The kit will come with an oring and everything you'll need with instructions. Also you don't need a drill press just a solid clean surface and a punch tool
My lt1 c4 runs hot, supposedly they all do. I reckon one of these and a bigger radiator will make her last a long time. The opti-spark provides a much more accurate signal to the computer for spark. That’s why you’ll notice a healthy lt1 starts with the first twitch of the key every time. It’s limited heavily by the software of the time.
Yes they all run hot!! I have a 160 degree thermostat with manual fan switch and it runs hot no more!!! When cruising with fresh air my LT1 runs at 163 degrees!! In heavy traffic on a hot day it runs about 190 degrees.
How hot? My 93 z28 lt1 has tried to run hot on me 2x. 1st fix was the primary coolant fan was out. Second time my k&n had been neglected. I live down a dirt road so it was pretty bad. I replaced the filter and it ran cool again. I run a 160 thermostat and on the hottest west texas days she only got up to 200.
@coreysharp9794 they all run hot with the factory thermostat and factory fan settings. 190 thermostats and fans don't kick in until 228 degrees. So they get pretty damn hot. In the vette you have a digital gage and know exactly how hot but I have a 160 thermostat with manual fan switch mine runs at 163 degrees in open air and about 190 in traffic on a hot day but without the switch and thermostat between 210-235ish+.
@@coreysharp9794 230s regularly in traffic until I installed a hypertech thermomaster chip to kick the fans on earlier. Now it runs hotter with the A/C on than off.
It's just a gen 1 small block with a different top end (reverse flow cooling) and front accessories. Anyone who can't work on an LT1 can't work on a SBC period. Uses the same rotating assembly as the 1 piece seal gen 1s (you can convert to 2 piece too) same head bolts oil pump timing chain etc etc. Even uses some of the same valvetrain components as the gen 1 and LS engines including the lifters. The original part number for the LT lifter literally takes you to the LS. Hell even the throttle body is from the TPI 350s & 502 big blocks 🤣. Once you go 411 & electric water pump it's literally no different than what you'd expect out of a modernized gen 1. Has the OG firing order too which gives it that old school sound that's different from the LS. LS engines don't have the same firing order as gen 1 & "2", they changed it to sound more "modern" which I'm not a fan of because why build an engine to sound like your competitor brands? Once you learn more about this engine you'll realize how simple it is. I'll link a book for you to read too
Thank you brother for the information you really took the time to help those who still are rocking with the Lt1 I have a 1994 impala ss and she don't play got much power but i will be changing to electric water pump also. I Love my Lt1
I just put 1 in my 94 caprice from a 96. I’m also new 2 it so I’m looking 4ways 2 peak performance. Right now she running sluggish but she still will burn a tire
Ooh didn't know much about the 411 swap but that looks real interesting. So the whole argument of these things can't be tuned could just be resolved by going down that route...
I was chasing a misfire once in my 94 Z28 and pulled one of the plug wires out of the opti and antifreeze came out!! It was missing bad half way home from work. Also the bearings of the distributor can fail and the heat will melt the rotor button where it’s held by the screws and it will change timing and if it runs it won’t run well also you check file psi and it’s all good. Keep that in mind ✌🏼
I have a 96 Buick Roadmaster sedan with over 170k miles on the original Optispark. I know it needs rebuilt. I'm just trying to get everything I need to do the timing and seals at the same time.
People forget there’s no magic bullet, if it’s mechanical or electrical the little guy inside will eventually die. I personally like the idea of electrical water pump, changes some critical issues on an LT1.
I was getting thur about 2 opti sparks a year because of oil and water leaks. Put the electric water pump on and haven’t had a problem in over 8 years!
I have a 97 T/A WS6 with 85k on the clock and still original waterpump and optispark. The waterpump does not leak and the optispark is still running good. My only real issue is now is I believe a failing fuel pump as I have somewhat hard starts when the car sits for awhile. Seems like its not holding pressure. Otherwise the car runs great.
97 owner If that were the case 1st rainy day new opti lol Vented opti the vac is dead headed and flexes cap till it loosens up. Then vac starts working youl see rotor marks on cap. They Didnt up grade cap . i took wire cutters and cut 2 notches on bottom of facing seal rings so vac has metered vac pulling through Dist and other feeding fresh air from cold air intake hook up a hose 2 vac lines and blow both are dead headed. mine works great as upgrade was intended it was easier than drilling holes to match up right at 6 oclock bad gas or any water sucks right into intake goes right out exaust even in flood . Your Welcome
Anyone know why my 96 Trans Am tops out at 98mph? 5th to 6th shift just bogs. Full bolt on LT1 with Lt4 heads, hot cam, ported intake, bbk throttle body and headers, MSD ignition with NGK plugs, and SLP Loudmouth exhaust. It has an off the shelf OBD 2 port tuner.
@@jetlife77 check out Rubber City Motoring channel he has a video on it. If I remember right there's a playlist on there with all his Impala/Caprice how to videos
Yes that's a common swap there's info lt1swap.com and there's an LT swap group on Facebook for the gen 2 with a lot of posts about that. You might be surprised what cars you see lol
@@nikothevirgo mine does , the damn fans won't come on and i have tried everything. I bought that car not knowing how bad GM had screwed it up with a opti spark. And water pump over it WOW!!!
@@darrellgray191 try to hop in the Impala SS forum online there's a couple threads about that issue. There's tons of little tips and tricks with these old finicky engines that aren't really known. And a lot of these LTcars have been beat on and serviced wrong over the years (not trynna say that's you) so the majority of the ones on the market now have some lingering issues waiting to happen.
411 Swap group
facebook.com/groups/2523889017839077/?ref=share
Better way to wire the positive:
czcams.com/video/vt-MHmQlIy4/video.html
www.summitracing.com/parts/mez-wp118hd
czcams.com/video/xUnnKblUj2Q/video.html
The kit will come with an oring and everything you'll need with instructions. Also you don't need a drill press just a solid clean surface and a punch tool
The LT1 is one of my favorite engines ever produced. Love em!
Just got a 94 z28 t-top with 87k. I love it.
@@DocZoidberg549 I owned two ‘94 LT1 models. There’s a few LT1s on my other #MuscleCarTimeMachine channel.
Yeah and LT1 pump is cam driven I think that’s part of why they fail often. I’ve had and worked on several. Electric street water pump is a good idea.
My lt1 c4 runs hot, supposedly they all do. I reckon one of these and a bigger radiator will make her last a long time. The opti-spark provides a much more accurate signal to the computer for spark. That’s why you’ll notice a healthy lt1 starts with the first twitch of the key every time. It’s limited heavily by the software of the time.
Yes they all run hot!! I have a 160 degree thermostat with manual fan switch and it runs hot no more!!! When cruising with fresh air my LT1 runs at 163 degrees!! In heavy traffic on a hot day it runs about 190 degrees.
How hot? My 93 z28 lt1 has tried to run hot on me 2x. 1st fix was the primary coolant fan was out. Second time my k&n had been neglected. I live down a dirt road so it was pretty bad. I replaced the filter and it ran cool again. I run a 160 thermostat and on the hottest west texas days she only got up to 200.
@coreysharp9794 they all run hot with the factory thermostat and factory fan settings. 190 thermostats and fans don't kick in until 228 degrees. So they get pretty damn hot. In the vette you have a digital gage and know exactly how hot but I have a 160 thermostat with manual fan switch mine runs at 163 degrees in open air and about 190 in traffic on a hot day but without the switch and thermostat between 210-235ish+.
@@coreysharp9794 230s regularly in traffic until I installed a hypertech thermomaster chip to kick the fans on earlier. Now it runs hotter with the A/C on than off.
Mine is like a freaking heat reactor
Thank you bro!! It's hard to find people to work on LT1s tho
It's just a gen 1 small block with a different top end (reverse flow cooling) and front accessories. Anyone who can't work on an LT1 can't work on a SBC period. Uses the same rotating assembly as the 1 piece seal gen 1s (you can convert to 2 piece too) same head bolts oil pump timing chain etc etc. Even uses some of the same valvetrain components as the gen 1 and LS engines including the lifters. The original part number for the LT lifter literally takes you to the LS. Hell even the throttle body is from the TPI 350s & 502 big blocks 🤣. Once you go 411 & electric water pump it's literally no different than what you'd expect out of a modernized gen 1. Has the OG firing order too which gives it that old school sound that's different from the LS. LS engines don't have the same firing order as gen 1 & "2", they changed it to sound more "modern" which I'm not a fan of because why build an engine to sound like your competitor brands? Once you learn more about this engine you'll realize how simple it is. I'll link a book for you to read too
@@nikothevirgo yessir you can do that bro I'm used to big blocks so I'm fairly new to the LT1s it's pretty fast stock
@@solodolonomad www.summitracing.com/parts/hpb-hp1393
@@nikothevirgo you have fb ?? I wanna show you my LT1 swap build
@@solodolonomad Niko Laflare
Thank you brother for the information you really took the time to help those who still are rocking with the Lt1 I have a 1994 impala ss and she don't play got much power but i will be changing to electric water pump also. I Love my Lt1
Highly underrated engine a lot of power just in a retune
Thank you for great advice
Good tips! I'm doing all the same stuff myself, but with a 385 stroker.
I coated the top of my 93 with silicone when I REO water pump I never had any issues I had a 93,95,96 all 6spd cars
Great video, I’m about to 4x swap my pcm real soon
Great video dude
I just put 1 in my 94 caprice from a 96. I’m also new 2 it so I’m looking 4ways 2 peak performance. Right now she running sluggish but she still will burn a tire
Great info thank you 💪
Thank you Sir!🎊
Ooh didn't know much about the 411 swap but that looks real interesting. So the whole argument of these things can't be tuned could just be resolved by going down that route...
I think relocating the ignition coil helped me quite a bit!
I was chasing a misfire once in my 94 Z28 and pulled one of the plug wires out of the opti and antifreeze came out!! It was missing bad half way home from work. Also the bearings of the distributor can fail and the heat will melt the rotor button where it’s held by the screws and it will change timing and if it runs it won’t run well also you check file psi and it’s all good. Keep that in mind ✌🏼
You overheated car Burnt headgasket cause you kept driving hoses get soft buy new ones check radiator
Ok am going too try that bro
I have a 96 Buick Roadmaster sedan with over 170k miles on the original Optispark. I know it needs rebuilt. I'm just trying to get everything I need to do the timing and seals at the same time.
People forget there’s no magic bullet, if it’s mechanical or electrical the little guy inside will eventually die. I personally like the idea of electrical water pump, changes some critical issues on an LT1.
I was getting thur about 2 opti sparks a year because of oil and water leaks. Put the electric water pump on and haven’t had a problem in over 8 years!
I have a 97 T/A WS6 with 85k on the clock and still original waterpump and optispark. The waterpump does not leak and the optispark is still running good. My only real issue is now is I believe a failing fuel pump as I have somewhat hard starts when the car sits for awhile. Seems like its not holding pressure. Otherwise the car runs great.
97 owner If that were the case 1st rainy day new opti lol
Vented opti the vac is dead headed and flexes cap till it loosens up.
Then vac starts working youl see rotor marks on cap.
They Didnt up grade cap .
i took wire cutters and cut 2 notches on bottom of facing seal rings so vac has metered vac pulling through Dist and other feeding fresh air from cold air intake
hook up a hose 2 vac lines and blow both are dead headed. mine works great as upgrade was intended
it was easier than drilling holes to match up right at 6 oclock bad gas or any water sucks right into intake goes right out exaust even in flood .
Your Welcome
Tom knows his shit for sure! If he says it, it's basically from the mouths of the GM engineers themselves as far as I'm concerned.
Anyone know why my 96 Trans Am tops out at 98mph? 5th to 6th shift just bogs. Full bolt on LT1 with Lt4 heads, hot cam, ported intake, bbk throttle body and headers, MSD ignition with NGK plugs, and SLP Loudmouth exhaust. It has an off the shelf OBD 2 port tuner.
🔥🔥👌🏾
So with the PCM swap it would be possible to tune out the EGR and air pump on the 96 models?
Yes
I'd just remove the egr system and put headers on it
Is there another wp wire harness options outside the smog pump since I'm still using it due to California smog registrations 😒
www.amazon.com/Painless-Wiring-50106-Water-Relay/dp/B00063097U this should be good for you
There's another harness too
@@nikothevirgo I can't find any video instructions on this harness. Want to see how this one is hooked up to do more research and have notes
@@jetlife77 check out Rubber City Motoring channel he has a video on it. If I remember right there's a playlist on there with all his Impala/Caprice how to videos
@@nikothevirgo I'm just going to go with the painless performance wire kit. Gary from innovative wiring isn't making product anymore as of now
Can you put lt1 in old school malibu 79 and have it still fuel Injection
Yes that's a common swap there's info lt1swap.com and there's an LT swap group on Facebook for the gen 2 with a lot of posts about that. You might be surprised what cars you see lol
So since mine is a 95 ss l, it says I will have to do a obd1 to ob2 swap. Have you heard of any one with a pre 96 lt1 do a obd2 swap?
Only when it comes to an LS based PCM
@@nikothevirgo is there a kit for it?
@nikothevirgo bro what’s the on and off switch referring to? Is it a switch for the pump itself ? Thanks in advance
U were talking about it when u we’re going over the electric water pump
czcams.com/video/vt-MHmQlIy4/video.htmlsi=FgpFle2QJ9DOVryg
I'll have to watch the video again when I get home but here's a link to a better wiring vid
what brand is the pump?
Meizere HD
Will it work with an LT4 with the alti spark
Yes any gen 2 sbc
Bro u got a part number for the water pump?
W118HD I think
@@nikothevirgo cool bro thanx
WP118HD is it
Will it work with an LT4
Yes
Gen 2
How can you do that if the damn thing overheats
@@darrellgray191 .... Like any engine when it overheats. I've never had any overheating issues.
@@nikothevirgo mine does , the damn fans won't come on and i have tried everything. I bought that car not knowing how bad GM had screwed it up with a opti spark. And water pump over it WOW!!!
@@darrellgray191 try to hop in the Impala SS forum online there's a couple threads about that issue. There's tons of little tips and tricks with these old finicky engines that aren't really known. And a lot of these LTcars have been beat on and serviced wrong over the years (not trynna say that's you) so the majority of the ones on the market now have some lingering issues waiting to happen.
@@nikothevirgo ok thank you
@@nikothevirgo I have a factory stock LT1 in a 1994 25th anniversary trans am all stock
Still get rid of the optispark.
It's been on my car nearly 30 years. Not in any rush to ditch it... Especially since I have a tuner unlike majority of LT1/LT4 guys.
Whos your tuner ?
@@supergreedy287 Jeff Creech (NC)
Tom Bauman is an asshole, but a smart one lol
Very much lol
People forget about these lt1s..
The best way to make your LT1 better is to swap in an LS ...
Lol
LS economy motor, no thanks.
@@coreysharp9794 Who's talking about economy?
@BadAss454LSX I'm kiddin buddy, no need to defend your bad ass 454 lsx
@@coreysharp9794 Not defending anything ... my tail lights will tell you the story ....