I plan on buying an LS1 car when my 95 is paid off in about 2 months. I am finding some terrific deals on LS1's but probably 90% of them are 98's. I have absolutely no problem with this, but I'm just wondering if there's any difference between the 98's and 99' and newer? Any bad points at all, things I should look for or go after, etc? Just curious if it's similar to the 93' and 94' and up situation. Thanks for all the help.

Jason

 

98's had the biggest injecter size of all years of the ls1. That and the 01 and 02's have the ls6 intake manifold which is better, but can be picked up for like 450 dollars. I also think that the exhaust manifolds were different in 01 and 02. Other than that I think that you will be extremly pleased with any year ls1 that you get.

 

There alot of small differences over the years...

The 98s have the large injectors as mentioned.
They also have stainless steel tube type exhaust manifolds. GM claims the cast iron manifolds on later models flow better, but I kinda doubt it. The word behind the scenes is that there is no power difference, they went to iron manifolds because they are far cheaper.
The later intakes are better... LS6 design.
The 98 has a larger cam. They went to the truck cam later in an effort to 'tame' the engine down. The LS6 intake gave that large a boost supposedly. Using the truck cam also saved GM money in production costs... producing 1 cam vs 2 different cams for the same engine family. (excluding the Vette)
Later cars have problems with piston slap. (excessive clearances)
The very last cars are rumored to have LS6 blocks. (strong)
As a sidenote: The LS1 has always been underated on paper. Some are more underated than others though. Whenever GM wanted to boost the power level on paper, they just added some of the 'reserve' power back into the published ratings. This made SS and WS6 cars more powerful in print, but they are the same in truth. This also allowed GM to increase the power rating from year to year without actually doing anything. The 01-02 cars are the only ones that actually show gains over other years. It's all in the intake IMO. The last year or 2 also reverted back to large injectors.
The way I look at it is: Any year will do. Use it as a starting point and add to it the best parts from the other years and toss the parts that suck no matter the year... (example, exhaust manifolds... aftermarket headers are a must IMO)

I'll shut up now, got carried away...
Sorry for the long post!
My .02
Dave

 

Don't worry about the long post. I don't mind one bit. That's the kind of information I was looking for. I wanted to make sure that there wasn't any year to avoid because of a certain problem here or there. So basically any year LS1 including 98' would make me pleased? Make sure I understand that right. Any other opinions would be appreciated also.

Thanks again,
Jason

 

98 also have a bigger fuel pump than the rest of the years.

 

Oh, and steel gas tanks on 98s...
Plastic later.

Some like the plastic for lighter weight, others like the steel for mod-a-bility and durability.

Six of one and half dozen the other...

Dave

 

You'll get a good car no matter what year you buy.

Just make sure you're very informed about these cars before you test drive one. The salesman will feed you any line of BS to sell that car. If you have a question, ask this board, we know more than the dealer does.

Do a KBB search so you know how much a certain car is worth before you go and see it.

I know this may sound repetitive, but I did A LOT of research before I bought my car and I'm glad I did, it was definitely worth it.

 

ive heard of problems with 98s and bad oil pumps and they changed the computer for 99 for some reason.

 

The computers in 98's are different than 99+ like the above post had stated.

 

The 98 also have perimiter bolt valve covers while 99+ have center bolt. Not that this matters, but it may be something you want to know about if you ever to a head swap.

 

This is a stupid question, but does the steel tank have anything to do with the gas gauge fluctuations on turns/stops/hard accelerations. My buddy has a 2000 SS and I have a 97SS. His gas gauge doesn't move much but mine moves as much as the car does. I was wondering if the 98's gas tank and gauge is the same as previous years and if the plastic tank fixed the gauge fluctuations.

 

98's share the same tank as the older forth gens. It wasn't changed until the '99 model. '99's also came with a low fuel light.

I believe the 98s fuel guage will fluctuate as well. I had this problem on my '97. It's a real pain when you're low on gas or if you want an accurate reading on how must gas you actually have. I just relied on my trip odometer to tell me when I needed to fill up.

I'm glad my 2000 doesn't have that problem.

 

I had to learn the hard way that when 98 model Z28s say the tank is Empty, it's not fu*king lying. My 2000 would bury itself below 'E' before I was even close to running out.

 

No problem with fluctuations on my 98...

I have the steel tank and would like to go to the plastic for weight savings and corrosion resistance.
Drag and RR guys like to convert to the steel because you can weld in sumps, bungs, and baffles etc...

 

The 98's are the only year LS1 F-body that has an accurate water temperature gauge.

The 98's with the steel tank are also smaller in size. I believe 15.5gal vs. 16.8gal

The 98's have a different PCV valve placement

The 98 WS6's had a Single-On-The-Left exhaust, this was the only year for it

This may be splitting hairs but that isn't 100% true. Here are the injector sizes.
98 ~28.6 lb
99 ~26.4 lb
00 ~26.4 lb
01 ~28.8 lb
02 ~28.8 lb