99Ls1fever

iTrader: (3)

Hi I have a 1984 El Camino with a 305 and a th350 in it. I had a 1995 Camaro and it got totaled in a car wreck and I now have a 1995 Camaro donor car for parts with my swap. What will I need for my LT1 swap into the El Camino
1. Engine and Trans
2. New Trans Crossmember ?
3. Wiring Harness
4. In tank Fuel Pump ?
5. New Driveshaft
6. Radiator and electric fans ?
Thanks for the help guys I could use all the help I could get on this one.

deuce4935

iTrader: (2)

Your 350 trans will bolt to the lt1 if you want, but you can also use your th 350's crossmember for the 4l60e and just be sure to habe the driveshaft cut. Get a fuel tank and sender unit from a 86' elcamino that had the 4.3 tbi engine. An intank fuel pump. You can use your stock radiator and add an electric fan to the setup. Last but not least is you ned the engines harness and computer. There are numerous companies that can rebuild the harness for you and delete the unnecessary stuff from the harness and computer.

Camaro Ken

I think u need to change ur mind. I'd stick with the sbc or go ls1 lt1's have WAY to many issues low gas mileage and cost to much to make fast or even replace simple parts.

99Ls1fever

iTrader: (3)

So, I only need to need to get build a shorter driveshaft, get the wiring harness modified, and get a in tank from a tbi engine vehicle. Does a camaro sending unit out of the 95 I have work or is it different?

99Ls1fever

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for your opnion and Im going to stick with the LT1. Thanks

99Ls1fever

iTrader: (3)

Is a th-350 stronger than a 4L60E then? Cause if that is the case and the th-350 doesnt rob more horsepower than the 4L60E then it seems to make since to convert less and just go with the th-350. ?

Z28&WS6

iTrader: (5)

the 350 trans problly is a little stronger also save you from having to modify the driveshaft. but if you run the 4L60e and you do have to modify the crossmember it should not be by much. either trans you go with you will lose your speedo unless you convert to an electric or do some modifications to the tailshaft. if you use the turbo 350 you need to get an electrical magnetic pickup installed on the tailshaft were the speedo gear is located. you can double check on this but i am pretty sure it is needed for the pcm to monitor vehicle speed and idle speed. if you want to keep it really simple you can install an inline eletric fuel pump in your stock fuel line on the el camino and add a return line to your existing fuel tank and not worry about a new sender. oh and also if you do not know you have to rotate the pass. side engine mount on the LT1 to bolt into the frame mounts. this will be the hole in the block that the a/c compressor bracket uses.

99Ls1fever

iTrader: (3)

What do you mean by rotate? 180 the motor mount ?

deuce4935

iTrader: (2)

Flip the motor mount upside down from how it sits now and bolt it to the hole in the block where the a/c would be. I forgot that you can also have all the transmission controls deleted from the computer should you decide to use the th350 but you will need a 92'-93' lt1 detent bracket to mount to the side of the throttle body.

Its not a hard job to do this swap but there are quite a few necessities to take into consideration before attempting. I've done (2) lt1 swaps and I learned different things each time as I was going along but I just didnt document every single aspect like I should've.

Ditchwizard

My son and I swapped a '95 Camaro Z28 LT1/4L60e into an '86 Monte Carlo SS two summers ago. My son had purchased the Camaro as a wrecked/salvage.

It was great fun, and worth every minute of time spent working on it.

We pulled the engine/trans as a unit, along with the engine and front end wire harnesses intact (no wire cutting).

I reworked the front end harness over the winter in my workshop, and the engine harness on the engine when it was being prepped to be dropped in the car.

We changed out the distributor rotor and "cap", along with the spark plug wires with MSD parts while the engine was out of the car (highly recommended!).

We made a cold air induction set up using parts from Jags that Run, and some ricer shop.

We used a A/C and idler pulley relocation kit from Bowers Rod Shop (http://www.bowersrodshop.com/home.htm) to get the A/C off the frame rail and to use the stock Monte motor mounts.

We used the "Iceman" super-duty 4L60 trans crossmember.

We used the mechanical speedometer conversion kit from R&D engineering (http://www.rd-eng.com/pagetwo.html).

We had the driveshaft shortened 3" and new joints installed at a local transmission shop.

We had the ECM reprogrammed by Jim's Performance (http://www.jimsperformance.com/).

We used the stock '95 Camaro radiator, installed with very little modification using a severely cut down plastic mount from the Camaro and L-brackets from Home Depot. We cut a little notch out of the inner hood to clear the taller Camaro radiator cap. Camaro hoses worked great, installed new heater hoses and heater valve. Used the stock Camaro electric fans, attached to the stock Camaro radiator, and driven by the stock Camaro wiring harness and the reprogrammed Camaro ECM (get the idea here, don't reinvent what GM has already done for you...)

Transmission linkage hooked up with no issues. Moved sensors off the MCSS 305 to the LT1 and all gauges work perfect. MCSS Tach works perfect with LT1 ECM tach output. LT1 alternator needs a "load" placed on the warning wire; Camaro dash uses a resistor, as does some other swappers....I used the stock Monte Carlo "Choke" light. Works great, and now we have both a factory voltmeter and a "alt" (choke) light in the dash.

Made a custom bracket to hold the Camaro Power Steering reservoir to the radiator core. Had to get a special hose from the auto parts store to connect it because the Camaro hose was too short and standard (heater) hose will self destruct quickly in the presence of PS fluid. Camaro PS hoses (with a little tweaking) will bolt right up to the Monte Carlo steering gear.

Used a junkyard special gas tank from a fuel injected 4.3 V6 Monte Carlo. This tank is the same as the Buick Grand National tank. Removed the sender, replaced the low pressure fuel pump with a stock Turbo Buick A/C Delco unit. Used the stock Camaro nylon front fuel lines and "fished" them through the front crossmember. The Camaro LT1 is fed fuel on the drivers' side; the stock MCSS fuel lines come up to the SBC fuel pump on the passengers' side. The nylon Camaro lines are long enough to meet up with the Monte lines under the front passengers' feet......I used a stock A/C Delco high pressure fuel filter for late model Chevy trucks at that point. That filter has a threaded fitting for the fuel pump side so I used a compression fitting on the metal MCSS fuel line, and it has a new style press on fitting for the engine side, that exactly mates with the Camaro nylon line. We ran a wire in the factory harness from the fuel pump relay under the hood to the new tank using a factory-style weatherpack connector at the tank (Jim's Performance made up the connector). We swapped the vapor line and the fuel return line because the fuel injected engine needs a large return line because of the high fuel bypass at idle that the carbed engine doesn't create.

We re-used the Camaro charcoal canister and ECM controlled purge solenoid. We had to delete the AIR pump and plumbing when using the Bower's Rod Shop A/C relocate kit. I plugged the AIR holes in the stock Camaro exhaust manifolds with Dodge/Cummins Diesel oil drain plugs.

We used a Pypes stainless steel true dual exhaust system with X-pipe and dual cats. A local exhaust shop made custom downtubes to mate the LT1/Camaro exhaust manifolds to the Pypes duals, and installed the system. (they botched up the job and it will have to be re-installed; so I will be nice and just not bother to mention the name of the shop).

I have seen a very nice swap where the stock MCSS exhaust was easily grafted to the Camaro cat; this is a very cost-effective solution; we needed new exhaust and the deal on the Pypes system kind of fell into my son's lap on an eBay transaction.

This car gets good gas mileage (if you can resist getting happy feet), looks stock, passed Maryland emissions with flying colors, and smokes tires like nobodys business. Also, when the hood is lifted, those who "know" cars appreciate the "cleanness" of the swap; those who "don't know" are clued to a change by the Corvette injector covers. All think it looks factory installed.

I would do it again in a heartbeat, although good, low mileage LT1s are starting to get hard to find. If I do another one, I'll try an LSX swap, but it's gonna cost a bunch more than this project did.

Send a message to me if you want more information; I have some pics and part numbers for the stuff we bought.....

Lstndfnd

Hi.

I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to put this I'm kinda new to forums.

I'm thinking about a similar project. I have an '81 El Camino, originally 305 car, now it's got a 94 4.3 2 barrel carb. 350 turbo trans. I also have a complete 98 gmc sonoma. I'm wondering just how hard it would be to take the 98 4.3 and move to my el Camino? I know I'll have to have the exam moved, wiring harness, and I guessing a few little things as well. I'm debating on finding a 4l60e to transfer with it as well. My question would be: which trans would be easier and more reliable in the long run for a daily driver. I'm not looking to make a high performance rig out of it anytime in the near future. Just wanting to revive my el Camino.

Currently this is what I have:
81 el Camino
94 4.3l 2bc
350 turbo
3.73 gears in the rear

98 gmc Sonoma
X vin code 4.3l
4l60e 4wd
3.73 gears
All stock

Scott Wooden