hey guys, haven't been on in a while cause ive been super pissed with my Camaro but im still in a committed relationship with her and decided to breath new life into her. turns out the idiot who built the engine didn't torque the main caps witch resulted in a spun main. so my question is this, im trying to decide between a built 383 stroker lt1 or a stock ls1 swap. if I do the lt1 I will be getting a 383 short block from golen engines and have my heads and cam done by Elliot sport works, that will put me in the 5 to 6000 dollar range. (and yes I know I have to upgrade trans and rearend, im just talking engine right now). but if I do the ls1, hawks 3rd gen in Easley sc, which is a very pristine shop, said they would do all the work and supply the parts for around $8000, although im going to also see how much if they just supply me the parts and I do the swap. im torn between the two because if I do the lt1 ill have a built engine but if I do the ls1 swap it will be stock for now but I will have an extremely reliable engine with endless possibilities for upgrades. what do yall think

 

Ls1 is a better platform for upgrading later in my opinion. The 383 would out perform the ls1 but if you think about it, your stroked lt1 is maxed out at this point. The ls1 is all stock and can go way beyond a stroked lt1. Ls1 gets my vote!

 

Is the LS1 new? For 8K you could buy a low miles SS that is worth 8K. You put a LS1 in your old car it would be worth half what they are charging you. With a newer low miles SS you could part your Z out and get some money for your first modes 

Truthfully, these cars are so cheap right now, unless your building a car you want a certain way and doing all the labor yourself you should be able to find a really nice car already done for what you are considering spending. Heck, I saw a nice LT1 383 stroker with a new paint job upgrade interior and less than 2000 miles on a fully documented 12K build. Asking price $5500. I am sure 5k would have bought it.

 

gotta agree with gorn. i was looking at that when i did mine. its like changing from a 6 to 8, so many things need to change, if you had a 97 not so much, ls uses obd2 and you have obd1. i think there is a way to use obd1 with a ignition box. trans is different so need different trans, engine mounts are different, i believe they do make conversion mounts. hood is not going to fit so new hood or go 69 and not have one. anyways yes ls1 would be better if you can afford it. ask how they plan to make it work.

 

Yep, you're getting yourself in way deep compared to what you can buy already running. Here's a good for instance... 2000 Z28, 6 speed, 37k miles, asking $8,500.
For the budget you're looking at, you get an entire car: ***37K** *2000 CHEVY CAMARO Z28 COUPE LOW MILEAGE 37K*

 

I get what everyone is saying about just buying a new car and not have to do anything to it but wheres the fun in that, I like looking at my car and knowing that hey, I did this. ive grown way to attached to my Camaro just to part it out, plus with all the previous mods ive done to it im upside down on it anyway plus I like the lt body better then the ls, personal preference. for 8 grand hawks has a 30,000 mile ls1, they will put in new motor, trans, wiring harness front to back, ls dash, computer, exhaust, subframe, and drive shaft. im am going to check and see how much they want for just the parts and do it my self, and no this aint my first major engine swap, I have no problem with ripping a car apart, changing everything in it, and put it back together a running and driving car. I was kinda leaning towards the ls swap myself, just wanted some extra perspective if you know what I mean

 

if you're absolutely stuck on keeping the shell you have now, go to an ls1 swap. The ls1 is a cam swap away from making more power then the 383 lt1 ever would, the heads on those motors are just THAT good.

 

Don't buy the parts from a third party, just buy a wrecked car. If you buy the parts from the hotrod shop he is going to charge you 30% more then he paid. He probably bought then from a junk yard that had to pay someone to hack the car a part to remove the parts and they marked up the parts also.

If you buy a whole car you get to take stuff off so you can see how it is it is suppose to be put together. I am in the process of putting together a car that was given to me in boxs. It is hard then it looks.

Besides if you buy the whole car you get to part out what is left and it can help cover some of your costs. You should be able to find the complete wrecked low miles LS car for under 4K.

 

I do agree with everyone else though, complete running driving LS cars can be had for 4k now-a-days

 

The one I showed will sell right within your budget (under $8k) that you're looking to spend, with a running gear having 37k miles. Since the rest of the car is in pristine condition, you can sell off what's left of that one and parts of your car for some decent money. You don't like the catfish model, so you could do a front end swap putting yours on the 2000. What you want to do isn't sensible, budget wise, but not all of us do sensible things when a project is concerned. I don't know what you have invested in your 95, but you're looking at having an easy $12-13k invested in a car that might be worth half that once you're done.