We have a 1994 Camaro Z28 on the channel.The current mods are Mid length Headers.SLP 2OTL exhaust,GM CAI,52mm Throttle body,LT4 1.6 ratio roller rocker arms, lower control arms,Subframe connectors,160 thermostat,Manual fan switch,Drag radials and I ported cylinders heads.All these mods were done a little over 20 years ago.
Well if a Procharger is in the budget that's the way to go.But heads and cam can also work good.Now Procharger with heads and cam is even better.lol.It really all comes down to your budget.But both will give you great power gains.The 24x is great for reliability but remember people have run superchargers on the LT1 for years before the 24x was ever made.Not saying it is not great because it is but if corners need to be cut for budget reasons thats where I would take a chance with the stock Opti spark.
I think it's worth it if you have the budget for it.But if your like me and have a limited budget then that money is better spent elsewhere and when you finally get the car where you want it then add the 24x.But something I forgot was that the 24x comes with a LS1 ECM which is extremely easier to tune.So I will change my answer,If you have a good tuner lined up that can tune the car as it is then skip the 24x until you have the car where you want it power wise.But if you don't have a tuner then you may want to get the 24x because it is so much easier to tune the car and more tuners available to you.
It IS loud and it Does Drone, but in this video we only care about SPEED BABY!! 😂😂 I am 25 with my first 95 Trans Am LT1. Great video! I like that you talk a little slower I feel like I actually learn more compared to modern day TH-camrs. Thank You 💯🔥
Lots of good info in that video. I bought a 94 Tran Am GT about 8 yrs ago. It had most of those mods done when I got it. Cam and CNC ported heads, short tube headers, cold air intake, 4L60e with 2800 stall, and 4.10 posi rear end. Ran 12.3s back then. I ended up blowing up the tranny that was in it, and had it rebuilt with more up grades. After that the oil pump pick up tube came off, and after getting it back on I ended up spinning two rod bearings. Everybody told me to go with an LS motor, with the GTs only being built in 94, I decided to stick with the LT1. So I got a Comp. 383 from Chad Golan, with AFR heads, custom ground cam, and switched to Pacesetter long tubes. Im now on my 2nd rebuilt tranny with a 3200 stall. Hopefully I can get it on a track and see what it runs. Im planning on replacing the exhaust with the speed engineering true 3 inch duels, and possibly a 200 horse shot of Nitrous by years end. Shooting for a solid 10 sec daily driver. If anybody is in the Owensboro Ky area I still have the heads and some other stuff off the old motor.
Yes they are very sensitive to temperature.I know because years ago I did a lot of street racing and 10-20 degrees could be the difference between winning and losing.
I remember my dad’s ‘95 T/A, bought it new. But over the years, it had AZ Speed and Marine CAI, 52mm throttle body, FLP LT headers, Random Tech Y-Pipe into a Borla exhaust, Hypertech programmer and full MSD ignition system and full Hotchkis suspension. Car was awesome
Solid video, I own a 97 LT1 SS 6 speed. Can confirm the cheap/free upgrades do help with throttle response and a little power for the $ , tb coolant bypass, airfoil, 1LE elbow, k&n filter. Next step is a set of speed engineering long tubes should pair nicely with the factory optional SLP 2OTL 3" stainless catback
The 96-97 SS cars are the best looking 4th gen Camaros.The ram air hood looks so aggressive.Thanks for watching and leaving a comment we really appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 you bet , I had a 98 Z28 LS1 M6 a few years before I bought this one. Yes, its a little slower stock for stock especially on a 3rd or 4th gear pull, but 0-60 is about the same imo as they rated the 96/97 SS at 4.9-5.3 seconds. I do miss how easy it was to add power to the ls1 with full bolt ons, but the lt1 has potential as well.
I think they have alot of potential.Like I mentioned aftermarket cylinder Heads closes the gap alot.The only reason I went with the 2002 is because I wanted an SS.And the 96-97 SS is nearly impossible to find in my area.I can't remember the last time I seen one for sale.The 4th gens in general are pretty rare in my area.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I live in Calgary Alberta and bought mine in ebay in Texas (Florida car for past 17 years prior) drove it home and did the import process easy. Was about a 3000 km trip but very fun and decent highway mileage as you know with these 6 speed cars.
My 96 T/A is built essentially exactly as you describe. Slightly beefed rear end, SLP Loudmouth exhaust, beefed clutch since stock just toasted, lt4 heads with hot cam, ported intake, better throttle body, cold air intake, injectors, etc. Just need the sticky tires.
Well these cars are definitely cooler with a manual trans. If you can find a donor car with everything you need then the swap wouldn't be too difficult and rebuilding an automatic can be fairly expensive so I say if it's a manual you want then go for it.
Love this video and thanks for the info. I bought a wrecked 95 Z28 20 years ago and put the complete drive train in a 48 Chevy sedan that i chopped and shortened. Finally getting around to start it. So far ive only bypassed the throttle body. Want to get it started before doing anything else. Running all factory pollution stuff and single 3 inch pipe from the cat back. I do want to take it to the track and will be happy with sub 15 for now
That sounds like a cool project car.I think sub 15s should come pretty easy.The LT1 is a good working engine even stock.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.Hope your project goes trouble free.
Lt1s are simple because the stock heads are good for most applications as is.. and the aftermarket intake manifolds dont really make any more power. Intake, headers and exhaust, cam, and a good tune is all you really need to completely transform these cars.
My first car was a 95 z28 lt1/6spd, it was extremely reliable even with a 17 year old kid driving it lol.. never had trouble with the optispark and the car had almost 180k on it when I sold it
That would be very cool car to have at 17.And I agree the optispark wasn't as bad as the internet made it out too be.Although some people did have bad experiences.I had to replace a couple of them and I still think they aren't that bad.The last one I put on lasted about 20 years before the new owner had to replace it.
I have a pre-vented opti, but it was easy to install the vacuum when swapping in a new one. I had luck with the A1 Cardone as a cheaper option. With he TBI coolant bypass I just eliminated both tees with a straight fitting. I just want a fun sports car I don't care much about racing. I drive a semi for a living...lol
I just had a good friend of mine, give me a 95 Z28. The LT1 has been built and is 11.5 to 1 compression, with the heads ported and it dyno'd 421hp at the wheels. It has long tubes, with 40 series Flowmasters. The 4l60 has been built too. It has 81,000 miles. He blew a head gasket on it, and had another car come along that he liked better. So this car has been sitting 5 or 6 years, out in the sun. So the clear is peeling and the paint is faded. The black interior with leather seats, is nearly mint. Only thing wrong with the interior, is the dash is cracked. Wish it was a 6 speed, but that will come later. Its the best thing thats ever been given to me, for sure. Lol. I want to make it a SS clone.I just had a good friend of mine, give me a 95 Z28. The LT1 has been built and is 11.5 to 1 compression, with the heads ported and it dyno'd 421hp at the wheels. The 4l60 has been built too. Came with and still has a 323 gear. It has 81,000 miles. He blew a head gasket on it, and had another car come along that he liked better. So this car has been sitting 5 or 6 years, out in the sun. The clear is peeling and the paint is faded. The black interior, with leather seats, is nearly mint. Only thing wrong with the interior, is the dash is cracked from being out in the sun. Wish it was a 6 speed, but that will come later. Its the best thing thats ever been given to me, for sure! Lol. I want to make it a SS clone. Just subbed to your channel.
That sounds like a great friend. These make a great project car and making it into a clone SS is a great idea because they look much better with the SS hood. There are plenty of parts available for these cars and alot of parts can be had at salvage yards. Good luck with your new project and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021Its factory red, but my eventual vision for it, is to get an SS spoiler and hood, then do a full color change to black. I agree with ya on the SS hood. That hood alone, makes a drastic appearance improvement on them. I fell in love with the 4th Gens back in 2001, when one of my best friends ordered a brand new SS with an automatic. I forget what GM called that color, but it was the dark blue metallic. Just a gorgeous car. Back at that time, if you had a stock SS, there werent too many other vehicles on the road that were gonna outrun you. Not without them having some moderate upgrades anyway. I think the SS at that time, was advertised at either 320 or 325 HP, which had to be a good bit less than it actually had, because when he would mat that pedal, and it kicked down into passing gear, it felt like a rocket ship launching. Lol. I remember we were heading home at about 3 AM one morning, and the highway home had a bit of a down hill, that when you got to the bottom of it, it went into a nearly mile long straight stretch. Before we got to the end of that stretch, we had that speedo pegged, and it was still climbing. We were easily running at least 160, and most likely a little faster than that. It handled that speed like it was on rails. The only way you knew you were going that fast, was the sound of the engine screaming. He totaled that car about a year after that. So he replaced the SS with a new 2002 Z28, with a 6 speed. The difference in handling between the SS and the Z28 was shocking. The Z did great up to about 130, but if you tried to go any faster than that, it started getting sketchy quick! 😂
Yes at the time these cars were the one's to beat. Not sure why so many people seem to hate them now. I remember when they first unvailed the 93 Camaro and more importantly the 96 SS I knew then I had to have one. I never did get to buy a new one but I owned a 94 for 16 years and have had this 2002 for 5 years now and have no plans on getting rid of it.
I am currently replacing my MSD opti with an ACCEL. When this one goes (or maybe before). I will be doing the torqhead conversion. It's not as much of a performance boost as much as it is an upgrade for reliability & ease of maintenance. It also helps dress up the engine bay. Like you stated in another comment. The engine bay in these cars is very tight. So anything to clean it up goes a long way.
That's good.I will have to look that up.I was thinking of doing a video in the near future of all the options that are currently available for the LT1 as far as the Opti spark is concerned.So this will be on that list.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I have trickflow heads and stock intake (ported) and did a 218/230 .495 / .510 lift 114 LSA cam. Numbers are with 1.5 rocker arms and I put 1.7s in. Cam sounds like a perfect horse gallop lope in a 9.3:1 383. I can rev it to 7k RPM too. Even when doing this (shifting at 7k RPM) the heads and intake were unported and I was running 1.6 rocker arms. I took the heads and intake off to get them ported because I ruined some of the intake to head bolt holes (don't torque these intakes to spec which is 35 ft-lbs.... learned that the hard way... at least I have ported heads and intake now though, lol) Just tighten them up as much as you can with a short wrench or short 1/4 inch drive ratchet. You can probably go a little up in cam from what I did but my current setup is totally streetable and love it and it still revs very high. Plus it will work well with boost and I'm going with a twin turbo kit right now.
Guy they make us put a 70 horse restrictor plate on Throttle body or you raced a air foiled TB which does the same thing . The stocker times for stock LT1 are in mid tens mine does 11 flat stock steel rockers and exaust ive half tracked most built cobras and raced my first 2 flat plane cranks GT350 GT500 if they have a turbo or 2 1/2 wheel on super charger they will run my stocker 97 camaro if not you will get half tracked 1 was Coyote it was depressing to find out the flat plane crank coyote was so weak buy the time the car started getting into rpms i was in next county if hed a dumped it he would have blew hole shot . The reasons you will see 5.0 on 1320 doing 200 miles per hour in quarter is they have 411s stickies big wheel on supercharger or twins and 500 shot of Nitrous you are wimpy 302 chevys 302 was wimpy too the 69 camaro that made history was totally gutted heads turned into sb2 with epoxy . your car weighs 3700 plus pounds no driver no gas a 4th Gen Camaro 3100 pounds the 348 stroke is 60 horse 90 ft lbs of tork more than youre engine with 10 and a half 2-1 compression thats the foundations that make the gforce you feel a max naturally asparated cobra t40 aftermarket heads and big cam only make 350 Hp and 300 tork at fly wheel a Lt1 with stock exaust cats gutted good cai combo port matched exaust runnersand manafolds stock steel rockers and idle air hole drilled out to 1/8 inch idles a little high makes 400 ponies at wheels and 430 tork with cam only having 400 lift even though its 450 460 cam cause stock rockers are not 1.5 tb is now 807 cfm a 54mm you actually got ripped of by ford you got the gas milage of a tank with a 351 Cleveland shy the crank muscle That was a great engine .. That was the Mach 1s the 65 352 Great Engine think they have 351 now but got flat plane crank The design of it is for 1500 pound Indy car I did love the 302 in 5 speed mustang 2 it was a pinto body that became Cobra 1st year or 2 but the 350 chevy would beat it to pulp But had Gusto Then you got Fords new designs if you hit the 16 thousand Rpm that makes the 500 HP The pistons melt bad cooling in block or friction from RPms my friend has 2024 coyote been rebuilt 7 times and before 6th month of year so when you go bragging before look up melted pistons and mustangs and 20,000 to rebuild looks good sounds super cool but its a motor cycle engine lol sorry kid thats the Truth if you think of it that way it might last you long time flat plane crank is crotch rocket engine my z28 outruns them too
Lloyd Elliot is top dog as far as heads cam intake combos. Guy really knows these engines. Anyone else just wants your money and that's it.. and still don't match his work 🤣🤣
Yes I have heard lots of good things about his work.He was actually making a name for himself 20 years ago when I used to spend hours on the CamaroZ28 forums.And I agree completely that the Gen 2 LT1 is a great engine.
Got one in my 1986 c1500 short bed hei distributor Holley 600 street warrior 700r4 it do pretty good I think with gear upgrade it will get out your way .
Love my LTjunk. 96 Z28 M6. 355, stock ported heads by LE, custom cam by LE, torquehead swap, pacesetter longtubes to y-pipe to flowmaster 80 series. Stock 10-bolt. Been looking at swapping the 10-bolt and doing some safety stuff before hitting the track. 420whp, 430 torque
The second gen LT1 is a great engine in my opinion.Lloyd Elliott cam and heads were a great choice,He has been doing the LT1 stuff for a very long time.Those are great numbers especially the torque.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I have never had a flow master system but I have heard them.They have a nice exhaust tone.A single 3" system is plenty good enough for a street car.Thanks for watching and commenting we appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 oh nice! Definitely looking forward to setting it up. Got it as a Christmas gift but you have to weld all the pieces of piping together, the set gets rid of my catalytic converters and replaces them with bolt on test tubes I can swap on when it comes time to smog.
I went throug 2 optis, got my thrid one opened it up and reinforced all the screws and threw some qbond on the rotor, never went through another one again its been 5 years now
Yes and no.If it's a 93-94 then probably never need to tune it If it's 95 and newer you will need a tune but only to get rid of the check engine light.It doesn't have to be tuned right away.It will run fine without a tune but eventually the check engine light will come on and may drive you crazy to see it on.lol.
Hell yeah i love this video. My channel Ryan's Music&Motors (not the one im commenting with now) i have my 97 z28 on. Its under 100k still but i got it 3 years ago and it had alot of slp stuff already on it. Guy tried saying it was lt4 swapped in from one of the 108 97s that were made but its not. Its lt4 cammed and headed tho with bbk twin 58 th and duel cone slp unit for the intake. Intake manifold and head castings were the stock ones along with everything else it had slp shorties on it too with the loydmough exhaust which rusted out so i straight piped it myself put lt headers deleted the cats and all the emmissions off the car and deleted them out of the computer. Also swapped in a rear end from an 01ss car 3:23 gears and its got the zexel gear carriers which seem stronger and more even. Problems im having though is the 4l60e trans which stumbled me across this vid and your channel surprisingly but im glad it did. I currently do not have 23 or 4th gear rn all do to the pump failing, converter not working or engaging properly and now no 2 3 or 4 gears. Itll shift into 2nd tho if im at a high enough rpm range but even after its limited and i didnt test it any further than that lol. But im headed balls deep into making a stock 4l60e trans that works within the 2 others that i have and getting some new solenoids, servo, harnesses, stuff like that. I need tuned tho and have access to the equipment to do so but not the knowledge. When i get to that ill research more but as far as quarter mile goes i have some et streets on it. Just 275,50,zr17s and my best run on the street has been 12.7 at 109 with a 1.70 60 ft. Havnt been able to make it on a track after my latest mods before having more trans issues. But any info you coukd share on the later 4l60e 1 piece transmissions would also be helpful! Technical deeper than surface level info i mean? I also have a balanced and specd aluminum driveshaft and have swapped my opti with a duralast gold which has worked magnificiently this past year. Car currently has 96k on it. All leather, 30th anniversary. Pristine condition too mind the cheap gm 90s plastics lol. But ive got damn near every interier piece including headliner to go in the car when i get to it. Im most focused on making a good stock budget 4l60e work with as few purchases as possible lol. Budget build! Again i appreciate your channel and love this vid! Long live the 2nd gen lt1! -Ryan Sutton, Southern Indiana
You got it working good,12.7 is very good for what's done to it.As far as the 4L60E is concerned I really don't know that much about building one but there are lots of channels here on TH-cam that can help you,mind you most don't share all the info needed to overhaul one.But between what they do show and a book from Amazon called ATSG 4L60E / 4L65E Update handbook you should be able to get it done.Transmissions are complicated but with enough info you can do it.As far as tuning you can just start with the stock program and just make tiny changes then test until you get it where you want.Good luck on your build I too have been thinking about rebuildng my trans when it enevibly dies......They all do eventually.
@LSxMotorsports2021 haha that's awesome man!! Yeah I had recorded all the content from the rear end swap then phone broke and after getting another one I could get back into my old Google account. Then a year later my phone was stolen and I had 2 step verification on my TH-cam channel and hadn't ever logged into with another device or nothing I've always dine everything on my phone until recently. But yeah you must have seen my lt header swap then that's awesome bro thank you for the sub! I'm working with Google and TH-cam to try and get my old accounts back bc I know the damn passwords lol. But yeah I prolly won't rebuild a trans. I'll prolly just upgrade to manual valve body and get a new cooler, vcc harness, solenoids and a vette servo or something if I've got the funds. Right before it happened I sold my Envoy so camaro is my only vehicle rn besides my fiances challenger. But yeah I'm glad I found your channel man it's good shit, good Info. I love the "we don't care about dyno numbers n shit here were all about quarter mile time n testing lol" had me sold!
@ryansutton1366 Yeah I definitely prefer 1/4 mile times over dyno numbers.Our cars aren't that fast but we are building them on a more realistic common man budget.lol.It takes time.
@LSxMotorsports2021 brother it really does. And life also hits you at times like I said I've had this car nearly 3 years now I think so yeah. And I'm down with another fucked 4l60e lol. That's twice now. Both happened completely differently so it's def got me puzzled
I just bought my first car which was a 97 firebird with a lt1 5.7 swap with bbk long tube headers and a magnaflow and a swapped cam and aftermarket air intake and I wanted to try to get it tuned because I know she’d perform better and drive better but I don’t know where to start what tips/tricks do y’all recommend?
Congratulations that's a great first car.As far as tuning goes these cars are a little tricky.I am assuming you just want someone else to tune it.First off if there are Dyno shops in your area you can check with them to see if they can tune your car.If not you may need to get a tune from someone online.The best place to search is on forums for the 4th gen cars.PCM for less is a place I used many years ago and they are still doing it last I checked.As far as tuning it yourself I have no experience doing so,I have tuned my 2002 camaro but was lucky because you can use HP tuners which will not work on a 97.We do have plans to try and learn to tune these cars in the future but right now we have not.A dyno shop is the best option but if that is not available to you then a tune from someone online is your best option.Good luck with your new car and let us know how you make out.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
Well there are several places that sell polished valve Covers.Summit racing carries a few different brands.When I had my 94 Camaro I searched Ebay and got a set of Corvette valve Covers which are black composite.As far as fitment obviously the stock Covette ones fit perfectly but just check for reviews on any of the polished ones.Wish I had a better answer for you but I have always used stock GM.
Is it a wise decision to do a torque converter prior to doing cam and heads? IMO if going with that kind of combination it's far better to decide on torque converter and gears once the car has been dynoed to see where power and torque peaks are.
Yes you are correct. Planning everything out in advance is definitely the best way to go and getting the best torque converter for your car would involve getting it built based on your cam and heads and the power your making. Unfortunately for me and many others being on a budget plans constantly change. But yes you are correct.
Thanks for the info very helpful on the lt1 mods .i have 96,97 Firebird t.a ws6 with the T 56 trans all stock as of yet but im getting into it now in my free time and extra money that i save so anything that helps me save money were i can is much appreciated. I need a cam,bigger fuel injectors,possibly pcm upgrade electric waterpump.trying to get close to 450 hp as i can what size injectors would i be looking for?and does the throttle body itself need to be bigger as well? And what pcm would i be looking for? Thanks again dude your knowledge on this stuff is amazing.
The PCM you have now will be fine for the horsepower you are looking to make.Just have to find a good tuner for it which if there is no one in your area that can tune it there are still guys on the Internet that can tune it.An injector upgrade is definitely a must and as for size your better off picking a company you want to buy from then call their tech line and tell them you're plans for the car and they will spec you out the perfect set of injectors.I plan to upgrade my injectors also.I am going with Deatschworks injectors.I was going to buy 39 lbs injectors but decided that when I get around to it I will call their tech line and tell them what I have and what my plans are and let them recommend the proper injectors.Also make sure which ever brand you get that they have a data sheet for them.That is very important for tuning for the new Injectors.As far as making 450 hp with an LT1 that shouldn't be too hard many have done it.You will probably need a set of cylinder Heads.You can go aftermarket or port your current cylinder Heads.There is a guy named Lloyd Elliot who has made a name for himself porting LT1 cylinder Heads and specing out cams for these engines.The stock throttle body is probably good enough to make 450 hp.It you do upgrade the throttle body I would probably wait until after the cam and heads before doing so.Of course before going into the engine you will want the bolt ons first because they will be needed to support the cam and heads.A good cold air intake and Longtube headers with a good cat back exhaust is where everyone starts.Also keep in mind if you want to run the 1/4 mile you will need to upgrade the rear differential to something stronger.But if you are just building the car for fun and don't care about 1/4 mile times then the stock rear will be fine just no hard launches or power shifting.Good luck with your build and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I have a 93 camaro but im not sure the motor is a 93. Ive read in some forums the 93 had non heated 02 sensors. Mine are on the exhasut system..so idk. Maybe they changed it mid year? Since everyones listing their mods, i traded a over under citori for mine. It had sat at a auction yard 2 years. It sounded like a bad motor, it was only a header gasket. I had no clue what was done to it. It has a prom chip, rusted edelbrock headers, y pipe, flow master dual outlet muffler, k&n cold air intake, and some 18 inch street tires all around. Best trade i ever made. It needs suspension work, but itll hit 135 before it touches over drive. Oh yeah, its an automatic.
Not sure about the O2 sensors but the 93 cars were the only ones that used a replaceable Eprom chip and they also used Speed density tune instead of using a Mass Airflow Sensor.Sounds like a fun car.
@LSxMotorsports2021 last night I found on shbox's f body lt1 website how to go from a non heated 02 to 2 heated 02 sensors on a 93. Who knows anymore. It's got 3 years on me 🤣
I have a '97 SS that I'm slowly "restoring" upgrading. Thanks for this video. I don't think I'll get to upgrading the heads, would it be worth porting the intake manifold with stock heads?
A 97 SS.......The 96-97 Camaro SS are without a doubt the best looking and most aggressive looking Camaros of the 4th gens.Porting the stock intake probably won't do much but if you can then why not.The reason I say it won't do much is because it already flows pretty damn good but if you can do it cheaply it is always worth porting factory intakes.Just try to keep the ports of the intake the same as the intake ports on the cylinder heads because you don't want the air to hit a wall as it enters the cylinder Heads.Awesome car by the way and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
Recently started fixing up my new 94 ls1 and I just wanna make sure I push my car and get up and running all I need now is a fuel tank but do you know what would be a better exhaust system for the car. I’m look for loud and rowdy
Well pretty much all the systems made for this car are single 3" systems so they all perform about the same. The SLP loud mouth is pretty rowdy and is priced better than most. Speed engineering also makes a true dual exhaust that is made for the 98-02 camaros but minor modifications and it will work as long as you have headers to go with it.
That's what I hope to see on this video is everyone adding their opinions and experiences with these cars.I know I left out things on this video and hope you guys add your favorite mods in the comments.Thanks for watching and being the first to comment.We really appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I own a 94 firehawk and 97 30th anniversary ss. I just torquehead swapped both. It's nice being able to tune them with the ls1 style computer. It's such a pain find a tuner for them now day.
@@regblkss I was aware of this mod but I wasn't aware of it using a LS1 PCM until I read your comment and went and watched a video about it.That would definitely make tuning alot easier.You have some very cool cars by the way.👍
I put torquehead 24x on mine too. Using a holley terminator x ecu and swapped to coil on plug using stock gm 5.3 truck coils. I did get the longtube headers from speed engineering but they fit like shit. Y pipe didn't line up at all. Had to clearance stuff for steering on driver side and switch to tubular k member so the header didn't hit the stock motor mount on the passenger side. Next on my list is a Strange Dana s60 rear end.
Thanks for watching and commenting.See it's good to hear from you guys because we are always pushing Speed engineering headers but seems they are not so good for the LT1 fbody.
Thank you for the great information. I have a 1994 camaro Z28 and my transmission only has 2 3 Drive and over drive is there any way to be able to hold it in first gear manually?
I am not sure.I think the cars that came with 2:73 gears came without the ability to shift down into 1st gear where as the cars that came with 3:23 could be shifted down to first and held there.Now it's been said that manually shifting these electronicly controlled automatics is hard on them.Now I am assuming you want to do this for doing burnouts?I know I was never happy with the way these cars shifted because unless your really into the throttle they up shift way too soon which I fixed with tuning so my car shifts pretty aggressive now.But no I don't think you can manually hold first gear in your car because it originally came with 2:73 gears and I say that completely from memory and my memory is not that good.lol.
There’s a tab under the shifter that you can “remove” And it’ll let you go down in first , and then you can swap the gear cover to one that has the “1”
LS swap is what id do to any 93-97 lt1 that's just me. Prefer the 350 tbi and vortec over the lt1 for alot of reasons. LT1 can handle 150-200 shot of nitrous from idle if you decide to race it. Thats about all id do to one and blow it up.
I get where your coming from. But I personally feel there is alot of potential in the LT1 but of course I have an LS1 so maybe I would feel different if I was trying to modify one today.
Good info. I had 2 LT1 cars. A black 96 WS6 Formula auto and a 93 LT1 Firehawk Formula with the M6. Both cars ran damn good. The 96 with a Borla 2 3/4 Y pipe that I put on ran a best of 13.9 @101 mph. Dynoed 281 rwhp. The 93 LT1 Firehawk M6 trans dynoed 309 rwhp after Mac mid lengths headers, 160 thermostat and a tune from PCMforless. Best 1/4 was a 13.6 @ 103 with a terrible 2.3 60ft. Beat plenty of LS1 cars and also got beat by a few LS1 fbodys. I did all the mods myself. Except tuning. Got some videos of the Firehawk on my channel. I changed out the opti spark and water pump on the 93 Firehawk. The original lasted 130k ! Only use AC Delco / Delphi opti sparks. Aftermarket even MSD is junk they will not last !!! LT1 is a great engine . Loved mine and beat a lot of cars with it. I wanted to go with a Loyd Elliot ported heads and a CC 503 cam but never went that route. Sold the Firehawk about 6yrs ago. Super clean Firehawk.
I agree they are great cars.I have a LS1 car now but owned a 94 Z28 for 15 years or so.I would say the LT1 cars are the best way to get into the car hobby today if your on a budget.Thats for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.Oh and I will go check out your video now.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 Thanks. I came real close to getting a LS1 TA. Really like the 4th gens , owned a couple 3rd gens TAs to. I like all the F body’s some are better than others but still love em all. I ended up with my current 81 TA. My brother has 76 TA Both are not stock and run very good. Check ‘em out when you get time. You got a great channel and I will be tuning in 👍
Is there anyone that you would recommend to go to that has a lot of knowledge about the the lt1 motor because I’m having oil pressure issues did the head gasket replacement 2 years ago broke the original oil pressure sensor replaced that 2-3 times still reads low oil pressure got a mechanical one hooked it up to the lower part of the motor still reads low I’m not sure what’s causing low oil pressure no grinding no lifter tick it’s been driving for the last 2 years no problems besides low oil pressure and the gauges even read 0 sometimes jumps up when reving the motor but another issue is when reaching top speed so 120 and up it would maybe touch 130-135 and during that the gas pedal would be pressed maybe 50-60% down and anymore you can feel more fuel being added/hear it but no more speed gain
Well it is essentially a small block so any mechanic should be able to diagnose your problem. If you already replaced the oil sending unit several times then there is a good chance that you have low oil pressure because the bearings are wore out. But if it is still running and not knocking then you could try running thicker oil. As far as the top speed goes your pushing against alot of air and once you hit those speeds they don't accerate very fast and with these cars being old your probably a little down on power. When new these cars would top out at around 150 and that was the manual cars the automatics were a little slower.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 thanks for the insight yes it’s a 6 speed manual supposedly it’s a 350 thats stroked out to 383 but I don’t know how I would confirm that and no I haven’t replaced the oil pump or even opened the oil pan I’m going to have to soon because it started leaking oil recently I’m not sure from where and my differential as well but it’s been my daily since high school it was given to me from my dad and during my junior year to senior year is when we did the head gasket replacement started to tear it down Dec 14,2022 and it was completed feb 10,2023 I was still in high school during the time and he was working a full time so job it took us a little bit longer that anticipated but it ended up with a low oil pressure issue at the end and we don’t know why we lashed the valves ourselves using a TH-cam explaining how to lash them on a 350 block
@@LSxMotorsports2021 Some forums form 2011 said they did it by removing the box, getting a throttle cable from a non TCS car, then tricking the connector with 3.6 ohm resistor. Does that make any sense to you? If not, how would I get that stupid box out of my way so I can put bigger valve covers on?
Yes I believe that would work. I thought about doing it myself but don't want to remove too many parts from the car incase I want to sell it one day and put it back to stock. But yes that should work for you.
@LSxMotorsports2021 Cool. I figured it'd just be one of those quality of life upgrades like the fan control unit. Mines not mint anyway so if I sell it it'll just be going to some other broke goober looking for cheap muscle. Thanks a bunch, great video too. Not too much reliable info on these given ppl like the LS1 face-lift cars more.
Thanks for watching and commenting. And other that the Opti spark issues I actually prefer the 93-97 cars myself. The Camaro just looks better without the catfish nose.
Well there are a few to pick from.They are pricey unfortunately.Hawks Motorsports sells a Ford 8.8 modified to fit the 4th gen fbody.Strange engineering and Moser both sell several different rear end housings from the Ford 9" to GM 12 bolts.It really comes down to your budget.It looks like the modified Ford 8.8 from Hawks motorsports would be the cheapest but they are all expensive.You can also look for a used one.Rare to find but they are out there.Example someone upgrades there 4th gen with a 12 bolt then over time start making more power and upgrade to a stronger Ford 9".Good luck and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I can vouch for the strange s60, even at +/- 350 whp I couldn’t keep a 10 bolt in my ws6 to save my life lol it’s been over 4 years and about 30k miles so far with my s60 and it went right in like stock aside from requiring an adjustable panhard bar
I've got the Kooks 1 7/8's headers on my 97 Z28. They are top notch quality, but took some work to get installed. Passenger side was pretty easy coming from underneath, but the driver side I had to remove the steering knuckle to make clearance and had to come from the top. In the end, I love them!
Good question.Well as far as boost the pistons are the weakest point so most aftermarket super chargers limit boost to 5-7 pounds.N/A with full bolt ons and heads,Cam and intake they usually make between 380-450 RWHP depending on how good the aftermarket heads are.The 98-02 LS1 cars tend to out perform the 93-97 LT1 cars because of the better cylinder Head design.All the cars suffer from weak rear differentials and the automatic cars have weak transmissions.The LS1 cars are easier to tune because they are supported by the latest tuning software like HP tuners.Parts are widely available for all these cars so there is no end too what you can do to these cars.As is always the case research and money will determine how much power you can make.These cars are definitely a bargain compared to most other cars on the used car market.
@LSxMotorsports2021 very good answer thank you for that!, i was wondering if you ever uad to do a manual swap from an automatic? Most of the camaro i see are automatic. I was wondering how hard of a job and how much it would cost to swap it manual? Thanks for the help brother much appreciated!
@francisdoucette3902 I have never done the swap but the parts to do it should be easy to find.Probaby the easiest way would be to find a wrecked manual car and use all the parts from it to swap with the automatic.I am sure it's been done many times.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
@LSxMotorsports2021 thx for the quick reply man, im also looking at a transam 1998 ws6 manual with 200k on the odometre the high milleage is kinda scaring me it has the ls1 in it. If i buy it it would probably be to turbo it in the futur!
@francisdoucette3902 Yeah that is high mileage but if it runs good and the price is right the WS6 cars are the best looking of the bunch and getting harder to find.
Yes your right I forgot that. I actually did put a Corvette servo in my transmission but that was long before I started this channel. Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I am 16, my first car is a 1994 SLP Firehawk Formula. 4-speed automatic with overdrive with the LT1 engine. It is completely original except for an underdrive pulley. I can hardly find any information on the car and cannot figure out what modifications to do to my car. There are some issues with the car, being the optispark leaking, the mirrors not moving up or down electronically (can move left and right), passengerside window motor is very slow, and a very high pitched noise coming from inside the dash by the driver side sounding like it's coming from inside the A/C. After I get the issues repaired, I am unsure of what modifications to make. Any suggestions?
That is a great first car.I would do exactly what you said fix all the issues the car has first.Now after that you could add a cat back exhaust to get it sounding the way you want.At your age your probably better off not sinking too much money in modifications to the car especially because they tend to have more value when they are unmodified and that car being a firehawk it could possibly have some collector value in the future.But if you do want to modify it more there are lots of suggestions in this video.Crongrates on your first car you got a cool one.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 Really appreciate the fast reply and your help on the situation. My parents and I were just talking about it today; keep the car original after fixing it, then get a 2016 Civic to use as a project car. Is that a good plan or should I get a different car?
Well keeping the Firehawk original is a great idea.But as far as getting a civic for a project car......Well your asking the wrong person.lol.I hate those cars.But you need to pick the car that you like best and not listen to someone like me.lol.But the car hobby is a good one and will probably stay with you for life.Good luck with your Firehawk and let us know what you end up doing we enjoy hearing from you guys that are watching.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 Thank you for your help, quick replies, and support! Love the channel so far, I’ll keep my eye open for more videos in the future! ❤️
I don't have any experience with the manual on these cars but it sounds to me like you have a bad throwout bearing but hopefully someone else will see this comment and offer a opinion.
Oh yeah it would be tough living in a area with strict emission laws.Not sure how much you can do to a car in your case.Might have to keep it fairly stock and use nitrous.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
@@Bford84 Good luck on that. I used to live in California, and it was bad once I got headers installed. I'd say just stick to whatever you can get that is CARB certified, and go that route. Anything more SMOG shops won't want to touch you, and if you get stopped and State Reffed, you could be screwed. Not worth it out there.
Did I say that?I must have made a mistake.3:73 gears are a good upgrade for the LT1 auto and 4:10 for the manual.I don't know why I would have said that.For the TPI engines in the 3rd gens I definitely wouldn't go more that 3:23 if you stick with the stock TPI.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I had the stock 3.23's, and got a free set of 3.42's. Swapped those in. From what I've read in the past, many have said that 3.42's tend to be a sweet spot for the A4.
Well I have never done a swap like this but it has been done many times. Here is a link to a video that may help th-cam.com/video/VCJDH2HIW8M/w-d-xo.html Good luck with your swap.
I believe they said the loud mouth 1 is a little more raspy then the loud mouth 2.I think the difference between the two is the bullet style muffler on the original was hollow and the 2 has some packing in it.But it's been awhile since I checked these out.I think you will be happy with either.I 1 is probably just a tad louder.
@@carlosvaldez9177 I found this for you on google.Both Loudmouth styles are loud; no doubt about it. The LM1s give a little more internal resonance whereas the LM2s are a little more mellow and don't flood your interior with the drone. The LM1 is slightly louder and the LM2 is slightly mellower, but they are both straight-through design so they will wake up the neighbors.
Well I will be honest with you I know absolutely nothing about lowering a car. Roads are way too bad around here so I have never done it. But there should be many kits out there for these cars.
Well you could but it would be alot of work. I am assuming you have a V6 Firebird. It can be done but most likely cheaper to sell the V6 car and buy a good V8 car.
OK well it can be done. Easiest way is to find a donor car. Something that runs but has been wrecked or maybe has rust damage so you can get it cheap but still has everything you need to make the V8 swap.
so i have a 96 ss and it seems when i idle it starts to heat up and coolant light comes on only sometimes but when i start moving temp goes down. is this normal? and if not how can i fix that
May want to check to see if the fans are coming on.Sometimes they quit working for various reasons.When the car is moving the fans rarely come on but when idling they will come on when the engine reaches a predetermined temp.Probably a simple fix.Just do a search on google or youtube.Never had this problem myself so not sure the procedure but when I don't know how to do something I can usually find a fix online.Good luck and thanks for watching and commenting.Wish I could have been more helpful.
You know your stuff.I was going to make my own fan switch for my car but doing videos for people with varying levels of mechanical skills when it comes to working on cars I decided to go with the premade switch from casper electronics.It just makes it easier for everyone watching and less chance of someone doing something wrong.
Yes most of these modifications will work with the caprice.The engines are essentially the same except the cylinder Heads on the caprice I believe are cast iron instead of aluminum and the caprice has lower compression because of that.And some of these would need to be caprice specific like Headers and exhaust but most of the parts should be available for the caprice.
If you're talking about the kits you buy online on eBay ect.Just get the cheapest one because it is a very simple mod and doesn't require expensive parts.Just make sure you buy from a trusted source.
That's great.So what's your opinion of it?Be good to know how it worked out for you so others watching this video have a idea what to expect if they decide to go that route.
Well first off your 93 has special needs because it is the only year that used speed density.The 94-97 all used a MAF system.Which means it can't adapt as easily to bolt ons.You can get away with a few bolt ons but eventually it would start running lean.I was going to suggest switching to the torque head system which does away with the opti spark and replaces it with the LS1 coil packs and a LS1 PCM but I checked and they are not listed for the 93 cars.So if you wanted to get serious with mods you would first need to find a tuner who can tune these 93 cars.The 93 cars are also the last cars to use the replaceable E prom chip.If you can find a reliable tuner then your good to go and do whatever your budget allows.Like any other engine the LT1 is a big air pump,The more air you can get into it the more fuel that can be added and the more power it will make.
Thanks,I didn't know about this product.Seems like there are more options out there then I thought.Here is a link to the LTCC www.bailey-eng.com/product/ltcc-lt1-coil-per-cylinder-converter/
@@LSxMotorsports2021 if the“opti” park of the optispark is still working it intercepts the signal and reads the low res sensor to determine which cylinder is about to fire. The GM computer still does all the timing, but when it fires the LTCC sends a signal to the corresponding coil pack and fires the cylinder. You can also read and tune the 94-95 ecm’s with a $20 cable. Look up ecmhack. You can turn your fans on at a much cooler temp without a fan controller.
The rear end in the V6 is the same as the V8 cars.They are weak and break easy if you have a sticky tire and a manual .If you plan on doing any serious drag racing then yes you will want to upgrade the rear end.But if you are just using your car to cruise around in then you will be fine just don't do any hard launches with it.
Yeah some people have constant problems with the Opti spark and for some reason others have very little trouble. The black 94 that is on this channel has had alot of problems so he got the torqhead and it has been good so far.
Well the 94 Camaro I had didn't have the vented Opti.In the fbody's they added the vented Opti in 95.I think it was used earlier in the Bbody's (Buick roadmaster and Chevy Caprice).
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I have an early 94 and it has the vented.i guess it depends on where the engine was produced vented or not.correct by vin as a vented.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 they give the option spark a bad rep but I have found it watertight and dependable.been through water deep enough to soak the air filter without a misfire,still factory unit with a new cap and rotor at 350,000 miles and no issues
That's really good.Yeah I think they can be problematic but I think it was blown out of proportion.There are lots of people who have gotten lots of problem free miles from these engines.
@LSxMotorsports2021 yea I know but we all know it just makes sense. Specially with these plug and play harnesses they make these days. The 96 97 obd2 cars are verry limited on tuning options. Cheaper to.just get a harness and 0411 pcm then the tqhead setups.
Yeah this is true.But it really depends alot on your budget and ultimate goals for your car.What your saying is true but if you're ultimate goal is a good driving 12 second car that can be achieved with the LT1 and even a stock Opti spark.I know lots of people have had alot of problems with the Opti but there is also many who have had no issues with the Opti spark.The tuning thing is an obstacle but there is software available to tune these cars.Personaly I have an LS1 car and it is very easy to tune and very reliable so I definitely get what you are saying.But at the same time I really like the gen 2 LT1 and think it has plenty of potential.
@@bnastystuntzAn LS swap isn’t just a plug n play harness away. The K member is different, computer is different, engine mounts are different, splines on the trans are different. Hate it when people say “just LS swap it” like it as simple as swapping a light bulb out lol. My LT1 has been super reliable over the 7 years I’ve owned it and could kick the shit out of any stock LS1 all the while my exhaust doesnt sound like a truck.
Best mods. Junk the LT1. Junk the plastic fuel lines. Junk the PCM, BCM, junk all the plastic inside. Hell junk the whole car. I have a 94 z28. That I’m gonna gutt and install a Coyote in it. Already had a K member fabricated for it to install the Coyote.
Well that's probably not what most people watching would want to do with their cars.The coyote engine is cool though.But if your a mustang guy that coyote engine would be cooler in a foxbody.
Lol a coyote engine in f body. You must be trying to get back at the LS boys that ripped out the 5.0 in the foxbody and put a LS in cause they wanted to go fast. Lol might want to research the newer 5.0 engines especially the 2012 -2017. They have issues. There not all that. If you like spending money a 2018 5.0 low mile engine and up isn’t going to be cheap. Don’t forget tuning especially if you plan on using the Ford 10 spd auto. Good luck finding a tuner that knows what he is doing. Yep got a buddy with big bucks that put a 2022 5.0 coyote / 10 spd auto in a 91 Mustang GT. He is on his 3rd tuner. Problem is getting the 10 spd auto to shift right.
@@mattspontiacta 2011-2014 has week rods. 2015-2017 no real issues basically the same engine as the BOSS. 3rd gen coyote is great But the 2nd gen is Easier to MOD. I know each gen inside and out. Have 4 of them. On all of them. The typewriter tick that comes along. Is the shim for the thrust bearing on rear main.
Jesus christ dude. Add up everything you just said suspension, fuel system, cam ,heads , rear end exhaust. Now you will find its the same as building a stroker motor or an ls crate. The lt1 is ok but with everything available today it's a huge waist of time. Just buy a fucking crate save yourself hours and days of heartache.
I get what your saying. But you don't install all this stuff at once. These are modifications made over a long period of time. And as far as a stroker motor or LS swap your still going to need all the bolt on parts for your new engine for it to perform. You're still going to need the suspension parts for it to put the power down. Throw a stroker motor in this car with everything else being stock your not going to be much faster than the stock motor. If money isn't an issue then just buy a 6th gen ZL1 and leave it stock.
We have a 1994 Camaro Z28 on the channel.The current mods are Mid length Headers.SLP 2OTL exhaust,GM CAI,52mm Throttle body,LT4 1.6 ratio roller rocker arms, lower control arms,Subframe connectors,160 thermostat,Manual fan switch,Drag radials and I ported cylinders heads.All these mods were done a little over 20 years ago.
With everything you know now days. Do you suggest getting the 24x and ProCharger or leaving Opti Spark in and just doing some heads/cam/rockers?
Well if a Procharger is in the budget that's the way to go.But heads and cam can also work good.Now Procharger with heads and cam is even better.lol.It really all comes down to your budget.But both will give you great power gains.The 24x is great for reliability but remember people have run superchargers on the LT1 for years before the 24x was ever made.Not saying it is not great because it is but if corners need to be cut for budget reasons thats where I would take a chance with the stock Opti spark.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I agree with all of that. Do you think the 24x is worth even getting even if your NOT gonna boost it?
I think it's worth it if you have the budget for it.But if your like me and have a limited budget then that money is better spent elsewhere and when you finally get the car where you want it then add the 24x.But something I forgot was that the 24x comes with a LS1 ECM which is extremely easier to tune.So I will change my answer,If you have a good tuner lined up that can tune the car as it is then skip the 24x until you have the car where you want it power wise.But if you don't have a tuner then you may want to get the 24x because it is so much easier to tune the car and more tuners available to you.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 thanks for the help
I have a 95 Z28 with lots of mods. One of the best mods I did was change the rear gears from 2.73 to a 3.73. That really woke my car up.
Yes going from 2:73 to 3:73 would make a huge difference.
It IS loud and it Does Drone, but in this video we only care about SPEED BABY!! 😂😂 I am 25 with my first 95 Trans Am LT1. Great video! I like that you talk a little slower I feel like I actually learn more compared to modern day TH-camrs. Thank You 💯🔥
Yes sir speed is what we want.lol.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.Those Trans Ams are great looking cars👍
Just got a 97 z28 not too long ago been trying to get as much info on the mods as possible thanx a bunch
Thanks for watching.Good luck with your 97,These are great cars with alot of potential.
Lots of good info in that video. I bought a 94 Tran Am GT about 8 yrs ago. It had most of those mods done when I got it. Cam and CNC ported heads, short tube headers, cold air intake, 4L60e with 2800 stall, and 4.10 posi rear end. Ran 12.3s back then. I ended up blowing up the tranny that was in it, and had it rebuilt with more up grades. After that the oil pump pick up tube came off, and after getting it back on I ended up spinning two rod bearings. Everybody told me to go with an LS motor, with the GTs only being built in 94, I decided to stick with the LT1. So I got a Comp. 383 from Chad Golan, with AFR heads, custom ground cam, and switched to Pacesetter long tubes. Im now on my 2nd rebuilt tranny with a 3200 stall. Hopefully I can get it on a track and see what it runs. Im planning on replacing the exhaust with the speed engineering true 3 inch duels, and possibly a 200 horse shot of Nitrous by years end. Shooting for a solid 10 sec daily driver. If anybody is in the Owensboro Ky area I still have the heads and some other stuff off the old motor.
You got a bad ass 4th gen.When you do get a chance to time it down the 1/4 mile let us know what it runs.
Southern Indiana here brother you can read my just posted comment about my 97 z28 plz, I may be interested.
@@ryansutton1911 I will try digging that stuff out of storage and get some picks
The temperature is a good one.
I opened the fake vents on my 96 Z28 and yes around 180 degrees is where the LT 1 likes it.
Yes they are very sensitive to temperature.I know because years ago I did a lot of street racing and 10-20 degrees could be the difference between winning and losing.
I remember my dad’s ‘95 T/A, bought it new.
But over the years, it had AZ Speed and Marine CAI, 52mm throttle body, FLP LT headers, Random Tech Y-Pipe into a Borla exhaust, Hypertech programmer and full MSD ignition system and full Hotchkis suspension. Car was awesome
The T/As are very nice cars.
Solid video, I own a 97 LT1 SS 6 speed. Can confirm the cheap/free upgrades do help with throttle response and a little power for the $ , tb coolant bypass, airfoil, 1LE elbow, k&n filter. Next step is a set of speed engineering long tubes should pair nicely with the factory optional SLP 2OTL 3" stainless catback
The 96-97 SS cars are the best looking 4th gen Camaros.The ram air hood looks so aggressive.Thanks for watching and leaving a comment we really appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 you bet , I had a 98 Z28 LS1 M6 a few years before I bought this one. Yes, its a little slower stock for stock especially on a 3rd or 4th gear pull, but 0-60 is about the same imo as they rated the 96/97 SS at 4.9-5.3 seconds. I do miss how easy it was to add power to the ls1 with full bolt ons, but the lt1 has potential as well.
I think they have alot of potential.Like I mentioned aftermarket cylinder Heads closes the gap alot.The only reason I went with the 2002 is because I wanted an SS.And the 96-97 SS is nearly impossible to find in my area.I can't remember the last time I seen one for sale.The 4th gens in general are pretty rare in my area.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I live in Calgary Alberta and bought mine in ebay in Texas (Florida car for past 17 years prior) drove it home and did the import process easy. Was about a 3000 km trip but very fun and decent highway mileage as you know with these 6 speed cars.
Haha,You really wanted an SS.
My 96 T/A is built essentially exactly as you describe. Slightly beefed rear end, SLP Loudmouth exhaust, beefed clutch since stock just toasted, lt4 heads with hot cam, ported intake, better throttle body, cold air intake, injectors, etc. Just need the sticky tires.
Nice setup. That's almost the exact combination I wanted when I had my 94 Z28 I just never got around to it.
Gonna go for basically the same build on my 97 formula, I have an automatic and I'm wondering if the manual swap is worth it once she starts slipping
Well these cars are definitely cooler with a manual trans. If you can find a donor car with everything you need then the swap wouldn't be too difficult and rebuilding an automatic can be fairly expensive so I say if it's a manual you want then go for it.
Love this video and thanks for the info. I bought a wrecked 95 Z28 20 years ago and put the complete drive train in a 48 Chevy sedan that i chopped and shortened. Finally getting around to start it. So far ive only bypassed the throttle body. Want to get it started before doing anything else. Running all factory pollution stuff and single 3 inch pipe from the cat back. I do want to take it to the track and will be happy with sub 15 for now
That sounds like a cool project car.I think sub 15s should come pretty easy.The LT1 is a good working engine even stock.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.Hope your project goes trouble free.
I'm currently bought a 1995 z28 so happy my brother and me are going start working on it.
Congrats on getting your Z28.These are probably the best bargain performance cars out there in the used car market.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 it is my friend I've always been 3rd generation camaro. But this one is definitely a major update too much power to handle:)
Yeah the 4th gens are a nice upgrade over the 3rd gens as far as power goes.But the 3rd gens might be just a little cooler looking.
Lt1s are simple because the stock heads are good for most applications as is.. and the aftermarket intake manifolds dont really make any more power. Intake, headers and exhaust, cam, and a good tune is all you really need to completely transform these cars.
I agree these are great engines.Simple to work on too.The engine Bay on an fbody is a little tight but that's true for any modern car.
I have the Scan Master in my LT1 still running Opti Spark.
Moral of the story, car hobbies are not for broke people.
This is very true.
And I’m broke because of this hobby 😂
I hear ya😊
Try a truck hobbie 😂
Talented, creative poor people do just fine.
My first car was a 95 z28 lt1/6spd, it was extremely reliable even with a 17 year old kid driving it lol.. never had trouble with the optispark and the car had almost 180k on it when I sold it
That would be very cool car to have at 17.And I agree the optispark wasn't as bad as the internet made it out too be.Although some people did have bad experiences.I had to replace a couple of them and I still think they aren't that bad.The last one I put on lasted about 20 years before the new owner had to replace it.
I really need to get my trans am running. Bought it non running about 3 years ago for $1,000 and it's sat since.
Yeah these projects take time.Even when you get a running car it usually takes years to get the car to where you want it.
I have a pre-vented opti, but it was easy to install the vacuum when swapping in a new one. I had luck with the A1 Cardone as a cheaper option. With he TBI coolant bypass I just eliminated both tees with a straight fitting. I just want a fun sports car I don't care much about racing. I drive a semi for a living...lol
Yes that is a great option if your on a budget. Just add venting to the non vented Opti spark and that really helps the reliability.
The optispark/pcm can change timing for each cylinder between firing cylinders. That was a first then.
Yeah I think it was pretty advanced as far as timing accuracy at that time.
I just had a good friend of mine, give me a 95 Z28. The LT1 has been built and is 11.5 to 1 compression, with the heads ported and it dyno'd 421hp at the wheels. It has long tubes, with 40 series Flowmasters. The 4l60 has been built too. It has 81,000 miles. He blew a head gasket on it, and had another car come along that he liked better. So this car has been sitting 5 or 6 years, out in the sun. So the clear is peeling and the paint is faded. The black interior with leather seats, is nearly mint. Only thing wrong with the interior, is the dash is cracked. Wish it was a 6 speed, but that will come later. Its the best thing thats ever been given to me, for sure. Lol. I want to make it a SS clone.I just had a good friend of mine, give me a 95 Z28. The LT1 has been built and is 11.5 to 1 compression, with the heads ported and it dyno'd 421hp at the wheels. The 4l60 has been built too. Came with and still has a 323 gear. It has 81,000 miles. He blew a head gasket on it, and had another car come along that he liked better. So this car has been sitting 5 or 6 years, out in the sun. The clear is peeling and the paint is faded. The black interior, with leather seats, is nearly mint. Only thing wrong with the interior, is the dash is cracked from being out in the sun. Wish it was a 6 speed, but that will come later. Its the best thing thats ever been given to me, for sure! Lol. I want to make it a SS clone. Just subbed to your channel.
That sounds like a great friend. These make a great project car and making it into a clone SS is a great idea because they look much better with the SS hood. There are plenty of parts available for these cars and alot of parts can be had at salvage yards. Good luck with your new project and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021Its factory red, but my eventual vision for it, is to get an SS spoiler and hood, then do a full color change to black. I agree with ya on the SS hood. That hood alone, makes a drastic appearance improvement on them. I fell in love with the 4th Gens back in 2001, when one of my best friends ordered a brand new SS with an automatic. I forget what GM called that color, but it was the dark blue metallic. Just a gorgeous car. Back at that time, if you had a stock SS, there werent too many other vehicles on the road that were gonna outrun you. Not without them having some moderate upgrades anyway. I think the SS at that time, was advertised at either 320 or 325 HP, which had to be a good bit less than it actually had, because when he would mat that pedal, and it kicked down into passing gear, it felt like a rocket ship launching. Lol. I remember we were heading home at about 3 AM one morning, and the highway home had a bit of a down hill, that when you got to the bottom of it, it went into a nearly mile long straight stretch. Before we got to the end of that stretch, we had that speedo pegged, and it was still climbing. We were easily running at least 160, and most likely a little faster than that. It handled that speed like it was on rails. The only way you knew you were going that fast, was the sound of the engine screaming. He totaled that car about a year after that. So he replaced the SS with a new 2002 Z28, with a 6 speed. The difference in handling between the SS and the Z28 was shocking. The Z did great up to about 130, but if you tried to go any faster than that, it started getting sketchy quick! 😂
Yes at the time these cars were the one's to beat. Not sure why so many people seem to hate them now. I remember when they first unvailed the 93 Camaro and more importantly the 96 SS I knew then I had to have one. I never did get to buy a new one but I owned a 94 for 16 years and have had this 2002 for 5 years now and have no plans on getting rid of it.
I am currently replacing my MSD opti with an ACCEL. When this one goes (or maybe before). I will be doing the torqhead conversion. It's not as much of a performance boost as much as it is an upgrade for reliability & ease of maintenance. It also helps dress up the engine bay. Like you stated in another comment. The engine bay in these cars is very tight. So anything to clean it up goes a long way.
I agree with you.It is a nice upgrade if the budget allows for it.
I Just installed the Chris Petris OPTI. Its built really well. I
That's good.I will have to look that up.I was thinking of doing a video in the near future of all the options that are currently available for the LT1 as far as the Opti spark is concerned.So this will be on that list.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I installed one too . I have no regrets on petris .
That's good to hear.Glad it worked out for you.
I have trickflow heads and stock intake (ported) and did a 218/230 .495 / .510 lift 114 LSA cam. Numbers are with 1.5 rocker arms and I put 1.7s in. Cam sounds like a perfect horse gallop lope in a 9.3:1 383. I can rev it to 7k RPM too. Even when doing this (shifting at 7k RPM) the heads and intake were unported and I was running 1.6 rocker arms.
I took the heads and intake off to get them ported because I ruined some of the intake to head bolt holes (don't torque these intakes to spec which is 35 ft-lbs.... learned that the hard way... at least I have ported heads and intake now though, lol) Just tighten them up as much as you can with a short wrench or short 1/4 inch drive ratchet.
You can probably go a little up in cam from what I did but my current setup is totally streetable and love it and it still revs very high. Plus it will work well with boost and I'm going with a twin turbo kit right now.
Sounds like a great build. Once you have boost it is going to be a real beast.
The gen 2 SBCs are great engines. Only hated because they aren't dummy proof lol
strange eng. makes a direct bolt up DANA 60 for the f body. Put one in my 95 formula. love that spicer whine
Was rolling a 5speed 5.0 with flowmasters, x pipe , headers and a 373. Was having my way with Z28s and WS6s from a deadstop anytime they wanted it
5.0 with a 5 speed.......Must be a fox body?They are cool too.
bahahha
@@UseYourIllusions78 dude with the 5.0 must live in his own world lol
Guy they make us put a 70 horse restrictor plate on Throttle body or you raced a air foiled TB which does the same thing .
The stocker times for stock LT1 are in mid tens mine does 11 flat stock steel rockers and exaust
ive half tracked most built cobras and raced my first 2 flat plane cranks GT350 GT500
if they have a turbo or 2 1/2 wheel on super charger they will run my stocker 97 camaro if not you will get half tracked
1 was Coyote it was depressing to find out the flat plane crank coyote was so weak buy the time the car started getting into rpms i was in next county if hed a dumped it he would have blew hole shot .
The reasons you will see 5.0 on 1320 doing 200 miles per hour in quarter is they have 411s stickies big wheel on supercharger or twins and 500 shot of Nitrous
you are wimpy 302 chevys 302 was wimpy too the 69 camaro that made history was totally gutted heads turned into sb2 with epoxy .
your car weighs 3700 plus pounds no driver no gas
a 4th Gen Camaro 3100 pounds the 348 stroke is 60 horse 90 ft lbs of tork more than youre engine with 10 and a half 2-1
compression thats the foundations that make the gforce you feel
a max naturally asparated cobra t40 aftermarket heads and big cam only make 350 Hp and 300 tork at fly wheel
a Lt1 with stock exaust cats gutted good cai combo port matched exaust runnersand manafolds stock steel rockers
and idle air hole drilled out to 1/8 inch idles a little high makes 400 ponies at wheels and 430 tork with cam only having 400 lift
even though its 450 460 cam cause stock rockers are not 1.5 tb is now 807 cfm a 54mm
you actually got ripped of by ford you got the gas milage of a tank with a 351 Cleveland shy the crank muscle
That was a great engine ..
That was the Mach 1s the 65 352 Great Engine
think they have 351 now but got flat plane crank
The design of it is for 1500 pound Indy car
I did love the 302 in 5 speed mustang 2 it was a pinto body that became Cobra 1st year or 2 but the 350 chevy would beat it to pulp But had Gusto Then you got Fords new designs if you hit the 16 thousand Rpm that makes the 500 HP
The pistons melt bad cooling in block or friction from RPms my friend has 2024 coyote been rebuilt 7 times and before 6th month
of year so when you go bragging before look up melted pistons and mustangs and 20,000 to rebuild
looks good sounds super cool but its a motor cycle engine lol sorry kid thats the Truth
if you think of it that way it might last you long time
flat plane crank is crotch rocket engine my z28 outruns them too
This is awesome.
Lloyd Elliot is top dog as far as heads cam intake combos. Guy really knows these engines. Anyone else just wants your money and that's it.. and still don't match his work 🤣🤣
Yes I have heard lots of good things about his work.He was actually making a name for himself 20 years ago when I used to spend hours on the CamaroZ28 forums.And I agree completely that the Gen 2 LT1 is a great engine.
Got one in my 1986 c1500 short bed hei distributor Holley 600 street warrior 700r4 it do pretty good I think with gear upgrade it will get out your way .
Also got the GM intake with Chevy symbol on the front
Sounds like a cool truck.
Love my LTjunk. 96 Z28 M6. 355, stock ported heads by LE, custom cam by LE, torquehead swap, pacesetter longtubes to y-pipe to flowmaster 80 series. Stock 10-bolt. Been looking at swapping the 10-bolt and doing some safety stuff before hitting the track. 420whp, 430 torque
The second gen LT1 is a great engine in my opinion.Lloyd Elliott cam and heads were a great choice,He has been doing the LT1 stuff for a very long time.Those are great numbers especially the torque.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
The exhaust I have on mine is a flow master outlaw series 3" piping.
I have never had a flow master system but I have heard them.They have a nice exhaust tone.A single 3" system is plenty good enough for a street car.Thanks for watching and commenting we appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 oh nice! Definitely looking forward to setting it up. Got it as a Christmas gift but you have to weld all the pieces of piping together, the set gets rid of my catalytic converters and replaces them with bolt on test tubes I can swap on when it comes time to smog.
That's the kinda Christmas gifts I like 👍
I went throug 2 optis, got my thrid one opened it up and reinforced all the screws and threw some qbond on the rotor, never went through another one again its been 5 years now
That's good advice.Maybe someone watching this video will do the same.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
Awsome i have 93 Formula ...gd tips...luv my Lt1
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment we really appreciate it.
Sir do you have to tune it when you just put headers on In a cat delete The information very helpful
Yes and no.If it's a 93-94 then probably never need to tune it If it's 95 and newer you will need a tune but only to get rid of the check engine light.It doesn't have to be tuned right away.It will run fine without a tune but eventually the check engine light will come on and may drive you crazy to see it on.lol.
Hell yeah i love this video. My channel Ryan's Music&Motors (not the one im commenting with now) i have my 97 z28 on. Its under 100k still but i got it 3 years ago and it had alot of slp stuff already on it. Guy tried saying it was lt4 swapped in from one of the 108 97s that were made but its not. Its lt4 cammed and headed tho with bbk twin 58 th and duel cone slp unit for the intake. Intake manifold and head castings were the stock ones along with everything else it had slp shorties on it too with the loydmough exhaust which rusted out so i straight piped it myself put lt headers deleted the cats and all the emmissions off the car and deleted them out of the computer. Also swapped in a rear end from an 01ss car 3:23 gears and its got the zexel gear carriers which seem stronger and more even. Problems im having though is the 4l60e trans which stumbled me across this vid and your channel surprisingly but im glad it did. I currently do not have 23 or 4th gear rn all do to the pump failing, converter not working or engaging properly and now no 2 3 or 4 gears. Itll shift into 2nd tho if im at a high enough rpm range but even after its limited and i didnt test it any further than that lol. But im headed balls deep into making a stock 4l60e trans that works within the 2 others that i have and getting some new solenoids, servo, harnesses, stuff like that. I need tuned tho and have access to the equipment to do so but not the knowledge. When i get to that ill research more but as far as quarter mile goes i have some et streets on it. Just 275,50,zr17s and my best run on the street has been 12.7 at 109 with a 1.70 60 ft. Havnt been able to make it on a track after my latest mods before having more trans issues. But any info you coukd share on the later 4l60e 1 piece transmissions would also be helpful! Technical deeper than surface level info i mean? I also have a balanced and specd aluminum driveshaft and have swapped my opti with a duralast gold which has worked magnificiently this past year. Car currently has 96k on it. All leather, 30th anniversary. Pristine condition too mind the cheap gm 90s plastics lol. But ive got damn near every interier piece including headliner to go in the car when i get to it. Im most focused on making a good stock budget 4l60e work with as few purchases as possible lol. Budget build! Again i appreciate your channel and love this vid! Long live the 2nd gen lt1! -Ryan Sutton, Southern Indiana
You got it working good,12.7 is very good for what's done to it.As far as the 4L60E is concerned I really don't know that much about building one but there are lots of channels here on TH-cam that can help you,mind you most don't share all the info needed to overhaul one.But between what they do show and a book from Amazon called ATSG 4L60E / 4L65E Update handbook you should be able to get it done.Transmissions are complicated but with enough info you can do it.As far as tuning you can just start with the stock program and just make tiny changes then test until you get it where you want.Good luck on your build I too have been thinking about rebuildng my trans when it enevibly dies......They all do eventually.
Haha that's funny I went to check out your channel........I am already subbed.Think I watched your video on your diff problem a while back.
@LSxMotorsports2021 haha that's awesome man!! Yeah I had recorded all the content from the rear end swap then phone broke and after getting another one I could get back into my old Google account. Then a year later my phone was stolen and I had 2 step verification on my TH-cam channel and hadn't ever logged into with another device or nothing I've always dine everything on my phone until recently. But yeah you must have seen my lt header swap then that's awesome bro thank you for the sub! I'm working with Google and TH-cam to try and get my old accounts back bc I know the damn passwords lol. But yeah I prolly won't rebuild a trans. I'll prolly just upgrade to manual valve body and get a new cooler, vcc harness, solenoids and a vette servo or something if I've got the funds. Right before it happened I sold my Envoy so camaro is my only vehicle rn besides my fiances challenger. But yeah I'm glad I found your channel man it's good shit, good Info. I love the "we don't care about dyno numbers n shit here were all about quarter mile time n testing lol" had me sold!
@ryansutton1366 Yeah I definitely prefer 1/4 mile times over dyno numbers.Our cars aren't that fast but we are building them on a more realistic common man budget.lol.It takes time.
@LSxMotorsports2021 brother it really does. And life also hits you at times like I said I've had this car nearly 3 years now I think so yeah. And I'm down with another fucked 4l60e lol. That's twice now. Both happened completely differently so it's def got me puzzled
Best video I've seen 👏 👌
Haha,I wish that was true but we really appreciate you watching and leaving a great comment.😊
I just bought my first car which was a 97 firebird with a lt1 5.7 swap with bbk long tube headers and a magnaflow and a swapped cam and aftermarket air intake and I wanted to try to get it tuned because I know she’d perform better and drive better but I don’t know where to start what tips/tricks do y’all recommend?
Congratulations that's a great first car.As far as tuning goes these cars are a little tricky.I am assuming you just want someone else to tune it.First off if there are Dyno shops in your area you can check with them to see if they can tune your car.If not you may need to get a tune from someone online.The best place to search is on forums for the 4th gen cars.PCM for less is a place I used many years ago and they are still doing it last I checked.As far as tuning it yourself I have no experience doing so,I have tuned my 2002 camaro but was lucky because you can use HP tuners which will not work on a 97.We do have plans to try and learn to tune these cars in the future but right now we have not.A dyno shop is the best option but if that is not available to you then a tune from someone online is your best option.Good luck with your new car and let us know how you make out.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
Anyonw kniw where to get a set of valve covers that look good and actually fit on the '95 5.7 LT1 Formula Firebird?
Well there are several places that sell polished valve Covers.Summit racing carries a few different brands.When I had my 94 Camaro I searched Ebay and got a set of Corvette valve Covers which are black composite.As far as fitment obviously the stock Covette ones fit perfectly but just check for reviews on any of the polished ones.Wish I had a better answer for you but I have always used stock GM.
Is it a wise decision to do a torque converter prior to doing cam and heads? IMO if going with that kind of combination it's far better to decide on torque converter and gears once the car has been dynoed to see where power and torque peaks are.
Yes you are correct. Planning everything out in advance is definitely the best way to go and getting the best torque converter for your car would involve getting it built based on your cam and heads and the power your making. Unfortunately for me and many others being on a budget plans constantly change. But yes you are correct.
Thanks for the info very helpful on the lt1 mods .i have 96,97 Firebird t.a ws6 with the T 56 trans all stock as of yet but im getting into it now in my free time and extra money that i save so anything that helps me save money were i can is much appreciated. I need a cam,bigger fuel injectors,possibly pcm upgrade electric waterpump.trying to get close to 450 hp as i can what size injectors would i be looking for?and does the throttle body itself need to be bigger as well? And what pcm would i be looking for? Thanks again dude your knowledge on this stuff is amazing.
The PCM you have now will be fine for the horsepower you are looking to make.Just have to find a good tuner for it which if there is no one in your area that can tune it there are still guys on the Internet that can tune it.An injector upgrade is definitely a must and as for size your better off picking a company you want to buy from then call their tech line and tell them you're plans for the car and they will spec you out the perfect set of injectors.I plan to upgrade my injectors also.I am going with Deatschworks injectors.I was going to buy 39 lbs injectors but decided that when I get around to it I will call their tech line and tell them what I have and what my plans are and let them recommend the proper injectors.Also make sure which ever brand you get that they have a data sheet for them.That is very important for tuning for the new Injectors.As far as making 450 hp with an LT1 that shouldn't be too hard many have done it.You will probably need a set of cylinder Heads.You can go aftermarket or port your current cylinder Heads.There is a guy named Lloyd Elliot who has made a name for himself porting LT1 cylinder Heads and specing out cams for these engines.The stock throttle body is probably good enough to make 450 hp.It you do upgrade the throttle body I would probably wait until after the cam and heads before doing so.Of course before going into the engine you will want the bolt ons first because they will be needed to support the cam and heads.A good cold air intake and Longtube headers with a good cat back exhaust is where everyone starts.Also keep in mind if you want to run the 1/4 mile you will need to upgrade the rear differential to something stronger.But if you are just building the car for fun and don't care about 1/4 mile times then the stock rear will be fine just no hard launches or power shifting.Good luck with your build and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
Great video! Do you know any good tuners in the south?
I am sorry I do not.
I have a 93 camaro but im not sure the motor is a 93. Ive read in some forums the 93 had non heated 02 sensors. Mine are on the exhasut system..so idk. Maybe they changed it mid year?
Since everyones listing their mods, i traded a over under citori for mine. It had sat at a auction yard 2 years. It sounded like a bad motor, it was only a header gasket. I had no clue what was done to it. It has a prom chip, rusted edelbrock headers, y pipe, flow master dual outlet muffler, k&n cold air intake, and some 18 inch street tires all around. Best trade i ever made. It needs suspension work, but itll hit 135 before it touches over drive. Oh yeah, its an automatic.
Not sure about the O2 sensors but the 93 cars were the only ones that used a replaceable Eprom chip and they also used Speed density tune instead of using a Mass Airflow Sensor.Sounds like a fun car.
@LSxMotorsports2021 last night I found on shbox's f body lt1 website how to go from a non heated 02 to 2 heated 02 sensors on a 93. Who knows anymore. It's got 3 years on me 🤣
I have a '97 SS that I'm slowly "restoring" upgrading. Thanks for this video. I don't think I'll get to upgrading the heads, would it be worth porting the intake manifold with stock heads?
A 97 SS.......The 96-97 Camaro SS are without a doubt the best looking and most aggressive looking Camaros of the 4th gens.Porting the stock intake probably won't do much but if you can then why not.The reason I say it won't do much is because it already flows pretty damn good but if you can do it cheaply it is always worth porting factory intakes.Just try to keep the ports of the intake the same as the intake ports on the cylinder heads because you don't want the air to hit a wall as it enters the cylinder Heads.Awesome car by the way and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
Recently started fixing up my new 94 ls1 and I just wanna make sure I push my car and get up and running all I need now is a fuel tank but do you know what would be a better exhaust system for the car. I’m look for loud and rowdy
Well pretty much all the systems made for this car are single 3" systems so they all perform about the same. The SLP loud mouth is pretty rowdy and is priced better than most. Speed engineering also makes a true dual exhaust that is made for the 98-02 camaros but minor modifications and it will work as long as you have headers to go with it.
Best mod for a lt1 is to swap the opti for torquehead.
That's what I hope to see on this video is everyone adding their opinions and experiences with these cars.I know I left out things on this video and hope you guys add your favorite mods in the comments.Thanks for watching and being the first to comment.We really appreciate it.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I own a 94 firehawk and 97 30th anniversary ss. I just torquehead swapped both. It's nice being able to tune them with the ls1 style computer. It's such a pain find a tuner for them now day.
@@regblkss I was aware of this mod but I wasn't aware of it using a LS1 PCM until I read your comment and went and watched a video about it.That would definitely make tuning alot easier.You have some very cool cars by the way.👍
I put torquehead 24x on mine too. Using a holley terminator x ecu and swapped to coil on plug using stock gm 5.3 truck coils. I did get the longtube headers from speed engineering but they fit like shit. Y pipe didn't line up at all. Had to clearance stuff for steering on driver side and switch to tubular k member so the header didn't hit the stock motor mount on the passenger side. Next on my list is a Strange Dana s60 rear end.
Thanks for watching and commenting.See it's good to hear from you guys because we are always pushing Speed engineering headers but seems they are not so good for the LT1 fbody.
Thank you for the great information. I have a 1994 camaro Z28 and my transmission only has 2 3 Drive and over drive is there any way to be able to hold it in first gear manually?
I am not sure.I think the cars that came with 2:73 gears came without the ability to shift down into 1st gear where as the cars that came with 3:23 could be shifted down to first and held there.Now it's been said that manually shifting these electronicly controlled automatics is hard on them.Now I am assuming you want to do this for doing burnouts?I know I was never happy with the way these cars shifted because unless your really into the throttle they up shift way too soon which I fixed with tuning so my car shifts pretty aggressive now.But no I don't think you can manually hold first gear in your car because it originally came with 2:73 gears and I say that completely from memory and my memory is not that good.lol.
There’s a tab under the shifter that you can “remove” And it’ll let you go down in first , and then you can swap the gear cover to one that has the “1”
@@martyndunkel7388 Thank you.
Thanks for answering.I wasn't aware of that either.
LS swap is what id do to any 93-97 lt1 that's just me. Prefer the 350 tbi and vortec over the lt1 for alot of reasons. LT1 can handle 150-200 shot of nitrous from idle if you decide to race it. Thats about all id do to one and blow it up.
I get where your coming from. But I personally feel there is alot of potential in the LT1 but of course I have an LS1 so maybe I would feel different if I was trying to modify one today.
Good info. I had 2 LT1 cars. A black 96 WS6 Formula auto and a 93 LT1 Firehawk Formula with the M6. Both cars ran damn good.
The 96 with a Borla 2 3/4 Y pipe that I put on ran a best of 13.9 @101 mph. Dynoed 281 rwhp.
The 93 LT1 Firehawk M6 trans dynoed 309 rwhp after Mac mid lengths headers, 160 thermostat and a tune from PCMforless.
Best 1/4 was a 13.6 @ 103 with a terrible 2.3 60ft.
Beat plenty of LS1 cars and also got beat by a few LS1 fbodys.
I did all the mods myself. Except tuning. Got some videos of the Firehawk on my channel.
I changed out the opti spark and water pump on the 93 Firehawk. The original lasted 130k ! Only use AC Delco / Delphi opti sparks. Aftermarket even MSD is junk they will not last !!!
LT1 is a great engine . Loved mine and beat a lot of cars with it. I wanted to go with a Loyd Elliot ported heads and a CC 503 cam but never went that route. Sold the Firehawk about 6yrs ago. Super clean Firehawk.
I agree they are great cars.I have a LS1 car now but owned a 94 Z28 for 15 years or so.I would say the LT1 cars are the best way to get into the car hobby today if your on a budget.Thats for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.Oh and I will go check out your video now.
@@LSxMotorsports2021
Thanks. I came real close to getting a LS1 TA. Really like the 4th gens , owned a couple 3rd gens TAs to. I like all the F body’s some are better than others but still love em all.
I ended up with my current 81 TA. My brother has 76 TA
Both are not stock and run very good.
Check ‘em out when you get time. You got a great channel and I will be tuning in 👍
Thanks.And absolutely plan to check out the 2nd Gen T/A videos.
Is there anyone that you would recommend to go to that has a lot of knowledge about the the lt1 motor because I’m having oil pressure issues did the head gasket replacement 2 years ago broke the original oil pressure sensor replaced that 2-3 times still reads low oil pressure got a mechanical one hooked it up to the lower part of the motor still reads low I’m not sure what’s causing low oil pressure no grinding no lifter tick it’s been driving for the last 2 years no problems besides low oil pressure and the gauges even read 0 sometimes jumps up when reving the motor but another issue is when reaching top speed so 120 and up it would maybe touch 130-135 and during that the gas pedal would be pressed maybe 50-60% down and anymore you can feel more fuel being added/hear it but no more speed gain
Well it is essentially a small block so any mechanic should be able to diagnose your problem. If you already replaced the oil sending unit several times then there is a good chance that you have low oil pressure because the bearings are wore out. But if it is still running and not knocking then you could try running thicker oil. As far as the top speed goes your pushing against alot of air and once you hit those speeds they don't accerate very fast and with these cars being old your probably a little down on power. When new these cars would top out at around 150 and that was the manual cars the automatics were a little slower.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 thanks for the insight yes it’s a 6 speed manual supposedly it’s a 350 thats stroked out to 383 but I don’t know how I would confirm that and no I haven’t replaced the oil pump or even opened the oil pan I’m going to have to soon because it started leaking oil recently I’m not sure from where and my differential as well but it’s been my daily since high school it was given to me from my dad and during my junior year to senior year is when we did the head gasket replacement started to tear it down Dec 14,2022 and it was completed feb 10,2023 I was still in high school during the time and he was working a full time so job it took us a little bit longer that anticipated but it ended up with a low oil pressure issue at the end and we don’t know why we lashed the valves ourselves using a TH-cam explaining how to lash them on a 350 block
It wouldn't hurt to have an experienced mechanic take a look at it. You never know it could be something simple.
Whats the best way to delete the ASR on traction control cars?
I wish I had an answer for that. I tried to remove it with HP tuners but that didn't work so I never looked into it any further.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 Some forums form 2011 said they did it by removing the box, getting a throttle cable from a non TCS car, then tricking the connector with 3.6 ohm resistor. Does that make any sense to you? If not, how would I get that stupid box out of my way so I can put bigger valve covers on?
Yes I believe that would work. I thought about doing it myself but don't want to remove too many parts from the car incase I want to sell it one day and put it back to stock. But yes that should work for you.
@LSxMotorsports2021 Cool. I figured it'd just be one of those quality of life upgrades like the fan control unit. Mines not mint anyway so if I sell it it'll just be going to some other broke goober looking for cheap muscle. Thanks a bunch, great video too. Not too much reliable info on these given ppl like the LS1 face-lift cars more.
Thanks for watching and commenting. And other that the Opti spark issues I actually prefer the 93-97 cars myself. The Camaro just looks better without the catfish nose.
Does the 97 4l60e 2 piece has the same bolt pattern as the 96 1 piece 4l60e?
I actually don't know for sure but and am pretty sure they will all fit a SBC.
What would be a good 6spd rear end upgrades?I’m looking to push about 4 to 450 hp.
Well there are a few to pick from.They are pricey unfortunately.Hawks Motorsports sells a Ford 8.8 modified to fit the 4th gen fbody.Strange engineering and Moser both sell several different rear end housings from the Ford 9" to GM 12 bolts.It really comes down to your budget.It looks like the modified Ford 8.8 from Hawks motorsports would be the cheapest but they are all expensive.You can also look for a used one.Rare to find but they are out there.Example someone upgrades there 4th gen with a 12 bolt then over time start making more power and upgrade to a stronger Ford 9".Good luck and thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I can vouch for the strange s60, even at +/- 350 whp I couldn’t keep a 10 bolt in my ws6 to save my life lol it’s been over 4 years and about 30k miles so far with my s60 and it went right in like stock aside from requiring an adjustable panhard bar
Yeah I have heard good things about the s60.
I have a ford 9inch with 4.56 gears and 6 speed manual
I’ve heard the Kooks headers are great for the LT1.
Yeah pretty much everything from Kooks is top quality but a little pricey too.
I've got the Kooks 1 7/8's headers on my 97 Z28. They are top notch quality, but took some work to get installed. Passenger side was pretty easy coming from underneath, but the driver side I had to remove the steering knuckle to make clearance and had to come from the top. In the end, I love them!
im very into tuning and i am looking to buy a camaro z28. i was wondering what kind of power these car can achieve N/A and are they boost friendly?
Good question.Well as far as boost the pistons are the weakest point so most aftermarket super chargers limit boost to 5-7 pounds.N/A with full bolt ons and heads,Cam and intake they usually make between 380-450 RWHP depending on how good the aftermarket heads are.The 98-02 LS1 cars tend to out perform the 93-97 LT1 cars because of the better cylinder Head design.All the cars suffer from weak rear differentials and the automatic cars have weak transmissions.The LS1 cars are easier to tune because they are supported by the latest tuning software like HP tuners.Parts are widely available for all these cars so there is no end too what you can do to these cars.As is always the case research and money will determine how much power you can make.These cars are definitely a bargain compared to most other cars on the used car market.
@LSxMotorsports2021 very good answer thank you for that!, i was wondering if you ever uad to do a manual swap from an automatic? Most of the camaro i see are automatic. I was wondering how hard of a job and how much it would cost to swap it manual? Thanks for the help brother much appreciated!
@francisdoucette3902 I have never done the swap but the parts to do it should be easy to find.Probaby the easiest way would be to find a wrecked manual car and use all the parts from it to swap with the automatic.I am sure it's been done many times.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
@LSxMotorsports2021 thx for the quick reply man, im also looking at a transam 1998 ws6 manual with 200k on the odometre the high milleage is kinda scaring me it has the ls1 in it. If i buy it it would probably be to turbo it in the futur!
@francisdoucette3902 Yeah that is high mileage but if it runs good and the price is right the WS6 cars are the best looking of the bunch and getting harder to find.
You didn’t mention upgrading the auto transmission to the corvette servo.
Yes your right I forgot that. I actually did put a Corvette servo in my transmission but that was long before I started this channel. Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I am 16, my first car is a 1994 SLP Firehawk Formula. 4-speed automatic with overdrive with the LT1 engine. It is completely original except for an underdrive pulley. I can hardly find any information on the car and cannot figure out what modifications to do to my car. There are some issues with the car, being the optispark leaking, the mirrors not moving up or down electronically (can move left and right), passengerside window motor is very slow, and a very high pitched noise coming from inside the dash by the driver side sounding like it's coming from inside the A/C. After I get the issues repaired, I am unsure of what modifications to make. Any suggestions?
That is a great first car.I would do exactly what you said fix all the issues the car has first.Now after that you could add a cat back exhaust to get it sounding the way you want.At your age your probably better off not sinking too much money in modifications to the car especially because they tend to have more value when they are unmodified and that car being a firehawk it could possibly have some collector value in the future.But if you do want to modify it more there are lots of suggestions in this video.Crongrates on your first car you got a cool one.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 Really appreciate the fast reply and your help on the situation. My parents and I were just talking about it today; keep the car original after fixing it, then get a 2016 Civic to use as a project car. Is that a good plan or should I get a different car?
Well keeping the Firehawk original is a great idea.But as far as getting a civic for a project car......Well your asking the wrong person.lol.I hate those cars.But you need to pick the car that you like best and not listen to someone like me.lol.But the car hobby is a good one and will probably stay with you for life.Good luck with your Firehawk and let us know what you end up doing we enjoy hearing from you guys that are watching.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 Thank you for your help, quick replies, and support! Love the channel so far, I’ll keep my eye open for more videos in the future! ❤️
Glad to hear it.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
I have a 96 SS camaro 6 speed it grinds every time I engage the clutch what do you think that would be ?
I don't have any experience with the manual on these cars but it sounds to me like you have a bad throwout bearing but hopefully someone else will see this comment and offer a opinion.
Ok Good video on the lt1 I’ve had mine since 03 in the process of re building it I want to go 383 kit but California might. Not allow it
Oh yeah it would be tough living in a area with strict emission laws.Not sure how much you can do to a car in your case.Might have to keep it fairly stock and use nitrous.Thanks for watching and commenting we really appreciate it.
@@Bford84 Good luck on that. I used to live in California, and it was bad once I got headers installed. I'd say just stick to whatever you can get that is CARB certified, and go that route. Anything more SMOG shops won't want to touch you, and if you get stopped and State Reffed, you could be screwed. Not worth it out there.
Is possible to add a 4 row aluminum radiator on a 4th generation camaro?
Well I am not sure. Probably would need to do some modifications but again I really couldn't say for sure.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 thanks my friend
Why do you recommend sticking with 3.23 gears on an auto? 3.73 or 3.90 would make a good difference in the quarter mile.
That's my next mod.
Did I say that?I must have made a mistake.3:73 gears are a good upgrade for the LT1 auto and 4:10 for the manual.I don't know why I would have said that.For the TPI engines in the 3rd gens I definitely wouldn't go more that 3:23 if you stick with the stock TPI.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I had the stock 3.23's, and got a free set of 3.42's. Swapped those in. From what I've read in the past, many have said that 3.42's tend to be a sweet spot for the A4.
i got a 95 lt1 Camaro engine trans im currently putting into a c97 Silverado anything that you know would help would be useful
Well I have never done a swap like this but it has been done many times. Here is a link to a video that may help
th-cam.com/video/VCJDH2HIW8M/w-d-xo.html
Good luck with your swap.
Which exhaust do you recommend more SLP loud mouth 1 or loud mouth 2?
Which ever one you can get cheapest.There is very little difference between them.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 oh, is cause I'm looking at them and they are both at $420, just was wondering if there's any difference to see which to buy
I believe they said the loud mouth 1 is a little more raspy then the loud mouth 2.I think the difference between the two is the bullet style muffler on the original was hollow and the 2 has some packing in it.But it's been awhile since I checked these out.I think you will be happy with either.I 1 is probably just a tad louder.
@@carlosvaldez9177 I found this for you on google.Both Loudmouth styles are loud; no doubt about it. The LM1s give a little more internal resonance whereas the LM2s are a little more mellow and don't flood your interior with the drone. The LM1 is slightly louder and the LM2 is slightly mellower, but they are both straight-through design so they will wake up the neighbors.
wha do you recommend i want to lower my 1995 z28
Well I will be honest with you I know absolutely nothing about lowering a car. Roads are way too bad around here so I have never done it. But there should be many kits out there for these cars.
just got a 96 trans am🙏
Congratulations those are great cars.
Can I put an lt1 in my 01 firebird?
Well you could but it would be alot of work. I am assuming you have a V6 Firebird. It can be done but most likely cheaper to sell the V6 car and buy a good V8 car.
@ yes it’s a v6 that’s been in my family for a while and I want to restore and upgrade it
OK well it can be done. Easiest way is to find a donor car. Something that runs but has been wrecked or maybe has rust damage so you can get it cheap but still has everything you need to make the V8 swap.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 thanks
so i have a 96 ss and it seems when i idle it starts to heat up and coolant light comes on only sometimes but when i start moving temp goes down. is this normal? and if not how can i fix that
May want to check to see if the fans are coming on.Sometimes they quit working for various reasons.When the car is moving the fans rarely come on but when idling they will come on when the engine reaches a predetermined temp.Probably a simple fix.Just do a search on google or youtube.Never had this problem myself so not sure the procedure but when I don't know how to do something I can usually find a fix online.Good luck and thanks for watching and commenting.Wish I could have been more helpful.
@@miiiikeeed Thanks for helping out,Really appreciate it.
Awesome.Thanks again.
You know your stuff.I was going to make my own fan switch for my car but doing videos for people with varying levels of mechanical skills when it comes to working on cars I decided to go with the premade switch from casper electronics.It just makes it easier for everyone watching and less chance of someone doing something wrong.
Hello all. My question is would all this work with my 94 Caprice Lt1?
Yes most of these modifications will work with the caprice.The engines are essentially the same except the cylinder Heads on the caprice I believe are cast iron instead of aluminum and the caprice has lower compression because of that.And some of these would need to be caprice specific like Headers and exhaust but most of the parts should be available for the caprice.
Which TB bypass do you suggest for the LT1?
If you're talking about the kits you buy online on eBay ect.Just get the cheapest one because it is a very simple mod and doesn't require expensive parts.Just make sure you buy from a trusted source.
Also I got a scan master for sale
Wow the Speed headers vs Kooks are like $1K difference
Yeah the speed engineering exhaust products tend to have some of the lowest prices on the market.
I swapped to a 24x torqhead.
That's great.So what's your opinion of it?Be good to know how it worked out for you so others watching this video have a idea what to expect if they decide to go that route.
@LSx Motorsports worked great very accurate. I would say it's a must for a lt1 still obd1 equipped
Thanks.Good to know.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 no problem
Give me as many suggestions as I can get 93 formula auto trans
Well first off your 93 has special needs because it is the only year that used speed density.The 94-97 all used a MAF system.Which means it can't adapt as easily to bolt ons.You can get away with a few bolt ons but eventually it would start running lean.I was going to suggest switching to the torque head system which does away with the opti spark and replaces it with the LS1 coil packs and a LS1 PCM but I checked and they are not listed for the 93 cars.So if you wanted to get serious with mods you would first need to find a tuner who can tune these 93 cars.The 93 cars are also the last cars to use the replaceable E prom chip.If you can find a reliable tuner then your good to go and do whatever your budget allows.Like any other engine the LT1 is a big air pump,The more air you can get into it the more fuel that can be added and the more power it will make.
Add the LTCC to your optispark. Problem solved.
Thanks,I didn't know about this product.Seems like there are more options out there then I thought.Here is a link to the LTCC
www.bailey-eng.com/product/ltcc-lt1-coil-per-cylinder-converter/
@@LSxMotorsports2021 if the“opti” park of the optispark is still working it intercepts the signal and reads the low res sensor to determine which cylinder is about to fire. The GM computer still does all the timing, but when it fires the LTCC sends a signal to the corresponding coil pack and fires the cylinder.
You can also read and tune the 94-95 ecm’s with a $20 cable. Look up ecmhack. You can turn your fans on at a much cooler temp without a fan controller.
The owner before me had the rear end replaced with a v6 camero rear should I replace it?
6spd btw
The rear end in the V6 is the same as the V8 cars.They are weak and break easy if you have a sticky tire and a manual .If you plan on doing any serious drag racing then yes you will want to upgrade the rear end.But if you are just using your car to cruise around in then you will be fine just don't do any hard launches with it.
No audio or is it just me?
I just checked it and the audio is working.
You're right, it was just me. Thanks
After 9 opti sparks in 70,000 miles im done with it. Just ordered the torqhead kit. Never again will i buy a opti spark.
Yeah some people have constant problems with the Opti spark and for some reason others have very little trouble. The black 94 that is on this channel has had alot of problems so he got the torqhead and it has been good so far.
HAHA! I manualed my fan switch too! Love it. Fuck the haters, theyre always dumbasses.
After my 95 firehawk i will NEVER buy an LT1 ever again
Oh sorry to hear you had issues.
your air foil was blocking 100 cfm lol
blocks 60 horse lol 4 mm hole behind it
632 cfms with airfoil 732 cfms with out
94 had vented dist.
Well the 94 Camaro I had didn't have the vented Opti.In the fbody's they added the vented Opti in 95.I think it was used earlier in the Bbody's (Buick roadmaster and Chevy Caprice).
@@LSxMotorsports2021 I have an early 94 and it has the vented.i guess it depends on where the engine was produced vented or not.correct by vin as a vented.
Oh that's interesting.Yeah when it comes to manufactures they do often do things differently depending on where the cars are sold.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 they give the option spark a bad rep but I have found it watertight and dependable.been through water deep enough to soak the air filter without a misfire,still factory unit with a new cap and rotor at 350,000 miles and no issues
That's really good.Yeah I think they can be problematic but I think it was blown out of proportion.There are lots of people who have gotten lots of problem free miles from these engines.
U sound like George Washington
Haha😂
Ls swap
Well that's probably not what the people watching this video want to do with their cars.
@LSxMotorsports2021 yea I know but we all know it just makes sense. Specially with these plug and play harnesses they make these days. The 96 97 obd2 cars are verry limited on tuning options. Cheaper to.just get a harness and 0411 pcm then the tqhead setups.
Yeah this is true.But it really depends alot on your budget and ultimate goals for your car.What your saying is true but if you're ultimate goal is a good driving 12 second car that can be achieved with the LT1 and even a stock Opti spark.I know lots of people have had alot of problems with the Opti but there is also many who have had no issues with the Opti spark.The tuning thing is an obstacle but there is software available to tune these cars.Personaly I have an LS1 car and it is very easy to tune and very reliable so I definitely get what you are saying.But at the same time I really like the gen 2 LT1 and think it has plenty of potential.
@@bnastystuntzAn LS swap isn’t just a plug n play harness away. The K member is different, computer is different, engine mounts are different, splines on the trans are different. Hate it when people say “just LS swap it” like it as simple as swapping a light bulb out lol. My LT1 has been super reliable over the 7 years I’ve owned it and could kick the shit out of any stock LS1 all the while my exhaust doesnt sound like a truck.
@nicotoscani8270 I agree there is no need to LS swap when the LT1 has tons of potential.
Best mods. Junk the LT1. Junk the plastic fuel lines. Junk the PCM, BCM, junk all the plastic inside. Hell junk the whole car. I have a 94 z28. That I’m gonna gutt and install a Coyote in it. Already had a K member fabricated for it to install the Coyote.
Well that's probably not what most people watching would want to do with their cars.The coyote engine is cool though.But if your a mustang guy that coyote engine would be cooler in a foxbody.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 understood, however there is to many Fox bodies around here with Coyote swaps. I wanna do something different.
Cool.That probably would be a first.
Lol a coyote engine in f body. You must be trying to get back at the LS boys that ripped out the 5.0 in the foxbody and put a LS in cause they wanted to go fast.
Lol might want to research the newer 5.0 engines especially the 2012 -2017. They have issues. There not all that. If you like spending money a 2018 5.0 low mile engine and up isn’t going to be cheap. Don’t forget tuning especially if you plan on using the Ford 10 spd auto. Good luck finding a tuner that knows what he is doing. Yep got a buddy with big bucks that put a 2022 5.0 coyote / 10 spd auto in a 91 Mustang GT. He is on his 3rd tuner. Problem is getting the 10 spd auto to shift right.
@@mattspontiacta 2011-2014 has week rods. 2015-2017 no real issues basically the same engine as the BOSS. 3rd gen coyote is great But the 2nd gen is Easier to MOD. I know each gen inside and out. Have 4 of them. On all of them. The typewriter tick that comes along. Is the shim for the thrust bearing on rear main.
Dude , stop making ur face more than firebird ram air his face
Can someone translate this comment?I tried using Google translate but it said this was not a known human language.
@@LSxMotorsports2021 lol
Huh ? ? English please
lmao....ya over there ;)
Jesus christ dude. Add up everything you just said suspension, fuel system, cam ,heads , rear end exhaust. Now you will find its the same as building a stroker motor or an ls crate. The lt1 is ok but with everything available today it's a huge waist of time. Just buy a fucking crate save yourself hours and days of heartache.
I get what your saying. But you don't install all this stuff at once. These are modifications made over a long period of time. And as far as a stroker motor or LS swap your still going to need all the bolt on parts for your new engine for it to perform. You're still going to need the suspension parts for it to put the power down. Throw a stroker motor in this car with everything else being stock your not going to be much faster than the stock motor. If money isn't an issue then just buy a 6th gen ZL1 and leave it stock.