ls1 swap

25

Asked by Tim Mar 16, 2009 at 06:00 PM about the 1993 Chevrolet Camaro

Question type: Car Customization

dose any one know how big of a job it is to swap a ls1 in to a 1993 3.4L camaro and a price estimate of the cost   

11 Answers

105

You are going to have to replace the Engine Wiring Harness, PCM, Engine, Transmission, almost everything under the hood will have to be changed. you may also have to replace the rear end gears to heavier duty ones. Another thing you may want to add are sub frame connectors and transmission tunnel bracing. You are looking at probably around $10,000.00. You may be able to save some bucks by doing most/all the work yourself, but it will be expensive and a lot of work.

1 people found this helpful.
705

josh has a pretty steep price. i think he was considering shop charges in his. But take it from someone whos done this a few times. It's hard the first time you do it. But after that it's easy. It depends on what you want in the LS1 if you're wanting forged internals to go boost or whatever or if u want to just throw a stock on in there and call it good. Me personally i'm thinking about going with an LS2 400hp stock plus it gets 38mpg in a corvette so maybe 35 in a F-Body. the ls2 is roughly 7k on jegs although im sure u can find one from someone parting out a corvette or selling theirs for an LS7. but u will need a new tranny aswell and driveshaft maybe a rear-end atleast get a new differential. you'll need a wiring harness painless i think makes them for like 200-500. not a big deal on that really. you'll need an ECM, go find a wrecked 98-02 camaro ss/z28 or Firebird formula/trans am. and you'll also need a new torque arm for the tranny. you can find everything online at like summit or jegs or anything that has to do with f-bodys. but i'm going to give u a link to a forum thats really good for F-Body questions of all sorts its http://www.camaroz28.com There's alot of knowledgeable guys on there.

4 people found this helpful.
165

A v8 swap is not that of a hard job the only thing that makes the ls1 a hard swap is the oil pan clearance with the crossmember. You will have to refabricate the middle section of the crossmember or bolt in a tubular k member that takes regular small block big block lt1 and ls1 with no frame modifications. The easiest swap would be an lt1 for the simple fact that you would not have to modify the crossmember and of course replace the wiring harness gm sells stand alone computers for the lt1 and ls1 engines. You would also need a program to acomodate for the rear gears and so forth. You would probably have more in it than you could buy a 94 z/28 for

1 people found this helpful.
105

Josh, you were right, I was including Shop charges in my estimate because in my experience, most people who are asking this question don't realize how large of an undertaking it can be and will require professional aid on thier first attempt. Jeff, I do agree that it is not extremely difficult if you have done it before, or have changed several engines, but to swap an LS1 into a car that was, at most designed for an LT1 is a fairly large undertaking for a novice. To switch to the Lt1 would still require a new wiring harness since the wiring harness for the 3.4 only has connections for the 6 fuel injectors and the LT1 requires the 8 fuelinjector setup. Also the ignition system for the Lt1 is different and also requires a different connection. One thing I forgot that may or may not need changing is the fuel pump, I'm not sure the 3.4's fuel pump can handle the volume that the LT1 or LS1 requires. The other problem is that the parts used for the 3.4 in the drivetrain were not meant to handle the torque output of the LT1 or LS1. They may be able to handle things if you take it easy on them, but they will not last. The reason why I'm suggesting sub-Frame connectors and tunnel bracing is cause the early fourth gen camaros suffered from the same body twisting that the 3rd-gen camaros did under high torque loads. A good forum that has members that are willing to offer suggestions and helpful hints is www.worldwidecamaroclub.com

16,905

i suggest against it. i think your best bet would be to purchase a z28 instead. you start off with all the needed base parts to start modding. and if you get a 93-97 z28 with the lt1 engine you could do a project where you change it into an lt4. that makes around 400hp i do believe and is faster than the ls1 you want. plus its a very reliable engine with the lt4 conversion still. just a thought you might want to look into instead. i think the lt4 kit is around $2k. dont quote me on that but its not that much and a 93-97 z28 should be available for around $3k-$4k for a pretty decent car too.

705

chase does make a valid point. I would go that route. go with a sturdy 11.8:1 high compression motor and get some heads from Lloyd Elliot best u can find out there. He will custom make them with a cam if u choose, just for what you want to do. those are about $2500. you will come out making around 400-450rwhp and still be running pump fuel. all for about 5-6k dollars.

1 people found this helpful.
165

Their is more differences than just more places to plug in fuel injectors for the electrical, and really it would not be that hard of a swap still. You can use a stand alone lt1 harness and computer by gm performance parts, stand alone 4l60e or 4l65e trans controller, then get a v8 trans ,and hopefully you got a good gear with the 3.4 v6 like a 3.42 or something like that you can install a powertrax limited slip unit without having to set up the ring and pinion or you can get a rear limited slip axl out of a wrecked z/28 car and definately sub frame connectors. This could be acomplished by a novice as long as he does his research on the subject and for the fuel pump you just have to check part numbers at your local chevy dealer to see if the lt1 and 3.4 use the same pump. In all it is still cheaper to buy a 93-97 z/28 than buy all the crap to convert it or even find a 98 with ls1 could be a better way to go for a novice and start with a intake lid and smooth belows along with a larger mass airflow and programer

25

thanks everyone i didn't realize how much cost there is i think i am gong to swap a lt1 in it is not nearly as difficult and the cost is a lot less and i can still make some great power

a lot more than it will cost to buy a V8 car.

3 people found this helpful.

you just have to swap front ends,, everything bolts right up,, i have a 1995 camaro v6 and i put in an ls1 bolted to the front end still k memeber struts tries and all and it bolds right in to the v6 no need to cut or refab your front end or kmember.

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