I am looking at buying a complete camaro for the engine and M6. The car has 146k on it. It does have a new clutch, so the seller says. I have not heard the car run yet or had a chance to drive it.

I really just want the engine and trans...is 146k too many miles to start with. The price is right that after selling the shell off I could get the engine and trans pretty cheap.

It will be going into an 85 BMW 5 series....as my DD

TIA

 

Not sure about the actual LS1, but I've seen tons of fleet trucks with 4.8/5.3/6.0 with 200-400k miles come into the shop at work. My donor had 111k when I installed it.

 

I am currently in the process of doing the same thing you are talking about.

My donor was a 1998 Z28 with just over 100k on it. By the time I sold the car, it was a cheap engine/trans combo. Since it was so cheap, I decided to do some maintenance while the engine was on out. New water pump, oil pump, gaskets, and a set of rings. I figure it should be good to go for another $100K, and it only costs $300.

Good luck!

 

with that many miles, id be doing a rebuild. you never know how well it was taken care of, beaten on etc

 

Actual LS1's are usually beaten on pretty hard for most of their lives so they tend to grenade sooner than the 4.8, 5.3, 6.0 truck engines etc. The thing is Ive seen guys take bone stock engines, boost the hell out of them for a few years, turn them back to stock and sell them without a rebuild and they STILL run decent. So with 150ish K? Who the hell knows whats been done to it in its life.

But in bone stock trim 150K is dick all imo. These things hold together very well for the most part.

I look at your situation like this as Ive been there many times myself. You either have to decide to take a chance and be prepared to have to re-build it if you want to keep costs down, or just build it for safety sake to avoid the pile of work to re&re&re at a later date. That said Im batting about 4/5 in these chance games on the side of plus so the odds are in your favor

Good luck

 

I have seen a number of LS engines go over 300K, and even heard of people tearing down these engines after 200K, and the cross hatching is still visible. If you do get it, you can always pull the heads, and check the bores, and decide if a rebuild is necessary.

 

I have 200,000.on my ta and still running strong

 

it all depends on how the motor was treated.

at 135k my ls1 is in rough shape. It's mostly valvetrain however as I believe the bottom end is sound.

I'd say while you have it out, have it inspected real good. Maybe take it to an ls1 specialist and have them tear down inspect and rebuild. Won't run but about $400 to do that. If you get new bearings and rod bolts while it's out, it might double that cost.

The motor I have now was the 2nd motor the junkyard truck had in it. It had almost 400k on the clock. The exhaust header looks like it's glowing even at room temperature, so I'd say the first motor was worked really hard, and even then it lasted about 350k miles.

this is an Lq4 however, not an Ls1.. but.. I wouldn't think the wear would be very far off.

 

*all depends on how its driven. If a granny drove it for those 146k miles or it was babied then the motor should be just fine. If it was owned by a car enthusiast that that drove her hard then maybe it's something to worry about. My 98 Z had 110k on it and she finally threw a rod when I was pulling through 3rd :/ Ask the seller about how the car was driven, and whether or not most of the miles were highway/commuter miles. Hope it works out for ya!

 

One thing I like about 99-06 GM trucks is the "engine hours" indicator on the dash. The ls1 you have didn't have that option, but.. you can take the hours and divide the miles into it to get average speed and determine the workload from that.

 

FWIW my STOCK ls1 quite lierally exploded on statrt-up one day with only 96k on the clock. something in the top end let loose, causing deep gouging on a piston, and putting a rod through my block. Once again, all upon start-up with less than 100k

 

I have 165,000 on my BUILT 427ci..........still running like a gem.......

.

 

If ita been ran i would rebuild at 100,000.

 

Go look at the donor car and see ck for oil burning/leaks/knocks etc, if she seems sound then go ahead and Install that baby and dont look back, to me its worth the roll of the dice.

I picked up a donor car w over 100K and the car runs phenomenal (female adlut owner though). I will agree that if its 146K abused miles than you may want to consider freshening her up.

To me, its only my labor anyhow if she pops.

 

I got some more pictures from the seller and it actually has 162k miles.... Seats are pretty ragged out and both the airbags have been popped...which seems a bit odd as it doesn't have any front end damage.

I am thinking it might be a better idea to pass on this one.

But damn the price is right. Maybe I can get him even lower...

I also found a 00 firehawk that has been wrecked that is local to me...only 26k on it but the seller wants a lot for it. Might be something I need to check into and see if he will come down.

 

Fire it up and check the oil pressure. If its good then pop a valve cover and check for sludge. If all is well, buy it and dont worry about it

 

you can learn a lot from a valve cover.

Here's my abused engine from 130k miles:



And here's the replacement after 40k miles:

 

195K+ on my 99 Z28, still going strong.

 

I passed on it. Actually found and bought a wrecked 99 camaro with the t56. It has 55k on it. I got it for less than the car with 130k on it also....just that this one is wrecked, but is still drivable.

Should be here tomorrow

 

Link to the 146k car?