The 1998s have a metal gas tank whicj weighs more. The 98's CPU is different and it shares the same exhaust manifolds with the 1999, but has 28 lb injectors. I'd go with a 2000 myself if you are going to do headers/intake anyway.

 

I though the 01-02 had the more aggressive camshaft.

 

Sorry, 01-02 got the truck cam to improve low end performance, but got the LS6 intake to make up the difference. I am about to rectify that little problem.

 

the lowest price for a cam swap that i've gotten from a very reputable shop that specializes in F-bodies (F-bodycentral.com)

0600 cam swap
0350 LS1-edit one time fee
0100 1 hour dyno tune

now, you can skip the $450 LS1 edit, but then the car may not idle right or you won't see all the gain. this is with swapping a stock '98 cam out for a stock '01 cam.

but if you're going to spend $600, then why not go for a bigger cam that will gain more? which would mean, stronger springs are probably needed, and definitely, tuning with LS1-edit.

intake swap alone, is only $75

my '98 has 2 out of the 3 known probs, which is the belt squeak (esp. after it rains) and a little weeping/leaking rear-end. so it's not bad. what i'm worried about is the oil pump in the '98s that may just flat out fail. but since it has been broken in w/48k miles, i think that i don't have one of the defective pumps.

i think that his logic about already having the more agressive cam is more logical in the bang-for-the buck dept.

i read another thread about staying away from the last year '02 models, since the plant in Canada realizes that they were all losing their jobs, which may cause an i-don't-care-anymore attitude within the whole plant....which may explain all of that piston slap.... just a thought.

 

My belt squeeks, especially on rainy or damp days. Any cure?

 

i wont go to a mechanic shop to get my stuff done. A friend of mines dad pays a mechanic to do whatever he wants. And i was talking to him (the mechanic) yesterday in my friend garage and he said he would do everything i wanted. if i wanted a cam swap he would do it for like 50 bucks.


DANZIGER -- I think i am going with 1999 or 2000 (preferably 2000)

oh and to the people who said why dont i just to a cam swap too, because when i take the intake off im halfway there already. its because when you upgrade to a bigger cam you need tuning (like you stated, which costs a lot) and new other stuff. a cam swap in the plans for the future. Just not now

Scott

 

i'm pretty sure that your friend will not be doing that cam swap for $50 once he finds out how difficult these cars are to work on.

and you are NOT half way done in a cam swap job after the intake is off. www.ls1howto.com

 

hahaha lmfao, that is the biggest load of bull. lol
im sorry but i have to really disagree with that. the plant is in quebec and i am not to fond of french people, but come on, gimme a break. if they slacked they would get fired, just like any other job, and piston slap occurs in every year of the ls1 f-body's. my 99 has it, i guess they knew a couple of years earlier.... what about ls1 corvettes, i am pretty sure they have it too and i don't think they are made at the same plant.... just a thought.

 

blacknotchlx........im pretty sure he wont do it for 50 bucks, i was imbelishing. haha. But i know he wont charge me 300 to do it. maybe 150. He is a certified mechanic and he use to own a f-body ( a 4th gen. trans am). I was just saying it wont cost me as much as someone earlier stated

Scott

 

just relax biotch, geez... i'm quoting what i read on this board and LS1.com

and the moral of the employees does make a difference.

 

wasn't meant to flame ya, you said you read it somewhere else and just repeating it, so i could see you weren't making stuff up

i agree that the moral does make a difference but im sure that if someone was really slacking and doing bad they would get fired, and the other would see it. even if i knew i had a couple months of work left and i saw someone get fired, or suspended or something like that, i would still see it as a couple months of work that is better than no months of work.

 

I lost my train of thought reading all of this nonsense, so bare with me...

98 had larger injectors... 28lbs
every other year in the F body had 26lbs

01-02 have the 6.0L truck cam and LS6 intake. The truck cam was put in for emissions purposes since they redesigned the cats for 01-02.

01-02 also have the Z06 clutch.
01 is the oil burner year, some of the motors got bad rings. GM seemed to have fixed this in 02, but not in all cars. Keep in mind that the LS1 tends to burn oil even while running properly, just that these years it consumed EXCESSIVE amounts of oil.

98 problems are spun bearings caused by failed oil pumps. You can port yours or buy a Katech to fix this problem.

99s i'm unsure of the problems, someone mentioned a TSB and computer issues...

00's seemed okay

01s oil burners

etc

Oh yeah, the LS1 T56s are pathetic. God knows why GM didn't leave the steel shift forks in like the LT1 T56s had. If you ever bend a shift fork, have it replaced with STEEL not the stock **** they have in them.

Other than that, LS1 is a badass motor, very reliable, and capable of putting out UP TO 330RWHP stock (the exception, not the norm) while getting UP TO 36 mpg on the highway in M6s.

That is all.

scott

 

'01-02's got the 28lb injectors back

This from the GM media site (link)

Reading between the lines on the use of the LQ4 cam - keep the output from going up too much with the commonized LS6 intake manifold - need to keep a respectable distance between the Vette and Z06 outputs.

 

ok everyone.........i am getting a 2000 that settles it. Now i know that the 2000's have the EGR. Would it be ok to remove that?? and would it hurt anything if i did??


Thanks


Scott

Also:
(Before anyone says anything i have my reasons for buying what i buy........i.e.-- car and year)

If i was to buy an ls6 cam how much power increase would i be looking at? or would it be better just to buy a bigger one than that. (it has .551/.555 lift i think.....................i still want a good streetable car with good, well decent gas milleage.) and i dont want to dyno tune the car, so could i just pop the ls6 cam and springs in and that go and not have to have a tuning job. thanks

 

Good post pg318. Thanks for clearing up the BS. If I were looking for an LS1, I'd go for the '01-'02. Maybe I'm biased but based on the information (and the link) that you provided, the choice seems obvious- and the '01-'02s seem to dyno high. By the way, you forgot about the random LS6 block upgrade.