Ls 1 or keep csb 355

[Carlsson]

Hi,
I have some thoughts about my car that is going trough some upgrades.
Car: Camaro 67 355/th350
The 355 have the "standard" edelbrock upgrades.. Not a monster but quite good though. Have been driving it for 6 years now without any problems.

Some of the mods on the car:
(Mounted)
Hotchkis front springs
Hotchkis rear leaf springs
Red koni front/rear
Cpp 500 steering box

Not mounted:
Hotchkis upper/lower tubular arms
Hotchkis swaybar
Hotchkis subframe connectors
Wilwood brake kit front/rear
Yukon diff (8,2" rear end)
Th200r4

My plan was to keep the engine and just put in the new transmission. But now I have been offered to buy a ls1 from corvette c5. The engine is still in the car and looks and sounds ok. It is definitely a good engine when it comes to that. It's complete but without transmission since it in the rear on the vette and doesn't fit..
I can buy for approx 3000usd (I live in Sweden but that amount is close enough)
I have for a couple years been thinking of a ls swap. It's just an idea that I have hard time getting out of my head. But is it really worth it?

I'm sure that several of you in here have been thinking the same and maybe I could get som advice here:)
Off course the ls3 or ls7 would be nice but I think that ls1 is what my wallet can afford if we count in everything around.

Goal:
Around 400-450 reliable hp. The hp isn't the most important thing because I want I to be a nice street car in the first place.

Use: cruising, show, auto crossing, longer trips and fun driving!

We don't need to discuss the "how to install", neither the gas saving stuff. I get that but this is a summer car and not a daily driver and saving gas is a bonus but not a reason for a swap.

One part of me want to go with the ls... But maybe it's to much work/money for "nothing"...

What do you guys think?
Any advice or input?

/Janne

[kainedogg]

With an end goal of 450hp I assume at the fly wheel, the LS1 is really hard to beat. You are literally a cam, headers and used 243 (LS6) heads away from your goal. My '98 (dated) LS1 with long tubes and an old cam puts down 378 to the wheels and that is through crappy (by LS6 standards) 241 heads and tired 4l60e.

[Carlsson]

Hi, thanks for replying!
Well as I understand it's not a bigger issue to get the hp. And one thing that I was thinking about is the weight also. I should do some good things for the car on that point:)
One bad thing though is the look of the ls. Doesn't look as nice as a older csb. But that is not the issue here.
I'm looking for pros and cons here AND experience from others that also had a hard time making up there mind:)

[JKnight]

You could do an LS with a carb and hidden ignition coils to help with the looks, then you'd still get the weight savings, power, and leak-free benefits of the LS.

[Carlsson]

Well, would there be any benefits with carb? Except for the looks then... I don't think I go with carb if I do the swap. I'm not THAT picky with the looks:)
One thing I have been thinking of is the option to upgrade my 355 with alu heads and another cam. But the thing with the ls1 that sounds good is the weight.
Is the weight difference that big so that it self could be an argument for do the swap?
I like a car with good handling in corners and maybe I'm wrong but it feels like the weight reduction would do some good...

[67RSRAG]

I switched from a 383 to an LS 2. Best thing ever. It is way more fun to drive. Not knowing much of your current engine you will probably have a flatter torque curve from much lower in the RPM range with the LS. Usually cleaner burning. I highly recommend it. Sell your small block to help finance the swap and you will be so happy you did. PS I would recommend you not go with the carb. If you are doing it might as well get all the benefits. IMHO

[gnx7]

If you have an all iron 355 swapping to an all aluminum LSx engine would shave about 200lbs off the front end. That alone would make a huge difference. An engineer would give his left nut for that improvement :G-Dub:

Not knowing what compression your current engine is.... could also be a big factor in throttle response swapping to a new one. An LSx engine can easily support 11.25:1 on 91 octane which makes it pretty damn snappy on throttle. 93 octane can support 12:1 compression. The '99+ LS1 is worth buying. The older ones weren't as refined IMO resulting in piston slap, oil consumption potential, non-improved oiling system like the '99+ style. A simple cam/valvespring/tune swap will produce an easy 400hp+.

A modern transmission (not a 4L60E/65E/4L80E) that has 6 gears would make a huge improvement as well. While the above mentioned transmissions are fine..... they are antiquated in reality. A 6L80E/6L90E is rather awesome.......... or even a T56 Magnum 6speed manual!

It all depends how wild you want to go. The sky is the limit :)

An LS1 with ported heads, cam/dual valve springs/LS6 intake, headers, tune could easily make 450hp and be super driveable..... if not closer to 500hp flywheel with a more aggressive cam. Run as much compression as your octane allows.

[Zoomin]

You said you've been driving the car as is for 6 years without any problems, so maybe some of the improvements I've seen in making the swap may not apply to you. First, in cold weather particularly you don't have to go through a ritual of pumping the gas pedal X number of times, cranking for six seconds and repeat as needed. With a LS, you can reach in and turn the key and it fires up almost instantly. No sticking chokes to worry about.

No setting the timing, changing the jets, or any of that crap - the computer does it all for you, hundreds of times a second.

I've never run across anyone that regrets making the change, but a bunch that say they'll never run old tech again. Unless you're into originality or the nostalgic look, I don't know why anyone would subject themselves to it.

[Carlsson]

Thank you guys for the input. I have made a first pyment on a ls1 from Corvette 04. (Will pick it Up for a couple Of weeks). It was some stuff already fixed. It was equipped with the msd atomic efi ls system that after some research seems just perfect for me. (We'll se about that) to this there were also a 4l60e. If that transmission will be used we'll see but that is the plan. But there was some interesting suggestion here about the tranny.
I will not go with carb now when i got a really good deal like this.
Exiting!

[67RSRAG]

congrats!:cheers: