Juicedz

Will an lt1 camshaft work with any 350 block? Why or why not?

whynot

no, the lt1 cam is a roller hydrolic, which are I belive 87 and newer.

Juicedz

even if it is a bare block? is there a difference in a solid and hydraulic block?

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

not really, the lifter bores on a roller engine are not completley round to keep the lifters from rotating. however the LT1 cam has no distributer drive for the original SBC.

slowmofo

iTrader: (6)

87 and up it would fit but like bww3588 said no gear for the distributer

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

actully it would work in any SBC block now that i think of it. some minor machining on the front of the cam may be neccessiay but all you would have to do is like you do with any other non roller block, get HB lifters. this keeps them in line so they dont rotate. then get a crank trigger for the distributer. run your plug wires and other stuff and your done. the only thing i could see that would keep it from working would be the pins on the fron for the cam drive. i think they may be different for the LT1 and early SBC.

lt1taracing

lt1 cams do have a distributor drive just like any old style sbc. i gave a friend one to run in his tpi 305 ,and worked great. the cam is a hydraulic roller and requires hyd. roller lifters which tpi engines already have. the lifter boars in an lt1 are round just like a reg. sbc. the lifters are held in place by flat plates that slide over the top of the lifter which inturn are held down with a tray that mounts to the block by three bolts in the bottom of the lifter valley. old style blocks do not have these three bolt holes. their maybe and after market set up for hyd. roller lifters that doesnt require this. the lt1 cam doesnt have a fuel pump drive but if your running an electric pump this wouldnt matter.

1994Z28Lt1

iTrader: (1)

doesn't the lt1 cam still have the gear because it is used to drive the oil pump or am i totally off base here

lt1taracing

also an lt1 cam is recessed in the front to clear a plate mounted to the block to keep it from walking. it works fine without it in an old style block, but an old style cam will not work in an lt1 block. unless you donot run this plate. hope this helps.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

it dosent really matter because the old SBC fuel pump is driven off the crank. the old retro fit hydralic lifters have a horizontal bar that goes between the lifters. this would be what you do when putting any roller cam in a non roller block.

edit: nevermind im thinking of a y block ford engine. the chevy fuel pump is run off a lobe on the end of the timing sprocked on the cam, which as long as you are using a old SBC timing set you should be ok.

lt1taracing

old style fuel pumps are not driven off the crank they are driven off the cam.

lt1taracing

also the dowl pin on the front of the 95-97 cams is longer and must be shortened to clear the timing chain. nothing that a dremel tool cant handle tho.

bowtie notch

the lt1 cam will work in any small block. i have one in my 91 block, and i test fit it in a 76 350 block. it does have a distributer gear, but no fuel pump lobe. the pin for the timing gear will ground shorter, and you will need a cam button to keep the cam in place since the older blocks don't have the came retainer plate. and you'll need retro fit roller rockers for the older blocks, 87 and up block can use the gm rockers.

i'm running a 91 block with vortec heads and i used a 94 lt1 cam so i wouldn't need to machine the vortec heads for bigger springs.