i'm looking at doing an LT1 cam swap in my 87 lb9 it has 081 heads and i was told that the stock heads were good for this swap and the stock valve spings would be strong enough to put up to the lt1 cam i'm running comp cams manum 1.6 rocker arms and just want to kno if this combo will work and will i need major computer tuning if i install this camshaft any help is appreciated thanks .

 

Everything will work fine. Stock lift is .450 .450 for the LT1 cam, put 1.6's on it and it brings it out to .480 on the dot. This is the absolute threshold for your stock heads. I would strongly recommend a new set of springs to freshen up the heads.

However, if you can wing it, why not upgrade your springs and put in a better cam?

You can get some better springs and retainers, better cam and make much much more.

 

Maybe even try the ZZ4 cam. .474 / .510 lift with 1.5:1 ratio rockers. Most will say (I believe) to machine the valve guides in the heads to accomodate the extra lift....but I trimmed the lower edge of the valve retainers (!) to prevent retainer / valve guide interference.....this is not the recommended method, but I did it. No probs with 40K miles of (HEAVY THROTTLE) use.
Bill

 

its a 97-98 lt1 cam and they ran 1.7 rocker ratio i belive so will that mean less lift since i'm using 1.6 ratio lift for thr 97 lt1 is 470=480 i belive

 

No, all LT1's use the same 1.5 stamped rockers as our cars. There is no 98 LT1 as GM switched to the LS1 in '98 f-bodies. The LS1's do have 1.7 rockers but they are not compatible with our engines.

No you will not need any computer tuning as the duration of the LT1 cam is very similar to the TPI cam.

However, if the valve springs are what came on the engine in 1987, I highly suggest an upgrade for those 20 year old springs. By now they're severely worn out and losing pressure. Something such as the GM LT4 springs, or our Manley 22409-16, 22410-16, or 22411-16. And replace your valve stem seals as well, so you wont get that dreaded puff of oil smoke on startup.

 

it puffs oil already , and the guy just said it was 97-98 he wasn't sure but as long as it will work without to much trouble then i'm happy thanks Ryan

 

If I'm not mistaken, I think the last three numbers will be 705 and stamped on the cam if it's a late LT1. The LT4 was 142.