69camaro415

I recently got lucky off the misfortune of a youngster and scored a complete crashed 2000 ws6 m6 with 108,564 for $2300. All happy went about putting it in my 69 Camaro. While it was out went ahead and replaced the rear main seal along with some other goodies. Doing so noticed this guy just drove it I dont think he ever changed the oil.

So my first question is since it was such bad maintenance I should stay with regular oil and not change over to synthetic? I put in 10-40 castrol gtx. But would like to use synthetic if at all possible.

Second question is what is the best thing to do to reverse some of the life taken out of it? Seafoam? I will be changing the oil and filter every 500 miles until I reach 3,000 along with the trans every 1,000. The only thing going for this swap is the first time he took off traction control and popped the clutch he hit 3 parked cars and a tree. So maybe there is some saving to be had.

Thanks in advance I did some searching but could not find a situation like mine. Going to start her tomorrow and completed the swap with the help you guys and this is my first post so I am pretty proud of myself. Thanks again

TyCZ28

Swapping from basic stuff to synthetic is really fine... its switching back and forth between the 2 that causes problems

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

No, not at all. You could switch back and forth every oil change from now until you sell the car and this alternating action alone would not cause any problems.

When switching to synthetic on a old/high mileage engine, you may notice some new leaks or old leaks that have gotten worse. Synthetic tends to clean gunk which can worsen leaks, and as a better lubricant it may seep through areas with marginal gaskets/seals that conventional didn't.

2win_SS

iTrader: (1)

^^^ good info!

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

I wouldn't seafoam it. As rpm explained, synthetic finds weak points in seals and exploits them...seafoam has the same effect, only more prominent.

If it were mine, I would use a good synthetic blend. I also wouldn't mess around changing the oil 6 times in 3k miles. Waste of perfectly good oil and money.

Put a good conventional in it for the first 3k miles with a good filter then switch to a good synthetic blend and move up to 5k mile intervals or so.

sepsis

iTrader: (7)

I would also do a compression test just for peace of mind.

69camaro415

Sounds great guys Thanks..

So since its high mileage Do Not do a full synthetic but rather a blend and is their one better than the other? I like castrol in my rotaries but know this is a different beast.

I will do as bww says and not keep changing the oil and do a compression check as sepsis says. Honestly a little scared of the outcome lol

I am just hoping this motor does not need a rebuild as to why i did not put a cam in it yet or anything permanent. I will be happy if i can get two summers out of it. What are good numbers for compression? What about the Zmax treatment I did this to a civic I had with good results whats it like in a ls application?

Thanks again for all the help just need to delete codes in hp tuners and bleed the clutch then fingers crossed. I seen it run before I bought it so should not have any problems hopefully

Fry_

Oil additives are completely unnecessarily, and many cause more harm than good. Here's a little reading material about Z-max.Also 10W40 is to thick of a oil for a modern engine like a LS1, it's designed to run on 5W30 and many people use 0W30 with great results. I would consider using 10W30or40 on a high mileage car ONLY if it had lower than normal oil pressure caused by worn bearings. I also wouldn't worry about synthetic oil causing it to leak, the PO of my 111,000 mile T/A switched it to synthetic just before I bought it at 102,000 miles and it's never leaked a drop.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

LS1s usually show best UOAs with oils on the thicker side of a w30 or the thinner side of a w40. As M1 is on the thin side of their range, I always use their 0W40 in all my LS1s, and have been doing so for probably 10 years now; high mileage, low mileage, and inbetween. It's been great.

sepsis

iTrader: (7)

There's some good info in this thread HERE about compression and leak down testing.

TyCZ28

You would be surprised the amount of punishment an LS motor can handle.. My old silverado has 36X,xxx on the clock and i beat the hell out of it every day on the ranch and it was the original motor... My T/A is at 109k right now and after paint its going to be getting a livernois 2r cam and some stage 2 ls3 heads. so mileage isnt anything to worry about

69camaro415

I have somewhat of a plan in starting it to make sure the swap went according to plan. Get 100-200 miles out of the 10-40 to check for leaks then switch to synthetic blend for 3k then to full synthetic for the remainder. Doing a compression check after the first oil change and will never use the zmax. Thanks again and as I can see going to have to do alot of research before picking a oil.. Great to hear the 360,xxx plus miles tyc is getting because I'm used to to a rotary lasting a good 100k before changing seals lol

I8UR4RD

iTrader: (16)

there's always honing, decking, and machining in general!!!!!

usmcpi

iTrader: (2)

I say you start with the compression check and leak down test and go from there. Rebuild if low compression.

Mr Incredible

69camaro415, sounds like a great score. I hope it works as well as you hope it does.

Your plan has evolved well. There is no real need to do 500mi changes unless you know there is a LOT of sludge. Other than that there is absolutely no reason you could not go to a synthetic oil right now. The synthetics of today are vastly superior to early blends and leakage is seldom seen nowadays. If your engine is not heavily sludged you might initially wish to use synthetic at 1000 to 3000 mile intervals to clean out what's there and give you an opportunity to see how it looks.

For your early intervals, or for intervals of 3-4k miles you could use a regular oil like GTX, Pennzoil yellow bottle, Valvoline, Mobil, or Quaker State. You could use a diesel rated oil for more cleaning agents. You could use Wal-Mart SuperTech oil without care for shorter interval cleaning miles. You could use a 5w-30 or a 10w-30 with complete confidence. These would all clean well and take the dirt with them at change out. Heavier oils on a stock LS1 are not really needed unless you beat it like a 16yr old with a brand new license and unlimited gas cards. If you drive with respect to other motorists, your license, and your insurance, you could easily use the recommended 30w's. High mileage oils could be of benefit. They are something of a blend oil, and have a very good cleaning ability. They also have seal conditioners for good measure.

If you have actually SEEN goo and sludge you might even use Auto-RX, Marvel Mystery oil, or SeaFoam providing what sludge you've seen is not extremely thick and doesn't need to be manually removed from your valve covers. Each of these has fans over at the oil forum, BITOG. There is even a SUB FORUM just for additives. Used with caution, they can be very useful for cleaning an engine. If your seals don't already have problems, these items won't give you any.

Anyone that wants to learn more about oil (or NEEDS to) they can check out BobIsTheOilGUY (BITOG). There are some really smart guys there talking about the important things in lubrication for your cars, trucks, and motorcycles.

01BlueSS1995

^^everything has been said. so can we see some pics? lol

roninsonic

iTrader: (3)

I'd say check everything out while you've got the engine just sitting there. Heck, if you've got the funds handy, go ahead and replace rod bolts and gaskets, maybe do a hone and rings before you drop it in, just for peace of mind.