LT1 for 81 Avanti

[Arie S]

Hi!

I am a new member of this group and I live in the Central Valley of CA (hot!) I recently bought my second Avanti (81)from Tom Wright in St. Augustine Florida. Great car, and great people. Paint/chrome is good, and interior/glass is good, but our CA, DMV won't even begin to smog the 96 crate motor(14000 miles) So one project left instead of so many. I did purchase a smogged 95 Caprice cop car, and the switch is on. Bought the Painless wire harness and I look forward to seeing this baby run. I have some ideas to share pictures and findings later, but I was hoping that someone might have done this before. I spoke to Bill Parisi, of Forrest Hills this morning and he seems to have an LT1 (for sale), and I also believe that Blake had an 82 with factory installed LT1. Are there others? The search is on for AC/alternator brackets from a 94-96 Corvette to get the AC away from the frame. Still I have not found the smog legal exhaust manifolds for the cast iron heads with 1.25 inch square ports. They should center dump, but so far no cigar. Since the cop car came with oil cooler, p.s. cooler, and tranny cooler, and since our Avantis do have regular cooling issues, I wonder if anyone has thought of putting some of these inside the fender wells with a vent next to the radiator on either side. Bill said he had installed a Saturn air dam, and there should be a way to collect more cool air to spread the load around. I do have a 4 row aluminum radiator with 1 fan inside, and 2 small ones for the airconditioner. Since the LT1 cooling is reversed does anyone see any issues that I could avoid? Your comments will be greatly appreciated.

P.S. My first car was a white 63 bought from Newman and Altman which they referred to as the Steven's car. I drove it for over 100000 miles and sold it in Sparta. MI, for just a bit more than I paid. Great memorie live on!

Hope to hear

Arie Scholten

[Gunslinger]

As far as finding Corvette LT1 brackets, contact Dynamic Corvettes <www.dynamiccorvettes.com>. Their phone is 1-800-752-3188. I have two Corvettes and have found them excellent to deal with for parts. You might talk to them about the exhaust manifolds as well.

Another possible source for exhaust manifolds is Sanderson Headers. They make cast iron as well as tubular steel units and do custom work as well. Their headers are the best I have seen. They have the thickest flanges to keep bolts from backing out and causing leaks.

If it's Steve Blake you're talking about having a factory LT1, it would have had to have been a 1970-72 LT-1 fitted since Blake was gone from the Avanti scene when the newer LT1 came out in the '92 Corvette.

[Arie S]

Thanks for your info! I will look into that on monday.

Arie

[SBCA96]

The 95 LT1 should have spanish arch style ports, not square. You should be

able to use the Caprice/Impala manifolds. The Camaro ones are the same,

other than a different seal at the head pipe. You will need to use the smog

equipment, which includes using the Caprice dual CATs. Painless makes a

great kit, you did the right thing there. You also need 40 PSI fuel pressure.

I think that the later Monte Avantis used EFI, so one of those tanks should

work, someone can chime in on that. I would use the dual fans, & also the

radiator from the Caprice if you can. With the LT1, you should also be able

to remove the extra spacers between the body and frame and get the Stude

rake back. That will require removing the fender fillers. An inexpensive way

to relocate the A/C is available through Bowers.

http://www.bowersrodshop.com/home.htm

I have 4 LT1s in my driveway ... and am currently swaping an LT1 into a 78

Camaro ... so I have done some research.

Tom

[Arie S]

The 95 LT1 should have spanish arch style ports, not square. You should be

able to use the Caprice/Impala manifolds. The Camaro ones are the same,

other than a different seal at the head pipe. You will need to use the smog

equipment, which includes using the Caprice dual CATs. Painless makes a

great kit, you did the right thing there. You also need 40 PSI fuel pressure.

I think that the later Monte Avantis used EFI, so one of those tanks should

work, someone can chime in on that. I would use the dual fans, & also the

radiator from the Caprice if you can. With the LT1, you should also be able

to remove the extra spacers between the body and frame and get the Stude

rake back. That will require removing the fender fillers. An inexpensive way

to relocate the A/C is available through Bowers.

http://www.bowersrodshop.com/home.htm

I have 4 LT1s in my driveway ... and am currently swaping an LT1 into a 78

Camaro ... so I have done some research.

Tom

[Arie S]

Tom,

Thanks for that! Did you find the Bowers brackets easier to use, or a better fit than the 93-96 ac/alternator brackets? They also locate these to the driver side. Also not sure about the "body spacers" as to where they are located. I do like the rake and will remove the blocks between the rear springs and the axle. But I am afraid of lowering the front since both my cars have a habit of taking out the fenders if you don't hit the driveway carefully. I appreciate your input!

Arie

[SBCA96]

Did you find the Bowers brackets easier to use, or a better fit than the 93-96 ac/alternator brackets?

I havent bought it myself. I only bought the A/C pump delete pulley from

a discount GM parts dealer back east. I wasnt going to use the A/C in

the 78 Camaro, at least not right away. The delete pulley allows you to

get past the initial fitment issues and get the engine in! Here is where I

found out about it :

http://www.geocities.com/hardimon01/Conversion.html

I have read that the Corvette bracket is no longer available from GM, and

when you find it, its rather expensive. There is another setup available,

but its over 1000 for the kit - ouch!

Also not sure about the "body spacers" as to where they are located. I do like the rake and will remove the blocks between the rear springs and the axle. But I am afraid of lowering the front since both my cars have a habit of taking out the fenders if you don't hit the driveway carefully.

When they made the Avanti II, they raised the body up on the frame with

extra body spacers and evened everything out. The reason they stated is

because the GM engine was taller. The LT1 is very low profile, so I would

bet that you could remove the extra spacers & mimic the Stude numbers.

In order to have the same clearance in the fender openings, you will have

to CUT the filler panels out of the fenders. I did this on my dads 69 Avanti.

I used templated made from a 63-64 Avanti and drew a line on the fender.

I used a cut off wheel and followed the line. If you look inside your front

fenders, you will see an added piece bonded on.

Here is my 63 next to an early 70 Avanti II, notice the distance between

the top of the fender and opening is more on the Avanti II :

See the difference in front end height? Its about 2 inches raised from 63.

Tom