OK.....I just bought a Gen II Lt1. I am putting it in my 29 Model A....If anyone has any info on this transplant it would be much appriciated...
I fought this motor to death. The Opti-spark hates water and will die about every 50K miles. Given the low pancake profile, I'm not sure that the look is traditional for that car. But that wasn't your question. Street & performance, Howell, will have the harnesses if you wanna change the original to something cleaner. You will need to get the PCM re-programmed to defeat the VATS, the open loop modes, etc. There are typical 350 mounting locations under the large LT1 mounts, so ou can just use a typical chevy mount. Not sure on placement due to the reverse flow water pump it uses with electric fans.
Are you keeping the FI or going carbureted? they make parts for both. I've had better luck with optis, the key is to change the seals behind em to keep engine fluids out. And to only use the vented kind (or convert the early ones to vented). And to only use complete new delco opti assemblies. Forget the aftermarket, and forget cap & rotor kits. I get more like 90k out of em. Not the greatest, but the engine's other strengths overcome that weakness. The stock exhaust manifolds have funky ports, but standard hedders bolt right up. One of my LT1s wears a pair of flowtech hedders listed for a 69 camaro. Don't rev stockers past 6200 with any regularity. Avoid comp cams lifters like the plague. They used to have a fatal flaw and would come apart if even idled with the lifter set a little wrong, company never admitted it but changed to a more robust retainer design. Still a lot of the old ones floating around There is a water pump setup available with a mechanical fan, was optional on caprices. I think it's a belt driven idler pulley kinda deal. But probably too long for a model A. good luck
I'm keepin the FI on it.. Thanks for the info Shifty...answered some questions that I had...I am leaving the engine "stock", which should supply me with plenty of HP in this little car. I like the idea of the LT1 b/c of distributor location and of course the fuel injection. Has anyone on here put this engine in a Model A before? I have only seen one before but it was on E-Bay.
I could be wrong but I think the reverse flow water pump is longer than a typical chevy short water pump so it might make packaging a little more interesting up front. Also, www.diyautotune.com posted a tech article on how to use a megasquirt computer on the LT1 if you're looking to ditch the stock computer. What year is your LT1? The early ones had a non-vented optispark that was problematic. Changing it out requires a different front timing cover and a different lenght dowel in the camshaft (typically a different camshaft).
It's out of a 94 Vette........The more I read the more it looks like this was a bad idea.....Can this even be done and be done succesfully?
This has been done successfully since about 1995 and is rapidly moving into the category of old news. You just have to be willing to step up with $1500 of fuel system and custom programming and a custom engine loom if you can't modify the factory loom yourself. You can modify the older opti to vented by drilling a hole and adding a brass hose nipple and teeing into an existing vacuum line. If you stick with the stock computer, you'll probably need a custom program. A guy known as "madz28" used to do a ton of good work, there's a dozen plus out there. Make a phone call and wait for the new/exchange ECM in the mail. Program updates can be done over the phone if you buy a cable from the PC to your car. Try camaroZ28.com's forum. Lotta good info on retrofit swaps. Or just buy a carbureted intake. Once the intake is off you can remove a retaining bolt and pull the half-shaft that drives the oil pump. At this point a standard chevy distributor with a brass gear drops right in.
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