Hey guys, sorry for the newb question...but ive dealt with 5.0's and 4.6's all my life so far...so a lt1 is new to me. I'm picking up a 95 t/a tomorrow for 2k. It needs a tuneup, but still drivable. its got a little bit of a back fire...so I assumed plugs,wires, and dist cap(or are the lt1's coil on plug?) haven't really looked...


but other than a tuneup would there be anything else that could cause the car to back fire?


btw...any good links on some good reading material on these car's motors would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to the board. You won't be disappointed going from stangs to a z. Considering that its a 95 a full tune up is a good idea. The LT1 has an optispark distributor, its not coil on plug like the LS1. Plugs and wires are a good start, I strongly suggest, instead of doing cap and rotor, that you buy a whole new AC Delco or GMPP distributor. Other things to do would be to test your coil and your ICM. That should have your backfire covered.

For reading material I suggest you browse through www.shbox.com. I can't tell you how helpful that site is.

 

The guy i'm buying it from also said something about having to remove the waterpump to change the cap/rotor, is this true? I just dont see how this is true, but i didn't really pay to much attention to it when i was looking around under the hood this morning.


I feel so lost with this car, but i was just looking for something new to toy with since I reciently sold my GT.

 

Yes, you have to remove the water pump along with the harmonic balancer/crank dampener. Thats why its best to replace the whole unit instead of just doing cap and rotor. Also depending on the miles, if the water pump is factory, I would strongly suggest that you swap that out for a new AC Delco as well.

Stick with this site, browse ALL of www.shbox.com and you will be familiar with that car in no time. You will love your new toy.

 

Man, that sucks for the cap/rotor..wish it has a ford motor now jsut playing. Thanks for the link ive been reading up on it for awhile.

 

I've done the job several times, its not very enjoyable, and takes a while the first time. But if you do it right the first time with new opti, plugs, wires, and water pump and you seal it all up properly, you shouldn't have to touch it for ~100k.

 

Just a downside of having a front mount distributor.

 

yeah, i'm starting to realize how big of a Pain this car will be working on it. But I have the tools and the garage to do it. I'm sure gonna miss my old 5.0 and the ease of working on it, but its time for change.


aside from the ignition, what else should I look into on this car? ive put it on a hoist and checked out all the suspension and all the bushings look good and no fluid leaks(rear main, tranny etc)its got 130K on the chassis/tranny, and about 25k on the motor.(he used the old waterpump,optispark etc...)turned the crank 10 under, bored 30 with new pistons/rings, and main/rod bearings. Not sure about the cam bearings...but the motor has good oil pressure just a slight back fire when you step on it, and a little at idle. Since this wont be a DD I'm thinking about running an electric fan and deleting the ac and some misc "creature comforts" maybe I can make this thing run like the DSS 331 i put together for my gt, but its just gotta take some time to learn about these motors, luckly i found this forum to help me out. But thanks in advance guys.

 

LT1's came factory with electric fans, so you dont have to worry about that one. As far as Free performance mods you couls look into deleting the EGR, Smog pump, cats, and then bypassing the throttle body cooling lines. I woudnt ever get rid of my ac but I dont know if yours is a dd. Also did this guy do the rebuild himself or do you have receipts, because it sounds wierd that someone would rebuild something and not be able to take care of a small backfire. Just wondering.

 

If you get the Z right, a simple combo of CAI, LT headers, and the right cam will have it making more power than most 331 GTs. These cars are a few hundred pounds heavier, but they can still be made fast. Don't forget the rear-end though. That's about the biggest negative in these cars. $2K to fix it though and you are all set.

 

... all i can say is he is probably letting it go for 2k because of the cap and rotor lol

 

That car sounds definitely worth it for $2k. Installing a new OPTI isn't really all that hard. Remove the water pump, remove the air pump, remove the balancer pulley, and bam, bad OPTI in the trash!