C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine

lt1 into a 85

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Old Nov 8, 2009 | 04:45 PM
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Default lt1 into a 85

will an lt1 engine fit into an 85 vette with a 4+3 tranny . what all is involved?
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Old Nov 8, 2009 | 05:21 PM
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yes but why
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Old Nov 9, 2009 | 01:50 PM
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cause my l98 sucks, i would have to put a lot of money into it to make it run well.
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Old Nov 9, 2009 | 02:07 PM
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I have no experience to base this on, but it seems like it might be just as much work as doing an LS1 swap. Now bear in mind, I love my LT1, but if you are going through that much work, perhaps you may as well go all the way............
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Old Nov 9, 2009 | 02:21 PM
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Why an LT-1?
It is basically a roller cammed 89 L98 with reverse cooled heads.
If you just got a long block from Weburke and a stealth ram and a cam, you would do better.
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Old Nov 9, 2009 | 03:30 PM
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just stick an LT1 intake or miniram on yours
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Old Nov 9, 2009 | 04:18 PM
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Originally Posted by hot85vette
cause my l98 sucks, i would have to put a lot of money into it to make it run well.
ok.

is the LT1 that much better?
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Old Nov 9, 2009 | 05:56 PM
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Ill say the same thing I told my old roomate, who put a lot of effort to transplant a 95 Camaro Z28 LT1 drivetrain, into his 91 Camaro RS....

If you are going through the effort you need to build that motor.

He spent many hours working on it, only to still get beat by stock mustang gt's.

If you are putting that much effort into it, go with an LS-1.

way, way more aftermarket (and cheaper) parts for it.

Now, if you already have an lt1 vette (92-96)....thats a different story
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Old Nov 9, 2009 | 08:33 PM
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I love my 85 with an LT1.

Running an 89 'puter with a crank trigger (since the LT motor doesn't have a distributor like the tune port computer is used to.) We used the original opti for the distribution of spark but use the crank trigger to tell the puter for the crank location. Put a Vortech supercharger on it and she runs great!
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Old Nov 10, 2009 | 12:01 AM
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Originally Posted by C5rider
I love my 85 with an LT1.

Running an 89 'puter with a crank trigger (since the LT motor doesn't have a distributor like the tune port computer is used to.) We used the original opti for the distribution of spark but use the crank trigger to tell the puter for the crank location. Put a Vortech supercharger on it and she runs great!
Sounds like a nice setup.
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Old Nov 10, 2009 | 11:10 AM
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would an lt1 intake bolt up to my l98 and would it be that much of a diff in power??
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Old Nov 10, 2009 | 07:13 PM
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Originally Posted by hot85vette
would an lt1 intake bolt up to my l98 and would it be that much of a diff in power??
You'd still need to figure out what to do for a distributor. No hole in the LT1 intake. Of course, you COULD poke a hole in it.

It would take a LOT more work to put an LS motor in a C4. It can be done, we've done it. But, with the LT1, we just used the early mounts, hooked it up to the 700R4 trans that my car came with and did some re-wiring to make it all work. Sure, my car thinks like an 89, batch fire and all but I still get 29-30 mpg on the highway. We did some other mods to my car while we were at it, like putting the throttle body in front of the supercharger and stuff but if you're not putting a supercharger on it or changing a lot, it can be a pretty straight forward mod. Of course, now I can send my low-rev tachometer into orbit and the engine is just starting to sound good.
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