I got a 85 iroc 305 tpi with a t5 and I gotta shop in my town that said they will swap in a LT1 350 including doing the wiring and all thats involved for 800 to 900 bucks at the most and Im gettin the engine out of a 95 formula for 450 with about a 110k on it. the only problem is the lt1 needs a new head gasket nd the shop said they would do it while its out of the car for 400 so all together im spending about 1750. does this seem cheap or is it too much? The guy told me they have done alot of lt1 swaps into some 3rd gens and a couple 80's pick ups so they apparently know what there doing. thanks.

 

I live in an apartment complex and don't have access to a garage or anything.

 

The price almost sounds too good to be true. And, you know what they say about deals that sound too good to be true.

Ask for references of swaps they've done, then talk to the owners of the swapped vehicles. Go look over the vehicles if possible. Then decide.

 

im getting the lt1 from my buddy which is still in the car and runs its just the car other than the engine is a piece of crap so that why hes sellin the motor. and i havent seen a bad review or anything on the shop. the guy i talked to at the shop said he just did a lt1 in his 88 chevy pick up and that anytime i want i can come check it out.

 

i was either gonna have it painted or switch the engine and this seems cheaper than painting it.

 

I dont see this ending well. Proper parts essential to the swap are more than the shop is quoting for labor

Go see more than one vehicle they've swapped, preferably one thats had a few miles on it since they completed it

 

what parts? I'm getting everything i need from the donor car. what else do i need?

 

Ex.: Your '85 has a cable drive speedometer, and the LT1 has an electronic sending unit on the transmission. How is that going to be handled?

 

dang i didn't realize that. what do other people usually do?

 

even if you hit the $1750 amount you post, which you won't in reality, but let's say you did. You'll be rolling on an engine with 110k miles

I'd ask the same shop how much to yank my existing engine, send it for a complete rebuild and re-install it

I'd rather be rolling with a rebuilt engine than rolling saying lookee me, I have a tired old LT1 under the hood

posted by someone who has an LT1 in one of his many vehicles