matthew911

Hey guys, novice here. My local junkyard has a couple L98's out of the 87-92 Camaros for $250, and some Caprice/Roadmaster L05's for $275. According to their system the L05 is a better fit for my 84 Z. I think the L98 has more HP and I'm not looking to go crazy on mods, just something fun to cruise around in. Any recommendations between those two? What mods would I need to make for the L98 to fit? I believe the guy at the junkyard mentioned the oil pan not fitting as well as moving the dipstick and a few other things.

We'll be switching it over to a carb. I've got an Edelbrock 1406 that was on my old 305. Do I need to pick up a computer and harness to match the engine or will the existing ones work?

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

The only interchange diff. on the L98 and L05 would be the induction system... If you are going to a carb then that will not matter.

The oil pan will fit fine and so will all other parts. I would pick the L98 myself.

If you are going with an edelbrock carb then you don't need ANY computer. You need the engine, the carb'ed intake, the carb and a large cap HEI mech. and vac advance dist.

You will also need the flexplate from the L98 as it's a 1pc rear main seal and your old 1984 305 is not.

matthew911

Excellent, thank you. Any particular recommendations on the distributor?

midias

Any decent HEI with a vac advance. Summit house brand is fine.

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

I would stay with the L98 for the heads. But be aware that the "L98" may still have the 193 casting heads swapped on it.

mmadden55

^ good advice.

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

A lot of people hate the guy for selling imported/china performance parts but Skip White HEI dist. for $45 is hard to beat for the price.

matthew911

Thanks everyone, I'll take a look at all my options. One more question on the dist. Do I have to look for one that fits in that 87-95 year range? Would one that's listed up to 86 work for me or is that setup completely different? I've noticed those in the 87-95 range specifically mention they're not for LT1/LT4 so I assumed that's where I should be looking.

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

If you're not using a computer get a vacuum advance large cap hei as Night said. Those will fit any sbc 1. If it lists years it will be 70s vintage. Started being used around 75 and my 86 gmc still had one. There were electronically controlled ones too, starting in 80-81. You do not want those.

matthew911

86 yes, but the engine will be out of an 87 or newer car. Amazon and other sites show a lot of them only working until 86. The ones listed for 87-95 are a bit pricier just like the manifold and some other parts. I think the L05 and L98 were kind of a bridge from the old SBC to the newer LT1 and then LS1, from what I've read. Just wasn't sure what all made them different from the older engines. Especially since I'll be going carb.

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

Let me rephrase this........THEY WILL FIT ALL GEN 1 SBCs....no ifs ands or buts. They'll even fit big block chevys. They 87 and later intakes are really only different by the inner bolts being at a different angle. L05 and L98 were just sbc's. Minor changes happened to sbc's over certain periods of time. Oil filters changed, dipsticks moved, rear main seals changed.....they still can use the same distributor.

I don't know which distributors you are looking at but if you are looking at both large cap, vacuum advance, HEI distributors, the only thing I can think that would be changing the price is gear material that meshes with the cam.

matthew911

Appreciate the reply, thank you. Want to make sure we get it right.

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

Here you go, $40 http://www.skipwhiteperformance.com/...px?Item=6500-R

You are doing a carb swap, you need the old style HEI that works w/o a computer or EFI.

That is the great thing about the gen 1 sbc engine.. You can swap parts back and forth on engines from 1955 to 2002.

The big diff in the '86 and up sbc engines was the swap from 2 pc. rear main seal to 1 pc. rear main seal.. 1955-85 was 2 pc., '86 up was 1 pc.. This changed the oil pan, flexplate/flywheel, crankshaft and of course the seal it's self.

Then in the '86 up engines they went to center bolt valve covers, and the 4 center intake bolt holes was changed to a more straight of an angle.

As far as the dist. goes you need an HEI mech/vac advance like the one I liked to.

Intake depends on what heads you use. If stock 1987 heads then you will need an aftermarket carb intake for the '86-95 engines

If you run most aftermarket heads or any 1955-85 heads you will need intake for that year range.

matthew911

Definitely can't beat that price. Appreciate the info.