Will an LT1 make a good start

**Raoul-Duke** · 02-16-2007, 09:50 AM

I LOVE MY LT1!!...however ls1's are badass too

**500hpZ06** · 02-17-2007, 07:29 PM

The LT1 has many attributes that made it funner, and faster, than the Tuned Port cars. However, the LT1's Opti Spark distributor based ignition has proven to be nothing but trouble. The expense, the difficult physical location, the constant diagnostic requirements, and the 'down time' caused by Opti Spark glitches/failures is enough in itself for someone to seriously question this choice over an LS1. Now that the LS1 has proven itself for several years, I would not waste my time with an LT1. I would choose a high mileage LS1 over a low mileage LT1, without question. I can almost guarantee the extra cost of the newer LS1 car will pay for itself in regards to maintenance issues, power mods, and in the 'pain in the ass' department.
You may hear a few LT1 owners who have not had any ignition issues, and you may hear that there are some LS1 'lemons' out there. But the ODDS ON favorite has got to be the LS1 for dependability, ease of maintenance, and ultimate power production.
I would wait and hold out for a decent LS1 car, or settle for a higher mileage '98-'00 that would probably still run circles around an ultra low-mileage LT1. I would also recommend staying with a 6 speed car if you are not a serious drag racer.

**Chad97z** · 02-17-2007, 07:41 PM

I'd never take a high mileage LS1 over a low mileage LT1. Whats worse, replacing the LS1 motor or just the optispark? Thats a no brainer. Secondly, i've never had an issue with my optispark ignition system. The 97's work perfectly. And as many of us have already stated, running around town, you're not going to feel a loss of power with the LT1. Infact you may notice more low end torque on a LT1 than a LS1, when comparing stock for stock and automatic for automatic and the like. I noticed my 2000TA was not as punchy from telephone poll to telephone poll but on the highway the LS1 did rap out more. Just look at the HP curves. most the lower rpms between the LS1 and LT1 (stock for stock) are nearly identical.

**Badbird** · 02-17-2007, 09:05 PM

at the track i spanked lots of ls cars with my stock lt car. on the street same thing. now ive put some mods together and run 8.60's in the 1/8th most stock ls cars are lucky to run 9.1's. A high milage ls car over a low milage lt car is not a good choice what so ever. the birds are not put together all that well and a high milage car has a tendancy to have lots of cosmetic problems interior and exterior

**stunna-shades** · 02-18-2007, 07:35 PM

screw cosmetics...im an all go no show type dude....eventho if i had enuff money to pimp my ride i would...but id rather go fast 1st.....

and i would rather buy a salvage ls1 f-body if it cost the same as a pimped out lt1 f-bod....i agree the ls1 is a bad mofo...i was in love with modding the ls1....but i would feel more comfortable building an lt1 myself, for the iron block reasons and wow the (ls1 cylinder head torque specs are nuts)dont mess up or youll need 90 buck for new head bolts......

**dafaic** · 02-18-2007, 09:42 PM

had the same discussion on another board and boy I got hammered from everyone including the lt1 guys for sayin the ls1 wasn't that much faster. I see them running mid 13's all the time and the lt1 was what 13.9. Some guys trying to tell me stock fbody ls1's are running 12's bone stock down to paper airfilter. I love my LT1. And yes there may be issues to contend with but man it's fun. The low end torque is awesome and right now you can ask several of the local ls1 guys who has one of the nicest sounding cars and the will say me. Much throatier, deeper, aggresive sounding than even my buddies 414rwhp ls1 with lt's, ture duals and no cats. I am going to switch to a msd opti and my opti problems will be over but my opti problems deal with high revs over the factory specs which it was not designed for. Every car has some flaw. Lt1's is the opti. Just keep the vacume solid and water off the motor and not trying to go over the stock rev limit and your good...I was in the market for either an ls1/lt1 and I bought mine needing some maintenance but with all the mods I planned on doing to it and got a good deal on it atleast thats how I felt. Gotta buy whats right for you. And hell no i wouldn't buy a salvaged car over this...

**stunna-shades** · 02-18-2007, 09:48 PM

so what rpm is max for an opti....

**dafaic** · 02-19-2007, 02:08 AM

well some say it's good till 6500 on some of the boards one even said 7k. People I talked to in person, my own experiences right now, and some other people on boards indicate above 6000rpm. I am having a huge miss over 6200 rpms and with my mods and Ion's tune I should beable to hit the 6800 rev limit he gave me. I am changing over to the msd in a few weeks along with a msd coil. Be ordering it and 4.10 gears. I mean the car stock rev is like 5700 i think and it's designed to do that. My car has been stock pcm since new even though all the mods were done to it since 30k miles. But for me to try and use the stock opti at that high rpm well isn't a good thing due to age and use.

**Badbird** · 02-19-2007, 12:58 PM

yeah i burnt out my stock opti by over reving and massive rain fall here in the summer might have been another cause im not sure. i replaced it with one that is supposed to be water safe. i dont think i will be spraying off my enging though. the next time it goes out i will be going another route. i agree with dafiac about the sound of our LT cars. i have shorties ORY no cat and Borla that is wide open right now and my car just sounds mad all time i love it. a salvage title ls1 car over a "pimped out" LT1 car... COME ON!

**stunna-shades** · 02-19-2007, 01:44 PM

by pimped out i mean rims tires stickers exhaust tips.hoods body kits tach spoilers, and ice cream machines in the trunk......sorry id rather have a stripped out f-body with primer running 11's....... so salvage title is nothing to me.....NO GARAGE QUEEN HERE

**stunna-shades** · 02-19-2007, 01:44 PM

Come On!!!!!!

**Badbird** · 02-19-2007, 02:49 PM

you sound really cool. maybe you should buy a geo metro and put a LS1 in it with a 250 shot of NOS.

**Badbird** · 02-19-2007, 02:50 PM

maybe you could primer that too

**stunna-shades** · 02-19-2007, 03:33 PM

i respect the value of the vehicle idea..dont get me wrong...but a geo belongs in a crusher...and in no way would i have torn apart my previous 35th annaversary....but if your jus in it to win it, it dosent matter if it may have beek all f'ed up previously is all im saying.

**5.0THIS** · 02-20-2007, 01:19 AM

Both of you be quiet.

**hutch1999** · 02-20-2007, 07:44 AM

drive both with the same packages, base model to base model there is a noticable difference in power between the Ls1 and the Lt1

**dafaic** · 02-20-2007, 01:06 PM

and no one disagrees hutch but for the money difference a nice lt1 versus a nice ls1 i could buy the lt1 and make it much fatser than a stock ls1 and it still be nice...My car is you average looking 10 year old car but it runs 12's and needed some maintenance. To get a decent ls1 thats running 12's would have cost considerable more than what I paid. And my car is not a beauty queen but i love it. A guy in a 00 z28 pulled up next to me and i started messing with him. He shook his head and laughed. Well he stopped laughing when we raced. I still lost but he was shooting 150 wet plus some bolt ons and he couldn't believe I hung in there and responded with I would have had my ass handed to me if I didn't spray.

**hutch1999** · 02-20-2007, 02:41 PM

It all depends on what you call "nice"

**F&Ybodlover** · 02-25-2007, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by Doom

Will an LT1 make a good start into the F-Body world for me ? I've only been looking at the ls1 camaros/tas an they are quite expensive. Recently I found a 95 z28 with pretty low mileage that fits right into my budget, it's only $7,000. It's a 6 speed SLP optioned car ? Seems to have a hurst shifter ? Is this normal for this car/year ? I know these options were available on the ls1 model cars but had no idea about the lt1's.

Don't know what you mean by SLP optioned car?

SLP options weren't available till 96 on 4th gens.

7k can get you an early LS1 with right under 100k mi or for a little more money and a little less mileage.... you just have to look.
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/search...=&keywordsfyc=

50+ more rwhp, better aftermarket, no Opti, minor refinements is worth the higher mileage tradeoff for the same price IMO....however if you find a nice 50k mile 94 6spd LT1 with a crappy Yellow paint job like I did almost 5 years ago for 4k...I won't argue that the LT1 is the better bang for the buck!

**hutch1999** · 02-25-2007, 03:33 PM

The only thing LT1s are older so they have more common wear problems which costs valuable money that you couldve invested in aftermarket parts. The bang for the buck is there but usally when you find a cheap one there is a lot is body work needed or some major motor work or a bunch of little shit to fix. But hey if I had the extra money id buy a cheap busted ass Lt1 camaro for about 2500-3000 bucks, strip everything extra out of it, throw some gears in it, put DRs on the back, and put a 100 shot of nitrous on it. Then you have close to a 12 sec. car for around 4000 bucks. If I had the extra money like that, I would have kept my 93' formula and made it a drag car.