When should I consider an LT1 swap?

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Bones - 20 May 2005 02:12 GMT

Howdy group...

I have a '95 Z28/SS clone with almost 150,000 miles on it. I've always
taken care of it and changed all fluids routinely with synthetic, and even
flush out the crank-case every-other oil change. There's no leaks, and I
only see the occassional puff of smoke from the exhaust when I really punch
the pedal during a fast launch at high RPM. ...Honestly, the motor seems
about as strong as it's ever been.

The rest of the car is also well maintained and aside from the typical fixes
here and there you'd be hard-pressed to guess this car had any more than
60-70k on it.

As for mods, they are only the basic ones: Borla cat-back, 1LE elbow,
throttle-body air-foil, SLP/SS suspension, etc.

I've recently retired my ride as a daily driver (hence the high mileage) and
have decided to put some cash into renovating and speeding it up for those
summer cruises.

In a perfect world filled with cash, what I'd really like to do is drop in
an LT4 and supercharge it, but I'm not sure it's worth blowing the bucks on
such a radical change if my present LT1 is still running strong. That being
said, is my motor too geriatric to consider any serious modifications? For
example, is it worth putting the time and money into putting headers in,
only to swap the motor out in a year or two due to failure? ...For that
matter, would it be suicide to (gasp) supercharge this LT1 with 150k on it?
Is there a typical mileage cut-off for when you should not consider doing
any major upgrades to an LT1? I've been told that a motor with high-mileage
can't really handle mods like this, but I've also been told that the LT1 is
an extremely durable motor good for 200,000+ before major renovations become
necessary...

I'm stuck here, because it seems silly to take out this motor and go through
the aggravation and expense if there's still enough life in it to still
tweak it without making it explode. What should I do?

As an aside: if I were to consider an engine swap at some point, would you
recommend another younger LT1, an LT4 (corvette), an LT1 converted to LT4
with the available kit (I hear this pumps out way more power than a stock
corvette LT4), or an LS1? ...I've been told that the LS1 won't fit into LT1
F-bodies without major mods (including a taller hood). I'm not a bank, and
likemost hot-rodders, I'm looking for the most bang for my buck...

Any opinions/insight? Thanks, and sorry for the long-winded post!

-Rob

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Charles Bendig - 20 May 2005 04:04 GMT

> Howdy group...
>
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>
> -Rob

    As for a testiment to the Small Block chevy of any generation...
My 305 in my 84 C-10 2WD pick up Broke the Origanal *FACTORY* installed
timing chain last week. When I bought this Well Abused Red Headed Step
Child, her Title Showed 332,xxx. Im the 7th owner, including two
municipalities, 3 construction companies and two privet owners who
though going to a tire store was the same as a mechanic. So basically
True Miles are VFH (Very f.cking High). I Never Treated this truck like
a new one. She was rode hard and put up wet every time (when the truck
weights 5,780 with fuel and driver and you cross the scales with just
your bed loaded with a total weight of over 12,000 Pounds!, it's rode hard).

    As a further Testiment to it. If I don't find a nice 4WD frame soon, I
may just change the heads to 283 Heads, put a "RV" cam in, a pete
jackson Gear Drive (noisey), a aftermarket intake and holley 550 CFM
Carb. All on a VFH milage short block.

    Would I put a blower on a 150K LT1? Hell Yes I would. Small Blocks
reguardless of generation are made to last. The true killers are head
gaskets, cracked "882" castings, and low oil pressure. A SBC will
survive till about 4.4 pounds of oil pressure.

    BTW: there are Gen 1 & 2 SBC to LS1 conversion moutns on the market
that have slotted bolt holes.

Charles

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Bones3010 - 21 May 2005 16:49 GMT

That sounds like a hell of a truck you have there!

Makes me a little more certain about doing something rather extreme to
my LT1 before simply (or not) swapping the motor...

That being said, does anybody have an opinion about performing the
LT1-to-LT4 coversion kit on my 150k motor? If I were to do this I
would probably put the LT4 hot-cam in at the same time as well as
roller-rockers/lifters, etc. So would all these new-and-improved parts
do okay on my much older (and possibly worn) lower end components, or
would I be looking at a limited life-span? Any idea what kind of
horsepower I'd make with this set-up? The basic LT1/LT4 kit seems to
run about $2500, does this seem like a worth-while expense for my
application?

For that matter, I'm sure it would be fine, but would LT1 headers bolt
up on the LT4 heads?

Thanks!
Rob

> > Howdy group...
> >
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
> a new one. She was rode hard and put up wet every time (when the truck
> weights 5,780 with fuel and driver and you cross the scales with just

> your bed loaded with a total weight of over 12,000 Pounds!, it's rode hard).
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Would I put a blower on a 150K LT1? Hell Yes I would. Small Blocks
> reguardless of generation are made to last. The true killers are head

> gaskets, cracked "882" castings, and low oil pressure. A SBC will
> survive till about 4.4 pounds of oil pressure.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Charles

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