LT1 setup for a Buick Regal
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TECH Apprentice
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From: Scott City, MO
LT1 setup for a Buick Regal I have a '83 Buick Regal which was my first car I ever bought. It had the 3.8 v6 and 200R4 tranny. The car now is stripped apart waiting to be put back together. I have a complete '86 grand national front end to be put on including the bumper and body fillers. I also have both doors, tail lights, rear bumper, and the trunk w/ spoiler. The car had 46,000 miles on it when I bought it and now has 76,000. Anyways getting to the point, I have a '95 LT1 Impalla SS motor and a 700R4 tranny out of 3rd gen camaro. Will this setup work well together? Yes, I know the heads is cast iron and I will also need to shorten the driveshaft b/c of the four speed. Has anybody done a LT1 swap in a g-body and a 700R4 swap or both? The motor is complete w/ecm and wiring harness. I want to keep the EFI, what do I need to do? Anything I need to know about this setup, I want to know. Please help! Thanks. Yes, any advice and opinions would be awesome!
Damn bringing back mems My first was a 83 cutlas suprem looks the same as yours it was white with the maroon top i took out the V6 and put the motor set up out of a 89 Z28 Man i loved that car Yes this was in 90 many moons ago Sorry im no help but good luck and thanks for giving me a project to start thinking about
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TECH Apprentice
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Joined: Jun 2008
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From: Scott City, MO
Anybody got in advice? Anything at all? I know people do LS1 swaps but I figured somebody has done this kind of swap before. It don't have to be a Buick Regal, it can be Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, or Olds Cutlass. These cars are basically setup the same way. Thanks!
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
Well, it depends on how you're going to run that motor. If it's with the Impala's computer system, I'm going to start by saying no. However, it might still work fine if you get it reprogrammed so it removes all the automatic transmission data. The 94+ cars used electronic transmissions, which were ran by the same computer as the engine. You'd need to get a 93's (or a 89-92 TPI (91-92 I know are right)) throttle body so you can run the kickdown cable. The electronic's don't use one, so the newer throttle bodies don't have the provision.
If you can, get a 4L60E (same as a 700R4 but fully electric) from a car or 2wd truck.
Secondly, I'd do 2 things: upgrade the cam and get some stock F/Y body heads since they're aluminum, and while you're at that get the head gasket for the car the motor came from, they are thinner and up the compression ratio a fair bit (.2-.3). If you want, even just a stock LT1 can would be better than what's in there, but since you're tearing in an upgraded cam wouldn't hurt. Mind you, you'd have to get new springs for the heads (either the ones on it or the aluminum ones). I only recommend this, because if you do get the computer tuned to work with the 700R4, you might as well upgrade some stuff to make it more worth it
If you can, get a 4L60E (same as a 700R4 but fully electric) from a car or 2wd truck.
Secondly, I'd do 2 things: upgrade the cam and get some stock F/Y body heads since they're aluminum, and while you're at that get the head gasket for the car the motor came from, they are thinner and up the compression ratio a fair bit (.2-.3). If you want, even just a stock LT1 can would be better than what's in there, but since you're tearing in an upgraded cam wouldn't hurt. Mind you, you'd have to get new springs for the heads (either the ones on it or the aluminum ones). I only recommend this, because if you do get the computer tuned to work with the 700R4, you might as well upgrade some stuff to make it more worth it
