So pretty much I bought a 95' Z28 a few months back. It had 29k miles. The previous owner claims that it has a Corvette LT1 engine and not the original Camaro LT1. A lot of people claim that they are the same but from previous thread that i started on the matter told me other wise. Aside from the subtle differences between the Camaro LT1 and the Corvette LT1, how can I know for sure that I have a Corvette LT1 under my hood, and not just the Camaro LT1?

 

well i see a lot of people saying they are corvette engines when they sell 4th gens, yes there was also a lt1 in the vette but the fbody versions are much different.its hard to really tell unless you tore the engine down and measured the bore & stroke of the engine and crank.both the camaro and vette lt1 had iron blocks and aluminum heads so its really hard to tell.does it have the corvette engine covers on it ?i believe the valve covers looked a bit different too

 

It doesn't have the corvette covers, that's what I looked for when I bought it. I'm afraid that when I purchased the car all I could think about was me owning a 300+ hp camaro z28. haha. Are you sure there aren't any other more simple ways to tell? If not, when I go to my mechannic again, I'll ask him to take a look. Thanks though.

 

You can get the VIN off of the side of the engine and if it matches the VIN on the car then it's the original engine. If not then do a VIN check just like you would with any other "whole car" and see what it comes up as. I believe the VIN on the engine is on the lower passenger side but I'm not sure.

 

You can always remove the oil pan and look at the main bearing caps. Camaro engines came with 2 bolt caps, and real Corvette engines came with 4 bolt caps. Otherwise, aside from different exhaust and intake plumbing, and some minor cam specs, the engines are basically the same. The Corvette LT1had higher power ratings because the Corvette body allowed better intake and exhaust plumbing. If you install a Corvette engine in the Camaro and use the Camaro intake and exhaust, the engine power will drop to match the Camaro LT1. There are a few cases where the Camaro was shipped with the 4 bolt block, because the factory was short of 2 bolt blocks and the production line had to be kept moving. But in any case the engine power wasn't affected. Since the blocks used are the same, except for the machining for the extra bolts, there are no exterior casting marks to indicate the difference.

 

Alright, thanks for everything.