General LSX Automobile Discussion - Buying a modified car. Q's?

A couple of weeks ago my 99 WS6 hydroplaned on I-44 near St. James, Mo. Now I had full coverage and the damage was only cosmetic. I was fine. I started thinking about what to get as another car. I had the WS6 for close to 10 years. In my family that's unheard of. (I'm only 31) Long story short, I found a 2000 Z-28 with about 56,000 miles on it. Its a 6-speed. Now here's where I have questions. The story from the salesman goes as such: car is a 2 owner car, last owner was a G.M. tech who owned it since 2002 and only drove to work and back, in the last month or so the previous owner had it he put in a xr275hr cam

XFI RPM Hi-Lift Hydraulic Roller Camshaft
GM LS/Gen III Engines
Lift: .566''/.568''
Duration @ .050'': 222°/224°

the car also has a FAST intake and a FAST tb on it (not sure of the size, I'm guessing a smaller one which I believe to be a 78mm, right?)

the car still has stock exhaust all the way to the headers, stock air box and lid, and the car will come with the stock parts. And a predator tuner (I already have HP tuners so the Predator maybe sold soon afterward)
How cautious should I be buying a modified car? How do I go about finding out what valve springs were installed on this beast? Any thing I should be looking for? It's cold idle needs some work otherwise it seemed to run fine. Especially when warm. I plan on swapping a lot of the WS6's parts to the Camaro. Wheels, rearend, suspension, stereo...

I would give it a good look over.. Make sure it runs and drives good.. Make sure you get it nice and got and check for normal stuff.. Almost every car now a days has stuff done to them... Sounds like a nice car..

test drive it good and get a feel for everything. Seems kinda weird tho that its got a cam/fast intake but no headers or lid. If your getting a deal on it and plan on swapping over your ws6 parts then get it.

first off I wouldn't believe the salesman's story, ask him about any car on his lot and Im sure it will either be owned by an older lady or a mechanic. And next I wouldn't buy a modified car unless the person I was buying it from had records and was knowledgeable if he did the work.

When I test drove I did get a chance to get on it a bit. Its skinny ass no name 245's didn't get traction for shit. Clutch felt good. It went into gears just fine. I didn't see any leaks. Engine bay seemed clean enough.

first off I wouldn't believe the salesman's story, ask him about any car on his lot and Im sure it will either be owned by an older lady or a mechanic. And next I wouldn't buy a modified car unless the person I was buying it from had records and was knowledgeable if he did the work.

I don't take a salesman's word for anything. However, I do have pics of the boxes everything came in. Except valve springs. While I would hope those are not stock I do not know anything about what they are. I understand what you're saying. My thought I guess is, how many people on here put there first cam ever in a LS1? Or had the parts for a while before they modded it? Meaning that a lot of people who have never installed a cam on anything before were able to do one on a LS1 or have bought parts but waited for more parts to come in or any of a million reasons why they wouldn't install a part as soon as possible. Only thing I can do is drive it harder on another test drive and see if it does anything unusual.

have a local tuner look it over if you can.


are you going to swap that rear over?

I'm 100% with Starz T/A 17 post. Be careful!

It concerns me that the owner went through the trouble of swapping out the cam, intake and throttle body and it doesn't have the most basic of supporting mods to go with it (exhaust, lid, etc.). I would need to know more about the valve springs and the tune. Wonder if it was properly tuned after the cam swap.

There's definitely risk involved with buying a car that's already been modded, however if those mods are within your plans for the car (and they were properly installed) then it's a great way to get the parts for pennies on the dollar.

have a local tuner look it over if you can.


are you going to swap that rear over?



Yeah, and my wheels and suspension. I am leary of the lack of supporting mods. I hope to get a chance to look it over better.

There's definitely risk involved with buying a car that's already been modded, however if those mods are within your plans for the car (and they were properly installed) then it's a great way to get the parts for pennies on the dollar.

I agree with this, it's definitely a good way to save money if the mods have been done properly.

However, the thing that always troubled me with buying modded cars is not really knowing 100% about the quality of the work. He could show all the pictures of boxes and packages that he wanted, but it's how the parts were installed that matters to me the most and that is usually hard to judge. Unless, receipts or some proof of all work can be provided, which this particular car doesn't seem to have.

So sounds like everyone is in agreement that mods done not at a shop with receipts is a iffy proposition. I would have to agree with that. Still doesn't change the fact that even bone stock cars have had issues. And even engines built by professional companies have been known to have issues time to time to. Guess no matter what its a roll of the dice with anything not build by yourself or owned by you since new. I'm likely to still buy it, but, I will play detective to see what has been done to it.

If you're suspect about the springs, don't drive it too high in the rpms. And if you are really gonna get the car, pop off the valve covers, see what they have and if you really iffy about the springs, change them.

So sounds like everyone is in agreement that mods done not at a shop with receipts is a iffy proposition. I would have to agree with that. Still doesn't change the fact that even bone stock cars have had issues. And even engines built by professional companies have been known to have issues time to time to. Guess no matter what its a roll of the dice with anything not build by yourself or owned by you since new. I'm likely to still buy it, but, I will play detective to see what has been done to it.

exactly. i will be in the same boat as you with buying used. there is always a chance it will break no matter who builds it.

If you're suspect about the springs, don't drive it too high in the rpms. And if you are really gonna get the car, pop off the valve covers, see what they have and if you really iffy about the springs, change them.

I wouldnt be a bit suprized it has the yellow LS6 springs how cheap they are & that small of a cam. It is strange it has the stock lid still but a FAST intake.