Mechanically my car is sound, very stout. The only two things it needs are a fuel pump or starter and new front brakes.

Both the motor and trans perform flawlessly, there's no rear whine or anything like that, yet my mileage still worries me. My goal is a bolt-on only car (plus 3.73s) that runs at least mid-12s with ET Streets. Is it even worth it though, to mod my car and shoot for mid-12s with the miles? I'm really torn right now.

Nitrous, heads, a cam, etc. is out of the question as I don't trust a stock rear with 170K to last with any of said mods. I do mean the car will serve strictly as a bolt-on car and nothing more, not even the smallest of cam.

Opinions, comments and suggestions welcomed!

 

Doing mods even bolt ons at this point could could give you issues I would fully check out the engine if you have plans on racing it frequently I would definitely freshen up the motor and change all fluids. What exactly do you have in mind for bolt ons?

 

boltons you can always use on another setup as long as its similar so i wouldnt worry about adding LTs,lid. ect. gears isnt directly affecting your motor so youll be fine there.

 

Without tearing the motor down and visually inspecting the internals and the whatnot, the motor is fine. It passed a compression check when I first bought it in March and only runs stronger now that the tune up has been performed.

My planned list of bolt-ons include TSP 1-3/4" LTs, 3" ORY, and a yet to be determined cat-back. Also 3.73 gears and a lid. Maybe a UD pulley too but for the price I'm not convinced yet. But since I have an automatic I'd almost NEED a stall to utilize bolt-ons and gears, something I'm weary about since the trans also has 170K miles.

 

I'm pretty sure there are other members on here with the same mileage or higher that are still modding their cars. And the beauty of bolt ons is that they can always be removed or swapped if you ever got another car/motor. I wouldn't think that a mild bolt on build would cause much extra stress on your motor. The tranny on the other hand might let go if you add a stall. However, since you don't plan on any kind of internal work, you could get a smaller 2800-3200 sized stall. Mid 12s shouldnt be a problem. I ran 12.8s on the stock stall with bolt ons, stock 3.23 10-bolt, and nitto DRs.

 

Improving performance is ALWAYS worth doing. If the engine blows (and it will, eventually, unless you pull it first) you keep your mods to use on the new engine. Don't think of it as modding THIS engine. Look at it as starting to collect parts for your new build.

 

i would worry more about putting a stall in a 170k 4l60 then i would about modding the engine with headeds lid and gears you should be fine but if i was going to stall it id built the trans why it was out no need to spend 600 bucks only to trash the trans a month later and fill the stall full of trash

 

I wouldn't build the trans regardless. While it's out I'm probably going to have it rebuilt, but not built in the sense to hold more power. My car, on a good day, will only fetch about $4K anyway. No sense in putting a $2-3K transmission in a $4K car.

At this point it seems like my rear will be the link weak, but even that should hold up alright provided I don't do a bunch of dig races/track visits.

 

Great question, I have actually been contemplating the same thing with my $4700 "new" 98 SS convertible with 143k miles on it. Initially, I had visions of full suspension mods, exhaust, stall, and road racing the crap out of it for fun. After looking at some prices and realizing I put about 20 miles on the car per weekend on a good weekend my plans have changed. At this point I am more concerned with keeping it in tip top shape mechanically and cosmetically. Beyond that, my only mods will be LT headers, catted Y, leave the stock dual-dual, a tune so that shift points are not stupid (floor it at 40 and it crawls along instead of downshifting), and a decent set of tires. The exhaust can be re-sold or moved to another car while providing a decent dollar for dollar boost in performance and sound, the tune will address my convetor-type concerns for what I will be doing with the car, and the tires will help me hook rather than spinning and kicking the butt end out while also passing my inspection on that front for the rest of the life I have the car for. All the while I will save for my next toy!

 

Sounds like a good plan cdgreg! At least mine isn't the only one that just crawls along at about 40 going WOT lol.

 

installed a cam into my car at 147,000 miles. i now have 169,000 miles and it is still running strong. Does burn some oil though.

 

the milage of the motor dossent have much to do with the condition of the motor.its the life the motor had.if it was abused no matter the milage im sure its more easier to go bad.now if the motor has high miles for any reason highway miles or its a dd,or watever but it wasent abused as much im sure it will be a better motor.have a few buddies with high mile motors including 160k and 196k miles,rocking heads and cam set ups.my self on my 99 dd have 236 k miles finishing the full bolt on list before doing h/c/i...if u wanna make sure ur motor is good 100% do a leak down test.dont be afraid to modd her up.i just woudint recommend any power adder..i speak of my experience with high mile ls motors

 

Interesting information, thanks. I have a feeling a good portion of the miles on this car are highway given the fact I bought it in NY with a California title. In terms of a leak-down test, I just wiki'd it and read about it. Is this something that should be done at a dealership, performance shop, or any joe-blow mechanic?

 

if you want to put money into your car and you like why are you worried about re-sale? none of us will ever get back the money we've spent, we do the stuff that we do to our cars for ourselves not for how much money we'll get. if you like the car dude spend the money, make the car your own dont hold back because of re-sale value.

 

im sure a dealership will charge u ur left nut to do it...take it to a well know shop(better if its a performance shop) or some one that knows what their doing

 

exactly...

 

I bought a car with 145k miles put all the boltons on it... around 150k threw a 75 shot on. Around 160k sold the car and the new owner put an ms4 in and threw the motor in a 00 mustang. Car now has roughly 170k and is gonna get 150 shot. Doesn't use oil and doesn't miss a beat.

 

wow, this thread gives me hope!

 

I know right? I went from just about hating my car and wanting to trade it for a far slower Mustang to doing a little research and question asking and now I can't wait for my exhaust, gears, and tune.

 

how is the car over all? i mean body, interior and looks? are you planning to keep it? if yes then def. go bolt ons..it wont hurt and you can always use it but if the car needs a lot of $ $ $ to restore then id say no.
as for the high mileage ive seen alot of them stay alive and perform well. mine is at 140k and id still add bolt ons if i had to do it again.