It might be easier with an LS K-Member, but it's not required. Merv didn't use one If it's a full harness and PCM pull, installing would be a breeze. However the flipside to all of it is this: You shell out the money to get an Gen III/IV engine, harness, PCM and transmission. But then you only have a stock LS motor! You'll have to save up more and then start building it up. If you dump all that money into the LT1, you'll have a screaming car

Are Gen III/IV engines nice? Oh yea! Fast? You bet. Cost effective to swap or sell your car to get an LS car? Not quite.

You've began a journey to having a fast car, and I think anyone who is dumping tons of money into their car has second thoughts about it being the right move, and if they are going to be quick enough after it's all said and done. I think once you get over the hump of all the parts being there and the engine is all done and you see how it looks, you'll start to feel better. Then it'll be time to put it into the car and you just want it in so you can drive it Stick it out a bit longer, you'll be happy you went this route.

 

well i already have the kmember out of the way if i did the swap lol bought it in a big package for cheap figured i could sell it easy but it seems noone wants it

 

im nowhere close to building a new motorbut its still in the back of my head... and this LSX/LTX question is in there... still dn what i'd do... prolly depends on if i wanna keep my 4l60e or not... cuz if not i mineaswell just go LSX since i will need a new tranny anyways... but i dn... i think eventually i will go with a TH350 and a LSX N/A Solid Roller and a lightened 12 bolt.... wayyyy down the road... but i dn i love my LTX right now...

 

If the LS1 ECU conversion becomes available it will be HUGE for LT1s. I admit the LSX path has crossed my mind in the past, but now with all the new goodies coming out I am GLAD that I stuck with LT1 and don't see me swapping anytime soon. I seriously cannot wait to tie the last ends of my build together, and I have some high hopes for it.

Now my feelings that come and go are not wondering if I should have went LSX, but if I should have saved longer and went turbo 383 LT1 with the upcoming LSX ECU conversion for some 7500+rpm goodness .

I'm sticking with my LT-WON either way .

 

I've had this thought in the last year or two since I've been getting more interested in learning to tune, only to realize the LT1 got left behind in that aspect. It doesn't bother me to much though, since there's always the support from other enthusiasts.

 

I prefer the LT1 i payed 1500 for my LT1 with a bad trans. For 3000 i could have got a
LS1 car that had a rod bearing bad and that someone shot themself in.

 

It is the never ending dilemma, "should I of done this differently?" and honestly who can say? I like lt1's and Ls1's, when I bought my 97, I bought it based on price, and the reduced mod prices vs the ls1. It all depends on what you want, need, and love

 

Well said. The average LT1 modder seems to be content with throwing a big cam in a stock car and considering it fast, without putting out the effort neccesary to really make the combo work like suspension, quality heads, dyno tuning, etc.

Sorry, but a stock NA car with a hotcam kit and home ported heads with a mailorder tune is NOT fast .

The LS1 crowd has their fair share of mistakes as well, but it is a lot harder to screw up an LT1 build then an LS1 since they are so much more mod friendly. You throw any jumble of aftermarket parts on an LS1 and it will still be quick, whereas if you dont do your homework on an LT1 build you end up with an overpriced slow turd that blows up a few thousand miles later.

 

Not so much wrong path just the amout of time/money spent on that path. My LT1 is nasty as sheeet and I am more the gratefull to have it but what most people dont realize is that LT1s loose a ton of streetability when you start really 'modding' them. Hence why I picked up my C5.

Tony.

 

i agree... very good point

 

The only delima I have is that i didnt put more cubes in it, and that I dont have the capability of getting the cubes that the lsx guys do.

If i had it to do over again knowing what I know now on my 3rd lt1 setup (11.1-3 @ 120-2mph n/a driver). I woulda gone with a much larger short block dart block gen 1, a high buck set of heads, a weeny cam and a d1sc. Woulda stuck a t56 and low gears in it to boot instead of the high stall and built auto. I've only seen maybe one or two cars come close to maxing out the maf sensor n/a and they were reaaaly high dollar large cid pieces. Every boosted car i've seen that has been worth crap has maxed the maf sensor out easy, if airflow is power I can tell you who is winning in that dept. Even a basicly stock lt1 with good pistons and a blower will pretty much put 95% of h/c cars to shame in that area.

The ls1 is nice but so is alot of other stuff. Its not the end all of engines people make of it, hell i've beat a whole lot of ls1 stuff down the racetrack. They deal with just as many sucky and incompetant shops as lt1 guys do and are every bit as clueless as what makes a car go fast in general. Its just really good at moving air (even stock), even crap ls heads move more air than many good lt1 heads so it is no suprise to anybody they generally make better power. The engine gets a lot of hype and you are going to get hit in the wallet with that as well. The tuning software the intakes the cranks etc are all high as hell imo, you're paying big block prices for small block stuff.. they can have it far as I am concerned.

I guess i'm just aggrivated that I have this car thats a real hot roddy and high strung yeah its quick but, I know I could have 10x better drivability with better power sooner and manners and be more fun to drive too.

Big engines and boost is the way for me in the future lt1 or otherwise. N/A is fine but I guess I have lost the point, even if you're good at it you still get whipped hard and thats what counts to me.

 

I stopped reading after about half of the first page. These LSx versus LT1 arguments are pretty much pointless. The LS1 is a better engine in every way. You just need to decide if the money is worth it to you.

Not particuarly. Take a better engine and put the same turbo on it. As long as it is optimized for it's combo it can overcome a lot.

 

I didn't mean literally, but clearly a 600 hp car is not going to run into much competition very often.

 

I am going to quote my buddy Dave (FastFatBoy) "it takes cubic dollars to make horsepower". It doesn't matter what you start with engine wise, its how much $$$$.00 you spend on it and how well informed your decisions are. The whole engine, car, FWD/RWD blah blah blah debate gets old, I started with a 12A to 13B 6 port to 13b turbo in couple of rx7's its the same discusion over there it is all about what I want, I think lt1 cars look and sound better anyway, and Red TAs kick ***. My.00000002

 

All Cars can be made insanely fast! Just depends on what you like and how much you spend.
I still prefer LT1s. Just gives me more satisfaction, sounds better, and the low end TQ is great on the street. Ive also owned a LS1 b4 like I said earlier and it just didnt do it for me. Actually It almost made me loose interest in cars for a while untill I got back in a
LT1!

Keep in mind no matter what you build there will always be someone faster.

 

ur all right after a certain point its all the same. it cost money to go fast in both might as well work with wat i have and i should be able to get well into the 9s wen im done and that with an lt1 is better then switchin right? when i get closer to done ill make a build thread. im hopin to be done in 2 months.

thank you everyone for the boost

 

The only thing I wish I would have done different with my car is doing more suspension work to it along the way. Now I'm making power, but can't get the car to hook, have wheel hop, etc.

 

You would think that but that depends on where you live the group of friends you have and who you hang out with. I like more power just for my own enjoyment. I am prob one of the few who can go through a nitrous bottle a week and not race anyone.

 

Well sorry, I didn't realize that 600+hp cars are a dime a dozen everywhere except where I live.

If they were i'd probably have bought a supra or LSx too.