I'm going to be doing a LS1 engine and T-56 swap into my 91 camaro. I was wondering are there any specific years for the eng and trans that I should consider? What years are different/better?

 

If you haven't already, read the LSx swap sticky in the top section of this forum.

f-body engine/trans are the simplest to use. They were put in Camaros & 'Birds from 1998 to 2002.

2001 & 2002 had the "better" parts, but that doesn't make the rest of them clinkers.

 

I read the post but and I know whats involved in the swap. But I know diff years came with diff heads and diff trans so forth. Thats why i'm wondering what years were better. Did they make the t-56 diff in diff years or are they all the same. See where i'm coming from and what i'm looking for?

 

97-98 LS1s had perimeter bolt heads, nothing wrong with them just can't get pretty valve covers for them and had the coil packs bolted to the valve cover and not a bracket. 98 F-body had it's own wiring and PCM, 99 f-body had it's own wiring and PCM 00-02 were basically the same in wiring and PCM. Some of the 00-02 may have an LS6 block and all had the LS6 intake (no egr) and what is considered the better casting heads. All the T56s between 98-02 were the same.

 

Ok sweet man thats what I was looking for.

 

some of this info is correct, but not quite all of it..

pertinent information to have when deciding which year ls1 to use...

97-99 ls1 engines had poor oil return to the pan from the top end. the back of the heads had 2 small holes for return. the 00+ blocks were revised with a dogbone shape, basically the area between the holes was cut out to allow all of the oil to drain back.

98-00 f car engines had "weak" rod bolts, which basically meant the rod bolt had a sleeve it rode in that sat in the cap. these sleeves, known as ferruls, let the bolts move too much causing them to break. gm went to a larger bolt and did away with the ferrules in mid-2000.

98-00 f car ls1 engines ALL came with AIR and EGR, they all also came stock with an ls1 intake.

01+ ls1 fbod engines came with NO EGR, the LS6 intake, and the "strong" rod bolts. all m6 01+ cars also came with the ls6 hydraulics, which was a huge step over the 98-00 ls1 style slave and clutch setup.

98-99 fbod exhaust manifolds were the same. gm updated the design giving the 00-02 cars different manifolds. the old and new PASSENGER SIDE manifolds ARE NOT interchangable. driver's side is the same, but the pass side is different. ask me how i know...

the ls6 block was rarely seen in a few of the 02 cars. made no difference in power.

basically all of these differences are very small and would not be known by anyone lacking vast knowledge of these engines. gm's build tolerances were so loose that the "better" heads, "better" manifolds, etc made no difference in real-world performance of the car.

the only year i'd stay away from is 98, simply because the pcm has limited capabilities when compared to the 99+, and the knock sensors were stupid sensitive, often causing the computer to pick up false knock and pull timing.

98-99 = ls1 intake, air/egr, ls1 clutch hydro, weak rod bolts, "weak" heads

00 = ls1 intake, air/egr, ls1 clutch hydro, mid-year change to "good" heads and good rod bolts

01+ = ls6 intake, good heads, ls6 clutch hydro, good rod bolts

people on ls1tech will argue that 01+ cars perform so much better than previous years. i disagree. i've been around the ls1 world awhile and had a couple of my own. stay away from 98 cars and you'll be fine.

/end novel