I was looking into an LT4 upgrade for my 93 LT1 and although it doesnt have high miles (67k) id still be interested in doubling my upgrade kit price and going with a "Fast Burn 385" crate engine. It appears the engine is complete but that ill still need a carbeurator and filter on my own. are there any other parts that would be needed for the install? how much effort would it take to add those extra 35 cubic inches of engine. What does the law say about crate engines in post-1970's cars? How bad would the mileage be if i changed the engine? (I'm just full of questions)

This trouble came along when i started having an oil leak. The sillies at City Garage said it could either be near the oil pressure switch ($120), or in the intake manifold($600-700), either way the oil leaks down to my y-pipe and burns off on the exhaust.

 

Isn't the fast burn 385 a gen 1 sbc? It wont work at all in your camaro.

 

That's the Famous LT1 intake manifold Oil Leak.. All LT1's have it and it's a cheap fix.

 

City Garage told me it was a big job requiring $600-700 although he also agreed that an LT4 manifold kit would only cost $250-300 and that the kit should come with the appropriate gasket. He kinda contradicted himself. I had a trusted repairman about 100 miles from here i would be willing to drive to install me a new intake manifold. Thanks for the help those crate engines are kinda confusing for a newbie. I'm still doing my research and reading.

 

$600 to fix the Intake Manifold leak??

You don't need a new manifold, just a little sealant. Don't pay them that much, and I wouldn't even think about going with a crate motor for any reason in these cars. I did, and it was far too costly for me to ever reccomend to anyone else.

 

Before you even think about any of the items you have listed, spend some time on the board, searching the past posts.

As people pointed out, the "intake manifold leak" is fairly common. Reach behind the passenger side of the intake with a paper towel, and rub the point where the intake manifold and the block come together. If it comes back with oil on it, you found the leak.

If it isn't leaking there, the oil pressure sending unit is a possibility. That is located on the drivers side, top of the block, right behind where the intake manifold and the block come together. Again, by reaching back there, you might be able to find if that is where the oil is leaking out.

[EDIT] Ooooops, noticed you have a 93. That year the oil pressure sender is not on the top of the block, it is on the side of the block right above the oil filter. Sounds like this is not the likely source.

Fixing the intake manifold leak is "labor intensive", but has little cost associated with it. A couple gaskets and some RTV. That's why its a shame to pay someone $600 to fix it, when you could actually fix it yourself, with a friend's help. There are online "how to" guides available.

Switching to an LT4 intake manifold isn't very practical, unless as you indicated you are buying the LT4 kit, including the heads, manifold HOT cam and rockers.

[EDIT] Another ooooopss.. with your 93, you can not just switch to the LT4 intake... It is set up for a different fuel rail configuration than you have. Whether the 93 style batch flow rails can be adapted to the LT4 intake is not clear to me.

The Fast Burn 385 crate engine isn't really an option. The LT1 is a "2nd generation" small block Chevy. Although it shares the general design and dimensions of the original SBC, it has a couple of major differences.... first being a "reverse flow" cooling system, and second being a front mounted distributor. That means that the entire front of the engine is different than a conventional SBC, and also that there is no room under the cowl for the distributor required by a Gen 1 SBC. There are ways around that, specially if you are talking switching to a carb setup, but its really only for hardcore racers. Once you depart from the front mounted optical distributor, you have to ditch the entire computer system, meaning you have also lost the fuel pump control (no big deal, since you would probably want a different fuel setup for a carb), and you lose your speedometer driver - again, you can work around this, but it is another expensive complication.

And, a carb motor can not be emissions legal, and will suffer (by comparison to modern EFI) from poor fuel mileage, the temperamental problems of tuning with a carb, etc.

Again, spend some time learning about the cars... ask as many questions as you can.

 

The 385 fast burn gets its name from its horsepower "385" not displacement. Its a 350 same as the ZZ4 only with different heads

 

good info. thanks guys. on that fuel rail the kit specifies that 93's would just need a 1995 or better fuel rail to attach the rest of the LT4 parts.

 

LT4 intake won't work with LT1 heads...they're incompatible. As stated above, spend your money on a new intake manifold gasket and some of the black silicone sealant and do the work yourself (bribe buddies with beer if necessary). You'll be glad you did it yourself and very glad that you saved yourself $500 to $550 in the process.

 

it looks like you don't mind spending a little money so you should just do a cam and headers while you are at it. With the intake off you are halfway there.

 

I already have Hooker longtubes.