So I bought a 95 Formula to pull apart for the T-56 transmission. It cost me $1000, under the premise that it was FUBAR. Both front corner panels are smashed in, the driver side door has been replaced (poorly) and doesn't shut, and it showed no signs of life. Bought it from a sketchy body shop in a not-so-reputable area.

So out of curiosity, I plugged in a new battery. Lo and behold, there's life in the old girl yet. Every light on the dashboard is on, but she does move under her own power, and there's no blue smoke, or awful noises.

So now I have reached an impasse. I'm thinking about swapping this into my 83, which has been sitting in my garage for too long, so long as the compression tests out nicely. I'd like to go carbed, as I have a whole bunch of nice parts I've collected for my other build that will work with this setup. I've been using this guide, which is awesome by the way...

http://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-mo...hat-takes.html

So here are my questions:
1) I've read that I can use an old-school roller cam with some minor modifications. But all of the modifications seem to be aimed at making the cam work with an optispark. If I use the carbed intake and an HEI, do I need to still do these modifications?
2)Should I buy a wiring harness? My car came with a carb (albeit an electronic Q-jet).
3)Should I buy the optispark plug for the timing cover? I've heard that I could just gut the optispark, or weld up the hole for it, but lord knows I can't weld. I've also heard that if I do a cam swap, I could just use an old-school timing cover, but I have no idea.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/na...7600/overview/
4) My car came with a blown engine that was using a mechanical fuel pump. Should I use an electric inline pump to replace this?

Thanks for the help guys

 

Get rid of the optispark all together if you plan on carbing it.

 

Yeah, that's the plan. I have a nice MSD setup I'm dying to use. That plug is just expensive for what it is. I'd rather just buy a new timing cover if I can.

 

Ahh ya I just plugged it.

 

I think that's what I'm going to do. It looks like I would have to fabricate a plug to use an old school cover anyways. What cam do you run boss? It's harder to find ltx cams than old school roller cams. I'm hoping that with my hei I can run an old school cam.

 

Its a custom grind cam but dang it's been in there a while now. I will have to go out and find the spec sheet on it. I've gone over cams so many times now with my dad and his cars they all blur together. I plan on stroking it over the winter and going with a tad more lift on the cam so I need to find it. I've been trying to find out how much lift the lt4 heads will allow with the better springs. If memory serves me right I am about 528 right now with 1.6 rr on it.

 

Hmm, that's interesting. I've heard that lt1 heads with lt4 springs can handle about .525 without milling, but that's pushing it. I'm thinking about using a zz4 cam in mine with those springs. I was just wondering if you would need to machine it to work. It wouldn't surprise me to find out the lt4 heads are built to handle more. How much lift is a lt4 hot cam?

 

Oh wait, I read your original post wrong. Ya if your are carbing it take the gear out for the optispark and plug the hole. Then you are free to use whatever roller cam you choose. If your gonna make decent power I would spend the money on the better timing gear. It's been a long time but I remember it not being real cheap and may not be easy to find now.

 

I think the hotcam is 525. Think its the springs on the lt4 that wont handle much more. I turn mine 6k-6.5k all the time with the stock lt4 valve train. Now I can't remember with the hotcam if you can run 1.6 rr or not. The lift on mine is 528 with them so the cam isn't quite as much lift. I would rather not mill the heads but I would like to go with 540ish on the cam and keep my rr if I can. I'm still looking into that. I know I will have to buy at least some beehives just not sure if I can do it without milling.

 

Alright, sounds good. What do you mean by timing gear? Could I just use a sbc timing gear set? And I'm not sure about the beehives. I would think you would be cutting it close, as you would be cutting it close with Vortec heads, and the design is similar. They sell a kit to mill down the retainers yourself. It runs a little over 100 bucks. But obviously there are other costs involved, and you can't do it with the heads on the engine.

 

In a HotRod article (all coiled up) they say that the beehives are good for .550 on unmodified Vortecs, and more if you mill the retainers. I'm not sure if that helps.

 

You could if you plan on using a electric water pump. The original water pump shaft is run by the gear.

 

Ya think I saw that wasn't sure if that was with rr included or not.

 

Well, I think it's just total valve lift. Vizard did a similar build, I'll try to find it.

 

Ya that's what I was thinking. I will probably go with 540 total lift.