I'm considering buyin' a ZZ4 Crate engine. I'd really like to have port injection, I have a complete cast-iron LT1 i have I bought for $200 and I'm curious if the intake off it would work on ZZ4 heads? This may also be a dumb question but I saw someone say somethin in a forum about swappin their TPI unit to an LT1 intake, since i have a TBI 305 would that LT1 intake work on my 305? :blah:

 

depends on what syear the heads are...anything can be done but its not always practical or cheap.

The LT1 intake swap was popular at one time......a little research i'm sure you can find what you need

 

The LT-1 is it's own bolt pattern, not shared with early heads like the ZZ4 comes with, not like the intake on your TBI manifold, and not like later Vortec heads. Plus the LT-1 intake doesn't have coolant cross-over ports at the front like earlier standard cooling engines use (including the ZZ4).

There is a guy by the name of John Millican on Thirdgen.org who does LT1 intake conversions to fit on earlier heads. You might want to contact him if you are interested in fitting your LT1 intake to your ZZ4 crate motor.

 

The iron LT1 heads are better than the ZZ4 crate motor heads. I ran a ZZ4 cam in my stock headed b-body LT1 and it was nice.

Since you have an LT1 and want port injection I see no point to buying the ZZ4 motor atall, like I said the heads are lesser, the crank might be slightly better but the LT1 crank is STOUT, believe the rods are the same, pistons will be comparable too.

 

That is the problem with the crate motors. You don't get all the parts you need for the build up. You are better off building up your own (or having it built) block with the parts you want. That is the route I went.

 

The ZZ4 I was looking at is on www.crateenginedepot.com, it's a turn-key engine with everything needed to run, but the LT1 i have will need a COMPLETE rebuild (it sat outside in a plastic storage container). I also have a 89' 350 out of a 'Burban but the ports on the heads are small, and from what it looks like, it would cost just as much money to build that LT1 as it would to make that 350 just as fast as the LT1. One of my buddies at work has a complete LT1 out of a MasterCraft boat with alum. heads, hes considering selling the heads to me for around $400-500 bucks... I'm not really sure what to do, maybe I'm just too young and this motor crafting is getting over my head

 

I have a ZZ4 crate with a fuel injection intake and it is a fun engine. I've gone 12.7 @ 107mph with this combo. I've never gone to a dyno but someone on the Fiero boards made 309rwhp 367rwtq with this same exact setup. If you buy a crate motor then go changing a bunch of stuff then it is defeating the purpose of paying only 3400 for a turn-key engine.

 

www.lt1intake.com

John Millican (the guy mentioned above) sold his LT1 intake to SBC conversion company a few years ago. The guy that bought it still does good work from what I've heard. An LT1 intake on a Gen I is quite popular and will give you good results on a stoutly built engine.