i have a friend who will give me a 350 engine and a .60 over piston kit and was wondering if I could use this block to build an LS1 or LT1 engine for my 95 firebird. will the intake and oter ls1 parts bolt on? I want to put an Ls1 or Lt1 engine in to replace my V6 but if I could use his stuff it would be cheaper. please give me some input on this. If it cant be done can it be converted from a carb to fuel injected

 

you can't interchange blocks between an old school SBC and the LS1; they are completely different.

 

So which one would be better to build?

 

depends on how much you want to spend. choices are unlimited with the aftermarket of the SBC and parts are cheap.

the LS1 is still comming into its own and makes great power but unfotunately you get raped by the price of parts .

 

 

Uhhh....if you have to ask this question, stay away from the conversion until you read up more on the difference between a SBC, LT1, and LS1.

 

You can build an old school SBC and bolt it right up to your existing motor mounts.

Block wise the LT1 and SBC are virtually identical, you run into some cowl clearance issues if you want to run a carb set-up though. Nothing an air saw can't fix

Depending on your budget I would either build the SBC or put in a LT1 if you are right on dough. As stated above, the LS1 is still coming into its own, and the aftermarket parts for it are still on the pricey side.

Just my .02, Good Luck!

 

As said above, depends on your goals (and wallet). My old 350 spun a rod bearing, so I was going to build a roller cam, 475hp, 383 out of it. When I ran thru all of the cost numbers to build what I wanted, it was going to be almost as much as swapping over to an LS1. For under $6k, I'm doing an LS1 & T56 swap into my 1970 Corvette. In the end, I'll have just as much hp as the 383, 3x the fuel mileage, and tons better reliability/drivability (and two more gears).

Like everyone always says, it all depends on your goals and your budget.

 

You could do a .023 overbore on a 307 or 283 block to make 3.898" bore
With a custom 3.622" stroke crank

instant 346 LS1 style

 

[QUOTE=Nick@AP-Engineering]You can build an old school SBC and bolt it right up to your existing motor mounts.

Block wise the LT1 and SBC are virtually identical, you run into some cowl clearance issues if you want to run a carb set-up though. Nothing an air saw can't fix
[QUOTE]


ummmm arent the coolant flows reversed on the lt1

 

Externally they are the same size and look almost identical. Yes the LT1 has reverse coolant flow.

Also there are some differences in the block. The water jacket passages are different in the block as the timing cover and water pump provisions. The deck surface is different where the water jacket passages are. The LT1 heads will physically bolt on to a regular SBC and vice versa, BUT they will NOT work without modifications to the water passages on the heads. (requires welding and filling) Also the intake manifolds are different. On an old school SBC, water passes though the intake manifold, on an LT1, it does not. It's routed through the water pump housing.

Steve