94 lt1 vs 96 lt1 Options

[fasteddiewick]

Is there any advantage of one motor and computer vs the other. The 94 is of course an OB-1 and the 96 a OB-2. The reason I ask is, I have a good running 94 camaro LT1 (70,000) with basic CMC upgrades. It only needs about 700.00 worht of rollcage material to make it track legal. I am a welder so the install is free. The other car is 96 Firebird t-2 car with with a blown motor. It has a nice full cage ,but stock suspension.
If you had to keep one motor/computer to maintain, is one better than the other?
I am mainly afraid of the electrical/sensor side of things. But if there is any weak points of the motors, that would be helpful info also.
Does any one know of a good/fair electrical place near Orange County, California that can simplify the wireing on one of these car? (Removing the VAT and need lessless stuff) to a more race like setup.
I know I have asked a lot of questions, any help would be appricated.
Thanks,
Ed

[Unbalanced Engin...]

I'd keep the '94. OBDI will be easier to maintain and phsically the cars are similar. The only advantage the '96 has is the vented Opticrap. You can update that on an older LT1 quite easily.

As for the electrical, just pick up a painless harness and plug it in. I'm sure that'll be a cheaper/easeier/cleaner route to go than paying some shop to do the same thing for you.

Jason S.

[AllZWay]

As mentioned above the only negative to the 94 is the non-vented opti-spark.

The 96 being ODB-2 has 4 O2 sensors instead of the basic 2 that the 93-95's had, otherwise not much difference.

[CamaroFS34]

No, the other disadvantage (depending on what you plan to do with the car) is that the '94 goes down into a single converter and the '96 has two (the reason for the different number of oxygen sensors). That's also the reason for the different HP rating from the factory. But, since you're planning on making it a track only car, that's probably irrelevent information.

This post has been edited by CamaroFS34: Oct 2 2006, 09:51 PM

[Dave Jones]

FWIW, it's a VERY simple matter to drop an OBDI PCM in an OBDII-wired car, which will then work with either an OBDI or OBDII-configured engine. All it takes is an OBDI knock sensor, or a 10-cent resistor.

Just thought I'd mention that, in case you decide you'd rather use the '96 car, and it's already wired for OBDII...just drop the good '94 motor and PCM in, swap the knock sensor, and go.

Dave

[slowTA]

Wouldn't it also be possible to swap the '94 long block to the '96 car, keep all the '96 sensors and electronics and call it a day? How bad is the shot motor in the '96? I also think it would be quicker to swap the motor and suspension onto the car with the cage, instead of building a cage in the 'better' car.

[Dave Jones]

Wouldn't it also be possible to swap the '94 long block to the '96 car, keep all the '96 sensors and electronics and call it a day?

Yup, he could do that too. As far as the long block goes, just change over the crank hub, crank sensor wheel, and front cover, along with the knock sensor.

The other OBDII-related stuff (AIR, CCP, secondary O2's) would already be there in the '96, if not previously deleted.

Running the OBDI PCM makes it a little more friendly to deleting stuff like cats and EGR without setting the "check engine" light, or reprogramming, though.