Moltar

whats up guys? looking to do an LS1 with a Tremec TKO 600 in my 1968 camaro. The car is perfect body and interior wise, however im running a 383 with a 4 speed. its a great cruiser car but im not really happy with the power. Im looking do build this LS motor, in such ways as a 408 or 427 stroker ( preferably 427 ) Has anyone out done this? what kind power are people putting down? what kind of block should I get LS1 LS2 ex ex ex? iron or aluminum? and how much is this build to do and is it worth it? the only thing is I want to run a carburetor set up to keep with the simplicity of the car. I know the Ls motors use a dry sump oil system so theirs going to be a lot of modifications or am I wrong? lets see whats what. give me all feed back such as power numbers, aggravation in the build and the dos and don'ts.

Carshopinc.com

iTrader: (5)

Any ls combo is a great upgrade, We carry the mounts and headers for your car.... You will need to run a aftermarket or modified pan for the sterring rack clearance. It is possible the lh8 pan works but it will hang low and could possibly become a plow.

http://carshop.carshopinc.com/produc...457/C/S%202370

uncoated
http://hooker.carshopinc.com/product..._id/84495/2288

Coated
http://hooker.carshopinc.com/product...d/84496/2288-1

fast

iTrader: (24)

RIF (reading is fundamental)

use the search function and read all the stickies at the top of this forum (loaded with useful info) ... most questions are answered there

the skies the limit (or wallet in some cases 8) )

hookemdevils22

iTrader: (12)

That's certainly a new one... I don't think there's ANY info on first-gen camaros with an LS-based powertrain.

If it helps, third-gen (68-72) Novas are identical to your camaro - you can probably find a bunch of info on those.

Seriously though, good call going modern. There's a bunch of stuff on the setup you're eyeing. And that is one beautiful automobile you have there.

Stu Cool

iTrader: (13)

Only the LS7 is dry sump oil. One of our board members has done an LS7 in a 68 Camaro, be watching for a feature on it in CarCraft if it hasn't already published. LS1, LS2, LS3 and all the truck motors use a conventional oil system. Personally I have seen 40-50 1st gen Camaros with LS motors in them and my world is not all that big. Lots of aftermarket stuff available that makes this swap pretty much a bolt in now. Do it, you will love the results.

Pat

Moltar

thanks guys keep the info coming

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

Yeah there are thousdands of posts about it on here and pro-touring.com.

Carshopinc.com

iTrader: (5)

I don't mind helping out, Thats what I am here for..... If you have any qustions call me....
Thanks
Carshopinc.com

bczee

iTrader: (12)

Swapping in a Gen III or IV (car or truck) engine into just about any car, model, year has either been done or in process. It is becoming one of the most popular swap going these day, just read any Magazine !

I am with Stu on this.. I have seen many swap just about everywhere I go with my LS1/Chevelle.

Here are some shots of some of the forum members that Stu and I meet in Reno for Hot August Nights at the A&W... the LS7 Camaro is the Green and white one.
LS7 68 Camaro


my photobucket.com site with the pictures.
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z...view=slideshow

Chris442

iTrader: (1)

Hey, I know that Camaro, LOL. All I can say is that the swap is totally worth it. The key is to decide how far you want to go with it, and what your goals are. If you want a car that drives well and is quick a stock or mildly modded engine will fit that bill. Budget is the key factor, though. A truck 6.0 could be a great foundation for a budget build. A stroker would definitely make the car fast. The LS7 we have is making about 500 at the tires with 470 torque. At the crank, it's gotta be close to 600 hp. It's stupidly fast, and it'll get you in trouble in a hurry if you're not careful. Even with 335 sticky street tires, it can be a handful. I trapped 118 on a 13.4 pass last week. The ET was poor because the traction was that bad. I couldn't floor it at any time in 1st or 2nd gear. Not being able to floor it until the 1/8 mile kinda hurt the time and mph, I think. Looks like it's time to find some better rubber. I thin it'll run 11s and trap 120+ pretty easily with good rubber. It's tough to keep in mind just how much power these things make compared to the older stuff.

I'd skip the dry sump if you want to make things easier. I'm not a huge fan of carbs on these motors, but it would definitely make it easier and cheaper to build the fuel system. I also don't have any experience with a carb on one of these, either. I don't have a ton else for you, our car used an aftermarket frame, so a lot of things are different. If you stick with the stock subframe, it should be a fairly easy swap, as there are tons of people making the parts to do it these days.

hookemdevils22

iTrader: (12)

+1 with Chris. It's way too easy to make stupid power with these things. The L92 heads are flowing 320 cfm from the factory (that's old bbc territory right there for a 364+ cube motor). Get a decen cam, and you can make 500+ fwhp - and the factory bottom-end can withstand it. Also, it's actually not that much more expensive to run fuel injection over a carb setup.

philntx

iTrader: (8)

There are some very nice examples of what you are looking for on this site as well as several others:

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/index.php4

and...

http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=75

XcYZb

Chris, I finally got my LS7 69 Camaro to the track this past Saturday and my best ET was 11.57 and my best mph was 124. I think our cars are very similar, so with good traction, you'd be there. The Nitto 335/30/18 DR's worked great at 25psi and a lot of heat in them.

As for the OP, there's no way I'd put a carb on an LS motor. Sure, it can be done, but it will never have the throttle response and economy of EFI. Of course you can tune on it, but that's never ending with a carb. I've seen the LS light and I'm never going back.

Carshopinc.com

iTrader: (5)

Fo sho!

Moltar

yeah I'm only interested in keeping the carb set up to go with the look of my car and some simplicity. Also its been a never ending battle with tuning ( Carb or EFI ) I have had MANY!!! cars before this one such as a 91 GT with a 351 EFI swap in it, a 96 quad cam Mustang Cobra and an 05 Subaru STI. all of these cars put down big power on the dyno. However one lesson i learned from all of them ( Mostly from the STI ) is that dyno tuning can A. be highly expensive and B. EMS system can run a high dollar as well. I paid 800 bucks for the stand alone hydra system in my old STI. This 68 is my first carb set up vehicle and I do enjoy the fact that I can tune my car with a screw driver ( In theory ) , however I don't enjoy heat soak or the other camaraderie that carb set ups dish out. I just started seeing people putting carb set ups on LS motors and thought " There we go, someone just like me. Not happy with the dinosaur 4 bolt main 350 and Fed up with paying 400 bucks an hour on the dyno." but all things aside my goal is a true 500 to the wheels. The LS7 can do this and my hat goes off to XcYZB for his 69 camaro build, it is a beautiful car. But the LS7 Z06 motor is very pricey to buy, I can only dream of how much that 69 set up was. My funds aren't that high at 20 years old and at Penn State to do an LS7 but the car is sitting in my garage waiting for me to make up my mind and find an LS motor that's going to stand up to this kind of power.

Chris442

iTrader: (1)

I think the track was pretty slippery that night. I'm thinking I'll give it one more shot with the PS2s on the other track we've got out here. It hooks way better on the street than it did at the track. I actually ran a better ET at Fernley, NV when I was at HAN, and that track is at 4500' and uphill. I also gained 30 rwhp since then thanks to finally dyno tuning the car. I did gain about 10 mph in trap speed so I know the car is making the power.

The big downer for me with getting DRs is having to get another pair of wheels It's tough to find something in the right size and backspace that will also cleat the Z06 calipers without getting into another custom built wheel. Thanks for the tip on the Nittos though. I have a feeling I'll be doing that in the not too distant future.

I've got a carb on the 442 in my sig, and you can get the thing tuned pretty well. However, the only way I really got it set up really well was by adding a wideband to the car. Tuning a carb is definitely more than turning screws, too. You ought to see the collection of metering rods and jets I've got. I'd rather sit behind a laptop for sure.

One thing about tuning these cars that with EFIlive or HPTuners it's basically free to do once you pay for the equipment...as long as you can do it yourself. The stock computers also work very well for about 98% of the people out there, too. I use the same cable to tune the Camaro, my 06 GTO, and hopefully soon my Mom's new G8. If you pay people it becomes cost prohibitive for sure.

For a budget, I really like the 6.0L truck motors. Iron block, so they weigh about 80 lbs more than an LS1, but still a lot lighter than what's coming out of the car. They are basically an LS2 with bigger combustion chambers, a different intake manifold and a smaller cam. All of those things are really easy to fix. It would take a pretty stout set up to make 500 on an NA 6.0, though. You could supercharge and do it all day long, though. A buddy of mine picked a 6.0L truck set up for $1200 including the harness and computer. The only problem with it was the intake manifold was melted a bit from fire. The longblock made 540 rwhp in his 04 GTO using a D1 procharger. A magnacharger would look really nice under the hood of one of these, too.

Moltar

yeah Ive been cruising the posts on LS1tech over the past few days and have seen allot of people using that 6.0 iron truck motor set up. Any ideas where to find deals on these LS motors besides ebay and here BS'in with people?

Rodder

iTrader: (2)

I'd take that a step farther and say the stock computer works better than most aftermarket computers for 98% of the people out there. The stock GM PCMs are pretty damn sweet when combined with EFIlive or HPTuners.

BRPhotrods

iTrader: (3)

Here is the BRP style LSX swap kits that’s made to bolt into the stock mounting location and includes a crossmember designed specifically for the T-56 or 4L60. Also if you are going to run a big cube engine like a LS7 or L92 you might want to check out our new hedders that go up to 2in primaries. These big cube engines really wake up with the large exhaust. Mast Motorsports makes peak power with the 2in hedders and currently are testing out a set of 2in hedders in there 78 G-Body “scraps” running a nasty LS 427. Thanks and good luck these motors made me sell off all my old big blocks

Stu Cool

iTrader: (13)

The EFI has so much tunability. I have a local guy who des what he calls a Drivability tune. He came to my house, plugged in his laptop and we spent about 2 hour driving around. He would tell me to nail it at certain speeds and then watch the spark curve. If it was detonating, he would back off the timing, or add more in if it would take it. He also stuck an Air Fuel meter in my tail pipe and we drove around with that to get the fuel curve right. He even got the shift points of my 4L60E right where I wanted them. Since then the car drives like a different beast, I loved it before, love it more now. No way you could do what he did in two hours with a carb set up. It did cost me about $400, but it was worth it and I should not have to mess with it unless I change something. If you learn to do that yourself, like Chris said, you are ahead of the game.

Pat