Hey the Optispark vent was added in the 95 and up camaro's. The high voltage optispark produced ozone which rapidly built up and massivly sped up any corrosion inside of the optisark. Venting it allowed for a steady stream of fresh air to cycle through preventing the buildup and was actually quite effective :)
Many times. Especially in the north. Rust builds up around the dipstick, and it's hell to get them out in the vehicle. I found using a small amount of heat makes them fall right out. MAP gas torch works perfectly. If you're gonna be putting it back together, don't forget to replace the O-ring.
Hey I do cars I don't know if you'll see this but I still wanted to say it haha. A couple of years ago I got a dirt bike and ended up really liking working on motorcycles and cars and your channel has really helped me learn a lot about failures and really got me interested in motors in general. I'm only 16 and I now work at a Honda shop and get to build motors. Thanks for all the great videos.
Good job, stick with it. People that know how to do things with their hands and mind are in short supply. Watch some South Main Auto if you want to get into diagnostics, electrics or electronics aren't going away.
@@iuyozx haha thanks a lot. I can't believe how much I like it it's definitely my thing. I also get to do a lot of Ski-Doos, side by sides, and quad stuff to. it's crazy how much there is to learn about diagnostics and repair!
@@stevebot I'll definitely check him out. That is one thing I'm not super strong in yet. I have a basic understanding but it would be great to learn more. Thanks!
The optispark ignition is not near as bad as people make it out to be. It’s actually really precise as the high resolution sensor knows where the cam is to the degree. The biggest thing is to have the newer vented cap and rotor, make sure the vacuum hoses to it are good, and to keep water out of it by tapping a fitting into the weep hole of the water pump and putting a hose on it to route it away from the distributor. If you maintenance the cap and rotor like you should it should be sealed anyways. I think it got it’s bad rap due to people using cheap aftermarket opti’s that had cheap optical sensors instead of the reliable Mitsubishi sensor. The vent help a lot. It removed the ozone that built up from high voltage inside the cap and made them more durable.
Ive been through 9 opti sparks all wiped out for rain. Ive had vented and non vented. All sucked. Im now getting the torqhead kit. 9 optis in 60,000 miles is pathetic.
Dude.. it's crap.. as soon as it gets wet, which is inevitable, it craps out, revs too high.. it craps out.. hell, you put the key in too hard The opti might die..
I had a 1996 Buick Roadmaster with the LT1. Great car, true 3 row seating (took the whole office to lunch). Comfortable and plenty of power if you didn't mind 14 MPG city and 20-22 highway. Before I sold it to an older couple reminiscing about the Regan presidency, my wife and I took turns sitting in the rear-facing 3rd row while the other person floored it. Good times.
@@mphilleo I remember being 12 and sitting in one of those rear seats alongside my brother on a group trip to a baseball game. The kids in the car behind us thought it was fun to wave and we waved back.
I have a 94 Trans Am I bought brand new.Fully loaded, leather, every thing except T tops, my 79 TA had those, loved having them off, but after a few years, they started leaking.....It was my daily till 2005. Ive now had 5 new cars since, but the TA IS A KEEPER. It has 338.000 plus miles now. The engine has never been touched. Even the timing chain is original. It runs and sounds like new. Uses no oil between changes, and those have been every 3000 miles since new. Castrol GTX. Never had synthetic in it. Lifelong Southern California car. Its had 2 new water pumps, 2 new radiators, and 3 new optisparks. It still looks great in and out, and has NEVER FAILED California emissions test which is unbelievable, as its a difficult test to pass...treadmill, test rod up the tail pipe...yeah, I love my old Trans Am. They weren't cheap, mine cost about 42.000 in today's money.
I had a ‘93 Trans Am and in ‘94 I ordered a T/A convertible with a 6 speed (young and stupid :) LOVED those LT-1s, especially with the manual behind it. A total blast!!
Had a '95 manual Z28 coupe, and HELL yeah that thing was fun! First manual too, the thing survived as I taught myself heel toeing, push starting, rev matching etc. Also first RWD car! 😄 Also young and dumb - a miracle that I never crashed it! Except into a curb, needed a new wheel. I don't miss the electrical problems but man what a blast that thing was to drive.
In 1976 I ordered a new 1977 TA Bandit Edition new drove it for a couple years and then stupidly traded it in for the 10 year anv model in 1979...back in the day they werent worth much just like the black ford SWB trucks in 1980 and 81 when Urban Cowboy came out everybody had to have one especially the short guys always laughed as they were lifted so high they had a hard time getting in and out..culture changes with each generation and Ive been through hundreds of cars
My '95 Caprice leaked from the oil filter adapter, about a quart every 600 miles. I never changed the oil in it because I figured it was already getting five new quarts every 3000 miles.
I was a fuel systems engineer for Rochester Products div of GM (now Delphi) back in the day when we were making the transition from carburetors into fuel injection. The reason trucks didn't get multiport systems is because they were slated to get the dreaded CPI/SCPI (aka Spider) systems. They had the injectors in a central location in the intake manifold, with tubes running to poppet nozzles near the intake valves. GM loved the idea because it eliminated the need for a unique (and expensive) fuel rails. All they had to do was change tubing lengths for each application. Unfortunately, the system performed poorly and GM had enormous warranty costs on them. So trucks went to conventional multiport systems in 2000 with the Multec II injector.
I thought they just used throttle body injection and then went straight to multiport when they updated it to the Vortec 5700. I got some research to do.
Opti-sparks are not vented for cooling, it's to remove the ozone that builds up inside and destroys the innards. I took my 94 Roadmaster Wagon 3000 miles this summer from Eastern Washington to Amarillo, Texas and back for a tranny rebuild and it never missed a beat. 22 mpg at 75 mph. I've got a good one.👍
That's about the same MPG as my turbo 4 at that speed lol I firmly believe Subaru should've just put GM V-8s in the STI, it would be a better car in every way
Thanks for doing one of these LT1 engines. I was in high school and my first muscle car was a 95 convertible formula firebird. Worked part time in school to pay for it. I wrenched on that thing for all sorts of things like the opti-spark, water pump (funny how I had to do those at the same time), and intake manifold gaskets. Loved that car, and put 172,000 miles on that engine / car before selling it. The 4L60e had to be rebuilt a few times, but that engine survived a lot of long miles and still had great oil pressure and no knock. Still pulled strong when I sold.
@jeffrykopis5468 transmissions go out!! It's just the way it is!! Especially in something that gets hotrodded on a regular basis!! Transmission rebuilt is no reason (at least for a real car guy) to get rid of your baby/pride and joy!!! You are the type of person to give up on whatever your doing and just sell said object instead of tackling the problem head on and conquering said problem!!!
I had a 95 Z28, but with the manual. Now I don't hate automatics (frankly, a V-8 sounds its absolute best with good old automatic upshifts with relatively wide ratio spacing like the 4L60e). But the BorgWarner T-56 took everything I threw at it, including being my first manual car and me teaching myself techniques like rev match downshifts and push starting. Worked like a champ till rust took the car from me at 145k miles 😢
I am betting that the reason they thought it was locked up is because it was hydro locked. After sitting for awhile, it just bled down the cylinder walls into the crankcase.
My 95 Trans Am has had many ignition problems. I’ve replaced the water pump 3 times and the optispark 2 times in 5 years of ownership. Ohhh, General Motors and their infinite wisdom
I have a 1956 Nomad. I bought a 94 Camaro z car with a lt1 and a t56 at a local auction that had smacked a wall. I went through the engine and replaced the water pump with new GM. Eliminated the air pump, egr and added headers. Even on a hot day with the a/c on, it runs cool as can be. I upgraded the optispark and vented it using the original fuel vent solenoid. It’s a great hot rod and fun to drive.
@@joemomma1 yes, I sent it out to have those features turned off. I found the guy on the internet. That year computer can be easily modified as there is no downstream o2 sensor, just upstream.
I put 115K on my 97 Z28 before I swapped it for a crate engine. The stock engine always started immediately, idled smoothly, no smoke, passed CA smog, revved good and ran strong. Never had a problem with the opti-spark. I provided a new opti-spark to Golen for my 383 crate engine (460hp/440 ft lbs) and I have had no problems tracking the car. Redline 6,500. Fuel cut off at 7,000 rpm.
The cylinder cancelation system causes lifter failure. I know someone who had a Silverado with the 5.3 and the lifters went out at 60k miles. If the truck is driven in manual mode it will lock out the cylinder deactivation.
These were the cool engine when I was a kid in the 90s. I remember looking to see if a Caprice or Roadmaster had dual exhaust. Then you'd know it had the LT1. It's funny, these LT1s came out in 1992; 22 years after the first generation debuted in 1970. And the 3rd generation came out in 2014; 22 years after this one.
You young whippersnapper! My buddy and I stuffed a 425 HP 409 in his 60 Chevy Belair 2 door. It had staggered dual quads and a chrome air cleaner. The top looked like a shiny garbage can lid. It was fun to suck the doors off a 389 GTO.
@@johnstreet797 My dad has a 389 Tri-power goat. That sounds like it was a cool unit. When I win the lottery and can buy acreage for car, I'd really like to get into those 1st gen Chevy big blocks. They're still something of a mystery to me.
Your introduction was great! You cleared up the confusion to the old timers and the youngsters. The 90s LT1 was great for its time, especially when compared to the previous L98.
@@johnpopoff7950 It was also the L98's factory intake, which had long runners that were great for torque, but made the engine fall flat after 4,500 rpm. The Lingenfelter/Accel Superram intake brought the L98 to life (took the motor to an entirely different level). It boosted horsepower by 30-40 hp, but improved the entire powerband all the way trough to 7,000 rpm. Then you had the super rare SLP intake, which was on the legendary 1991 Firehawk.
@@rudimerm7686Sounds like that Superram intake pretty much brought the L98 to LT1 power levels in one fell swoop. (Without reverse-flow cooling too!) Since it doesn't use the long-runner design of the stock one, I imagine it makes it somewhat less torquey down low? Not that it's not worth it.
@@nthgth *You know your stuff.* If I remember correctly, the Superram runner length was 7", so peak torque would not be compromised. As you said, low end torque was slightly compromised.
My daily driver is a 95 Trans am 6spd with this engine except OBD1. It just hit 100,000 And still runs like new. I purchased it with 80,000 previous owner changed the oil every 3,000 since the car was new and I've done the same since I have had it. I pop the hood every couple days make sure the water pump isn't leaking. Take care of your car it will take care of you.
Awesome car for sure. I had a 6spd Z28, also 1995. Never had an Opti problem, but other electrical things were problematic (blower motor and window regulators). That T-56 was indestructible and a joy to shift. Hope the Trans Am gives you many more years of awesomeness! Love those pop-up headlights too
There's a coil pack ignition system available for this now from Torqhead that converts it to the LS PCM. It's a little pricey but you can install an electric water pump so that it can no longer leak from the weep hole onto the distributor. I still have the optispark on mine and it's really not bad as long as nothing gets into it. Once you get past those issues it's a great engine.
@@YungEagle3k I didn't buy the Torqhead for my own car because of the price but converting an LT car to LS is still a lot more expensive and a lot more work.
Stripped one down and converted to carb with the NoS GM intake. It’s actually going in my C10 truck! Was a great score for $150. The accessory bracket is worth that!
@@jeffrykopis5468 yeah, I believe summit and jegs still have some. It lets you run a regular HEI style gm distributor and a 4 barrel spread bore carb. Part number 24502592.
Have had a few small blocks with creamy oil from blown head gaskets. Cleaned them up with ATF and some green Scotchbrite pads, and they ran like a champ. The last one was in an '89 K1500 with a leaking cooling jacket bolt hole. Cost all of $30 to fix that one and it's still running strong.
I had one of these in a 96 T/A, somewhat built. The Opticrap killed it. I wish somebody made an OptiEliminator back then, because IMO, the 93-97 F-Bodys were the best looking ones..
@@imtheonevanhalen1557 Now they do. A couple of companies have kits to use the LS1 coils. 25 years ago, there was nothing except an extremely complicated and expensive conversion from Electromotive.
@@shadowopsairman1583 The front ends were redone in 98. I’m not thrilled with the 98-02. The Camaros look like a fish and the Firebirds lost their sleekness and look like normal cars with headlight covers.
Always put a new Delco in when job created access. New wires , Plugs , Coil too. Good preventative maintenance on nitemare design. Optispark was attempt to improve timing and EFI accuracy , which it did almost as good as crank/cam trigger does these days
Head gasket is what killed my 95 Z years ago. Would've had it rebuilt but it was also being consumed by rust (I suspect it was exposed to abnormally high amounts of salt in previous ownership) Hope your TA fares much better!
Great teardown as always. I'm more of a carpenter than a mechanic myself so it's always fun to see a disassembly of an engine since it's not something I really get into myself. (And the knowledge will for sure help if I ever do tear into one) I will suggest though that if your cordless ratchet and impact seem to be a little... lacking in power, replace them sooner rather later. Last time I replaced one of my well used impacts, it was like night and day. For sure made a huge difference in my workflow, and time is money. Plus Christmas tool sales are going strong at this point. Buy now, save a buck, and hold onto the old ones as backups/extras. Better than buying them only once they die, because you know if you do that they aren't gonna be on sale. (Plus they'll die at the worst possible time too.)
My air operated ratchet started going stupid and I found that a small spring loaded ball had worn flat, fished through my junk collection and replaced the ball, worked fine. Ted from down under.
Great video! I drove an LT1 for over 150K miles, more than10 years (Chevy Caprice). The interior and transmission fell apart, but the LT1 kept humming a glorious sound. I still dream about it
Even though the prior person who worked on it used the wrong sealant on the water pump, they had the correct reasoning behind it. They were trying to make sure there were no leaks on to the optispark system . Their heart was in the right place.
And this shows why it is important to replace coolant in time and use the correct antifreeze...since it contains anticorrosive additives which not lasts forever.
I was a tech at a Chevy store when this motor was in production. This was around the time GM was trying to make less waste by implementing 100K mile service procedures, Oil life monitoring system, Dexcool, long life plugs and the Opti-spark. Some systems worked better than others. The Opti-spark was a growing pain between standard distributors and coil on plug OBDII systems. The SS Camaro was likely the worst tune up because of the plug access. It was easier if you used an engine drop table and lowered the motor out of the car 3-4 inches. I do recall, late 90's, most of the full Opti-spark tune ups cost about $1,000 which pissed a lot of people off but the Opti-spark distributor alone was over $400 for the part back then and I think labor time was around 6 hours.
Contrary to what shadetree mechanics say the optispark system was a very good system all around... The LT1 was GMs most powerful production small block as well..
All the Camaro, firebird and Corvette LT1s had aluminum heads. Ironheads came on the Impala and Caprice engines LT1 or l99 variants. As for the opti I feel like it's much more maligned than it should be. I've ran into issues with other random sensors Ie coolant temp sensor causing symptoms that mimicked a failing opti. I do remember hearing about these engines liking to munch bearings but that almost was always a case of running the engine too hard when it was cold. I had an iron head LT1 from a 95 Caprice police car that I beat the hell out of for 15 years in my 82 Camaro and before I pulled it it was running just as strong as it ever did. This is after countless dyno pulls, street and track passes.
@I Do Cars, The best LT1 that I liked was in the 1996 and a half Police Interceptor package! They were employed in the Caprice; upside down bathtub cruisers. Those engines were rated 350 cu. in. at 350 HP Hi Output model. Those cars would launch like no other and as I've been told are very similar to the Impala SS. They also acted like they had acted like they had an inexhaustible top end! Boy, I could tell you so stories!!
I'm in the process of tuning one of these engines right now. I got it for free "ran when pulled"... Right. Turns out all the rod bearings were spun. So I stroked it and bumped the compression up to 11.4:1 (perfect on the reverse cooling of these engines). I did an electric water pump, and carb swapped it. Dropped it in my 1980 Camaro. It's a sweet motor now! Thanks for the tear down video. it was cool seeing one with everything still all over it. Mine came mostly stripped down.
@@WilmaTellhad a LS2 powered car, that ran hot as shit, now I have a 94 Z28 I bought after it sat in a field for 6 years, dropped the tank cleaned with new fuel pump...... it'll probably run the LS2 car close, these LT1s are no bullshit
@@miatalife94 If they're both 6 speed manual transmissions it all comes down to the driver. If you hit every gear and don't spin it that's all it takes. LT1s are more aerodynamic and lower to the ground.
Hope someone bought shortblock . Had nothing wrong. Dingleball hone , scrub, new rings , brngs & good to go another 200K. Erik's friend got deal on heads , OBD ll frt cov. Good street fun engine.
That splined coupler for the water pump does NOT come with a new pump and it’s potentially quite valuable to someone who needs it. And totally agree the Opti can be sold for refurbishing. Almost every version of it sold today is vastly inferior to the original spline drive and pin drive Optis from AC Delco.
@@cali2468 factory optioned and installed but, it’s more commonly known as the LT4 high performance kit with the LT4 “hot” cam and big valve and big port heads. It was also available through the dealership as a GM Performance kit. I made a mistake on the year, it was a 1997 anniversary Z28 that I bought in 1996. But included in the LT4 package were better heads, a red intake that was ported and port matched with the throttle body opening enlarged to accommodate a 1000 CFM t-body, 30# injectors, the t-body, 1.65 rockers, shorty headers, a bigger cam and the ecu tuned. With a K&N cone filter, high flow cat and flowmaster exhaust system, I put down 415hp at the tires. It was supposed to be 420hp at the engine but it was severely underrated. I hope this was helpful. Oh and with BFG drag radials and it was a 6 speed, I ran consistent 11.40’s at 120 in the quarter
The new waterpump was a sign, the new coolant sensor in the left head sealed the deal, the post mortem was exactly what I expected after seeing those. I didn't realize those were 2 bolt main blocks. Pretty strange when you consider the power output and that a Roadmaster or Caprice wagon full of two legged beef, luggage and towing a trailer is getting into truck territory for GCVW.
I've owned three LT1 cars over the years. 1992 Corvette, 1993 Z28, and currently have a 1995 Trans Am. The only one that needed an opti replacement was the Vette after a classic water pump failure. Replaced it with an MSD variant, which ran well. LT1s are some of the best stock sounding V8s in my opinion. Still hoping to some day own a 94-96 Impala SS but they are going up in value fast. Thank you for the video.
Agreed!!! I've had 2 LT1 cars 95Z28 and currently I have a 92 corvette. Both are extremely fun!! I have basically the same thing done to the vette that I did to the camaro but went a lil further with the vette on mods! The corvette has full custom exhaust system from a C7 grand sport with the Xpipe and headers and sounds absolutely beautiful!! The Z28 had a 3in catback Flowmaster system with stock manifolds it sounded incredible as well but not quite as good as the corvette and the corvette is quite a bit faster and obviously handles a million times better
@24:44 - RTV should be applied like you would apply heat sink compound to a processor. Very even and very thin. You're trying to fill slight microscopic imperfections, not stack the Hoover Dam!
Always put a new Delco in when job created access. New wires , Plugs , Coil too. Good preventative maintenance on nitemare design. Optispark was attempt to improve timing and EFI accuracy , which it did almost as good as crank/cam trigger does these days
If you ever get the same motor twice but with different issues you should make another video. I don't think I've seen many duplicate engine videos on your channel but I think many viewers enjoy seeing different damage even if you are taking apart the same engine.
I still drive a 1996 Corvette with one of these in it. The valve rockers look slightly different. Not sure why. Still fun to drive around. I have a lifter on the #2 cylinder that's starting to wear out. Going to be my next fix with the digital display after that. Just hit 100k miles a few weeks ago. Thanks for the great videos.
I've been waiting for a 2nd gen small block LT1. I've done a lot of work on my 96 Roadmaster but I've never seen inside the engine. It's got over 170k miles on the original Optispark and I had a water pump go out around 140k miles and soaked it. I dried everything up as good as I could, put the new water pump on and haven't had a problem yet. Although I'm very aware that I need to rebuild the Optispark soon.
Ya had a 95 gmc z71 with 400k miles on it original 350 tbi my buddy has it now and he says it still going strong starts up every time like it was new still no smoking oil leaks etc
These were great performing engines in their day.... way stronger than the L98 it replaced. Ended the reign of the 5.0L Mustang and the subsequent 4.6 Mod motor was always in the rearview. The GEN2 LTX had a short production life from 92-97 because GM just needed a stop gap to get them to the GEN3 LS. A lot of the stuff with them never made sense to me... the reverse cooling and optispark.... all that did was make major components incompatible with the previous SBC and introduced unreliability in the ignition system.
The reverse cooling was about emissions and performance. Smokey Yunick talked about it, and some race teams tried it. I believe Oldsmobile or Buick tried it back in the 50's but cost of production was to high. The 92 Corvette was the first production car to utilize it. The theory behind it was to cool the hotest part of the engine, i.e. the combustion chamber so that higher compression(10.4:1 LT1 and 10.6:1 LT4) could be used. Also it allowed the block to warm up faster so that cold start emissions were reduced, and also longer block life as cold shock(cold coolant entering the block when the t-stat is initially opened) would be heavily avoided.
@@headhoncho4890 oh yes I remember racing a mid 90’s GT at the 1/4 mile track at rockingham NC on night with my mostly stock 96 z28 automatic I put a city block or more on him lol. He wasn’t stock either he had off road exhaust and drag tires.
I like Mustangs too, but idk what Ford was smoking when they put the anemic 4.6 into it when it had the LT1 to deal with. (and did they know the LS1 was right around the corner?)
The trucks from 96 up had the L31 Vortec which was nearly as powerful in terms of hp and lacked the wretched optispark, but traded that for bad intake gaskets that leak coolant into the valley, and easily cracked iron cylinder heads
Wow, such a genius idea to bury the cap and rotor like that. Those parts never need replacing. Must be the same engineering team that decided it was a stellar idea to put the starter in the engine valley. Because like all electrical parts, they last the life of the engine!! Kudos to GM. eyeroll That cam driven water pump is awesome too. Because, belts are hard. No one "gots" time for belts. LMAO
you should see the genius engineering behind the gas tank on the Camaro this this engine came in lol, I did it the hard way without cutting a hole, total pain in the ass
@@miatalife94I mean its fine for me I am planning on doing my 97 trans am fuel pump. However while I am under the car with everything out of the way I plan on cleaning and painting all the underside. It's honestly worth it to pull the tank on these cars now if you got a nice one without any rot. You can clean and paint anything that might have a bit of rust starting to form.
Really enjoyed this video. I've never seen inside one of these engines. I can see why they aren't on the list of the top 10 best small block Chevrolet engines. GM started with a bottom of the barrel 350 (single bolt mains, cast crank, cast rods and cast pistons), then they "improved" it with the horrible water pump drive, ignition system, intake manifold and fuel injection system. The only redeeming feature of this engine is the aluminum heads. But they aren't really that much of a big deal, considering the aftermarket alternatives that are available now. The engine is in surprisingly good condition, considering that it had two blown head gaskets. Thanks again for sharing this video.
My parents had a 94 Formula (car I learned to drive lol) and it was reliable AF besides needing 2 starters replaced. IIRc they sold it after 100k. The optispark was no problem, and 'experts' generally attribute it's probs to leaking pumps (dexcool) and then inferior replacements. Make no mistake, it was a problem - but more from a bad pump configuration and a not-quite-sealed ignition. The LS definitely improved on this. That Formula was replaced with an 02 WS6 and has had zero failures...besides a lifter tick lol.
Just put a Jasper rebuilt Corvette LT1 (with four-bolt main bearing caps) in my 95 Camaro Z28! The dipstick tube came out a lot easier on mine! ;-) Thanks for posting!
On the 3800s you also need to pull the oil level sensor before taking off the pan...I found that out the hard way after breaking mine. Bit of a silly thing really.
Had a a similar 5.7 350 tuned port injection GTA! Car did 155-160. Had to hold er in D well into redline, then shift to OD. Otherwise it would keep shifting up and down around 125, and quit pulling. Car was a ball. Crushed all my buddies 5.0’s! Great vid!
Looking back in retrospect it’s really interesting that GM took the basic iron block from the 60’s as far as they did. These aluminum headed, overplumbed beasts were a marvel in their day, but time was not kind to them. Working on these doesn’t look fun at all. Then within a few short years the LS makes its appearance. The difference being that they started from a clean sheet for what they were trying to achieve and then just NAILED IT. Big takeaway for me on this one is just to appreciate what a wild improvement the LS really was….
early LS had teething issues like every design. they came out the factory with stop leak. composite head gaskets didn’t last but they took care of that pretty quickly
LS was developed by NHRA record holder Engineers who worked @ GM. They knew what was needed and we're all the beneficiaries of their simplistic minimal powerplant marvel. The SBC legacy will live on ad infinitum
im a huge small block gen1 fan and i was always thinking the LT1 was superior thank you for showing i will stay a gen1 fan ,i was sure they where all 4 bolts main
I've been screwing with LT1s for decades now Ive never seen one have a blown head gasket. 95 was the first year for the Big opti hole in the timing cover and got the vented opti. that cured 90% of the ignition problems.
I’m a fan of these engines. I am waiting for my block to be finished at the machine shop, and my LT4 heads are currently at a head-porting shop. I found an LT4 crank that needed only polishing. It has the radiused journals. So i guess i have a hybrid lt1/LT4! The block is the original to my 1997 camaro SLP SS. That is why i stayed with the OEM stroke and OEM LT4 heads. I chose a huge cam (for a 355) and i had to modify my intake for the heads. My camaro is white with the orange stripes, so it’s ALMOST an LT4 30th anniversary edition!
One of my favorite engines. It actually holds the GM 6spd manual record in a ‘97 Camaro. 6.61 @217mph in the 1/4. 2500hp.. No LS can touch it so far. Facts.
I was just thinking about this the other day why they didn’t offer the LT1 in the gmt400. My 94 has the 350 TBI and it’s pretty much bulletproof, no problems at 210k miles. I don’t know why, can somebody enlighten me?
30 years later and most LT1's just needed oil changes and an ignition system upgrade !
Right take care of it and it will last.
I got 319k out of my 93 Z-28. Best car I ever owned. Actually still own it. Needs restoration that I will likely never do.
What would you recommend for upgrading the ignition system? I have a 96 z28 that keeps giving me issues with that optispark.
@@AKjose47torqhead
@@AKjose47Torqhead 24x best thing I ever did on my 94 Z28
Hey the Optispark vent was added in the 95 and up camaro's. The high voltage optispark produced ozone which rapidly built up and massivly sped up any corrosion inside of the optisark. Venting it allowed for a steady stream of fresh air to cycle through preventing the buildup and was actually quite effective :)
One of the major takeaways I get from these videos is that removing the dipstick is the toughest part of any teardown.
Many times. Especially in the north. Rust builds up around the dipstick, and it's hell to get them out in the vehicle. I found using a small amount of heat makes them fall right out. MAP gas torch works perfectly. If you're gonna be putting it back together, don't forget to replace the O-ring.
@@Spike-sk7ql I feel lucky, with the Gen II LT-1 I had apart, dipstick came out with little/no hassle.
Especially when the sludge is an inch thick inside the engine
Lol, I was doing an oil pan gasket on my car and it came right out.
Hey I do cars I don't know if you'll see this but I still wanted to say it haha. A couple of years ago I got a dirt bike and ended up really liking working on motorcycles and cars and your channel has really helped me learn a lot about failures and really got me interested in motors in general. I'm only 16 and I now work at a Honda shop and get to build motors. Thanks for all the great videos.
Good job, stick with it. People that know how to do things with their hands and mind are in short supply. Watch some South Main Auto if you want to get into diagnostics, electrics or electronics aren't going away.
@@stevebot you said it, Scott at "Vehcor" is also good on body and removal,but this guy with the dry wit and innuendo humor.., awesome.
@@iuyozx haha thanks a lot. I can't believe how much I like it it's definitely my thing. I also get to do a lot of Ski-Doos, side by sides, and quad stuff to. it's crazy how much there is to learn about diagnostics and repair!
@@stevebot I'll definitely check him out. That is one thing I'm not super strong in yet. I have a basic understanding but it would be great to learn more. Thanks!
@@jennifurzoe1302 I'll have to check him out!
and i love the way you tried to remove that dipstick by attempting to take it by surprise, several times 🤣
I’m surprised he didn’t pick it out with the fork loader……
You do such fantastic work I would have that shirt so badly dirty you couldn't use it for a rag
@@concernedcitizen780 Yeah, I had the same comment 🙂
Thats not just me who picked that up lol.
But when it works... its becomes hard to question the method.
The optispark ignition is not near as bad as people make it out to be. It’s actually really precise as the high resolution sensor knows where the cam is to the degree. The biggest thing is to have the newer vented cap and rotor, make sure the vacuum hoses to it are good, and to keep water out of it by tapping a fitting into the weep hole of the water pump and putting a hose on it to route it away from the distributor. If you maintenance the cap and rotor like you should it should be sealed anyways. I think it got it’s bad rap due to people using cheap aftermarket opti’s that had cheap optical sensors instead of the reliable Mitsubishi sensor. The vent help a lot. It removed the ozone that built up from high voltage inside the cap and made them more durable.
Ty !
You must be insane. Optijunk sits so low on the engine it will die in hard rain
I seen Mitsubishi sensors bad too
Ive been through 9 opti sparks all wiped out for rain. Ive had vented and non vented. All sucked. Im now getting the torqhead kit. 9 optis in 60,000 miles is pathetic.
Dude.. it's crap.. as soon as it gets wet, which is inevitable, it craps out, revs too high.. it craps out.. hell, you put the key in too hard The opti might die..
I had a 1996 Buick Roadmaster with the LT1. Great car, true 3 row seating (took the whole office to lunch). Comfortable and plenty of power if you didn't mind 14 MPG city and 20-22 highway. Before I sold it to an older couple reminiscing about the Regan presidency, my wife and I took turns sitting in the rear-facing 3rd row while the other person floored it. Good times.
Haha. Nice recap.
@@riccocool it's definitely one of the good memories. Although part of me wishes I kept it for hauling the kids.
@@mphilleo I remember being 12 and sitting in one of those rear seats alongside my brother on a group trip to a baseball game. The kids in the car behind us thought it was fun to wave and we waved back.
@@mphilleo I bought an all original 67 country squire to haul the kids around.
The Roadmaster also had a roller cam LT1, the only model to get that. What's ironic is todays turbo 4 bangers can barely beat that MPG.
I have a 94 Trans Am I bought brand new.Fully loaded, leather, every thing except T tops, my 79 TA had those, loved having them off, but after a few years, they started leaking.....It was my daily till 2005. Ive now had 5 new cars since, but the TA IS A KEEPER. It has 338.000 plus miles now. The engine has never been touched. Even the timing chain is original. It runs and sounds like new. Uses no oil between changes, and those have been every 3000 miles since new. Castrol GTX. Never had synthetic in it. Lifelong Southern California car. Its had 2 new water pumps, 2 new radiators, and 3 new optisparks. It still looks great in and out, and has NEVER FAILED California emissions test which is unbelievable, as its a difficult test to pass...treadmill, test rod up the tail pipe...yeah, I love my old Trans Am. They weren't cheap, mine cost about 42.000 in today's money.
Cars don't have T TOPS !! WOW. They have 2 removable roof panels. What's left is the T shaped structure of the roof.
Love the way he tries to sneak up on the dipstick, as if that'll help get it out sooner.
Now that is so funny. The great dipstick challenge.
Worth a shot
The commentary killed me "its coming! Its coming! its not coming any more!"
I had a ‘93 Trans Am and in ‘94 I ordered a T/A convertible with a 6 speed (young and stupid :) LOVED those LT-1s, especially with the manual behind it. A total blast!!
Had a '95 manual Z28 coupe, and HELL yeah that thing was fun! First manual too, the thing survived as I taught myself heel toeing, push starting, rev matching etc.
Also first RWD car! 😄 Also young and dumb - a miracle that I never crashed it! Except into a curb, needed a new wheel.
I don't miss the electrical problems but man what a blast that thing was to drive.
In 1976 I ordered a new 1977 TA Bandit Edition new drove it for a couple years and then stupidly traded it in for the 10 year anv model in 1979...back in the day they werent worth much just like the black ford SWB trucks in 1980 and 81 when Urban Cowboy came out everybody had to have one especially the short guys always laughed as they were lifted so high they had a hard time getting in and out..culture changes with each generation and Ive been through hundreds of cars
My 94 Firebird Formula is long gone, but I still have her oil soaked all over my garage floor to remember her by.
My '95 Caprice leaked from the oil filter adapter, about a quart every 600 miles. I never changed the oil in it because I figured it was already getting five new quarts every 3000 miles.
The LT1 was the high end, motor swap!! Back in the day,,
A hot rod, with a LT1 was like WOW!!
Great video!!
I still use them.
Let’s not forget the reverse flow cooling that allowed for higher compression
I was a fuel systems engineer for Rochester Products div of GM (now Delphi) back in the day when we were making the transition from carburetors into fuel injection. The reason trucks didn't get multiport systems is because they were slated to get the dreaded CPI/SCPI (aka Spider) systems. They had the injectors in a central location in the intake manifold, with tubes running to poppet nozzles near the intake valves. GM loved the idea because it eliminated the need for a unique (and expensive) fuel rails. All they had to do was change tubing lengths for each application. Unfortunately, the system performed poorly and GM had enormous warranty costs on them. So trucks went to conventional multiport systems in 2000 with the Multec II injector.
I have a 1998 5.7 1500 van. Any tips for keeping the spider injection in good condition?
@@paulmryglod4802 Yelp, don't own ROFLMOAO
@watup110875 hahaha alright alright
I thought they just used throttle body injection and then went straight to multiport when they updated it to the Vortec 5700. I got some research to do.
Opti-sparks are not vented for cooling, it's to remove the ozone that builds up inside and destroys the innards.
I took my 94 Roadmaster Wagon 3000 miles this summer from Eastern Washington to Amarillo, Texas and back for a tranny rebuild and it never missed a beat. 22 mpg at 75 mph. I've got a good one.👍
Why would you drive 3000 miles for a transmission rebuild ? Thanks
probably went to precision transmission, they have a youtube channel but have since quit doing videos.
😎👍
That's about the same MPG as my turbo 4 at that speed lol
I firmly believe Subaru should've just put GM V-8s in the STI, it would be a better car in every way
For its time the LT1 was an unbeatable engine in power and reliability until it’s LS replacement.
Thanks for doing one of these LT1 engines. I was in high school and my first muscle car was a 95 convertible formula firebird. Worked part time in school to pay for it. I wrenched on that thing for all sorts of things like the opti-spark, water pump (funny how I had to do those at the same time), and intake manifold gaskets. Loved that car, and put 172,000 miles on that engine / car before selling it. The 4L60e had to be rebuilt a few times, but that engine survived a lot of long miles and still had great oil pressure and no knock. Still pulled strong when I sold.
"the 4L60E had to be rebuilt a few times". Once would be enough for me. Sometimes ya gotta know when to walk away, kid.
@jeffrykopis5468 transmissions go out!! It's just the way it is!! Especially in something that gets hotrodded on a regular basis!! Transmission rebuilt is no reason (at least for a real car guy) to get rid of your baby/pride and joy!!! You are the type of person to give up on whatever your doing and just sell said object instead of tackling the problem head on and conquering said problem!!!
I had a 95 Z28, but with the manual. Now I don't hate automatics (frankly, a V-8 sounds its absolute best with good old automatic upshifts with relatively wide ratio spacing like the 4L60e).
But the BorgWarner T-56 took everything I threw at it, including being my first manual car and me teaching myself techniques like rev match downshifts and push starting.
Worked like a champ till rust took the car from me at 145k miles 😢
I am betting that the reason they thought it was locked up is because it was hydro locked. After sitting for awhile, it just bled down the cylinder walls into the crankcase.
Also might have happened while at idle so didn't do catastrophic damage
My thoughts also...
@@davidpowell3347 - Probably couldn't get it to turn over and start...
If its hydrolocked whats the course of action?
My 95 Trans Am has had many ignition problems. I’ve replaced the water pump 3 times and the optispark 2 times in 5 years of ownership. Ohhh, General Motors and their infinite wisdom
I’ve been sick in bed for 3 days and I think I kept a part of my sanity by watching your vids. You have the best job.
My favorite thing about Saturday night. Watching you rip engines apart. Always in suspense to see those beautiful chains.
I have a 1956 Nomad. I bought a 94 Camaro z car with a lt1 and a t56 at a local auction that had smacked a wall. I went through the engine and replaced the water pump with new GM. Eliminated the air pump, egr and added headers. Even on a hot day with the a/c on, it runs cool as can be. I upgraded the optispark and vented it using the original fuel vent solenoid. It’s a great hot rod and fun to drive.
I'll bet that Nomad goes like a streak!
@@joemomma1 yes, I sent it out to have those features turned off. I found the guy on the internet. That year computer can be easily modified as there is no downstream o2 sensor, just upstream.
@@joemomma1 yes, I sent it out to have those things turned off.
I put 115K on my 97 Z28 before I swapped it for a crate engine. The stock engine always started immediately, idled smoothly, no smoke, passed CA smog, revved good and ran strong. Never had a problem with the opti-spark. I provided a new opti-spark to Golen for my 383 crate engine (460hp/440 ft lbs) and I have had no problems tracking the car. Redline 6,500. Fuel cut off at 7,000 rpm.
I really like the video, but the BMW in the end, one of, if not the most beautiful of all time
Funny how the roller lifters in those old LT's lasted forever, but nowdays, they can't hold together regardless of better oils etc.
The oils might not really be better,just more catalytic converter friendly. (Less antiwear additive?)
I'm sure they use cheaper steel alloys, too.
The cylinder cancelation system causes lifter failure. I know someone who had a Silverado with the 5.3 and the lifters went out at 60k miles. If the truck is driven in manual mode it will lock out the cylinder deactivation.
I saw a comment mentioning the lifters last longer when they're in the valley. better oiling or somesuch, don't understand it myself.
Imo , best sounding engine ever. I had one hopped to lt4 with hot cam n bolt ons. Only car I ever lost control of and I was going strait...lol
I'm old enough to really wish that GM would've picked a different designation for the Gen Vs than LT
These were the cool engine when I was a kid in the 90s. I remember looking to see if a Caprice or Roadmaster had dual exhaust. Then you'd know it had the LT1. It's funny, these LT1s came out in 1992; 22 years after the first generation debuted in 1970. And the 3rd generation came out in 2014; 22 years after this one.
You young whippersnapper! My buddy and I stuffed a 425 HP 409 in his 60 Chevy Belair 2 door. It had staggered dual quads and a chrome air cleaner. The top looked like a shiny garbage can lid. It was fun to suck the doors off a 389 GTO.
The 2036 version will have batteries. But it'll be fast.
@@johnstreet797It's fun to see those flexy-flyer X frame cars twist up like a pretzel at the drags.
@@johnstreet797 My dad has a 389 Tri-power goat. That sounds like it was a cool unit. When I win the lottery and can buy acreage for car, I'd really like to get into those 1st gen Chevy big blocks. They're still something of a mystery to me.
@@jeffrykopis5468 But it will be gay. With 4 doors, no less.
Your introduction was great! You cleared up the confusion to the old timers and the youngsters. The 90s LT1 was great for its time, especially when compared to the previous L98.
L-98 just needed better breathing heads.
@@johnpopoff7950 It was also the L98's factory intake, which had long runners that were great for torque, but made the engine fall flat after 4,500 rpm.
The Lingenfelter/Accel Superram intake brought the L98 to life (took the motor to an entirely different level). It boosted horsepower by 30-40 hp, but improved the entire powerband all the way trough to 7,000 rpm.
Then you had the super rare SLP intake, which was on the legendary 1991 Firehawk.
@@rudimerm7686Sounds like that Superram intake pretty much brought the L98 to LT1 power levels in one fell swoop. (Without reverse-flow cooling too!)
Since it doesn't use the long-runner design of the stock one, I imagine it makes it somewhat less torquey down low?
Not that it's not worth it.
@@nthgth *You know your stuff.* If I remember correctly, the Superram runner length was 7", so peak torque would not be compromised. As you said, low end torque was slightly compromised.
My daily driver is a 95 Trans am 6spd with this engine except OBD1. It just hit 100,000
And still runs like new. I purchased it with 80,000 previous owner changed the oil every 3,000 since the car was new and I've done the same since I have had it. I pop the hood every couple days make sure the water pump isn't leaking. Take care of your car it will take care of you.
Awesome car for sure. I had a 6spd Z28, also 1995. Never had an Opti problem, but other electrical things were problematic (blower motor and window regulators). That T-56 was indestructible and a joy to shift.
Hope the Trans Am gives you many more years of awesomeness! Love those pop-up headlights too
There's a coil pack ignition system available for this now from Torqhead that converts it to the LS PCM. It's a little pricey but you can install an electric water pump so that it can no longer leak from the weep hole onto the distributor. I still have the optispark on mine and it's really not bad as long as nothing gets into it. Once you get past those issues it's a great engine.
Why would you spend that much to convert to coils. Might as well get a used ls
@@YungEagle3k I didn't buy the Torqhead for my own car because of the price but converting an LT car to LS is still a lot more expensive and a lot more work.
My brother had a 94 9c1. Pretty fun car. Those cop cars had all kinds of little upgrades.
Stripped one down and converted to carb with the NoS GM intake. It’s actually going in my C10 truck! Was a great score for $150. The accessory bracket is worth that!
Look into Advanced Induction or Loyd Elliot.
"NOS GM intake"? There was a GM 4 bl CARB intake for these?
@@jeffrykopis5468 yeah, I believe summit and jegs still have some. It lets you run a regular HEI style gm distributor and a 4 barrel spread bore carb. Part number 24502592.
@@jeffrykopis5468 I had one.
I have 4 of these LT1s. All Iron Head versions. 2 of them have 300,000 and don't burn Oil. One still has the Original Distributor Cap and Rotor,
Have had a few small blocks with creamy oil from blown head gaskets. Cleaned them up with ATF and some green Scotchbrite pads, and they ran like a champ. The last one was in an '89 K1500 with a leaking cooling jacket bolt hole. Cost all of $30 to fix that one and it's still running strong.
Question...
What is ATF?
Thanks
😎👍🏼🏁🌎🇺🇲
@@jimilopex76 Automatic transmission fluid
One of your best videos for me. I was about to pull a trigger on a 1996 Corvette and from you tear down, my mind has changed.
If it was a manual, that Corvette had the rare LT4 engine. Fantastic and coveted engine, but I'm not sure it avoided all the pitfalls of the LT1.
Lt1s are beasts. Crazy torque
My LT1 has 340,000 miles and runs perfectly. Tons of power too.
I had one of these in a 96 T/A, somewhat built. The Opticrap killed it. I wish somebody made an OptiEliminator back then, because IMO, the 93-97 F-Bodys were the best looking ones..
You can see the distributor drive is still there for the oil pump.....I bet someone makes a kit.
@@imtheonevanhalen1557 Now they do. A couple of companies have kits to use the LS1 coils. 25 years ago, there was nothing except an extremely complicated and expensive conversion from Electromotive.
93-2002
@@shadowopsairman1583 The front ends were redone in 98. I’m not thrilled with the 98-02. The Camaros look like a fish and the Firebirds lost their sleekness and look like normal cars with headlight covers.
Always put a new Delco in when job created access. New wires , Plugs , Coil too. Good preventative maintenance on nitemare design. Optispark was attempt to improve timing and EFI accuracy , which it did almost as good as crank/cam trigger does these days
My 97 trans am started blowing white smoke out the exhaust and I'm trying to tear it down to the head gaskets. This was very helpful. Thanks.
Head gasket is what killed my 95 Z years ago. Would've had it rebuilt but it was also being consumed by rust (I suspect it was exposed to abnormally high amounts of salt in previous ownership)
Hope your TA fares much better!
Great teardown as always. I'm more of a carpenter than a mechanic myself so it's always fun to see a disassembly of an engine since it's not something I really get into myself. (And the knowledge will for sure help if I ever do tear into one)
I will suggest though that if your cordless ratchet and impact seem to be a little... lacking in power, replace them sooner rather later. Last time I replaced one of my well used impacts, it was like night and day. For sure made a huge difference in my workflow, and time is money. Plus Christmas tool sales are going strong at this point. Buy now, save a buck, and hold onto the old ones as backups/extras. Better than buying them only once they die, because you know if you do that they aren't gonna be on sale. (Plus they'll die at the worst possible time too.)
My air operated ratchet started going stupid and I found that a small spring loaded ball had worn flat, fished through my junk collection and replaced the ball, worked fine. Ted from down under.
Great video! I drove an LT1 for over 150K miles, more than10 years (Chevy Caprice). The interior and transmission fell apart, but the LT1 kept humming a glorious sound. I still dream about it
I always loved the GM 350. What a workhorse of an engine. Each division had their variant, but they were all solid engines.
Just had a full moon. The nuts DO come out before the studs!
So glad your including the parts washer in the videos, it so satisfying
I was a son of a mechanic. In other words, I was the sludge scraper and the parts washer.
Even though the prior person who worked on it used the wrong sealant on the water pump, they had the correct reasoning behind it. They were trying to make sure there were no leaks on to the optispark system . Their heart was in the right place.
I have a 96 SS camaro I love this video I want to rebuild my LT1 knowing mine has over 200,000 miles and has been sitting for some time now
Yessirrr I love one of these in my z28 with only 60k miles. Runs like a champ.
I did spark plug and wires on my white 95 trans am. Engine still in, virgin car( still all stock) it was not fun. But i learned a thing or two.
That optispark looks original and does have value. One way to make sure is open it and look for the Mitsubishi logo on the sensor.
And this shows why it is important to replace coolant in time and use the correct antifreeze...since it contains anticorrosive additives which not lasts forever.
I was a tech at a Chevy store when this motor was in production. This was around the time GM was trying to make less waste by implementing 100K mile service procedures, Oil life monitoring system, Dexcool, long life plugs and the Opti-spark. Some systems worked better than others. The Opti-spark was a growing pain between standard distributors and coil on plug OBDII systems. The SS Camaro was likely the worst tune up because of the plug access. It was easier if you used an engine drop table and lowered the motor out of the car 3-4 inches. I do recall, late 90's, most of the full Opti-spark tune ups cost about $1,000 which pissed a lot of people off but the Opti-spark distributor alone was over $400 for the part back then and I think labor time was around 6 hours.
Contrary to what shadetree mechanics say the optispark system was a very good system all around... The LT1 was GMs most powerful production small block as well..
Optispark replacement at the dealership always ran around 500 bucks for me. I got around 100.000 miles on each one...
@@jonathanlawson4667 all those police cars and taxis used that system, as long as the WP didn't leak it worked well.
Wow
Agreed 100% brother, I'd take a LT before a LS any day !
Your comedy is subtle and sarcastic with some good movie references...bravo good Sir
12v vr6 teardown plz! Such a unique engine Id love to see it apart if you can find one.
Your arch-nemesis the dipstick tube 😁
All the Camaro, firebird and Corvette LT1s had aluminum heads. Ironheads came on the Impala and Caprice engines LT1 or l99 variants. As for the opti I feel like it's much more maligned than it should be. I've ran into issues with other random sensors Ie coolant temp sensor causing symptoms that mimicked a failing opti. I do remember hearing about these engines liking to munch bearings but that almost was always a case of running the engine too hard when it was cold. I had an iron head LT1 from a 95 Caprice police car that I beat the hell out of for 15 years in my 82 Camaro and before I pulled it it was running just as strong as it ever did. This is after countless dyno pulls, street and track passes.
I had a 97 T/A with LT1 back then it was bad ass and got 24 mpg. Never had any trouble with mine for 2 or 3 years I had it.
Hey I got an LT1! 1996 Impala SS, just put on some headers and replaced the intake manifold gasket and valve cover gaskets.
I had a few new LT1s in T/As & Zs. 14.6 quarter mile. Fun to drive but not THAT fast. Great handling Formula 350 w/WS6.
@I Do Cars, The best LT1 that I liked was in the 1996 and a half Police Interceptor package! They were employed
in the Caprice; upside down bathtub cruisers. Those engines were rated 350 cu. in. at 350 HP Hi Output model.
Those cars would launch like no other and as I've been told are very similar to the Impala SS. They also acted
like they had acted like they had an inexhaustible top end! Boy, I could tell you so stories!!
I'm in the process of tuning one of these engines right now. I got it for free "ran when pulled"... Right. Turns out all the rod bearings were spun. So I stroked it and bumped the compression up to 11.4:1 (perfect on the reverse cooling of these engines). I did an electric water pump, and carb swapped it. Dropped it in my 1980 Camaro. It's a sweet motor now! Thanks for the tear down video. it was cool seeing one with everything still all over it. Mine came mostly stripped down.
These engines always ran so hot. 90's LT motors were okay for the time, but man did the LS improve upon that design.
Chev engines took a dump with the high temperature thermostats required to meet emissions, until completely re-designed with the LS.
But my stock LT1 still smoke an LS1. Imagine that?
@@WilmaTellhad a LS2 powered car, that ran hot as shit, now I have a 94 Z28 I bought after it sat in a field for 6 years, dropped the tank cleaned with new fuel pump...... it'll probably run the LS2 car close, these LT1s are no bullshit
@@miatalife94 If they're both 6 speed manual transmissions it all comes down to the driver. If you hit every gear and don't spin it that's all it takes. LT1s are more aerodynamic and lower to the ground.
@@WilmaTellthey sure did I drove a 94 fleetwood Lt1 big as car and still beat plenty of ls I raced a hell I raced a 300 with a hemi and kicked his ass
Hope someone bought shortblock . Had nothing wrong. Dingleball hone , scrub, new rings , brngs & good to go another 200K. Erik's friend got deal on heads , OBD ll frt cov. Good street fun engine.
That splined coupler for the water pump does NOT come with a new pump and it’s potentially quite valuable to someone who needs it. And totally agree the Opti can be sold for refurbishing. Almost every version of it sold today is vastly inferior to the original spline drive and pin drive Optis from AC Delco.
I've got a 95 Trans Am with 160k miles. I'm on the 3rd water pump, but I've been lucky to still have the original opti.
in a surprise coincidence, alex from legit street cars was hunting down an ignition fault on his lt1 in a video he dropped today
First thing I though of when I saw this video
I had just finished Alex's video when this popped up. It is an LT1 kind of night. Takes me back to the good ol days!!
His looks brand new inside this one not so much.
Thinking the same thing😂
Same thoughts 💭
M3 at the end...very nice.
My 1996 LT4 made 415hp. It had different heads, cam, rocker ratio, slightly different intake with bigger injectors and throttle body
Lloyd Elliot or Advanced Induction?
@@cali2468 factory optioned and installed but, it’s more commonly known as the LT4 high performance kit with the LT4 “hot” cam and big valve and big port heads. It was also available through the dealership as a GM Performance kit. I made a mistake on the year, it was a 1997 anniversary Z28 that I bought in 1996. But included in the LT4 package were better heads, a red intake that was ported and port matched with the throttle body opening enlarged to accommodate a 1000 CFM t-body, 30# injectors, the t-body, 1.65 rockers, shorty headers, a bigger cam and the ecu tuned. With a K&N cone filter, high flow cat and flowmaster exhaust system, I put down 415hp at the tires. It was supposed to be 420hp at the engine but it was severely underrated. I hope this was helpful. Oh and with BFG drag radials and it was a 6 speed, I ran consistent 11.40’s at 120 in the quarter
@@josephbrownjr3564holy crap, my dream car right there
The one I stuck in a little Old Vega, added a good 4speex and she was a great runner! She would EAT what car you wanted to line with it.
The new waterpump was a sign, the new coolant sensor in the left head sealed the deal, the post mortem was exactly what I expected after seeing those. I didn't realize those were 2 bolt main blocks. Pretty strange when you consider the power output and that a Roadmaster or Caprice wagon full of two legged beef, luggage and towing a trailer is getting into truck territory for GCVW.
I think the lt4s were four-bolt Main
Corvettes got 4-bolt blocks, the F-, B-, and D-bodies used 2-bolt blocks.
I've owned three LT1 cars over the years. 1992 Corvette, 1993 Z28, and currently have a 1995 Trans Am. The only one that needed an opti replacement was the Vette after a classic water pump failure. Replaced it with an MSD variant, which ran well. LT1s are some of the best stock sounding V8s in my opinion. Still hoping to some day own a 94-96 Impala SS but they are going up in value fast. Thank you for the video.
Agreed!!! I've had 2 LT1 cars 95Z28 and currently I have a 92 corvette. Both are extremely fun!! I have basically the same thing done to the vette that I did to the camaro but went a lil further with the vette on mods! The corvette has full custom exhaust system from a C7 grand sport with the Xpipe and headers and sounds absolutely beautiful!! The Z28 had a 3in catback Flowmaster system with stock manifolds it sounded incredible as well but not quite as good as the corvette and the corvette is quite a bit faster and obviously handles a million times better
Best sounding V-8 ever imo.
..maaaaybe the GT350's "Voodoo" engine is tied with it. Maybe.
@24:44 - RTV should be applied like you would apply heat sink compound to a processor. Very even and very thin. You're trying to fill slight microscopic imperfections, not stack the Hoover Dam!
Always put a new Delco in when job created access. New wires , Plugs , Coil too. Good preventative maintenance on nitemare design. Optispark was attempt to improve timing and EFI accuracy , which it did almost as good as crank/cam trigger does these days
If you ever get the same motor twice but with different issues you should make another video. I don't think I've seen many duplicate engine videos on your channel but I think many viewers enjoy seeing different damage even if you are taking apart the same engine.
I still drive a 1996 Corvette with one of these in it. The valve rockers look slightly different. Not sure why. Still fun to drive around. I have a lifter on the #2 cylinder that's starting to wear out. Going to be my next fix with the digital display after that. Just hit 100k miles a few weeks ago. Thanks for the great videos.
My ratchet (same model) was dying; I took it apart and found nothing wrong, put some grease in there and it's been good since!
I've been waiting for a 2nd gen small block LT1. I've done a lot of work on my 96 Roadmaster but I've never seen inside the engine. It's got over 170k miles on the original Optispark and I had a water pump go out around 140k miles and soaked it. I dried everything up as good as I could, put the new water pump on and haven't had a problem yet. Although I'm very aware that I need to rebuild the Optispark soon.
Looks like a sad little droid. The throttle bodies the eyes, the water pump the front armor. 🤖
Ya had a 95 gmc z71 with 400k miles on it original 350 tbi my buddy has it now and he says it still going strong starts up every time like it was new still no smoking oil leaks etc
These were great performing engines in their day.... way stronger than the L98 it replaced. Ended the reign of the 5.0L Mustang and the subsequent 4.6 Mod motor was always in the rearview. The GEN2 LTX had a short production life from 92-97 because GM just needed a stop gap to get them to the GEN3 LS. A lot of the stuff with them never made sense to me... the reverse cooling and optispark.... all that did was make major components incompatible with the previous SBC and introduced unreliability in the ignition system.
The reverse cooling was about emissions and performance. Smokey Yunick talked about it, and some race teams tried it. I believe Oldsmobile or Buick tried it back in the 50's but cost of production was to high. The 92 Corvette was the first production car to utilize it.
The theory behind it was to cool the hotest part of the engine, i.e. the combustion chamber so that higher compression(10.4:1 LT1 and 10.6:1 LT4) could be used. Also it allowed the block to warm up faster so that cold start emissions were reduced, and also longer block life as cold shock(cold coolant entering the block when the t-stat is initially opened) would be heavily avoided.
I remember when this came out too and ran past 5.0 mustangs . It changed street racing
Dry intake
@@headhoncho4890 oh yes I remember racing a mid 90’s GT at the 1/4 mile track at rockingham NC on night with my mostly stock 96 z28 automatic I put a city block or more on him lol. He wasn’t stock either he had off road exhaust and drag tires.
I like Mustangs too, but idk what Ford was smoking when they put the anemic 4.6 into it when it had the LT1 to deal with. (and did they know the LS1 was right around the corner?)
I was looking the LegitStreetCars video about the corvette and her optispark problems, and now your video about the LT1. Crazy Timing
The trucks from 96 up had the L31 Vortec which was nearly as powerful in terms of hp and lacked the wretched optispark, but traded that for bad intake gaskets that leak coolant into the valley, and easily cracked iron cylinder heads
LT1 sounds so good too
Wow, such a genius idea to bury the cap and rotor like that. Those parts never need replacing. Must be the same engineering team that decided it was a stellar idea to put the starter in the engine valley. Because like all electrical parts, they last the life of the engine!! Kudos to GM. eyeroll
That cam driven water pump is awesome too. Because, belts are hard. No one "gots" time for belts. LMAO
you should see the genius engineering behind the gas tank on the Camaro this this engine came in lol, I did it the hard way without cutting a hole, total pain in the ass
🤣🤣🤣
@@miatalife94I mean its fine for me I am planning on doing my 97 trans am fuel pump. However while I am under the car with everything out of the way I plan on cleaning and painting all the underside. It's honestly worth it to pull the tank on these cars now if you got a nice one without any rot. You can clean and paint anything that might have a bit of rust starting to form.
I LOVE the LS series engine's MILES better than I do the LT engine's.
LS are certainly better engines overall. Probably my favorite-ever car engine family.
The LT, however, _sounds_ better to me.
Really enjoyed this video. I've never seen inside one of these engines. I can see why they aren't on the list of the top 10 best small block Chevrolet engines. GM started with a bottom of the barrel 350 (single bolt mains, cast crank, cast rods and cast pistons), then they "improved" it with the horrible water pump drive, ignition system, intake manifold and fuel injection system. The only redeeming feature of this engine is the aluminum heads. But they aren't really that much of a big deal, considering the aftermarket alternatives that are available now. The engine is in surprisingly good condition, considering that it had two blown head gaskets. Thanks again for sharing this video.
My 1995 Camero had the exact same issue with the engine.
My parents had a 94 Formula (car I learned to drive lol) and it was reliable AF besides needing 2 starters replaced. IIRc they sold it after 100k. The optispark was no problem, and 'experts' generally attribute it's probs to leaking pumps (dexcool) and then inferior replacements.
Make no mistake, it was a problem - but more from a bad pump configuration and a not-quite-sealed ignition. The LS definitely improved on this. That Formula was replaced with an 02 WS6 and has had zero failures...besides a lifter tick lol.
Your parents are freakin awesome
Just put a Jasper rebuilt Corvette LT1 (with four-bolt main bearing caps) in my 95 Camaro Z28! The dipstick tube came out a lot easier on mine! ;-) Thanks for posting!
On the 3800s you also need to pull the oil level sensor before taking off the pan...I found that out the hard way after breaking mine. Bit of a silly thing really.
When I saw the signs of coolant in the intake ports my immediate thought was "headgaskets".
Try blowing in the dipstick tube while pulling on it. It'll come right out.
Had a a similar 5.7 350 tuned port injection GTA! Car did 155-160. Had to hold er in D well into redline, then shift to OD. Otherwise it would keep shifting up and down around 125, and quit pulling. Car was a ball. Crushed all my buddies 5.0’s! Great vid!
Pretty color BMW at the end. Love these vids.
Looking back in retrospect it’s really interesting that GM took the basic iron block from the 60’s as far as they did. These aluminum headed, overplumbed beasts were a marvel in their day, but time was not kind to them. Working on these doesn’t look fun at all. Then within a few short years the LS makes its appearance. The difference being that they started from a clean sheet for what they were trying to achieve and then just NAILED IT. Big takeaway for me on this one is just to appreciate what a wild improvement the LS really was….
From the 50s really. Yeah the LS is a huge step. Just seeing that large aluminum accessory bracket on the front looked high tech from the old stuff.
early LS had teething issues like every design. they came out the factory with stop leak. composite head gaskets didn’t last but they took care of that pretty quickly
LS was developed by NHRA record holder Engineers who worked @ GM. They knew what was needed and we're all the beneficiaries of their simplistic minimal powerplant marvel. The SBC legacy will live on ad infinitum
Wasn't really much of a change except for moving the distributor. Basically the same hp.
I have a copious amount of love for this channel
im a huge small block gen1 fan and i was always thinking the LT1 was superior thank you for showing i will stay a gen1 fan ,i was sure they where all 4 bolts main
i was thinking the same thing the bottom almost like my 880 block vortec
Only in the Vette did the LT1 get a 4-bolt main
I've been screwing with LT1s for decades now Ive never seen one have a blown head gasket.
95 was the first year for the Big opti hole in the timing cover and got the vented opti. that cured 90% of the ignition problems.
I’m a fan of these engines. I am waiting for my block to be finished at the machine shop, and my LT4 heads are currently at a head-porting shop. I found an LT4 crank that needed only polishing. It has the radiused journals. So i guess i have a hybrid lt1/LT4! The block is the original to my 1997 camaro SLP SS. That is why i stayed with the OEM stroke and OEM LT4 heads. I chose a huge cam (for a 355) and i had to modify my intake for the heads. My camaro is white with the orange stripes, so it’s ALMOST an LT4 30th anniversary edition!
One of my favorite engines. It actually holds the GM 6spd manual record in a ‘97 Camaro. 6.61 @217mph in the 1/4. 2500hp.. No LS can touch it so far. Facts.
I was just thinking about this the other day why they didn’t offer the LT1 in the gmt400. My 94 has the 350 TBI and it’s pretty much bulletproof, no problems at 210k miles. I don’t know why, can somebody enlighten me?