Little Help with Engines
 

I am a new camaro owner, and I work at a dealership. I wanted to buy a z28 right out of the door. The problem was they are rather hard to find nowadays. So I ended us getting a great deal on a RS. So now i am looking at changing out the engine to one with significant more power. So my question is I have heard good things about the crate LS1's but have not found a consistant price. I was wondering what the engine should cost, so i dont get screwed in the process. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

depends some ls1 are cast iron and some are cast aluminum i think the biggest difference u would see in a stock crate engine would be based one either of those, also if it has any forged parts or any performance parts it would be more

Going by the fact that you said you got an RS, I think a crate LS1 might fit pretty tight inside the 93-97 body style, but dont quote me on it. I would love to squeeze an LS1 in mine tho :D

Actually the engine bay itself didn't change between 97-98, just the outside and the engine, so it would fit, as long as you don't mind changing virtually all your wiring to get the LS1 to work.

If you did indeed get a LT1 style car, drop in an LT1, if its 98+ put in an LS1.

You can make plenty of power with an LT1- parts are cheaper and its typical SBC for the most part. LS1's make more with bolt-ons but in the end it all comes down to dollars. You are going to pay more for an LS1 and the go-fast parts, you might make a little more power part for part, but if you go LT1 and save a couple thousand doin the swap that leaves a nice chunk of change for a used blower..which should be MORE than plenty of power for you since you would be comin from a V6

I will post a complete "Project LT1" after I am finished my V6 swap out. Bought an LT1 motor and I am putting it my 3.4L V6 body. Prepare to spend at least 1k more then what you want, It was a rule of thumb i was aware of... and it's def. true. If you know what your doing, it's an easy job...it just comes down to the $.