I have been reading up a lot recently about doing a sbc swap but all I find is v6 to v8 swaps. I am about to acquire a lt1 97 camaro that I would like to swap with a sbc carbd. The MAIN reason for this is because I am practically getting the car for free and the lt1 is blown, also I have a wide variety of goodies for sbc considering I race stock cars and have parts stashed away.

That being said, what all am I looking at to do a lt1 to sbc swap? The transmission in the camaro is a upgraded 700r4 so I do not have to worry about electronics, is there any major problems I will look into like wiring? I understand I will have to modify the firewall, no big deal. Has anyone done this swap and have a thread I could be linked to or any advice? (besides saying don't do it)

Any information would be appreciated!

 

would have to do some cutting on the body to make room for the carb, are you sure its a 700r4? does it have a tv cable. motor mounts are different so fabing mounts would be needed. gauge cluster is run by the pcm and bcm so some sort of gauges would need to be installed, i would use a lt1

 

Not worried about cutting the body, and yes it is a 700r4, I may swap out with a turbo 350. As far as gauge cluster I am not worried because I will have a RPM Tach, Water, Oil temp, fuel pressure, and maybe oil pressure gauges installed. This isn't a street build, just thoughts of turning it into a drag car. I personally do not like the lt1, and my sbc engines are 14.5:1 compression I just need a toy to make into my next project.

 

700r4 is a good trany when built right. what hp you lookin at getting to. lt1 loves high compreesion.

 

I am sitting around 600hp with my sbc, i have found a few companies like BMR that sells mounts and k members for the conversion, any other competitors?

 

spohns has some beefy stuff but i dont think they make the k member. your gona need subframe connectors and of coarse 9in.

 

Why not just build a custom chassis to hang everything on? That way you can do whatever you want with the front end, rear end, engine and tranny mounting options.
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Sure, it is a lot of fab work, but you are going to be doing some cutting on the chassis anyway to get the SBC to fit and be able to have access to the dizzy

 

My memory might be a bit fuzzy, but can't you just get a new intake manifold that's set up for a carb instead of EFI on the LT1? I thought GM sold them.

 

The BMR setup with a manual Rack is a good setup for the strip. I think you are making a mistake building a 4th gen. I love 4th gens (I own 2 of them) but they are a pain to work on. The reason I like them is the handling. You could buy a nice 3rd gen roller for what the K memeber will cost you for the SBC and it will end up almost 300 lbs lighter. Since the 3rd gens came with carbed SBC motor you can find all the parts for the fuel system for next to nothing. Also you are going to have to pull the motor to work on the distributer forget tweak or trouble shooting at the track. When I use to build SBC I would be into the distributer a half a dozen times before I was happy with the dyno on a new build.

4th gens part out at a higher value then the 3rd gens. I would do some swaping and I'll bet you could get everything you need to mount you motor in 3rd gen and a few bucks in your pocket.

 

I do not like the way 3rd gens look, no offense, a clean SS or ws6 has always been a car I have really wanted so why not make a clone. I wouldn't spend $12k on a 12 year old car, even though the ls can get 28mpg a SBC is more affordable for parts specially since the car will only be a drag project. I am still young so I still have alot of projects I would like to try, not sure how difficult this one will be.