Out1aw

iTrader: (1)

Well, I've been looking into all the different directions to go with rebuilding the motor or buying a short/long block to build up since many people have told me @ 150k miles, the LT1 is ready to go. But honestly, everyone who has actually driven the car says it drives like it was brand new (mostly due to good maintenance). Now, I know it needs a few things, such as plugs, fuel injectors, a good tune, etc. to be perfect again, but honestly, do I NEED to look into rebuilding now? I don't do a lot of drag racing, but more cruising and sometimes "spirited" driving on occasion, but no hard stalls or launches. I am going to get the transmission rebuilt and put in a new differential, but other than a good tune up, should the LT1 give me any problems for say, another 20k miles?

Btw, the car only sees about 2k miles or so a year now.

roadhog_113

i say whats the point if it runs good. When you break something then you rebuild. Otherwise you are spending money on stuff that is still prolly good.

Jditlfm

iTrader: (26)

My car has 151,XXX miles on it. Runs times in my sig with bolt ons. I started spraying it at 145,XXX miles been through 7 bottles of nitrous. I Graduated UTI and when we had lab i would always bring my car in let me tell you from all the unneeded tests i ran on this car for school i was surprised how great it did. I would say this car is in better shape then a lot of low mile Lt1's. Its all about how you take care of it. I have done so much preventative maintenance on this car and it shows. You take car of it it will take care of you. My car has been driven from NY to Florida Orlando to Miami countless times, then back to NY. The problem with these cars is everyone beats the hell out of them but no one wants to keep up on the maintenance that comes with that driving style.

ecniv

iTrader: (1)

I've got a 199,000 mile LT1 block torn down in my garage, and you can still see the crosshatching on the cylinder bores. 151k is just getting broken in

TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

People have been telling you wrong, at 151K the LS1 is ready to blow, the Lt1 is still good for quite a while especially if it has just light mods and is maintained well.

Puck

iTrader: (17)

I got my Z with a healthy 140k, and I didn't even cam my car until 150k. It now has 162k and still pulls very strong with no signs of letting up.

Assuming the car has been and will be well takin care of, LT1s can easily see 200k.

Out1aw

iTrader: (1)

Cammed at 150!?? that's crazy! Figured the cam bearings would have gone out on that one! Guess that's inspirational for me then...

What about things that should be done soon...? The opti was replaced at 110k along with the water pump, plugs, wires (8mm Taylors), EGR valve replaced, and intake tract cleaned. I have another set of plugs for it waiting to go in when I put on my headers, but looking to see if I should look into fuel injectors, fuel filters, etc.

Puck

iTrader: (17)

They showed some wear, but there were no scratches or copper showing. 12k miles on it so far and not a problem! In another 5k or so I am having it rebuilt for "insurance" just in case, but I can see it lasting to 190k or so easily.

The rest of what you need will depend on the cam, but everything you listed will most likely help a bunch. Injectors will depend on expected flywheel hp - you can multiply HP x .07 to get an approximation, and always go to the size bigger of the calculation since it will rarely come out to a common size. Great job remembering the fuel filter too. I forgot to change that with when I did my heads/cam, and a month or two later - after the dyno tune - I changed it and it was dirty to the point where it was most likely restricting fuel flow. I was kicking myself for forgetting a ~9 dollar part!

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

Yea..that is true..
I have seen alot of Aluminum LS1's go to **** here recently.

The LT1's will last a while, that good ole Ironblock is durable..that is why I went Iron LSX..

TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

The LS1s come with synth oil from the factory so they never get a chance to ahve the rings wear to the cylinder walls properly, which is why you see alot of LS1 go south around 150K due to rings.

Just what ive seen and always been told

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

Just a personal thing...I never use Synthetic Oil..good ole conventional has never failed me.

joelster

When my first LT1 bit it, it was due to oil starvation. I put a 503 cam in it and a boogered up the timing cover on the re-install. It constantly dripped oil after that. I was always refilling it every other week or so, but I'm sure that there were a bunch of times when i was driving it with less than optimal oil levels at high rpm. Oh well, lesson learned. When I needed a replacement short-block for it, we went through my friends stash of LT1's (he had 4). They were all iron-headed ones out of cop cars, most likely over 100,000 miles. The first one we pulled apart looked like it had about 5000 miles on it. Zero ridge, cross-hatch still intact, bearings looked pretty good. The only issue we had with it was the timing chain was worn a bit so it was replaced. We ripped it apart, sent the crank out to be polished, cleaned the pistons, and put in new bearings and timing chain. Now it's spinning to 6700rpm at the drag strip, and pulls 60lbs of oil pressure on start up. Obviously it was miantained properly being a cop car, but if your car isn't giving you any problems then just keep up on the little stuff and enjoy it.