96 Camaro Engine Swap
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2004
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96 Camaro Engine Swap Hi guys, im new to this Forum site, just wnated to say hi!
Well anywayz I got a 84 Chevy S-10 sitting out front, but the engine is a 88 i belive, its swaped and who ever did it did a really bad job at doin it! It has parts from the 84 on it, some 88 parts, 85 parts ect. Anywasy this truck was free from my uncle, so why turn it down right? It was orignally a automatic but i guess they bought a new transmission aswell and it is now a 5sp. Anyways back to the topic umm, i can get my hands on a 96 camaro engine 3.8L i think, but im not sure but anywayz it is still better then the engine in right now, and i was just wondering what some of you guys think about this swap. Im pretty sure the s-10 i have weighs less then a 96 v6 camaro heck maybe even a v8 camaro? What do you guys think i will need for this swap?
And think it can b just as fast a camaro? Alright guys thanks for taking the time to read this, and nice site its kool.
Feel Free to add any sugestions or opinoins i would actually like you guys to give me your opions and tips if you can.
Well anywayz I got a 84 Chevy S-10 sitting out front, but the engine is a 88 i belive, its swaped and who ever did it did a really bad job at doin it! It has parts from the 84 on it, some 88 parts, 85 parts ect. Anywasy this truck was free from my uncle, so why turn it down right? It was orignally a automatic but i guess they bought a new transmission aswell and it is now a 5sp. Anyways back to the topic umm, i can get my hands on a 96 camaro engine 3.8L i think, but im not sure but anywayz it is still better then the engine in right now, and i was just wondering what some of you guys think about this swap. Im pretty sure the s-10 i have weighs less then a 96 v6 camaro heck maybe even a v8 camaro? What do you guys think i will need for this swap?
And think it can b just as fast a camaro? Alright guys thanks for taking the time to read this, and nice site its kool.
Feel Free to add any sugestions or opinoins i would actually like you guys to give me your opions and tips if you can.
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Joined: May 2004
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From: St. Peters, MO
I believe up until 98 or so the motor is actually a 3.4....and they are ridiculously slow. So no it will never be as fast as a camaro with a v8 unless u do some serious mods. I would swap in an lt1 or used ls1 if funds allow since the swap is labor and money intensive. Then u will have a pretty quick little truck. See the lt1 s10 truck thread below...its fast.
Originally Posted by Jordan57
I believe up until 98 or so the motor is actually a 3.4....and they are ridiculously slow. So no it will never be as fast as a camaro with a v8 unless u do some serious mods. I would swap in an lt1 or used ls1 if funds allow since the swap is labor and money intensive. Then u will have a pretty quick little truck. See the lt1 s10 truck thread below...its fast.
Either way, both engines are not worth the effort to swap into an S10 if a powerful truck is your goal. Like Jordan said, an LT1 or LS1 would be the way to go.
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Teching In
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Well the engine that is in my little 88 chevy s-10 is a 4.3L but rated at either 96hp or 160hp i dont know wich one because the engine has so many diffrent parts on it. So i was thinking this engine would b quick, not looking for a powerfull truck to pull and haul stuff, im looking for a fast truck, not incredibly fast but decent.
About the LT1 and the LS1 what where they rated at? And how much could i get a used for fore and where?
By the way thanks for the help guys.
About the LT1 and the LS1 what where they rated at? And how much could i get a used for fore and where?
By the way thanks for the help guys.
Originally Posted by TonyMontana87
Well the engine that is in my little 88 chevy s-10 is a 4.3L but rated at either 96hp or 160hp i dont know wich one because the engine has so many diffrent parts on it. So i was thinking this engine would b quick, not looking for a powerfull truck to pull and haul stuff, im looking for a fast truck, not incredibly fast but decent.
About the LT1 and the LS1 what where they rated at? And how much could i get a used for fore and where?
By the way thanks for the help guys.
About the LT1 and the LS1 what where they rated at? And how much could i get a used for fore and where?
By the way thanks for the help guys.
lt1 motors base are roughly 275-285hp with 325fpt and the ls1 base motors are 305-310hp to 335-345torque.
There are also ram air versions with about 20hp more and 10-20 more on the torque.
the motors and trans are everywhere on ebay. I've seen combos going for $1500. motors going for $500-1000. There's so many of these motors available. Check on ebay for sure. Just do a search on ls1 motor or ls1 engine and the same for the lt1 motor or lt1 engine. There are at least a half a dozen there.
Originally Posted by wickedwarlock
My dad had an 89 Blazer with the 4.3L, they were rated at 160hp and 225 torque.
lt1 motors base are roughly 275-285hp with 325fpt and the ls1 base motors are 305-310hp to 335-345torque.
There are also ram air versions with about 20hp more and 10-20 more on the torque.
the motors and trans are everywhere on ebay. I've seen combos going for $1500. motors going for $500-1000. There's so many of these motors available. Check on ebay for sure. Just do a search on ls1 motor or ls1 engine and the same for the lt1 motor or lt1 engine. There are at least a half a dozen there.
lt1 motors base are roughly 275-285hp with 325fpt and the ls1 base motors are 305-310hp to 335-345torque.
There are also ram air versions with about 20hp more and 10-20 more on the torque.
the motors and trans are everywhere on ebay. I've seen combos going for $1500. motors going for $500-1000. There's so many of these motors available. Check on ebay for sure. Just do a search on ls1 motor or ls1 engine and the same for the lt1 motor or lt1 engine. There are at least a half a dozen there.
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Originally Posted by METALBEAST
Just to add to this. The LT1/LS1s are underrated in the F-bodies (LS1s are grossly underated) and more realistically pull the same numbers as the Y-bodies. With that in mind, the LT1 is a 300 FWHP engine while the LS1 is a 350 FWHP engine.
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TECH Resident
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Houston
the original LS1's were DOGS and highly overrated, but there were adjustments made at GM every year to increase the power and it worked. I remember the first dyno of the vettes in Vette or Corvette Magazine were 276 rwhp and the second car they dynoed was like ~285 rwhp and this was back to back dynos with 2 different cars. Then in 98, the LS1 f-bodies were dynoing identical to the corvettes that were dynoed in 97 while the 98 vetes were up around 10-12 rwhp, and they increased at roughly the same increment every year there after until they got hte truck cam and then the power curves leveled off and you are left with todays LS1 or tomorrows LS2. I remember racing LS1's here in houston when all i had was a CAI on my car and i would beat almost every one that was stock and beat a few that had intakes or other small mods. Every year got harder and harder to hang with them and now i have to have full intake and exhaust just to run dead even with a LS1 with a cutout, CAI and a pulley. The LS1's are REMARKABLE engines, but the first few were overrated.
Originally Posted by wickedwarlock
from what I heard from many experts. The lt1's are not underated. They are on par. It's the LS1s that got unde rrated. While most lt1s are putting 240-260 to the wheels from the base motor, many ls1 owners are reporting 300-320rwhp from the later models. I think it had to with the incident with the 99 ford cobra that was underated. Put Ford in a bad spot. I don't think GM wanted to make the same mistake. For some reason, the 99s and up are even slightly differrent than the 98 ls1. The only reason I say that is that the 98 is referenced in both my chilton and haynes manuals but the 99+ are not.
The LS1s F & Y bodies both pull between 280-300 RWHP (98-00). Again, taking same drivetrain loss, that puts you at 350 hp to the flywheel. The 01-02 LS1s got the LS6 intake and better cam and pull more to the wheels as as a result.
The LS1 engine being underrated in F-bodies had nothing to do with the problems in the 99 Cobras. It was probably due to the fact that GM did not want to steer potential Vette buyers away from their flagship sportscar by tempting them with a car rated at the same horsepower level but $15-20K less.
Therefore, consider an LT1 a 300 FWHP engine and an LS1 a 350 FWHP engine.
Originally Posted by METALBEAST
Both LT1 and LS1 F-bodies pull the same as their Y-body counterparts. The LT1 F & Y bodies both pull 240-260 to the wheels. The Ys are rated at 300 hp taking into account 20-15% drivetrain loss that puts you right at 300 hp to the flywheel. Remember, the 305 hp 96-98 Cobras pull between 240-260 RWHP.
The LS1s F & Y bodies both pull between 280-300 RWHP (98-00). Again, taking same drivetrain loss, that puts you at 350 hp to the flywheel. The 01-02 LS1s got the LS6 intake and better cam and pull more to the wheels as as a result.
The LS1 engine being underrated in F-bodies had nothing to do with the problems in the 99 Cobras. It was probably due to the fact that GM did not want to steer potential Vette buyers away from their flagship sportscar by tempting them with a car rated at the same horsepower level but $15-20K less.
Therefore, consider an LT1 a 300 FWHP engine and an LS1 a 350 FWHP engine.
The LS1s F & Y bodies both pull between 280-300 RWHP (98-00). Again, taking same drivetrain loss, that puts you at 350 hp to the flywheel. The 01-02 LS1s got the LS6 intake and better cam and pull more to the wheels as as a result.
The LS1 engine being underrated in F-bodies had nothing to do with the problems in the 99 Cobras. It was probably due to the fact that GM did not want to steer potential Vette buyers away from their flagship sportscar by tempting them with a car rated at the same horsepower level but $15-20K less.
Therefore, consider an LT1 a 300 FWHP engine and an LS1 a 350 FWHP engine.
It does makes sense on the gm issues with the corvette though, actually it makes perfect sense but just happens to be a quite ironic to fall in the same time frame.
Metalbeast is 100% right. 
Also keep in mind that your more than likely going to be using a different intake setup (speed density engines work rather well for my friend with his 98 S10) and exhaust (the 2 different things between a vette and fbody) so the ratings are a good baseline..but you will probably be makeing a little more.
Unless you keep the F or Y body exhaust manifolds instead of using headers...for example.
Also keep in mind that your more than likely going to be using a different intake setup (speed density engines work rather well for my friend with his 98 S10) and exhaust (the 2 different things between a vette and fbody) so the ratings are a good baseline..but you will probably be makeing a little more. Unless you keep the F or Y body exhaust manifolds instead of using headers...for example.
