New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech - Saving a high mileage LS1 with cam? or no...

whats up guys im new here. im considering trading my Jeep Wrangler for a '00 SS camaro. the car shows 165k on odometer. claims it has a trex cam(sounds pretty choppy im guessing its right) hooker longtube headers. 2.5 pipes that run to a 4" pipe dumptube. its pretty loud on startup. anyways he got it about 6months ago from the guy who did the work supposedly. hes got a receipt for a t56 6spd tranny installed last june. he said he has no papers on motor. therefore i have no idea what duration cam or if aftermarket lifters were installed or any headwork what so ever and of course with any car no way to tell how its been ran. engine looks alright i didnt see any oil leaks but it did have a slight oil burn smell maybe leak onto headers? i dont know. ive owned a LT1 Camaro but not this many miles. anyways, does this car seem like a money pit waiting to happen and is there anything i can do as far as what oil to use or anything to keep the motor going. i dont plan on running it hard at all just normal driving. so besides staying out of it and normal maintenance should it last a decent while with that cam? and also would that 4" exhaust be hurting the motor? i thought one that big would be kinda pointless and do more harm then good. any input appreciated. thanks!

i mean there's a difference between an engine with 160k on it that makes a ton of bad noise, and a high mileage engine that's quiet. judging by the cam, the car was likely not babied... so i'm sure there's abuse on the block, and there's no telling if he replaced the valve springs when he installed the cam, the t-rex 1 cam has a .640/.590 lift on it, so if it's still on stock valve springs, there's a solid chance there could be problems with the valvetrain down the line (although, if it were built with that big of a cam, there's a solid chance there's aftermarket springs in it).

I mean if the car is in good shape, and it has a fresh tranny, and there's no weird noises, i say go for it... worst case scenario, you drop a rebuilt LS1 into it, and when that one dies, that's the time to go real big with it.

i think its a trex 2 242/249 .610/.615 lift. im about 80% sure haha

it doesnt sound like its tapping or making knocking sounds or anything but then again you cant really hea rmuch over the cam and exhaust when its running too good either. its so bad id have to have it quited just a tad or the neighbors would be crying

You need to fully investigate that oil burn smell before you do the deal. Is it coming out of the engine bay or tailpipe? You don't want an oil burner on your hands...

No it doesnt smell as if its coming out the exhaust
Small smell like its coming from engine maybesmall leak burning off. Im concerned about the cam bus its most likely gonna be daily driven and if that engine will hold up with cam if i just baby it

Man if you personally like the car and feel as if it is a good trade off for your truck, I would definitely still go ahead and do it. You have to keep in mind however that the car is 12 years old with 165k miles on it, so I would just put some funds aside for whatever repairs just in case.

First thing I would do is just go through and start replacing the small, preventative maintenance type things. Other than that, just take good care of it, drive it and see what happens, nothing much else you can do. If it breaks, it breaks.

Ok is that trex cam suitable for daily driving?

also would that cam wear the clutch out fast ?

the t-rex 1 cam has a .640/.590 lift on it, so if it's still on stock valve springs, there's a solid chance there could be problems with the valvetrain down the line

I dont think a car with stock valve springs and a TRex would even make it out of the garage.


OP just yank the TRex and put in what you want. LS1 cams can be easilly done in an afternoon. Keep in mind with 165k on an F body things WILL be worn out.

Ok is that trex cam suitable for daily driving?

Not really, despite what people will tell you. If any off the shelf cam is not suitable for daily driving it would be this one. It's all in what you can deal with and most importantly you have an m-6 so that helps a lot with driveability

also would that cam wear the clutch out fast ?

No, cam has nothing to do with wearing out the clutch faster. The only thing that could contribute to that from the cam is the increased power.

PS: If you're looking to baby this car as you say then look elsewhere. No reason to deal with all of the "problems" with a cammed car just to baby it.

And yes, if it's got a trex cam and it will start and stay running it has upgraded valve springs. :jest:

Look to see what all else it has. If it has a lot of supporting mods then it's likely things were done right (timing chain, oil pump, valve springs, pushrods, lifters, etc...) But there's really no way to know.

do a cylinder leak down or a compression check before you buy it.have him pull the valve covers to inspect springs and rocker arms.with a cam that big the rocker arms should have been upgraded with better trunion bearings.

I would say skip out on it, better safe than sorry, along with 160k miles, there's wear on every part of the car, and since it has a cam, it was abused, STAY AWAY !

Id take a 175k motor( mine that has 175xxx miles, runs like a champ still) over most 100k motors that are best to shit burn/leak oil, just because it had more miles doesn't mean it's in worse shape, treatment>miles any day

i hate when people try to sell their cars and dont seem to know a damn thing about them.. if you dont know what your cam specs are, im not buying your car....theres got to be a way to talk to a previous owner or something.. like everyone said ^^^^^ high milage so set a side some cash for maint. items..