Hello everyone,

Im looking for some suggestions of what route to go with my new project. I just picked up a 92 RS that will eventually be my daughters first car, she will be able to drive in 30 months. It was originally equipped with a L03, 700R4, front disk, rear drum, and a open 2.73 read end. The PO swapped the L03 for a carbed 350 from an older vette which he said never really ran right. I did get the original L03 With all the accessories as part of the deal which is said to have 113k+- miles and was running when removed.

I’ve always been a gear head but over the years have only don’t basic maintenance to fix them when they break. I am looking forward to getting more in depth with this project by building a motor, upgrading trans, swapping rear and, etc.

I have plenty of money but would like to keep it budget hot rod oriented because when I was 16 I didn’t have a bunch of money to fix up my first Camaro and at any time it could meet its demise with a new driver behind the wheel. I plan on doing a long tube headed exhaust system, beefing up the 700R4, upgrading brakes, suspension, rear end, etc.

The car needs to be able to pass emission sniffer test so the carb has to go. I also need to have a working A/C (currently does not have one installed). My plan is to do some basic research and diagnostic of the motor that is in it now. Then determine if I will be keeping that short/long block and just changing the intake or getting rid of the 350 that’s in it and the spare L03 and starting from scratch with a new build. I don’t want a vortec head motor. What would you do in this scenario? I’m looking for suggestions.

 

Id go through the 350 in it. Put a mild cam that will run on the TBI system and use an adapter to run your TBI on a carbed intake. Vortec heads would be my choice but since you don't want that use what you have or find a rebuilt set of L98 heads.

 

That's a carb'd LT1. What's causing it to run improperly and what is required in your emissions test locally? IF it's just a sniff test then a properly setup carb, tune and Catalytic converter will be able to get you to pass. I cleared my 400 a long time ago with no cat, no egr, and a quadrajet and now that it's a collector plate car it never has to do that again.

If there's a visual and or the computer needs to be hooked up? Then you have a lot of work ahead of you. You don't have a provision for an egr with that LT1 the way it is so you'd dump the LT1 all together and find something that suits your needs.
You COULD get a BBC tbi and an adapter plate to the carb'd manifold, find a used tbi harness and computer controlled distributor, and a tune. (EBL flash and tuning yourself is possible with tbi) But this way also has no EGR, though it would put fuel injection back on.

And why not a vortec motor? That's the easiest solution to the project to add AC back in, it'll be easiest with regular SBC belting and vortecs work with that because they are just an sbc. Any other head is a downgrade or aftermarket. The vortec heads compare close to LT1 and the belts that are on it have hurdles to overcome as the compressor would be up against the K member.

By all means if the majority of the original car is still there or you can find a good donor TBI car, then just swap it back to stock and sell the LT1 and stuff. It'll be slow but you'd have everything you're asking for/required to have.

 

I like this option. I guess I’d be okay with vortec heads again, I just figured there were better aluminum heads out there I could utilize instead. But I guess if vortec is the consensus then I can go that route.

 

you can't just put L98 or vortec or any other heads on this engine that isn't 92-97 LT1 heads. They don't work with any other and more traditional heads, which leads to your emissions/egr problem

 

I literally just got the car home so I need to trouble shoot to figure out what’s wrong with it. To my knowledge the emissions test locally is a sniffer and visual inspection that there is a cat but I will double check that. Another possibility is registering it outside of my county because the rest of the state does not have emissions testing. Might have to jump through some paperwork hoops for this but that might be easier than the mechanical hoops. I guess going vortec would be fine if it’s the easiest route. And the TBI stuff looks like it is still there.

 

I checked a bit and I believe for 1996 and older emissions test in my county there is only a sniffer and visual that there is a cat.

The air cleaner that’s on the motor right now doesn’t fit under the stock hood. The hood stops on the front are turned all the way up and there is a gap between the hood and the nose. Is there a specific intake/air cleaner combo that will clear the stock hood?

 

Good Luck. Thats a sweet looking Camaro.

 

My bad man i didn't even look and notice it was an LT1! I'd get a crate Vortec

 

Are you saying you’d ditch the LT1 and get a crate vortec and out the TBI on it? That way it will pass emissions and be able to install all the accessories including the AC?

 

Yea id probably sell the LT1 and go back with something closer to what came in it and the Vortec would be a great choice. if I was trying to make something a daily driver for sure. Simplify it. That's why I stayed with the OEM TBI system on my car, not because it made the most power by no means but it functions well and is reliable. At the end of the day its your preference but man that's a nice looking Camaro you have there the daughter will be very proud of it im sure.

 

My plan after all the input I have received is to get the current carbed LT1 checked out and running so I can sell it. So them I am down to two options.
1: go through the stock L03 and put it back in with a few mods.
2: get a crate vortec motor.

I came across a great TBI post by RobertFrank, it has really helped me out.

 

If you go TBI but veer from stock, EPROM tuning will be a must. It doesn't sound like you really want to go this way. The fastest path is to work with what you have and get it to reliably run. If it were me, and I cannot believe I am gong to say this, I'd put the LO3 back in (if getting the 350 to pass emissions and run well becomes impossible or cost prohibited). I say this on the basis that my new inexperienced driver will be behind the wheel. An L03 is terrible, but is great for a first time driver. It will feel like a hotrod with the low end umph, get great mileage, beat most 4 banger mom machines on the street, but keep them alive. Build the 350 on the side with a dedicated plan so that they can either help you along the way, or decide the car will go back to you.

 

If this car is going to a new and inexperienced teen driver, I'd focus my efforts on making sure the brakes and all suspension components are in top condition, replacing anything I even thought might be worn. I'd then do whatever the current engine required in order to make it reliable; same with the trans.

Having already raised a teen daughter/driver (smh...), and then having some experience with 4 out of 5 grandkids who are now behind the wheel (and the 5th not far behind), I certainly would not do anything to make the car faster.

YMMV.


Good luck with both the project and teaching your daughter to be a safe driver.

 

Thanks for the input ShiftyCalone and IronWill. I’ve decided that I’d like to keep the existing carbed LT1 that is in it if it’s in good shape. I changed the oil last night and pulled the plugs, the plugs were totally fouled from running rich. I’ll drain the gasoline tonight and do a compression test to see where this motor stands. I noticed the weep hole on the water pump has a drop of coolant on it so I’ll have to change that. After doing some research it looks like I can get this accessory/bracket system from the LT1 Vette which will move the AC compressor to the upper driver side. I won’t need to do this for a while since it won’t be daily driven for a few years but I’m trying to finalize my plan. In the pics of the Camaro and vette accessory system there appears to be a difference in the water pump housing. There are two inlet/outlets on the bottom part of the Camaro one that aren’t on the vette. Which one do I need to be able to go with the vette set up for AC in the future?

I talked to a few buddy’s and they said they can help me tune it to pass the sniffer test. There is no under hood inspection, only a sniffer and visual that the car has at cat. Then as IronWill mentioned I can spent more time/money on suspension and brakes.

 

Got a new battery in it and completed a compression test and here are the results. Seems pretty healthy accept for that #1. Also all the plugs were fouled completely black. I was told this motor hadn’t been run in 10 years. Not sure if that affects the readings or not?

#1 - 130
#2 - 140
#3 - 142
#4 - 158
#5 - 150
#6 - 145
#7 - 142
#8 - 140