Alright guys i have ran every possible scenario through my head on what i should do with my 2009 corvette. I posted a thread about 3 weeks ago about my ls3 dumping a lifter and after..After inspection from the gm dealer, diagnosis was a failed lifer (pulled vavle cover)..Took to my local shop just to replace the lifter (not a gm specialist or builder just does my bs repair type work) and he said the lifter banged against my cam shaft and marked it up and he would recomend replacing the camshaft which i would never let him do...And i really dont know how you can see the cam just from pulling the head though im sure hes probably right...He dropped the oil and found just a bit of metal assuming from the chewed up lifter..I told him to just clean it up so 1 new lifter changing the oil oil filter and all that stuff and the car runs normal just wants to cut off a little more than usual occasionally (do not drive the car just enough to keep the battery charged) I am really stuck on what i need to do with the car. I really only planned on using the car as a daily driver so i dont want to sink a lot of money in it...First option was to tear the motor apart and build a 418 @vengeance. Thats in the 10k ballpark and do i really want to spend that kind of money on a car i already have a ton in for a reliable daily driver, not really. Second is trade it in...Idiots trade cars in bc im going to get raped expecially on a car modified like this one..Third i can just send it to them and let them replace the camshaft upgrade all lifters and and whatever they feel needs to be dont....Thats still going to cost some big money and the confidence in the motor and reliablility is going to be gone plus all that money spent with no gain in performance kills me..4th option is to sell private party and be a straight shooter and offer at a discounted price...And giving the cars condition what do you realisticly think i can get for this car. What do you guys think this cars value is in current condition and what would you do? 2009 corvette 8,900 miles Jet stream blue 6 speed (not 1 scratch on it) Lingenfelter ces hood aci rear spoiler tint lowered seat upgrades factory chrome dipped rims . Engine ls3 tea stage 111 heads fast 102 lg superpro longtubes off read x vengeance stage 111 cam, slp lm 1 exhaust. Drive train is all stock as the car was a daily driver. If it was a z06 it would be a no brainer but this is never going to be my racecar...Thoughts??

 

Your post make no sense. You a lifter and have your shop go to the trouble of pulling the head to replace just one lifter? And you also don't drive it, just enough to keep the battery charged? I'm confused....

You already have a have heads and a cam. Why not just replace the damaged cam? The makes the most sense to me. Also, save yourself some money and do it yourself. It's not that hard.

Or, just sell it to me. Since it's damaged and modified, I feel I can only offer $10,000. That's somewhat negotiable.....

 

If you had a lifter fail it most likely did damage the cam. You can see the cam through the block windows.

If you have ran the engine with the bad cam and the new lifter, guess what? Your new lifter will likely fail too. Cheap and internal engine failures do not go together...

 

Took the car to gm dealership...They only pulled the valve cover and discovered a bad lifter. As most people know, a bad lifter equals a bad camshaft soooo, i took the car to my personal mechanic. He pulled the cover and then removed the head discovering damage to the cam as well. Replace the cam and upgrade to ls7 lifters pretty simple although still costly imo bc i am buying a house getting married all in the next two months and couldnt have happened at a shittier time so right now i could give a damn about the car really. But the main concern is the metal in the oil. I am extremely ocd and really dont like the idea of metal floating around in my engine. In my opinion the engine needs to be completely torn apart. I should have never built a then 50k car that was intended as a daily driver, rookie mistake. And i drive the car down the street to work every few days so my battery doesnt die bc as any heavily modded c6 owner knows the battery will die really fast...

 

Ha ha i know thats right! I would just put some more money in the motor and make it my race car but its just too far away....Axles, diff, tranny, and clutch away from being able to track it...Just too much money to put into a base c6, thats why i just want to get rid of it and get something cheaper and payed for to **** up...

 

Just put a new cam and lifters in it and change the oil a couple times and drive the wheels off it.

 

fix it and drive it or sell it. You won't get anywhere near the money it deserves with any kind of mechanical issues. Either way a repair is in order.

 

My opinion put it on the back burner for a few months then fix it after the important **** is done, ie marriage, and house. Then take that motor out sell it for what you can and build a ls3. If your not mechanically inclined obviously it will cost you but youll bad ******* car. If you can do it yourself youll save quite a bit of money. Life comes first in my book then toys.

 

Could not agree more....Took me a long time to realize it though...

 

So i have decided to just repair it and stop being an idiot...Ls7 lifters and replace the cam....However still one question....Replace with the same cam im running now assuming i wont even have to bother with a tune, or go with a different cam..Any suggestions on this?? Could go with a smaller even more driveable cam or see if i can make a little more power just not sure.

 

never go smaller dude that just dont make sense.

dont mean to sound like a *** but if you own a 09 vette how can you c omplain about the few extra hundred it would be to tune it? especially considering you and your wife have a vette, quit being a cheep scate and do the car right, if you can afford 2 vettes you can afford to maintain them you just dont want to cheep scate

 

agreed on everything.



if a couple thousand dollars will stop you from a buying a house then you need to sell something or save more.


good luck.

 

I wanted to beat my head against the wall when I suffered through your whole post. The decision is up to you. Lifters do go bad mostly because of the cam. Replace the cam, lifters, rods, and tune it. Call it a day.

 

sorry for the aggravating post guys but i would rather get **** from all of you than my fiance...Helped me decide what i am going to do even though it might have been the obvious...Appreciate all the advice and will udate once rebuilt. Thanks guys and merry christmas!

 

i feel you there maybe it is the wife giving you griefe about spending money on the vette, but remind her she has one of her own I dont know your finances but if you are the one bringing in all the bread in the house she really dont have much to say if shes ridin around in a vette you got her. definetly replace that cam and lifter again, I would also do push rods while your in there its only about another 100 bucks. last thing you want is to try to save money and have that lifter fail again and cause even more damage possibly to your bottem end

 

In all honesty, if you think now is a bad time for this to happen, just wait until you're a married homeowner. I speak from experience. If you thought your corvette was a money pit, just wait until you own a home. I bought a house that needed updates as well as some maintenance. Everytime I scratch one thing off the to-do list, three more nessecary repairs pop up. If your wife is anything like mine, she probably won't appreciate your corvette as much as you do. She might not want to dedicate hard earned money towards fixing your C6 as quickly as you do. Just my $.02 and definitely something to think about.

 

Go with a bigger cam, and go with better lifters too. (caddie race lifters, or a set of link bar lifters) and get a retune. Also be a good time to throw in a set of head studs too.

Dont sell, you wil regret it because you would loose more money on the difference between values, than what it would cost you to fix it.

 

I abosolutely know what you mean, thats why i have become a cheapskate lol. Actually my girl is a nurse and makes more money than i do right now and really could care less but the way i used to was just crazy....Spending way too much on way too expensive of cars....And its really not the costs in fixing the car, i just get tired of having to take the car all the way to atlanta or mooresville and waiting so long for work to get done. Just the hassle is what is really annoying...Would be a no brainer if i had a local shop that i trusted to do this kind of work. Plus i was about to buy a true daily driver which now looks like i will be waiting a while on....

 

Sounds like a good woman!

Forgot to ask...what about the factory warranty on the car? No chance you could get coverage on the repair?

 

A big **** no on the warranty lol...They always look at me crazy when i bring that car up there for anything! I think im just going to suck it up and repair it and make it my track car later on down the road...I tell you what tho the next time i build a heads cam car, im installing the valvetrain from hell haha.