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95 camaro z28 8.1 swap for $3500 (car included) anyone give a ****?
So I just picked up a 95 z28 lt1 auto for $2k. Got it up and running on the cheap. A week later I found a 8.1 BBC on marketplace for $600. I’m going to be swapping it in the next few weeks. I’ll keep gauge function. It will keep the 4l60e (until it grenades) and the 7.5 rear. I’m going to be running an eBay ls standalone harness and 411 pcm. I’ll be tuning it with hp tuners. My budget is $3500 (including selling parts that I don’t need). Let me know if anyone wants to follow this, otherwise I won’t waste my time. I feel like no one reads anymore, and I’m not making a YouTube video.
Nice. Should be fun.
I have a similar situation, I picked up a 96 trans am for $2000 that was sitting under a tree for like 13 years.
just modified the stock harness for the 411 pcm.
The 8.1 in yours should destroy that 4L60 pretty easily lol. Should Definitely put that on youtube.
Nice. Should be fun.
I have a similar situation, I picked up a 96 trans am for $2000 that was sitting under a tree for like 13 years.
just modified the stock harness for the 411 pcm.
The 8.1 in yours should destroy that 4L60 pretty easily lol. Should Definitely put that on youtube.
Right on! Love it!
and for reference I have a 93 firebird, with a 5.3 78/76, meth, dual walbro, t56, ford 9 with 3.70s
so no one hate on me for the stock rear and 4l60… I KNOW HOW IT WILL END. I just don’t care
As for this build. I took the 8.1 intake off. Bunch of leaves and **** in there from sitting for years, likely with no throttle body. It was missing an intake manifold bolt, a water pump pulley bolt, all the accessory mounting bolts, had a plug in the rear manifold vacuum port and prob a few other causes for concern. The cam looked great from the top and the lifters all functioned fine, when turning the engine over by hand.
I sold the throttle body for $170 + shipping so far and listed a couple other parts on eBay. Hope to get a few bucks back to keep this budget super low. It’ll just be fun to do.
I ordered a number of new parts which I’ll list with associated pricing, and they should be coming in soon.9 - npt plugs for oil cooler tubes
110 - belt tensioner, water pump gaskets, throttle body gaskets, thermostat, idler pulley
Also had to remove a 20+ year old plug in the drivers head by welding a bolt to it then backing it out. This is where I installed a 5/8” to 1/2” npt adapter to the lt1 ect sensor to give signal to the gauge.
This once came from a silverado. All silverados with 8.1s came with an Allison 1000. I opted to buy a $85 eBay harness to modify (I have a couple old partial lt1 and ls harnesses to pull extensions from, and add sensors such as oil pressure sending unit). I can then sell the stock 8.1 / Allison harness for around $200.
The harness off eBay is wired for a 4.8, 5.3, 6.0 with a 4l60. I chose to go with this because when I swap to the 4l80 down the road, I can repin the trans connector, segment swap the tune and be good to go. Here’s the link to the harness I bought….
My thought is to send the tach signal to both pcms, so that the 95 pcm will be able to send the factory tach an analog signal and the 411 pcm can use the same input in all of the calculations needed. I’m not sure if splitting the signal to two pcms will cause issues but I’m willing to try it.
edit: never mind the stock lt1 is just a 4x reluctor wheel. Thought if this as I was posting a reply.
12-14-2023, 08:13 PM
95 camaro z28 8.1 swap for $3500 (car included) anyone give a ****? 
