hdeth

ok...so i'm buying a new car and i'd really like a transam, was thinking of trying to find a '98 or '99 because they have the newer engine and well..i'm on a budget...but then i started thinking that it might be cheaper to find a '94 maybe '95 firebird with a trashed engine or one with extremely high mileage and replace it with a new one, and still have some money left over for some parts like new headers/catback...but honestly i'm a total newbie as far as cars are concerned. i'm really good with machines so i figure i can do most bolt-on stuff and i know a couple people who are really experienced mechanics that i don't really want to ask for help because they're busy but could if necessary, but i'm not quite sure what i'm getting into with replacing an engine.

i figured (probably wrongly) that replacing a 350 small block with another 350 small block would be a good choice, so i was figuring if i ended up doing this i'd order a zz4 or 350/385 small block fastburn..tho i'm of course open to any suggestions and i'm probably wrong on my choices anyways heh.

now let's say i go to put in a zz4 into a '94 transam...would that be a total PITA? or would it be pretty damn easy because they're the same ci? and if i wanted to say put on some new headers, would i have to have them custom made, or could i use ones designed for a firebird with an lt1? what all would i probably have to replace to accomade the zz4 is pretty much what i'm worried about, and would it be any improvement over an lt1?
then, if i put in some performance parts (assuming that's possible), how much could i increase the horsepower without having to replace a whole buncha stuff? and what would i have to replace. i was looking at a rearend kit from racenet performance that had

Your Choice Moser 3.42, 3.73 or 4.10 Gears
Ratech Complete Installation Kit
2 Quarts Synthetic Gear Oil
T/A Performance Rear End Girdle
T/A Performance Stud Kit

and was thinking that might be a good idea...but like i said...total newbie...not sure what gears would good to get for what HP, or how much HP a zz4 would produce really...

and finally, i'm assuming that replacing a lt1 with a zz4 is a helluva lot easier than replacing a v6 with one...but just in case i thought i'd double check (if someone replies that is i suppose). it'd be a bit cheaper to buy a normal firebird than a transam, and if i was gonna replace the engine anyways it wouldn't make much of a difference, but i got the impression that it would be a much more difficult operation.

i'm pretty much hoping (probably naively) that you can switch out the lt1 for a zz4 with no custom work, but i'm guessing it's not that simple..any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks for reading such a long post if you managed to get down this far.

Snow Dog

iTrader: (3)

the LT1 block is not the same as a sbc. the heads arent the same and the ignition system on the LT1s is unique to the LT1/4. so its not going to be easy to put a ZZ4 in place of an LT.

many high milage Lt1s are still in good shape and quite capable of handling a beating. find a good one and theres no reason to swap/rebuild the motor just yet.

hdeth

ya...i figured it'd be a lot more complicated than it seems, but thought it might be fun to work on if nothing else so figured i'd ask.

so pretty much if you wanted to replace the lt1 you'd want to replace it with another lt1 unless you wanted to do a lot of work? any idea when an lt1 would start to go bad? i would think they'd be a pretty decent engine being in gm's perofrmance-oriented cars but no clue.

putting an LS1 in would probably be a PITA too i'm guessing?

hdeth

o ya and just for reference here's the entry for the zz4 from the catalog i was looking at...i'm probably reading it wrong but it sounds like it comes with heads/ignition? i'm not sure...
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Imagine an aluminum head small block that makes 355 horsepower.
What if it had a steel roller camshaft, four bolt main block, undercut rolled fillet crankshaft, high silicon pistons and strong PM connecting rods? We imagined it, and then engineered, developed, tested and built it. The ZZ4 is the evolution of our popular ZZ series of small blocks that power thousands of street rods, hot street cars, circle track racers and drag racers. With over 400 ft.lbs. of torque, the ZZ4 is the best way to put an aluminum head, roller cam, high performance small block between your favorite fenders.

The aluminum angle plug cylinder heads have screw in rocker studs, 1.94" intake and 1.50" exhaust valves and 58cc combustion chambers that yield a crisp and responsive 10 to 1 compression ratio. Also included are our lightweight valve spring retainers that weigh half as much as our previous design. The valve seats are radiused and we've included valve stem seals to help keep the oil where it belongs.

To compliment the cylinder head design, we've incorporated a steel roller tappet camshaft with .474" intake and .510" exhaust valve lift. The combination makes 355 horsepower at 5250 rpm and has that great sounding muscle car idle, with just enough lope to let people know that this is no station wagon engine.

Also included with the ZZ4 is an HEI distributor with an ignition timing advance curve developed for performance, a dual plane aluminum intake manifold that accepts your spread bore or square bore carburetor, an 8" high-RPM torsional damper, 12.75" auto trans flex plate and cast iron water pump.

The ZZ4 is currently our most popular crate engine, and you can see why. With a long history of successes in circle track and drag racing as well as street rods and other performance applications, the ZZ4 may just be the bullet for your next project.

The ZZ4 is not intended for marine use, and should only be used in 1976 and earlier pre-emissions street vehicles or any year off road vehicles.
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i should probably just give up i know, but can't help thinking it'd be fun to do and result in a nice new engine in a car i like for a price i can afford...
how much of a hassle would the block sizes being different be?
if i paid someone with actual skills in this area to put the engine in, would they generally be able to do all that stuff? i don't have any way to lift an engine and nowhere to put it/no truck or anything to carry it anywhere so it seems like it'd be a better idea to have a shop do it anyways. would it be a fairly standard sort of operation or would it end up costing me a whole lot? should probably just call a shop i suppose...

meangreen94z

Just stick with the LT1. Mine has over 152,000 miles on it and runs like new. Ive seen quite a few in the 150-260k mile range on camaroz28.com(a more lt1 centered site). Id say get a budget 355 rebuild in the $2-5k range and make more power than that ZZ4. Or better yet just buy an LS1 car(you'll be happy you did later on).

hdeth

ok, thx for the advice
seems like going with a '98 or '99 might be my best option unless i can find a '94-'97 with decent mileage for a good deal then.

thx again for bearing with a noob here