Guest 400HP280z Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 OK. i am doing a v8 swap. right now i have a 94 camaro with an lt1. it has all the high performance goodies. i don't need 2 sports cars so i want to sell the camaro.THEN MY BRAIN STARTED THINKING. maybe i could just use the LT1 and drop it in the 260 and part out the rest of the camaro. the LT1 has around 400-425 HP at the wheels in the CAMARO so i know it would rocket the Z. right now if i don't use the LT1 i need to find a motor and tranny with all accessories. so here are my questions--- 1...should i use the camaro as a donor or sell it and put the money into a new motor for the 260? 2....as far as the PCM GOES DO I HAVE TO REFLASH IT? (IT HAS NO EMISSIONS ON IT NOW AND HAS ALREADY BEEN REPROGRAMED) 3.... can i use the camaro driveshaft and radiator in the Z? 4. ...how much harder is an LT1 swap over a carb motor? 5...with the LT1 in the 260, what will the PCM control, only engine and trans right? any other tid bits of info you LT1 guys have about headers and the wiring and the pcm , please fill me in. i plan on getting a painless wiring harness for the motor and not use the wires from the camaro. heres a link to my webpage for the camaro http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=257565 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 You will need to reflash the PROM. Easy enough with a computer, cable and TunerCat software. You will need to disable VATS, unless you transfer the whole ignition assembly (not worth it). As for using your car as a donor....depends how much you can get for it as is, and how much you can get for a shell. The PCM only controls engine and trans (if Auto). The radiator in the Z28 is too wide. There are cheap options though. Do a search on this site using LT1 as search word. You will need: JTR kit radiator hoses fuel pump headers (Z28 manifolds won't work) Personally, I think it is not much more difficult than a carb setup. I had the carbed engine all setup in mine with a 200 4R until I found a great deal on a LT1/T56 combo. There is tons and tons of info on this board. do a search and ALL of your questions will likely be answered. Tim BTW, before this, I had ZERO experience with fuel injection and with wiring up a PCM...it's not as hard as it may seem. Now I also have a 1994 Z28 for my daily driver (also a deal i couldn't pass up). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 1...should i use the camaro as a donor or sell it and put the money into a new motor for the 260? I say yes. This way you will have all the little parts that you would normally have to buy. Things you dont think about are the little connectors and the little fastners. Those are the types of things that will nickle and dime you to death! 2....as far as the PCM GOES DO I HAVE TO REFLASH IT? (IT HAS NO EMISSIONS ON IT NOW AND HAS ALREADY BEEN REPROGRAMED) Yeah you will have to have the VATS removed 3.... can i use the camaro driveshaft and radiator in the Z? Well I used the Camaro driveshaft but you will still have to have rear section of it fitted with a Datsun adapter. 4. ...how much harder is an LT1 swap over a carb motor? I think it is probably easier. But I hate carbs! LOL I like the fact that once its programmed the right way you dont have to mess with it again. The engine mounting is still the same but now you dont have to move the hood latch. Plus the LT1 looks way better in the engine bay! 8) 5...with the LT1 in the 260, what will the PCM control, only engine and trans right? Yup and your tach...and if you have an electronic speedo it will control that. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddriver Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I would say you can probably get more money out of the camaro as is, and then buy an LT1 from a yard, but if you've already put a lot of money into the camaro, using it as a doner makes sense. You'll want an R200 in that 260 for the kind of power your putting down. The FI install is no big deal. If you don't already have it, I recomend the JTR TPI/TBI swappers guide. They have a nice section on converting carbed cars to FI, and they cover the reasons you need a fuel tank from a FI car, or a small resevour, to keep the car running when fuel in the tank is low. However, if you don't want to buy the book, its enough to say that you should use a fuel tank from a 75/76 FI car. You can use the driveshaft, but it will have to be shortened. In fact, you will end up using about half the driveshaft. The earlier (80's) camaro radiators will work, but I don't know about LT1 rads. You should only need a tape measure to find out for sure. I don't think there is any advantage to buying an aftermarket wiring harness, just take some good notes when you take the camaro engine out, and use the factory harness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 Just an FYI, you don't have to delete the VATS if you don't want to. All you have to do is include the VATS box (about the size of a pack of cigarettes) in the harness and and solder in a resistor of the same value as the pellet in your key. You can even have the resistor on a plug that you can remove when leaving the car. This way you retain the same security feature the Camaro came with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DaMeat Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 I will be the first to throw a stone at JTR, but I actually recommend not to buy the JTR TPI swap book... the reason??? It does not cover the LT1 motor enough... most of the information can be picked up EASILY off searching this board so it is better to spend the $30 towards the Helm book. Only things I got from the TPI book: How to install a mechanical speedo, using an old 4L60 tailshaft. Use a FI tank, or remote reservoir like baddriver said. Send $30 to Tim240z, he saved me the most time so far in my swap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blownd15b Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 I have been browsing around about the LT1 swap, and I have not seen any discution about headers. Does anyone know if you can only use shorty headers or if mid length long tubes would still be in the picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 An LT1 is still a SBC. So, other than port shape and plug angle, header choice has more to do with engine placement. If you put it in the JTR/set-back position you still have to use blockhuggers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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