Well for the past year, Ive been gathering parts and slowly swapping an LT1 in my 1991 Camaro RS. I received the motor last July and since then ive replaced the head gasket(also had a 3 angle valve job done, and heads hot tanked and decked), GM opti, new waterpump and alternator. Also had the harness professionally done by "Pocket" on Thirdgen.org.

Im almost done with it, I just need to get a T56, fluids and a tune. But im close to turning it over, just wanted to post my progress thus far.

Hears some pics of the car






The old 305 TBI



Heres the LT1










After

 

beautiful, always loved that paint scheme.


should be a fun ride!

 

Removing the old TBI






New seats


And the replacement heart


4th gen 3.42


Purechoice Braided Lines


Edelbrock TES Mid-tubes and Y-Pipe


New Flywheel


Fourth gen resevoirs




And this is pretty much where I stand now








Hopefully have it fired up in a few weeks

 

thanks man i appreciate it! yeah I cant wait to see how she does, gunna be like a whole new word

 

Awesome swap. I always wanted a clean third gen but couldn't find one when I was shopping for a car. Now my gf wants a third gen TA so the hunt begins again. LT1 swap will be the first thing done to it.

 

Agreed. its really hard to find a clean, no rust thirdgen these days.
but dont worry the deals are out there. A guy on Thirdgen just bought back his first car, it was sitting behind a guys house with only 334 miles on it. He bought it back for almost nothing. So keep searching!

 

nice project man... cant wait to see the finished product!

 

Looks liek a great build man! I had a 92 quazar blue RS.. Was my first car, love the third gens....best mod I did was WS6 sway bars, handled like a vette!!!

 

looks nice

 

Thanks man!

Just finished a few things the other day, finished off the remainder of the wiring, and hooked up my battery ground. I really want to just plug in my PCM and see if she'll fire, but I dont think my VATS will allow it, plus I got rid of all my emissions aswell so i dont know how it will even idle. Well see

 

Ok.. So I got the fuel pump to prime today, so I turned it over and needless to say it didnt start. Ive never heard a car make this sound before, it basically sounds like what you would use to prime the system with oil. The starter is ingauging the flywheel, but thats the only sound you can hear.

In the beginning I had a minor fuel leak from the braided lines to the rail, but just needed a few turns and it was all good. So atleast I know im getting good fuel pressure. So I pulled a plug, and it was completely dry. Didnt smell like gas at all, or have a trace of prior ignition. So I grounded the pulg, and no spark.. until the second time I tried to turn it over and it sparked for a second, and had a small flame come out the headers. I realized if you let it sit for about ten minutes it does the same thing for a second. But nothing after that. And it still sounds like an oil primer, is that weird or is it just me?

I think either VATS is causing this(but I doubt it), Somehow fuel is not going through my injectors, or something about my ignition/opti is very wrong. or 2 and 3, I guess im just confused. lol

Im gunna look around and see what I can find, im sure its something simple, but a point in the right direction would be appreciated

 

You said they modified the harness? is that right? What did they do to it? The most common issue in swaps usually is improper grounding and powering of the PCM circuit. I don't know what they did but there should be a ground wire down near the starter in a small harness that goes to the block. Also How far where the heads cut? What head gasket did you use? I wouldn't think it's a high compression problem but what all was done with heads and block? It has fuel pressure? Also Can you explain a little more what you mean by it sounds like an oil primer? Like a drill on a oil pump priming tool?

 

Depending on how long the LT1 sat, the injectors could be stuck. You can try tapping on them. Mine sat for 5 years before I installed it and I had to remove mine and clean them.

 

howd you clean them, soak them in Kerosene?

 

The harness was moddified by someone who does harnesses regularly, and is done very professionally, not like a hack-job harness. The only reason it needed to be moddified was because you need 4 wires from the old TBI harness to mate with the LT1 harness, so it all had to be stripped down, re-pinned, and re-loomed. Starter is hooked up properly, has a purple ground wire from the harness and the power wire to my battery. As for my heads, they were just re-surfaced and had my valves shaved, no porting done, and block is all stock. Used Feldpro head gaskets from NAPA.

Yes exactly, sounds just like you would prime it with a drill, very strange. As for fuel pressure, I know its getting to the rails but im not sure if its getting to/past the injectors. I didnt clean them before instillation, but the car ran right before
i bought the motor, so its been like a year and a half since fuel has been through them. I just thought since im not getting fuel or spark that the problem is related to both. Would tapping on them really free them up? or cleaning them in kerosene? Havent tried that before. Thanks for all the advise so far, I really want to figure this out. Put way to much time and money in this motor over the past year.

 

So the engine turns over? just wont start? You can alway check on of the injector harnesses to see if it's giving the injector a pulse.

 

Take a vid of the sound its making. Your click could be a clunk to some and visa versa. Will help us help you much easier.

 

ok ill take a video later on tonight.

How would i see if the injectors are pulsing?

 

Its not turning over, the starter inguages the flywheel, but theres no combustion what so ever. No fuel blow out or anything

 

If VATS has not been disabled it would be the next logical step.