350, Lt1, or Ls1
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 25
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From: Georgia
350, Lt1, or Ls1 Im trying to figure out which motor i should use in my 1979 Z28, regardless im still gonna run it with a carb. Whats tha pro's and con's of a 350 sbc, Lt1, and an Ls1? This car will be a daily driver and ill be modding it up as i drive it and work. Eventually ima buy a stroker kit, perferbly a 396. Later after i find me another daily driver it'll be a weekend toy, street/strip.
Well.... this is LS1 tech .... so that is probably what you are going to be told to go for. For good reason. You save weight off the front end and you'd have to spend decent money on getting a set of heads to flow like an LS1 head on a sbc or an lt1. There's a lot of pros to going with an LS1 like weight savings, coolness factor, power potential, etc. It's pretty easy to get a very mild LS1 to make 400 at the wheels. Conversely, you would have to have a little more radical SBC or LT1 to make those kind of numbers on the ground. Personally, I wouldn't go with the LT1 motor. I would choose a standard sbc or LS1 over that any day.
A pro on a standard sbc would be cheapness to get yourself on the road and direct bolt-in ability. And, depending on what your knowledge base is, easier to work with. They can be built up easily, but you will need more compression, cubes and / or a good head / cam combo to make good power. But what is good power? And what is streetability? If you're looking for 300 horse or 500 horse, this will be a major factor. And driveability will be a direct result of the route you choose to go with. I had a mild pump gas 406 sbc that made 550+ went 10's in a 3200 lb car that I drove everywhere, on the highway, to the track ... with a .615 solid roller and 254 / 264 duration at .050 with a 3800+ converter and a 4.10 gear on a ET street ... and I considered that totally driveable and fairly mild. But one persons "driveability" and "power" is different to anothers.
Depending on what trans you choose to go with if you decide to do an LS1, you will need to decide if you will go with an LS1 specific converter or a TCI flexplate to use a standard TH350/400 or if you choose to modify a stock flexplate and use a spacer ... or a manual for that matter. Header and / oil pan fitmet and trans crossmember may be an issue with an LS1 swap. I don't know what fitment is like in the 2nd gen camaros. I'm sure they have what you need, but it may cost a bit.
A 350 / 400 or even a BB will bolt right in and you won't have issues like that.
A pro on a standard sbc would be cheapness to get yourself on the road and direct bolt-in ability. And, depending on what your knowledge base is, easier to work with. They can be built up easily, but you will need more compression, cubes and / or a good head / cam combo to make good power. But what is good power? And what is streetability? If you're looking for 300 horse or 500 horse, this will be a major factor. And driveability will be a direct result of the route you choose to go with. I had a mild pump gas 406 sbc that made 550+ went 10's in a 3200 lb car that I drove everywhere, on the highway, to the track ... with a .615 solid roller and 254 / 264 duration at .050 with a 3800+ converter and a 4.10 gear on a ET street ... and I considered that totally driveable and fairly mild. But one persons "driveability" and "power" is different to anothers.
Depending on what trans you choose to go with if you decide to do an LS1, you will need to decide if you will go with an LS1 specific converter or a TCI flexplate to use a standard TH350/400 or if you choose to modify a stock flexplate and use a spacer ... or a manual for that matter. Header and / oil pan fitmet and trans crossmember may be an issue with an LS1 swap. I don't know what fitment is like in the 2nd gen camaros. I'm sure they have what you need, but it may cost a bit.
A 350 / 400 or even a BB will bolt right in and you won't have issues like that.
Last edited by 62ls1; Mar 28, 2007 at 02:11 PM.
