lsejlowe

a general introdoction...

the old M21 4spd in my '69 350 is making me a little nervous, so I started looking at the T56 swap. Well, for the money it didn't make sense to spend $5K on a transmission swap when I could pick up an LS1 and T56 for not that much more. Then I saw SuperJames's picks over on digitalcorvettes and that motivated me.

I'm trying to work on a reasonable budget, so I won't be going to radical yet. I'd like to significantly increase performance over my current 350. Would a cam and intake on an LS1 get me in the low 13's? I also want to go with hooker sidepipes, so any advice is welcome.

Just thought I'd introduce myself and I look forward to lots of reading on here.

z28voodoo

iTrader: (2)

welcome and looking forward to the swap

Lickeyman

iTrader: (1)

Uhhh a stock LS1 and t56 could probably get you low 13s. Especially if you had headers and good exhaust. They run that in the fbodys

Your C3 is a 69 so it doesn't have the heavy *** bumpers. Your probably around 3300 now which is a little less than the average 4th gen fbody that cranks out low 13s all the time bone stock.

lsejlowe

I didn't realize the Fbodies were that heavy. Thanks for the info, that's encouraging. I'd guess the LS1 is a good 60-70 lbs lighter than the iron GEN I smallblock, so that'll help with front/rear weight balance as well.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

A LS1 with full acc's weights in at about 440 lbs .. that is 100+ lbs lighter than a SBC, a Iron Gen III/IV (5.3L or 6.0L's) are only about 80 lbs more than the alum LS1's

Many of the Vendor have many of the Swap part ready for you as well as complete Kits. You can sometimes find a complete LS1 engine/tran pullout for anywhere from $2500-$5000 with everything, a bit more for the LS2 and LS6's. and a lot less if you go with the Iron Truck engines.

13's are not a problem.. My stock 99' LS1 / T56 in my Chevelle (3600 lbs) ran 14.0 Flat in street trim spinning the tire in the first three gears.. no tuning or anything, didn't even air down the tires. (need to get some DR's and a tune for next time).

A LSx swap will be a great upgrade with its EFI and great power for your C3. I have a C4 also. Your not going to beat the power and streetable manors of any Gen III/IV engine for a swap.. Go for it !..

lsejlowe

it's becoming pretty clear how little research I've done on this so far. At least I'm erring on the conservative side

Is there a particular place you guys would recommend looking for an engine/tranny at a good price, or is ebay the main resource? I'm sure it'll be a while before I've got everything worked out on paper and padded the bank account enough to really move forward with this, so I'll have plenty of time to wait for a good deal. I'd like to buy a full donor car, but don't think I'll have room at this point.

NX74LS6

You'll have no trouble breaking into the 12's..... my 01 SS A4 ran 12.5 @111.8 with just headers, maf, ASP pulley and 108 lb interior delete option( very rare ) on stock rubber and stock converter.
With full weight and no headers it ran 12.96 @108.8 at Carlsbad .... 3420 lbs without me.... with me 3640 lb.
For an auto it dynoed very well also ( 312 rwhp stock 800 miles) then MAF and bullets and 1500 miles (327 rwhp ) and then the headers/ pulley really woke it up (355 rwhp). If I had tires at Crawlsbad I would've run in the low 12.40's and possibly high 12.30's. My 60' times were 2.02-2.05 .
These LS1 's run like a bat at a hell ...your C3 will be very pleased ...don't forget when counting the weight savings how much lighter all the acc. are as well over the old school stuff. Get some brakes with the new master cyl and you'll lose another 10 lbs. It'll get great mileage , handle amazing and if you upgrade to C5/6 brakes ....fogetaboutit.

lsejlowe

that's helpful, thanks. I won't save too much on accessories since I have none right now. No power steering, no power brakes, no A/C. One belt drives the water pump and alternator and that's it

What kind of rear gear are most of you camaro guys running? I've got 3.70's right now with 255 rear tires. Is traction going to be a problem?

Scooter70

iTrader: (1)

I ran a 12.90 with a small cam and F-body manifolds in my '70. This was on Firestone street radials that didn't hook at all (2.0 60').

Lickeyman

iTrader: (1)

2.73s 3.23s with auto or 3.42s with manual stock.

Traction is impossible to predict but I'd say you are gonna have to feather it a bit if your gonna be using a manual.

garys 68

iTrader: (1)

There are several on corvetteforum.com in the C3 section with that combination.
Try checking there too.

Carshopinc.com

iTrader: (5)

We have been involved in a few c3 swaps.....
We sell the mounts for the cs that allows the t56 to come up in the correct shifter hole location...
Here are the mounts
http://carshop.carshopinc.com/produc...458/C/S%202372

We also carry a shorty header for that application....
They are around 250.00
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