I bought a 96 z28 last year. It was wrecked slightly in the front end. I replaced the front end and expected the car to start right up. It ran fine for a few minutes and then it started to overheat. I replaced the radiator and the thermostat. the car no longer overheated, but a fired it up a few days later and white smoke began pouring out of the exhaust.

I am going to pull the motor to have it fixed, but I wanted to swap in another motor in the mean time. I have a 96 lt1 and the motor is from a 95 lt1. Will there be any complications in swapping the motor?

Should I pull the motor and repair the headgasket or should I swap in the 95 motor? The 95 is from a wrecking yard, but comes with a 90 day warranty.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

is there coolant in the oil? motors are the same. you will want to keep all your sensors the same as the 96 and make sure the opti is the same. if i remember right the 96 is when they upgraded the front cover. if your 96 has a separate crank sensor that is outside the opti you will need to change the front timing cover, reluctor and the balancer key.
http://www.shbox.com/1/engine_front_diagram.jpg

 

Before buying a new engine and tossing big $$$ away (unless you want to toss it my way) you should test things out a little first. Like Craby said, is there water in the oil? what is the compression? Are you sure it was not just some condensation in the exhaust?

And the 95-96 engines are similar but like Craby said the front covers are different, you will need to use the 96 front cover and balancer on the 95 engine. A 97 Engine will be identical to your 96 engine.

Massey

 

or where does he live? It's even been dang cold in FL. white smoke has been coming from tailpipes here too.

 

The first time I ever stepped foot in FL it was a little cold, then in the morning it was ice everywhere and by lunch we were in jeans and T-shirts. Talk about some extreme.

Massey

 

yeah i wouldnt jump to the worst conclusion yet lt1s are tanks weather anyone wants to admit it but they are built to handle and last so i would say exercise your other options first unless you are dying to pull a motor haha

 

You need to diagnose the problem first...do a leakdown test on the coolant system and if you have a leak then you have a problem. Pull the heads off and look at the head gaskets to see if you have a breech. Check the heads to see if they are warped. How bad did it overheat and for how long? The engines are notorious for air pockets in the coolant. Did you bleed the coolant system at the two bleeder screws? Also might I suggest drilling a small bleeder hole in the thermostat.