I'm trying to plan out an engine build on paper, but I'm confused on the differences on Gen I and II blocks. I think this would bolt together, but can someone confirm it?

Gen I 350 roller block, 1pc rear main seal, 4 bolt mains
LT1 Aluminum heads
LT1 Intake, but not modified for distributor
LT1 oil pump drive (since there won't be a distributor)
TPI Accessory brackets (will the TB/intake pipe clear the belt?)

I want to use megasquirt with coil packs, so I won't need a distributor. I *think* all of these parts should work together, but I'm mostly not sure about the heads, since LT1's are reverse flow.

 

The difference in the block is the ENTIRE COOLING SYSTEM. You can't just bolt on and run LT1 stuff on an older block, that's why GM invented the GEN 2. All of the cooling passages are wrong.

It's cheap enough to get an LT1 from an Impala or Roadmaster in the junkyard, why not start there for your megasquirt/LT1 hybrid?
----------
You can modify the LT1 intake and run L98 heads or aftermarket aluminum heads to meet your needs as well.

 

I thought of using an LT1 block, but I don't want to use the optispark or cam driven water pump. Is it possible to put a Gen1 style short water pump on an LT1 block?

 

The entire gen 2 is set up for reverse cooling. You will be trying to run water through the engine opposite of what it is designed for, and will be in for trouble. You don't have to run Optispark if you use Megasquirt, anyway. You will need to make a plug for the Opti if you aren't using it. Why not use it? MSD makes a good replacement now.

I still think you'll be better off modding an LT1 intake to go with a gen 1 long block.

 

Yeah, it looks that way. I'm trying to avoid optispark for a few reasons, mostly because it's expensive. Also it's not really distributorless, it's just a distributor mounted on the end of the cam. I'd really like to use a ford EDIS module which would have 4 coils, each sharing 2 cylinders. Later on down the road, if I can figure out how to add a cam position sensor, coil-on-plug would be nice to do. Is it possible to make the LT1 intake work with vortec heads?

 

Man, you are always stretching the engineering the WRONG way! LOL!!

I wouldn't. You can get one of the TPI intakes, maybe the Holley HSR, for vortec heads I think. I know you can get a TPI base for them and then re-use the TPI top end. I'm not sure if the ports are big enough, but you could re-drill and TIG weld the intake to make it bolt to the vortec heads. By the time you put that money in, you could have just gotten some aftermarket aluminum 87-up heads used and been money ahead...

 

You can put LT1 heads on an SBC1 but they need to be modified. Weld/surface grind, drill for new cooling system hoses etc. And you have to run the coolant through the normal SBC1 way. Almost defeats the purpose, hence why it's not all that common. They are still good heads though, and you can get them somewhat cheap.
Do a search on here for info, a guy (or maybe a few) did this.

 

Well, my idea was to use OEM "bolt on" heads, to avoid paying out the nose for aftermarket heads. Unfortunately, it looks like there aren't really any decent OEM "bolt on" heads :P

 

There have been aluminum L98 heads sold on this site for 500 bucks. You can get aftermarket used stuff here and eBay at decent prices. There are a good amount of ZZx heads floating around as well. Don't give up!

In the mean time, you can use some L69/LU5/LG4/TPI heads with 1.94" intakes and some port work to get you by while you search for the aluminum jobs. You can make over 400 hp with those iron heads, so don't worry!

 

Using parts designed to be used together is almost without exception a cheaper HP/$'s approach than trying to force a round peg into a square hole.

 

Hi. I am also planning a similar LT1 intake swap, without the LT1 heads. No one mentioned whether the LT1 oil pump drive can be used on the L98 1st gen block? I would like to run EDIS so I don't have the drill the manifold for the distributor.
It will be a 383 with a Comp Cams 268 XFi roller cam setup with aluminum heads. On Camquest it estimates 425 HP and 550 TQ @2500 rpm. This is great as I am running it in a 4000 lb Astro Van.

By the way, thanks for all the great info! this forum rocks!