Hello guys! Have an opportunity to get a 96 auto Camaro for pretty good price.
Currently own 2000 ls1. I have absolutely no experience with the lt1 platform. What can these things do with an overhaul? Is it worth it? Thanks

 

IMO, not worth it.

I had 3 or 4 LT1s before I got my LS1. They were always a PITA to keep running right. The single shared coil plus terrible optispark distributor design is way inferior to the LS1 design. Things always seem to go wrong or crap out even if you try to do it right. By contrast I've had zero problems with my LS1 and it always runs great.

The only real use case for the old LT1 anymore imo is for young guys who want a fast car but can't afford an LS1 yet. That's what it was for me.

Now the new LT1 on the other hand...

 

Yeah, just wanted a reason to add another car to my garage! Haha...guess it might not be a good choice.

 

The LT1 platform is no slouch, but it's no LS1 either. I've owned both, still have an LT1 and will get another LS1 soon. The 96 has a vented opti and that helps to alleviate a lot of the issues people had with their opti going bad. My 97 Trans Am with the vented opti ran great for years with no issues. The aftermarket for these engines is good and you can still do a lot with them. If I'm honest, I still prefer the sound of the iron block LT1 with the same ol' sbc firing order over the LS1. Take it out for a spin and see how you like it. Like I said, I've had both and I like both and there's nothing wrong with either engine platform. You can go fast with both.

 

Good point. I mainly had 94s and 95s. The 96+ does have some advantages.

I will agree on the sound, that is one aspect the LT1 wins at.

 

It depends on what you're looking for, but if it were me, especially today.. it won't cost much more to get an LS1.. I would just buy an LS1... they're up by 60 -75 HP over a stock LT1, and mod for mod the LS1 produces more gains.. If you dont mind the LT1 the way it is, it's a good deal..but if you want to mod..you'll have to do more to it to keep up with an LS1. Not to say that is slow, but to say that..the LS1 is a much better platform.

 

If you do the 24x or Torquehead, you eliminate the LT1 issues. If you can get it for a good price and have some mechanical know how, do it.

I have had both Procharged LS and Procharged LT cars, I prefer my LT. Sounds better and I get tired of all of the LS nut swinging. Money was not thie issue at all for me, I could have either one. Plus, the LS1 isnt worth much, in my opinion. The iron block LS motors are much better than the LS1.

 

I completely agree with ringmaster72. I've had dozens of LT1 and LS1 F-bodies and I prefer the LT1; however, with the caveat of having the 24x setup. Albeit opinion, there are numerous things that a LT1 car has that I personally like better.

That doesn't mean the LS motor isn't a better design. It is. But, there is more to a car than just the engine.

 

OP

The LSx platform for a SBC is "newer" technology/design over the Gen 2 LT1 so C.I. to C.I. the LSx makes more power

With that said the LT1 is a good motor and like any SBC responds well to the typical power mods and there is a large aftermarket product line for it. 96 being OBD2 is easy to monitor/scan/log data with very inexpensive scan tools vs OBD1 motors

Opti. For us who have had these for 20+ years there is really nothing wrong with them other than mechanical water pumps weep hole pisses on them and can kill them. More a FU deal with the WP's. A simple hose attached on back of the WP diverts that issue or just put on a EWP I did). Loc-Tite the rotor screws. As long as you have a AC Delco or Delphi Opti They themselves are good. The cheapo offshore made ones are a crap shoot. Some do a 24x conversion and there are benefits for that if you want to but I have had minimal issues with Opti's

Like buying any used car. If it is good $ and in good shape, buy it, mod it and have fun with it

 

The difference tween a 100k ls vehicles vs lt vehicles is 3-4 k here... worth the extra money imo for the ls tuning and aftermarket support. Now, if you want a cool fun sounding car just to drive evercday and rag on, lt is a fun choice.

 

I owned my Lt1 Z for 12 years and i can honestly say that cat had many wondering what all was done from custom cam, heavily ported heads to its definitely a stroker... I laughed every time i raced my car and beat others. The only bolt on i was missing was an EWP however, once the bottle was set on kill that silver Z blew minds not only did people think a N/A bolt on Lt1 6spd was NOT capable of running 12s they totally **** when the car ran 11.3 on a 150 shot... If the dependability of an Lt1 is in question you bought a beat up trailer park queen! Many complain about the opti failures I had NONE so i cannot complain about that part.
Lastly, the key factors that were a concern and failed would be the shift fork, clutch fork broke,AC compressor went south and i destroyed 2 sets of 4.10s because GM thought it was an intelligent idea to put a small 10 bolt in a v8 car.
The Ls1 is a very nice design NO BRAINER for the weekend wrench kind of guy i mean really a more aggressive style cam, a faster PCM, COIL ON PLUG and most of all head design is what put the Ls1 on the map. We all know how we perform with good head why would a motor be any different...
GM is my favorite and has been since my teen years

 

Beat to death, it depends on your goals and budget.

If you are going "all out" , both will be expensive and closer than LS1 guys will admit power wise if you're talking LS1 and not aftermarket LS blocks or big cube builds that put the bore limited LT1 at a disadvantage. Stock Block LT1s have made more than stock block LS1s.

If you just want a simple but fun 12 second street car, the LT1 will most likely be cheaper since the money you save on the car would cover most mods needed to run 12s.

If you want to dip into that 10-11 second range, the LS1 has the advantage due to cylinder heads and better aftermarket support.

For single second builds, it is going to cost a shitton either way and I wouldnt go LS1 or LT1...I would be looking at a boosted 5.3 for going quick on a budget.

FWIW an LT1 can do anything an LS1 can, just will be more difficult and cost more after a certain point. Nobody runs LS1 either anymore...you can go faster for cheaper NA with a good set of heads on a 6.0 LQ9, and faster boosted with any of the dirt cheap 5.3 L33/LM4/whatever the heck else they call them or even the lower compression 6.0 LQ4 all from junkyards with simple bearing, rod bolt, and ring rebuilds and make insane power.

Didn't mean for this post to end up so long(tipsy and talkative), but again it just depends on your goal, budget, and preference. I love LT1s for anything above single digits as a weekend toy or track car since they are dirt cheap for a lot of things since most parts are SBC compatible, and they still sound the best NA. If I wanted a nice quick reliable DD street car, I'd have a boosted LS. If I wanted a highway monster dyno queen, I'd have a 2JZ. If I wanted a badass high HP NA pumpgas muscle car, BBC all day. If I wanted to run 14's NA with a H/C...I'd run a SBF .

JK, but you get the idea...every motor has its fans, and reasons why someone would build one.

 

Buy it.....stroke it.....put a TorqHead kit on it.....and let her rip!

Jus' sayin'......

KW

 

The LT1? It will let you go just as fast for cheaper.
Parts costs less since it's old but the LT1's run the same times the LS1's do to be honest when you start modding them. Depends on what your goals are. If it's basic bolt on's the LS1 will have more HP but hte LT1 will pull in more tq. You can get more displacement out the LS1 though so you can make more hp with it N/A if you stroke it on out. Turbo or supercharged they put down around the same hp it just depends on how you build either motor. But if you just plan on buying the car to enjoy it and do some light mods you should be happy with it. I'd say check out some youtube vids of people and their LT1 fbodies.

 

My $.02 for what its worth, I think that the camaro LT body is better looking than the LS and I if you could get the car cheap and its not a total basket case you should look into doing so. You thought that LS car were beat start looking at LT cars, there are still a lot of nice ones out there but they are a lot harder to find. So finding the right car will help save $$ down the line. Personally I would just do boltons and a BBK (ctsv , ect) and a nice set of wheels and call it a day!

 

I've owned 2 LS1's and 3 LT1's. Yeah, the LS1 was fun but as mentioned the sound and low end grunt of the LT1 is hard to beat. That's why, and money didn't matter, I ended up with 2 more LT1's in the last 2 years. Cheap and fun to drive!!

 

96-97 LT1's RARELY have the opti issue.

I prefer the LT1 body style over the LS1 body style, but that's personal preference and I cant account for anybodies but my own.

LS1 is faster bolt-on for bolt-on. However, if you have a set budget, for the price of the car added with the price of the modifications, your gonna wind up with the same HP for an LS1 or LT1. For example only, not using real numbers, purchasing a LT1 for 5k and adding 5k in mods will give you the same performance as purchasing a LS1 for 7k and adding 3k worth of mods.

Its definitely not a linear relationship, but the end result is about the same.

Now for something that has been said before but is entirely true, NOTHING duplicates the sound of the LT1. Granted, sound doesn't win races, but if you aren't building it to be a race car then you are building it for enjoyment and sound definitely plays a role in that. I prefer the sound of my cam'd LT1 over my father's LS7 when it comes to sound. Performance wise, I would trade him in a heartbeat, but I wouldn't trade the sound of a cam'd LT1 for anything with the letters LS. Youtube "LT1 306 cam" or "GM 847 Cam" to hear what LT1's sound like. No LS1 will ever sound that good. Something about that firing order on a 112 LSA gives me giggles.

 

Eh, they do, but it's more geared towards water pump leak or loose rotor screws which know no bounds between vented and non-vented. However I cringe to think of how many good optis have been thrown away because people think they're bad after they've been exposed to coolant.

 

Opti problems are overstated and overblown, particularly with the later vented units.

 

If people are still bitching about OPTI's being an issue then they need to put the wrench down. Half the time theopti was not the culprit and if it is they rebuild it improperly or replace it with china junk.

My 95 LT1 has been flawless with EWP and 24x conversion. In fact, it just went through 4 different drivers, and 40-something HARD autocross runs this past Sunday. ZERO problems. Simply kep an eye on oil temps and treated the car right and it kept on chugging.

If you already have an LS car, I don't see a point to get a LT car though.