scyzoryk

Right now I have 95 LT1 Trans am (with 89k miles). I am thinking about purchasing 1998 Trans am (6 speed), the only thing is that ls1 has 115k miles. It doesn’t burn any oil, or any other problems. How bad is buying high mileage ls1?? Any things I should look for??? How good are the ls1 engines?? I know that lt1 are stronger, a can go for more miles without rebuild. How about ls1??
Thanks
ps. I can have it for $6k

nikkev

First of all, LT1s are not necessarily stronger than LS1s.The LT1 comes with a 2 bolt main and the LS1 comes with a 6 bolt main. While the LS1 is inherently weak due to it being totally aluminum, the 6 bolts mains make it just as strong if not stronger than the LT1 on the bottom end. Also, stock LS1 heads flow better than ported/polished LT1 heads and that's where a lot of the HP gain comes from. In short, there are no serious problems common to the LS1 regardless of miles, while the LT1 has a very weak link with the opti spark. I would not hesitate to buy a LS1 with 115k miles on it. However, if your TA is paid for then a head/cam may work better for you. Either way, they are killer cars and good luck.

95GRNZ

As long as it has been taken care of and not been beat on all the time, I wouldn't really have to think too long if I could get it for 6K.

LS1's are at least as strong as the LT1's. As long as you keep up with the maintenance, either one will go well beyond 200K.

Just give the car a thorough inspection and go from there. Good luck!

TS

crash4cyl

Look at the articles in Car craft and hot rod.....A school picked one up with over 100K and now it runs 11.5's with no issues, aside from the fact that the knock sensors went bad...wow, really hard fix. I wouldn't waste too much time thinking if I had the $6K to spend. If you could why not keep the LT to race and the LS for the daily...That's what I would do, or maybe do it the other way around.

Chris

383 LT4

Sounds like a fair deal. I think I would go for it. Of coarse you can always try and talk them down a bit to

scyzoryk

Thanks for all replays. I have dilemma: keep my Lt1 or purchase this 115k ls1. What I don’t like about my LT1 is its roughness, all the rattles, and it is too loud. Besides that it drives perfect!! Ls1 in other hand looks better (ws6 hood , and respond better to mods...
What are main issues with high mileage ls1???
Thanks

nikkev

If it's taken care of....NONE!

lt1camaroman93

My ls1 has 91k on it and it doesn't seem to have any problems, it burns a little oil but i haven't seen a chevy motor that hasn't done that. I will not part ways with my lt1 though. If you can, buy the ls1 and keep the lt1 and make it a race car. The only thing that bothers me about my ls1 is the piston slap when i first start the car on a cold morrning, it goes away once its warmed up though.

Meccadeth

I believe theres a problem common with the LS1 PCVs...but I don't have any problems with mine yet and I have 230K miles on it.

Antz97ZNJ

The LS1 aluminum block doesnt have any problems supporting BIG hp....If I was you I would just put a heads and cam on the LT1if its paid off, thats because I would never buy any performance car w/ that many miles unless I had a rebuild plans in the near future....a lloyld elliot H/C LT1 set up is very reasonable and will give you around 400 rwhp

Antz97ZNJ

230k

camaro-chris-ss

Where is this trans am for sale ? Im an hour away from you so it cant be too far.

mebanditws6

The LS1 bottom ends are in fact stronger than the LT1's. As many 400rwhp h/c stock bottom end LT1's there are, there are about as many 500rwhp h/c LS1's out there on stock bottom ends. I'd say the blocks are similar in strength though. LS1's are getting cheaper to mod by the day it seems, so I'd probably spend the money building the LS1 if you buy it and keep the LT1 as a daily driver. But you really can't go wrong with either motor honestly.

Jason

big dave

I purchased my 99 SS a year ago with 115k on the clock. The car was in excellent condition with only a few minor flaws. Mechanically it is sound and the car was extermely well maintained...especially considering that it's black. I took it to the track and though it ran 14.4s initially, eventually ran 13.2s with nothing more than driving improvements.

FLeXNuTZ

I thought that ported and polished LT1 heads would flow a lot better than stock LS1 heads. Now, the same done to both heads, the LS1 will obviously out-flow the LT1 but I just don't believe that the stock LS1 head will out-flow a well worked LT1 head. We can't forget the LT4 AFR heads and their capabilities either. I've looked into these heads from AI and they seem to be really nice, even compared to ported and polished LS1 heads. Just something to think about.