Smo's04Gto

iTrader: (8)

Looking at a 98 ls1 for my nova is there any good reason to stay away from the 98 motor and get a newer one?the deal at hand is on a 98 Z28/auto with 40K on it complete car $3,000 car was rear ended.The nova will see lots of track time.I know GM changed the motor slightly over the years but does it make that muck of a differance.Thanks for any imput.

Bad Blue WS6

iTrader: (41)

i wanna say thats the worst year for heads (893's?) but dont quote me on that...

wag7079

I have always heard the 98-99 had weaker rod bolts, no that the 00-02 will 7500 but i think they are weeker. Also in 01-02 they put an ls6 intake on the motor and deleted egr.

MeanGreenZ28

i have a 98 camaro with a 02 engine in it(******* before me blew the original engine) and i have the ls6 intake but i still have a egr....i just thought that was kinda weird

SOM02WS6

You sure its an Ls6, maybe he just reused the intake off the old motor. The only place to get an LS6 with EGR was from SLP....

john563

iTrader: (17)

Yeah I heard the same thing thats why I put Katech rod bolts in mine,just in case I want to go with bigger cam(BIG)than what i have now.When my shop did the swap my bolts looked fine though. I think its when you go with a cam like an ms3 and spin it high that it becomes an issue. There is a guy here I think he goes by 98 mysticz who put in a ms3 in his 98 and his bottom let go.

wag7079

Sorry, I should have been a little clearer. if u do not plan on turning the motor over the factory rev limit (6200) then u really should'nt worry! oh and NO factory ls6 intake had egr, My car is a 99 and the dumbshit before me blew it up with only 26k miles it now has a 01 brand new, even has 243 casting heads but still has the damn ls1 intake and egr.lol

blueeyeddevil141

iTrader: (5)

'98 motors have weaker rod bolts, have a poorly designed oiling system(trust me....I can show you my bearings haha) and have the worst heads of the bunch.

SladeX

if a 98 hasn't busted a rod bolt yet, odds are under normal rpm conditions, it's not going to go. Most of the rod bolt failures happened early on in the 98 lifecycle. Just don't mod your car to spin 7krpm and expect them to hold though.

I've had no issues spinning mine to 6500rpm and have done quite a number of passes getting to that rpm (100+ this year alone), on top of the occasional redlining it (6500rpm for me) on the highway.

Keep on top of maintenance, regular oil changes and an oil analysis from time to time will let you know how things are on the inside.

I'm more worried about my 10 bolt these days...

dlc1609

iTrader: (20)

although the '98 heads are the "worst", i think the only real difference is the way they cast the head. the port shapes are the exact same compared to the newer heads, the casting method was just different resulting in a little (maybe 5cfm?) poorer flow.

so i wouldn't base my decision on this.

i would however think about the fact that the '98's have perimiter bolt valve covers vs newer year's center bolt (more common) style.

code4

iTrader: (30)

enjoy

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showpost....80&postcount=2

james562

iTrader: (35)

Us 98 LS1 owners have the pleasure of having...

Negatives...
Weaker rod bolts than 99+ LS1 engines
Lower flowing LS1 intake(10-15hp) 97-00 cars
Lower flowing heads (5-7hp difference at best)
Lower flowing exhaust manifolds than 00+ LS1's(3-7hp difference)
Less effiecent oiling system, Not a horrible flaw but still not as efficent as 99+ cars
and a lovely EGR valve attached to our intake
98 PCM is completely different from 99+ LS1's

Positives are ...
Slightly larger cam than 99+ LS1's (5hp difference at best)
28lb injectors
Throttle body opens faster(not much faster but faster never the less)


This is all off the top of my head. The link posted above goes into greater detail

My car has 131000 and runs like a champ no overheating, oil issues, nothing just whooping *** on the street daily.

KONG

iTrader: (4)

They are 806's.

KONG

iTrader: (4)

The only problem you will have is if you start doing heavy mods. The 98 pcm has the lowest resolution than any of the other pcms. It will be a headache, and will prevent you from getting the best tune possible for your car. You could do then like many other people, a pcm swap. Do a search on this site and you will find out all you need to know.

Blacker

iTrader: (3)

Also, the '98 motor cannot be bored more than 0.005". I have beat my motor and it runs good. The PCM does have some quirks about it that is a little trickier to tune. Nevertheless, it can be done.

PICNIC_GEORGE

iTrader: (3)

You're probably gonna get a standalone type harness from painless or something. Just get one for a 99+ and use a 99+ PCM. That problem is now fixed. As for the heads. Probably not that big of a deal. IF you ever get a new set of heads in the future you'll need to buy valve covers and coil brackets. Again no big deal. As for rod bolts? Well if you are gonna keep the bottom end stock. Slap some katech bolts in there, and put on a new oil pump and problems are all fixed.

LS1W66

Incorrect `98-00 F-body cams are all the same.
And the difference is offset by the later cars LS6 Intake.

TOS98SS

iTrader: (2)

have a 98 and I have turned it to 6900 many times w/an f-13 cam for about 40k miles now. I didn't mean to rev that high but I found out my tack was a bit off recently looking back at some of my HP tuners log . The tach was off about 30-400RPM .

Yes the 98 was the worst head style , and had the bad oil pumps . But you will have the motor out just swap the pump .But for $3000 that sounds like a good deal for the whole car

98TAbodnar89

to be honest i just developed a rod knock up my 98 ls1. i showed it a lot 0f races but i also did all required services (oil changes,coolant flushes etc.) so i did not go with a 98 ls1 for replacement but i went more expensive and got an ls6

Asmodeus

LS1 and LS6 longblocks are the same price at SDPC.