Hey guys. Today I pulled a rear end out of my 97 Camaro that I recently acquired. I'm putting it into my 86.



Pulling it was kind of a pain in the **** because I did it myself, but I managed. The toughest bolts were the control arm bolts....I thought they were going to break, but they didn't, amazingly. My friend was "busy" while I was doing the work, and then he was magically "not busy" when I was done with unbolting the darn thing. Funny how that works he he he. At least, he brought his truck and helped me load it up and bring it to my home. Here it is.



The only bummer is that it has a 2.73 gear ratio. Thankfully, I have a 10 bolt 3.42 ring and pinion in a box, so I'll swap those in, and it will be way better, plus I'll have disc brakes and posi, finally!

I'm not looking forward to doing the proportional valve install (it looks like kind of a pain in the buttocks to do), but oh well. I look forward to it being DONE. I'm going to clean up the rear end housing and paint it with Rustoleum "hammered look" black paint. I think that will work just fine.

Here's the LT1



I'm swapping in the entire LT1 with 4L60e tranny. It should be fun, for the most part.

I plan to do a thread with pictures and mainly wiring pictures, to help out those who will be doing the same swap, if I have the patience to do all of that while I am doing the swap. I cant wait to tweak those LT1 heads and put in a ZZ409 or comparable camshaft. It should be quite an engine, when I'm done with it. Wish me luck!

 

You'll need to swap the springs on those heads to handle that cam. Expect about $350 in parts to do the cam swap between gaskets and springs. I spent about $120 on gaskets/bolts alone when buying my parts for a swap.

The axle will pretty much bolt right in. You will need to get 4th gen e-brake cables though, as the system is different than a thirdgen cable. Its 2" wider so your tires will stick out a bit. Other than that, EVERYTHING bolts up as is with no change.

the LT1 bolts right in, but you'll need to notch the k-member for the AC compressor, or drop a AC delete pully in there. The only LT1 accesories that work without mods are the vette acce$$ories.

 

Thanks for the tips.

I read that even the 92 Camaro's E-brake cables will work. I was careful when I removed the cable ends from the hooks on the brake calipers, so they're ready to be hooked up again to the proper cables.

Oh yes, I realize I will have to tweak the heads a bit, to get that cam in there....VERY worth it, though.

Which head gasket did you use?

I've read that the LT1's aluminum heads are darn good heads, even without porting. The exhaust side is especially nice flowing, from what I've read.

I am definitely not going to need new heads, for what I want to do, which is around 500 horsepower. The stockers will do just fine.

I think I made a wise decision in acquiring that 97 Camaro.

I'm going to ditch the A/C compressor. I don't need A/C up here in Wyoming.

I've seen the 4th gen rears on our cars, and the tires don't seem to stick out too badly...I think it looks pretty good. Everything will bolt right in, for sure, and the only thing I'm not excited about is the wiring for everything. I'm trying to read and read some more about the LS1 harness and LT1 harness and all that in the stickies, until I understand it half way.

It'll happen.....some day soon. I think it will be way worth it.

Again, thanks for the tips.

 

See replies in red.

 

I was thinking the LT4 heads for 500 hp, not the LT1 heads. My mistake.

It's the LT4 castings that are the darn good factory castings.

 

depending on your 3.42 ring and pinion, you may need a ring gear spacer. 2 series vs 3 series carriers.

 

I don't think the LT4 heads will support 500hp without a massive cam either. They don't flow that much better.

I would suggest Lloyd Elliot Stage 2 heads. That could get you close to 500hp at the crank with the 2.5 cam.

http://www.elliottsportworks.com/lt1.html

Or Advanced induction.
http://advancedinduction.com/

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I forgot about the 2 vs. 3 series carrier. Doh!

The bolt holes still line up on the ring gear, though, right? Just a spacer is needed?

 

I've never heard of just adding a spacer for the 2 vs 3 series carriers, but it is entirely possible. Good luck!

 

bolt holes are the same, just need to move the ring gear towards the pinion.

 

I see, so the spacer isn't between the inner part/diameter of the ring gear opening and the outer surface of the carrier shaft or whatever....it's a spacer that goes behind the ring gear and causes it to mesh with the pinion. I have it pictured now. Seems to me it should work fine.

 

In a thread over at LS1tech they showed the difference in a 2 series and 3 series carrier.
the 2 series has the ring gear mounting surface about a 1/4" over towards the drivers side wheel, so the spacer sits between the mounting surface and the ring gear.

here is a pic I found since I can't locate the thread I read the other day.
http://corvetteforum.net/c3/gordon72/carrier2.jpg

 

It all makes sense now. Thanks for the input.