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350 truck or car?


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Does it make a difference? I know alot of the V8 ford trucks and cars had a "different" version of their 5.0 as opposed to the Mustang/MarkVIII 5.0 HO.

 

Was it something similar for Chevy or all of their 350 SBC the same?

Ive got a LT1 for sale near my folks house that Im considering picking up but was concerned if it being a truck motor would effect bolt on performance.

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i just joined hybridz today, but ive been on zdriver for bout 5 years. im just about to start my first v-8 swap myself. from what i understand, and dont quote me, the engine blocks are the same, everything internally is the same minus maybe the cam, because different cams would be used in trucks and vans because they are made to haul. as apposed to a v-8 out of a sport car or sedan. and the tranny would be geared different for hauling as well.. well gents thats my 2 cents. if you have any info for someone who has never swapped a v-8 into a z please, help a guy out and pm me. thanks

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If this is an LT1 engine, it won't be from a truck. It should be from a Camaro, Corvette, or possibly an Impalla SS. In general the 350/5.7L engines on trucks are not set up for 'performance' like they are in the cars and yes, the transmissions are geared differently too. If you do happen to pick up a truck motor sometime, you will most likely have to (or should have to) replace the camshaft to get the rpm range higher, suitable for more performance, replace the intake and carb, although many trucks have a 4 barrel carb already, and replace the exhaust manifolds with headers. Many trucks engines have lower compression heads, which don't flow like the performance heads in the cars. Keep in mind that all of this I am telling you is "in general."

 

Now, this list is not inclusive--I would also replace the timing chain with a double roller unit, the rockers with roller rockers, pushrods, etc. More performance means more money and more/different parts many times.

 

Again, if this is a true LT1, it may be fuel injected and computer controlled. What you end up buying changes a lot of things, so let us know what you end up with so we can help.

 

For buying an engine, my rule of thumb is to buy the best performance engine I can afford at the get go if I have to settle for a stock engine in a Chevrolet vehicle. You can always build up from stock as time goes on.

 

 

 

Davy

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Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was looking for. I figured they truck motors were build a little differently and may need to be moded to bring them up to par. Im looking through some different rigs right now trying to find what works for me on my budget.

 

LT1s out of a granny Caddy (fleetwood). Are they any decent?

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Ya, been doing some digging.

 

The B and D body LT1s were rated 260hp while the Y and F range from 300-335. Trying to dig a bit more and find out the details.

 

Would hate to end up with a motor I regret.

 

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hey i got a quick question. alright after reading posts about this jtr manual i just bought one and had it sent to me here in iraq.. hopefully it shows up b4 i leave cuz mail takes for ever out here. anyways, i had some questions about v-8 and transmissions in general. this is my first time working with them. ive heard its easier than sin working on them. i bought a turnkey gen1 block from phoenixmusclecar and a transmission kit from summit. totaled me 3900 bucks. now where does the kick down cable connect to on the engine? is it the carb on the throttle arm? next the vaccume assist on the trans. does that connect to the carb as well and what do they do? i assume the kick down is for when you stomp on it, the tranny kicks down properly so that the engine isnt spinning at full speed when it shifts. and i have no idea what the vaccume assist does. also, as far as mounting a shifting assembly for an auto. does it have to be real precise as to where its mounted? and what are pro's and cons on linkage and cable driven shift assemblys. thanks guys.

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not sure on the mounting but it does matter if its a T350 or a T400, cable tells the tranny to boost line pressure to grab harder, witch is needed for more power. and I think you might be talking about a vacuum modulator...? That tells the tranny when and how hard to shift. but all this is different on 350 400 or a 700r4. if you can find a gen2 700r4 that would me my choice (for an auto) which tranny do you have?

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Ya, been doing some digging.

 

The B and D body LT1s were rated 260hp while the Y and F range from 300-335. Trying to dig a bit more and find out the details.

 

Would hate to end up with a motor I regret.

 

 

 

the F body LT1 was rated as low as 275 horsepower. all have 2-bolt mains except Y which had 4. B and D body were iron heads, F and Y were aluminum. also watch out for the L99 variant from the B-body which is only a 4.3L.

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There is nothing wrong with the Fleetwood LT1, Yeah it is an Ironhead but is identical to the Roadmaster and Caprice otherwise. The Ironheads actually flow better than the stock aluminum heads as they were a later design but they are no good for porting etc.

The Problem is finding an LT1 from and F body that hasn't been beat to death.

Get a nice low mileage B body motor and then swap heads and a cam later.

Stick with an OBD1 motor, 1995 was considered the best. Do a search it has ben written about a lot here.

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Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was looking for. I figured they truck motors were build a little differently and may need to be moded to bring them up to par. Im looking through some different rigs right now trying to find what works for me on my budget.

 

LT1s out of a granny Caddy (fleetwood). Are they any decent?

 

Probably rated at 260hp or so HP. Iron heads and a milder cam when compared to Camaros.

 

A good engine and, in my opinion, the best dressed of the CSBs. It is also the technological end of the line for the CSB b/c GM then went to the LS* Gen III engines for everything.

 

There are small but important differences between the years: most are small design changes to keep the distributer dry. It's located behind the water pump.

 

If you buy it, get everything, every piece and every wire, that even looks like it heads in the direction of your CPU.

 

These engines were all under-rated, both in HP and in performance. The iron heads on the sedans are reputed to outflow the aluminum heads on Camaros. There is a ton of information out there on this motor.

 

Go for it.

 

g

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SCLOBERNOCKER47: What he was trying to say is that the cast iron heads flowed air better than the aluminum ones. I have a 1994 Buick Roadmaster with a LT-1 and it has been VERY GOOD. If you chose the LT-1, first purchase the Power Train Control Module (PCM) software for it from Jet Performance. Once you got that you can tickle the programming of the PCM. Next replace the opti-spark distributor on front with a MSD unit. From then, the LT-1 can be stroked and bored to a 383 cu in, purchase AFR-195 aluminum heads, better camshaft and a better intake manifold etc. The LT-1 is EVERY bit as good as a LS-1 series.
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The LT1 engines have all been discussed before on this web site, do a search and you will find a lot of info on them. When I was researching the LT1 the consensus was 95 with the OBD1 and vented OPTI-spark was the best choice.

I posted a lot of these questions my self 2-3 years ago

TunerCAT and LT1 Edit were the tuning packages of choice, again both are discussed here as well, The various Camaro/Firebird and Impala forums are also good reading.

Good Luck,

Greg

1976 280Z 95 LT1/T56

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