BaylorCamaro

Hey guys,

Just found this forum, coming over from Camaro5. A buddy and I are looking at getting a Z28 4th Gen to work on as a side summer project. I want to stick to the LS1 engine, as I've heard bad things about the LT1. Other than that, I don't know much about the 4th gens, so is there anything in particular I should watch out for or avoid?

mac62989

iTrader: (1)

If it were me Id avoid 98s and look for something 01-02. I havent checked prices since I bought my WS6 in 09 but I feel like you can probably get something nice for $8,000 these days. If well maintained and from the right owner, you can find something great. Not sure what your plans are exactly though.

Thizizkai

iTrader: (3)

look for an 01-02 for all intense purpose of mods...98-00 you would have to deal with the early problems such as the egr (<<correct me on this)...ls6 intake...98 just had a tick in its pcm. but aside from that...the LS1's are much more reliable than the LT1's...you can probably find a 98-02 Z for around 4k beaten a little ....to about 10-15k for mint SSes..I purchased my Z back in 09..100k vert 5k from a dealer.

BaylorCamaro

Cosmetically it doesn't really matter, as long as it doesn't look too beat up. The plan is to just wrench on this during free time. We're probably going to change out the headers, maybe go to straight pipes, change intake, maybe gears too. It would just be a weekend car and to take to the drag strip.

Ideally I'd like a TA but I'm sure the price would be a bit more, so a Camaro is perfectly fine. As long as it stays within the GM family it's all good.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

any yr is fine imo. 98-02.

just look for something clean at a good price and go for it.

99FormulaM6r

iTrader: (2)

Any year would be fine, as mentioned. '98s are harder to tune (I don't know if there are many other specific draw backs to them)....plus have a slightly smaller gas tank. '98-'00 have the LS1 intake, EGR, slightly larger cam than the '01-'02s (not much larger by any means), where as the '01-'02s have the LS6 intake stock, no EGR, and better exhaust manifolds.

Either way, an LS1 is an LS1 is an LS1....they all dyno within a few hp stock for stock, no matter the year, and any of them can be built up to the exact same power levels.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I would not avoid a '98. Any decent tuner will have no problem with them. All the other differences are mostly marginal, and will be negated once you start modding anyway. I'd buy another '98 tomorrow if I was in the market.


I would buy the nicest condition LS1 car you can find, and not worry about model year. And that's coming from a guy that has owned a '98, '99, '00, and '02. There is nothing magical about the later years, actually the '98 has been my favorite....

atrain59

iTrader: (31)

There is a decent trans am with some goodies for sale on here for $5,000 might be worth looking at

MonmouthCtyLS7

iTrader: (6)

Nothing really bad about the LT1 except for its opti...and nowadays you can pick up a LS1 which is much faster outta the box for not much of a price differance

BaylorCamaro

Do you have a link? I skimmed through the classifieds and didn't see anything.

Scott85

iTrader: (2)

I just picked up a 98 T/A off Ebay , 111K . After a couple $100 into , its not too bad anymore .

I'd stay away from the LT1's . They're a PITA to do any engine work too . Of course, for the same price as a beat LS1, you can get a LT1 in good condition . Theres also the opti with the water pump right above it on the LT1s. I also think the leather seats in the LS1 cars are much more comfortable then the LT1 cars.

TransAmWS.6

Personally picked up my bone stock '00 SS with 67k miles about two weeks ago for 9.8k, has a few minor issues but it's very solid overall. Needs a new Y-Pipe, needs all new weatherstripping, probably going to need a drivers side window in about a month or so, but other than that, it's pretty close to perfect. I love my car. You have to know what you're getting though, you can't really expect to find an absolutely immaculate F-Body for a reasonable price, so I wouldn't be surprised if what you get has issues, whether you spend 4-6k or 8-10k.

And yeah, I agree with the guy who posted first in this thread, any year would work fine for you (98-02). There were minor tweaks between the years but they're all pretty much the same. Buy whatever you can get a good deal on.

The LT1 car's aren't bad either. The LS1's are indeed a little superior to them as overall performers but the LT1's can get the job done as well. I wouldn't hesitate to scoop up an LT1 SS or WS6 for the right price.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

thing is i see very few clean lt1 cars. im sure theyre around but i see many more clean ls1 fbodies.

Cheap Guy

iTrader: (3)

^^^^What he said. From recent posts in this forum, LS1s are going for around $7k with around 100k miles.

The "except the opti" is a biggie. There are a lot of arguments about whether opti issues are "user" error or design errors, but facts are facts - optis are a serious concern. Even so, since you're looking at the car mainly from a performance perspective, the LS1 has much more support and starts off as a higher performing engine. My stock LT1 had trouble out running a few Honda Minivans to entrance ramps while my stock LS1 hangs with many newer performance cars. Check out the 1/4 and 60 times - it's a big diff.

When I bought my LT1 is was very clean - I assume because it rarely ran more than 1000 miles without breaking down.

In short, don't make the mistake with getting a LT1 like I did. Spend the extra money and get a LS1.

destroyer1362

I bought a modded 98' z for 4g's, no complaints here.. Aside from weak paint on the hood and the pass window needing a relay. Its just a matter of finding a good deal on something that hasn't been too abused.

TransAmWS.6

Exactly, I can relate to this, I was actually searching for LT1 SS's/WS6's before I found my 2000 and I had a really hard time finding cars that appeared to be clean.

Whenever I did stumble across clean examples of one of the two that also had mileage within reason, I would come across an equivalent LS1 WS6/SS for a grand or two more. Which in turn made getting one not really worth it, for me at least. Don't get me wrong, the LT1 cars were generally cheaper on average, but the LS1 cars really weren't too much more expensive, which was surprising to me in a way. And the LS1 cars are worth the extra money because of what you're getting compared to the LT1 cars, but we will not get into that topic here.

However, I did see some cheap LT1 Z28's and Trans Am's that seemed as if they weren't in bad condition and had low-mid mileage on them, but they were usually the early LT1 cars (93-95's).

Quik Sand

iTrader: (6)

Go LS1 and 01 or 02 if possible