, $1800 for the engine, is that complete with EVERYTHING including transmission or just the engine? If its just the engine, keep looking, you can find them cheaper.

I used Bryan Herter at pcmforless.com and he did a nice job on my PCM. I've heard Ion at madz28 does a good job too. However, I don't think you'll want a Hypertech with non-stock programming, not sure how well they work together.

I would definitely go with a 160 thermostat. I've been running one for about 2 years now and have never had any problems with it, the car always runs cool, and the heater still works fine.

 

no its a engine tranny and wireing harness its the whole thing and i think its a failry good deal for 75k miles. also i saw that inyour sig you run a 12.8 what mods do you have?

 

1. I'd say you'll probably be happier with the 3.42's if this is your daily driver / street car, not to mention the discs on that axle, like I said, the brakes will clear your wheels just fine.

2. Get the properly made fuel lines, no need starting a fire cause someone thinks they are super handyman, its better to spend the money and get it right the first time, we are dealing with high pressure and a flammable liquid not to mention a lot of money.

3. As far as programming goes i'd suggest getting your own cable and LT1edit that way you can do what you need as you do it.

4. Sometimes people have bad luck with opti's, others have extremely good luck with them, and there are quite a few upgrades for it available now.

 

Ok, $1800 isn't bad at all for that.

I have:
LT4 heads, intake, Hotcam
1.6 rockers
Hedman shorty headers
MSD 6AL
Custom tune
3.42 gears
stock T-5
Nitto's

The car keeps getting faster and faster. I think I should be able to get a 12.5 out of it as it sits right now.

 

yeah my brother wants to do the lt4 swap but 2,400 is a bit steep lol but 12.5 thats damn fast. i dont really mind not haveing that daily diveablity type ride i mean this is a car that im driveing about the city nto going on crosscountry rides and plus thoes nice 4th gen sets ive been eyeing might give it a more comfterable feel. but i mean this is a camaro not an acura i dont need a quite comfterable or relaxing ride i want anything but and 3.73 is a compermise in my mind to me its 3.42 or 4.10 and 3.73 fits right in the middle. and z28 no need to get up in arms but i truely trust my dad with my life more so than some guy on the internet and his reply to "super handyman" was " they uses flareing tools shure ive got one but have they ever flared with a nail" i mean he has owned over 15 cars that i wouldnt consider race or street and well we arnt the richist of the bunch and we cant afford 100 dollar fuel lines when we could do it our selves.. anywho another question i have is what times could i be expeting with this say a 13.8 or a 14.1? cuase ive herd lt1 guys gloatand such about how they run mid 13's with just drag radials and such andi want to know could a lt1 3rd gen bet a lt1 4th gen both stock with auto of corse and also will the 3.73 alum driveshaft posi setup make this car plea for traction or wil i hook jus?t fine

 

Well, we pieced together my LT4 conversion, didnt get the kit. Also, if you're worried about economy, go for 3.42 gears. They are a great street gear. I'm planning on stepping up to 3.73's or possibly even 4.10's though since I don't drive my car that much anymore. And yes, a stock LT1 in a 3rd gen with drag radials should run high 13's and should take an equally stock 4th gen since its a couple hundred pounds lighter.