jj_burchiel

I'm new to the site, but i m in desperate need of advice.
I have a 96 camaro z28 that is stock with higher milage. I have a a friend with a complete 95 impala ss motor that I'm planning on swapping my motor out with. I was planning on doing a hot cam with stronger springs and lifters than the kit provides, and porting the stock heads and intake.
Is there anything that would be different in the impala lt1 than my fbody lt1? Thanks for any available advice.

bw_hunter

The heads on the impala are cast iron instead of the aluminum you have on you F-Body engine. The aluminum ones can be swapped over to gain back the lighter weight (weird way of saying that, I know) and the ability to remove heat from the engine. That heat transfer advantage allows you to run more timing on the aluminum headed engines and build better power. If you're going to get heads ported anyway, it might as well be the aluminum ones.

The impala engine uses 2 knock sensors where the F-bodies used only one. I don't think the knock sensors are the same on the Impala as they are on your fbody but you should confirm. You can either ignore the unused knock sensor or replace it with a plug.

The accessory drive is different. you can swap yours over easily enough.

The last thing that comes to mind is the front cover and balancer. Your 96 OBD2 engine has a crank position sensor on the front cover and a sensor wheel (a reluctor?) behind the cover. If the Impala engine doesn't have that sensor on the cover you're going to have to swap over the reluctor, the cover itself and the balance hub as well as the balancer itself.

That's all I can think off...I'm sure others will chime in with more if I've left something out...

Injuneer

As Bruce indicated - the Impala LT1 has iron heads, lower compression ratio, dual knock sensors. Port your F-Body aluminum heads. Why add the extra weight to the front end. The water pump is different.

Courtesy of Shoebox:

http://shbox.com/1/lt1_water_pumps.jpg

You might want to consider cams other than the LT4 HOT cam. When you have your heads and intake manifold ported, ask the head porter to recommend a cam that will work well with the heads, while meeting your driveability requirements.

jj_burchiel

So in the long run, would it be more benificial to just save up some more money and find an fbody lt1.
I'm just planning on doing the top end and keeping budget low. Planning on getting my pcm tuned, aluminum heads all redone, intake ported, long tube headers, cam/lifters/springs, timing chain, stall, and a bigger throttle body. Also what would be a good streetable cam with my setup and budget?

Injuneer

If the SS engine is in good condition, use it, swap over your aluminum heads and water pump. You only need to hook up 1 of the two knock sensors. Can leave the 2nd one there, or remove it and use a pipe plug in the hole as Bruce pointed out. The knock sensors are screwed into the block drains.

I'd buy a decent quality rebuilt F-Body LT1 water pump, since yours has high miles. Since you will have the water pump off, swapping the timing cover/CKP sensor won't be that hard, except for pulling the damper hub off the crankshaft on both engines, and following what Bruce said above regarding the hub, crank sensor reluctor and the crank sensor. These will be fine from your engine... these aren't parts that wear out. You will need new seals for the timing cover.

Same with the accessory bracket, along with the PS pump, A/C, alternator and belt tensioner - use the parts from your engine.

jj_burchiel

Will the accessory bolt depths be the same since it has the different setup

bw_hunter

Probably. On the engines I've seen the depth of the bolt holes they put in are uniform. However, they migh not have drilled all the holes, depending on the application...you'll have to check.

Injuneer

I'm pretty sure the used block that I bought for my stroker build was from a B-Body, and all the accessories bolted right up.