LT1 Engine Swap?

Status
Not open for further replies.

czbill

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 4, 2023
5
0
1
First, thanks for the add. It's been a while since I had a GM, last was my 2000 Silverado. I recently bought a 1986 El Camino, nice car, totally rust free, nice paint decent interior. It has the 305, auto. It runs ok, but getting up to speed to merge on the freeway isn't easy sometimes.

I have a chance to pick up a 1996 LT-1 and transmission from a Caprice I believe. About 105,000 miles. Would this be good for a swap for the 305 in my 1986 El Camino? The guy wrecked the car, the motor and transmission look clean, he supposedly really took care of the car. I was also thinking of the difficulty of finding an ECU and transmission controller. My car is carbureted, so I would need to change the fuel pump/tank or buy an intake manifold and carburetor.

Would an older small block or a newer LS be better/easier? Looking for a cruiser with some power, not a race car.

Thanks.
 

g0thiac

G-Body Guru
Sep 6, 2020
939
582
93
First, thanks for the add. It's been a while since I had a GM, last was my 2000 Silverado. I recently bought a 1986 El Camino, nice car, totally rust free, nice paint decent interior. It has the 305, auto. It runs ok, but getting up to speed to merge on the freeway isn't easy sometimes.

I have a chance to pick up a 1996 LT-1 and transmission from a Caprice I believe. About 105,000 miles. Would this be good for a swap for the 305 in my 1986 El Camino? The guy wrecked the car, the motor and transmission look clean, he supposedly really took care of the car. I was also thinking of the difficulty of finding an ECU and transmission controller. My car is carbureted, so I would need to change the fuel pump/tank or buy an intake manifold and carburetor.

Would an older small block or a newer LS be better/easier? Looking for a cruiser with some power, not a race car.

Thanks.
LS, that is unless you enjoy pulling the water pump off to do timing and having to do more work for less HP gains.
 

Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
18,676
113
Spring, Texas
First, thanks for the add. It's been a while since I had a GM, last was my 2000 Silverado. I recently bought a 1986 El Camino, nice car, totally rust free, nice paint decent interior. It has the 305, auto. It runs ok, but getting up to speed to merge on the freeway isn't easy sometimes.

I have a chance to pick up a 1996 LT-1 and transmission from a Caprice I believe. About 105,000 miles. Would this be good for a swap for the 305 in my 1986 El Camino? The guy wrecked the car, the motor and transmission look clean, he supposedly really took care of the car. I was also thinking of the difficulty of finding an ECU and transmission controller. My car is carbureted, so I would need to change the fuel pump/tank or buy an intake manifold and carburetor.

Would an older small block or a newer LS be better/easier? Looking for a cruiser with some power, not a race car.

Thanks.
The LT1 is a good candidate for the swap. You'd want to probably buy the wrecked car so you can pull as much as possible from it. You'd want the ECU, wiring harness, accessory drive, etc. etc. There are a few LT1 swap threads on here so check those out to see what it takes. Some wiring would be required, of course. The LT1 was in the Corvettes and Camaros of the day so it has good aftermarket support. I have a 1996 Roadmaster so I'm familiar with the 1996 B-Body LT1. It's the one to have, in my opinion, out of the B-Body engines. It's OBD II (only 1996 models are. By 1996, GM had largely overcome the difficulties with the Omnispark distributor. MSD makes a distributor cap that is an improvement over stock for sealing. Check out my Roadmaster thread in my autosignature below if you want to see the tune up I did on my car.

The 1996 B-Body LT1 is rated at 260 HP and 330 ft. lbs. of torque so it would be a nice upgrade over the 305 in your Elkie. Some late El Caminos came with TBI 4.3L V-6's in them so I wouldn't think finding a TBI tank and pickup/pump/sending unit assembly would be difficult. I haven't checked but I would imagine those are available new. The LT1 swap is worth doing if you have the time, tools and skill to do the swap yourself. The answers are here if you get stuck on something. I believe oldsmobile joe has at least one LT1 swapped G Body.

What transmission and what rear gear ratio do you have in your car now? A rear gear swap could wake your 305 up. Is the 305 running to it's full potential? Is it tuned up? Is the catalytic converter plugged?

Probably the easiest upgrade would be to another Gen I carbureted Small Block Chevy. Think two-piece rear main seal 350 with Vortech heads a mild cam and a four barrel for an easy 260-300 HP (at the crank) depending on how you set it up. Everything is a click away on Summit, Jegs, Amazon, etc.

The LT1 swap could be less expensive if you can buy the donor car for the right price, if what is there is in good condition and you have the skills to do the swap yourself.

Whatever you do, don't take your running car apart and then let it sit there for a long time not running. There is nothing less fun than owning a classic car that doesn't run, especially when it did run until you took it apart. Hope this helps.
 
  • Agree
  • Like
Reactions: 7 users

Ribbedroof

Comic Book Super Hero
Supporting Member
Jan 4, 2009
4,865
6,892
113
Wellston, OK
Regardless of choice, I second buying a donor vehicle, or at least get the wiring and ECU with the powertrain package
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

Bonnewagon

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
Supporting Member
Sep 18, 2009
10,540
14,217
113
Queens, NY
My daughter's 1995 Formula was scary fast, so, yes those engines have great potential. I used a DELPHI Opti-crap distributor and after that it was very dependable. As noted above, you will need EVERYTHING from the donor car to make it work right. Put the spark plugs and wires on before you place the engine in your car. Because you will never see them again.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: 1 user

czbill

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 4, 2023
5
0
1
Thanks for the replies and info. I think the car was scrapped, they were going to scrap the motor and trans but my buddy took it on his trailer. I'll check that out. I do have tools and a small hobby shop, so I can do the work. As far as my car, I don't know which trans it has, it's a 3 speed auto with lockup converter (d1 & d2). The 305 runs well, has HEI ignition, the plug looked ok when I changed them. Also, my friend just told me it came from an Impala SS.
 

oldsmobile joe

Royal Smart Person
Nov 12, 2015
2,067
3,053
113
mpls
I believe @oldsmobile joe has at least one LT1 swapped G Body.
did someone say my name?
yes, i have done three lt1 swaps, my first in a 66 belair. and two gbodies with a third one planned.
the easiest swap is a carbed sbc, followed by an lt1 and then the ls swap. i have no experience of the sbc vortec engine swap and am confident others on the forum will pipe in concerning this swap.

if interested in the lt1 swap, then try and get the whole car. when i did my caballero (el camino) i used the following from a caprice or roadmaster.

motor and trans, because my first swap was based on the 95 roadmaster, i have stuck with those years or converted to that year. i'll explain, even though all B body cars used the lt1 between 94 and 96, there are minor changes between the years. the biggist being the transmission. 94 4l60e torque converter used a standard on/off lockup for the torque converter. 95 used a pulse width modulated lock up torque converter. and 96, while still used the pulse width modulated torque converter, it changed components internally. so over the three years, there was three different trans requiring a matching ecm. for the engine, there were two big changes that started in 96, gm added an external crank sensor to monitor for misfires, and they added two more o2 sensors to monitor the cat converters. these changes were mandated by the feds to start in 96.

entire engine bay wiring harness, while not all of it is used, its included with the purchase(free) and is useful

entire dash/interior wiring harness, while most of it is not used, it provides you with the diagnostic scan tool connector, pass key(if used), cruise control wiring, and other wires for brake, dash sensor, fuel pump wiring, etc.

all the fuel lines and emission lines from the engine bay to the fuel tank. i was able to use all of this, no modifications, direct bolt in because i used a wagon fuel tank with a sedan filler neck attached. mounted the fuel filter in a similiar position as the B body. even used the charcoal canister.

because you have a el camino, grab a fuel tank from a B body WAGON. wagon tanks fill from the side like the el camino and will install with new Bbody tank straps.

for the cooling system i have done it several different ways. one way is with the radiator, dual cooling fans, lower and upper radiator hose from a lt1 F body. some fabricating skills required. other way is to use the gbody radiator. Bbody lower radiator hose and F body upper radiator hoses will require splicing to gbody hoses. i used this second route on my cutlass wagon along with the Bbody tow package clutch fan option.

exhaust is up to you, lt1 cast iron manifolds fit with no issues. Bbody manifolds will require custom exhaust fabrication. none of the down pipes will fit.
if you come across F body cast iron manifolds, they fit also, and the Ffody Y pipe fits with no modification. i went this route, didn't need a double hump trans cross member and a single exhaust outlet is cheaper than a dual exhaust system. i, like gm, don't like having a hot exhaust pipe under my fuel filler tube.

shifter, if money is tight, you can use the Bbody steering column. with modification it will fit. yea i know, its a column shifter but this will provide you with the correct shifter quandrant for a 4 speed auto and it allows you to use the factory pass key ignition cylinder.

rear end gears, up to you, i'm running a 2.73 gear on both gbodies. these are street driven cars and are built to daily driver standards. meaning i can and have jumped in one of these and know i can drive it 8 hours straight with no worries

this is just the highlights of my lt1 swap. this is the way i did it. there are other ways also.
i see your new to the site, i know nothing about your mechanical skills or knowledge. keep asking questions and we'll keep providing answers or options for you
 
  • Like
  • Winner
Reactions: 7 users

Built6spdMCSS

Geezer
Jun 15, 2012
5,694
9,504
113
Florida Beach
I started with the LT1 in my first camaro Z28, was a 1995 model. Learned it inside and out.

Wiring wise, it's pretty much the same as an LS Swap.

Finding someone to tune the LT1 is what you need to have on hand more than anything.

I personally would go LS for ease of working on it, spark plugs on that LT1 were enough to want to toss a thermite grenade under the hood and walk away..
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

Yav8

Master Mechanic
Aug 19, 2014
275
114
43
Manitowoc wis.
The most simple upgrade is a gen 1 small block. Because its carbed so the swap is pull it out and drop it in. Everything will bolt right up. The only thing is to use a later motor something from 86 on up because of the one piece reaf seal block. You can use your flex plate that bolts to the converter just as it is. Any 350s will be a good upgrade. My choice would be a later 96-2000 vortec truck motor. Roller cam and the best heads GM made. These motor have so little whear in the cylinder you can just hone and rering and new rods mains and mabe cam bearings. You can up the cam with a mild upgrade (something under .480 lift and still use the stock springs. Only thing you need is a new or used intake ($150 or find a used one) and reuse your HEI and carb if you want. If you want to use the stock hyd roller cam then just put a set of 1.6 rockers to give it a little more lift and enjoy.
 
  • Like
  • Agree
  • Winner
Reactions: 4 users

87National

G-Body Guru
Apr 15, 2009
661
679
93
eastern SD
First, thanks for the add. It's been a while since I had a GM, last was my 2000 Silverado. I recently bought a 1986 El Camino, nice car, totally rust free, nice paint decent interior. It has the 305, auto. It runs ok, but getting up to speed to merge on the freeway isn't easy sometimes.

I have a chance to pick up a 1996 LT-1 and transmission from a Caprice I believe. About 105,000 miles. Would this be good for a swap for the 305 in my 1986 El Camino? The guy wrecked the car, the motor and transmission look clean, he supposedly really took care of the car. I was also thinking of the difficulty of finding an ECU and transmission controller. My car is carbureted, so I would need to change the fuel pump/tank or buy an intake manifold and carburetor.

Would an older small block or a newer LS be better/easier? Looking for a cruiser with some power, not a race car.

Thanks.
How much will the drivetrain cost you? If free or nearly free, I would say go for it. Otherwise a complete 5.3l and 2wd 4l60e is under a grand.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GBodyForum is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply, and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Please support GBodyForum Sponsors

Classic Truck Consoles Dixie Restoration Depot UMI Performance

Contact [email protected] for info on becoming a sponsor