LT1 Camaro?

I recently came across (minutes ago) an LT1 camaro for sale locally, its a 94' Z28 automatic and in need of a head gasket. Is it worth buying for $1k when I already have the ultimate grm car, a miata? Any car I buy becomes a daily driver so having a solid roof over my head would be nice from time to time. But winter is fast approaching and getting it fixed would either be a cold ordeal or wait until spring. I know the LT1 has a bad ignition system, is there any remedy for that? What else should I look for on a 150k fourth gen car? How difficult and expensive is it to swap over to a manual trans?

Nitroracer wrote: I recently came across (minutes ago) an LT1 camaro for sale locally, its a 94' Z28 automatic and in need of a head gasket. Is it worth buying for $1k when I already have the ultimate grm car, a miata? Any car I buy becomes a daily driver so having a solid roof over my head would be nice from time to time. But winter is fast approaching and getting it fixed would either be a cold ordeal or wait until spring. I know the LT1 has a bad ignition system, is there any remedy for that? What else should I look for on a 150k fourth gen car? How difficult and expensive is it to swap over to a manual trans?

Start with a manual trans car first if you want one. And trust me, you do.

As for the ignition systems, I made a huge thread about it when my father bought his 4th gen (94 Z28 6 speed). The car has almost 200,000kms on it and the ignition is giving him no problems at all. They are stupidely fun cars!

The hardest part of converting over to a manual is mounting the clutch pedal and slave assembly on the firewall. It is much easier to start with a manual trans car to begin with. $1,000 for a LT1 Camaro? Buy it and wait until spring. You have all winter to get parts.

Someone who's done it before should chime in...but that headgasket repair may be tough. That engine is shoved way back in the firewall and under the windshield.

step 1: unbolt cradle and tranny crossmember

step 2: lift car up off engine assembly.

Yes, a head gasket in a 4th Gen requires dropping the engine cradle. Not fun.

On the other hand, cherry manual-trans LT1's can be had for $4K, nice ones for $3K, so why not just get a great one to start with?

If you end up getting one, hit me up. I have a lot of years experience with the LT1.

Optisparks are a wonderful distributor. The optical pickup part is bulletproof and insanely accurate. The "spark" side is a little old-school, but aftermarket caps and rotors make maintaining it easy. I suggest upgrading to a 96-97 opti because they are vented.

The other reason they get a bad rap is their location. Its under the water pump and the water pumps have been known to leak out the weep hole. Again, its not the pump's fault, its the stupid Dexcool that GM used. I went through three water pumps in the first 3 years (none covered under warranty... bastards), then switched to green coolant on the last one. The current pump has been on my car from 30k miles to 126k miles without a single drop. Every single state in the union has a class action lawsuit against GM for the Dexcool debacle. Get rid of it, save your water pump, and thereby save your optispark.

Otherwise, common failures are EGR valve which is a cheap and simple fix. The air pump dies a lot, but the EPA granted an exception. GM issued a sticker that you can put on that exempts the car from needing an air pump. Then you pull the relay (under the hood) and have the computer reflashed to exclude the air pump so you don't get a CEL.

Parts are dirt cheap, performance is better than expected with super easy upgrades. Its already really high compression, so cams are well accepted. The intake is way more than adequate. The aluminum heads on the F-body are not quite as good as the irons on B-bodys. The F-body got an updated version of the L98 ports, but the B-body LT1 heads were so good that they used an exact copy of those ports to make the 96 Vortec truck head. I'm not suggesting you add weight for 20 hp, but if you're going with more cam you may wish to update head flow.

Another consensus you'll find; AFR heads suck for LT1s. They designed them in 93 and then assumed the LT1 was a dead engine since it was only around until 97. Their port designs and profiles are ancient and crummy.

For now, keep the stock tire size. No gummies. The 7.5" rear will grenade rather easily.

if you want, i can dig up an article in CC about easy lt1 tips and tricks

patgizz wrote: step 1: unbolt cradle and tranny crossmember step 2: lift car up off engine assembly.

Of course! Why didn't I think of that?!

Buy LT1 Camaro -> something -> profit!

SIMPLE!

I had an LT1 Camaro for a few years. 6 spd even. The thing was a torque monster. Long tho. It's big and it feels big. Flexible too. They took a lot of flex out of it when going from the 3rd gen to the 4th but still not what'd you call a strong unitbody.

Amen on the flexy body. I always felt they would handle best if you just welded the suspension and let the "fifth" spring take care of the articulation. :)