| This is the story on the engine. Added Note: the LT1 was first introduced in 92 in the Corvette. It has been innovated since then, and still used in bigger cars; the Corvette and other muscle cars have gone to the newer model LT4, and I think they even have a newer one now. I was lucky enough to find a 95 production model of an iron head LT1 350 cid that had never been installed in a vehicle. (Some guy bought 9 of them from a company in Tennessee that dyno tests them off the production line - the idea was to make some money, but his wife.....well, you know the rest.) I only paid $400 for it. It had no intake manifold, water pump or harmonic balancer. Since I got into it so cheaply, and since it had been sitting around for 5 years, I decided I'd be money ahead to start all over with it. Good decision! (don't cut corners) Luckily, I discovered that the #4 cylinder had a casting imperfection in the cylinder wall. Amazed that it got past the inspectors. (you can guess what kind of problems that would have led to ) We bored it 30Ks and it was still there so I had it sleeved. Of course, I had the crank and cam mic'd and the heads magnafluxed and checked over. I had to replace the pushrod on #5 as it was slightly bent, which I'm sure went right along with the stuck ring. I painted it Daytona yellow to contrast with the black Jimmy. Cleaned the pistons, put on moly-chrome rings and put it back together mic'ng everything all the way. The header gaskets must be made of gold or something because they are $178 a set. (More than the cost of the average re-ring kit - they WILL NOT interchange with regular 350 gaskets) These engines use a camshaft driven reverse flow water pump (had to buy that). Bought an aftermarket dual plane 4 bbl intake manifold (for an aluminum headed LT4) and filed off four little stubs that were in the way on the iron headed LT1. Bought an Edlebrock 1405 (600 cfm )and put my old headers on it. Then I had to design the serpentine belt setup and figure out how to make the salvage parts (including alternator) all fit nicely. Took a little cuttin' & grindin' and custom fittin', but I got 'er all done. It has a 10.5 : 1 compression ratio that should be getting about 300 horses and about 400 ft/lbs of torque. She's real snappy. I also discovered, from reading stuff on the internet, (where I got most of my information on this engine) that the LT1 heads can develop steam pockets which would create 'hotspots'.. You have to hook a line from one head to the other head and vent it back into the system. Apparently this has to do with the 'reverse' water flow which allows more cooling which then allows higher compression. The factory jobs do it with metal tubing from the back of the heads to a collector up front on the big cars like Caprice. There is a more 'conventional' system on the 'F' cars like Firebirds. Following that 'F' car style I used brass fittings and hose from right back to left front and to the return heater hose. There is some outstanding information available from Mueller Technical Research in Barrington, Ill. Use a good search tool and ask for cooling system on the LT1, and you should bring it up. It really wasn't that difficult despite the fact that there is NO literature or manuals available on this kind of switch out. I talked to a couple of local mechanics who said 'you can't do that!' Well, they're wrong! You can if you want to! ( I had no choice really, with an 83, didn't want to buy the wire looms and stuff to go EFI.) Or you can go buy one of these for about $4000+. I've got less than half that in it. The Specs: specially balanced crank for the lightweight, short, flat-top pistons and powdered metal rods. Not a standard 350 crank. (not interchangeable) It's a 2 bolt main, the 4 bolts reserved for Corvettes, etc.) Milder cam than the Corvette : intake: 191 duration w/ .459 @ 0.05; and exhaust: 196 duration w/ .447 @ 0.05; hotter cam available that will drop in. 10.5:1 comp ratio. Heads flow at 212 cfm. 1.5:1 rockers (not rollers - available and easy) I had to put on an electric fuel pump and pressure regulator as the 'normal setup' for this engine is electric with EFI. Also had to put on electric fans (salvage) since the water pump is cam driven and there is no pulley there. After my old starter burned up I went with one of these new high torque starters, more for the smaller size than anything, because the headers cramp you up. I had to do some filing on the torgue converter cover (automatic transmission) because the oil pan on the LT1 has a lip on it. Lots of small 'adjustments' had to be made, but none of them overly difficult. |