corvettesforevor

I came upon a 1998 trans am on craigslist. It has 130k miles on the body. It is in good shape overall. It has the stock ls1 in it at the moment, but the seller told me it has an occasional piston slap. But he also has another engine to go with it. It is an ls6 block with a cam and heads. Has new clevite bearings, ls7 lifters, chromoly pushrods, and more. He said it has 58k miles on the "rotating assembly" I'm not for sure what that means so if someone could explain that that would be great. I guess it was in a GTO and it made 450hp and it was taken out and his plans were to put it in the T/a. He said it has 1k$ of machine work to the engine, which im not sure what that all involves. The car has a magnaflow exhaust on it at the moment also.

All it needs is the engine to be swapped. And based on the pics he sent me, it looks like the ls6 engine needs to be put together yet, which I already thought it was. He said he will sell me the whole package for 4,500$, which sounds like a steal seeing as the engine is worth that. He seems like an honest guy who just wants to see it finished. I will include some pictures and I want to know what you guys think. How much work do you think this will involve? Is this a steal or is this just someone elses headache? I would like to do this over winter as a project with my dad, but I don't want it to be a 2 month project either.

He said he will include the stock rims and if I want the black ones its 400$ more

Tipnitty

iTrader: (3)

The car with out the additional engine is worth $4500. Is the car an A4 or M6? Piston slap is normal and will go away once the engine has warmed up.

corvettesforevor

a4. He made it seem like a big deal, maybe there is more wrong with it than that. He said it doesn't have much life left in the stock ls1. Does it look like alot of work or not that bad?

fengstang

iTrader: (2)

i would offer 4000. looks pretty clean

Kevin Lee 487

iTrader: (1)

If theres not much life left in an LS1 at 130k, then that guy must have beaten the engine like Kunta Kinte. I'm willing to bet the rear end is probably on its way out too if thats the case.

corvettesforevor

But isn't the ls6 engine alone put together work 5k?

Kevin Lee 487

iTrader: (1)

Maybe a crate LS6. They're not used very often since the LS2 is just as good and far easier to come by.

corvettesforevor

Ok but it also has a aftermarket Cam and heads and the other stuff I mentioned. Do you think the whole package is a good deal for 4500? Does it look like a ton of work or just a 2 day thing?

corvettesforevor

Ok, lets put it this way. Do you think it would be a good deal to buy it if I'm just going to re-sell it in the spring? I could buy it for 4500, swap the engine and get it running great. By then I think I could sell it for 7500+. I'm not sure if I would keep it or resell it but it seems like I could make a good profit.

SCott5

iTrader: (40)

If it's a head and cam motor going into a stock car your going to think of the other supporting mods the car is going to need to support that heads/cam setup. Gears, stall, fuel injectors, fuel pump, tune, headers and so forth

pontiac_boy

iTrader: (1)

I could see the project dragging out pretty easily mainly because of the need for supporting mods and unexpected hang ups like already mentioned. Its probably worth it but I'd make sure to cover all of the bases before the purchase. Sometimes people do just give up on a build and sell everything but usually they know that selling things separate will net more money.

Kevin Lee 487

iTrader: (1)

With all of that extra power, I'd be worried about the transmission and rear end. It will be a good bit of work. Especially since its a stock 98. You'll need to do something about the harness and PCM at least just to get it running with the engine swap.

That being said, $4500 is a good price ( around here ) if the car is in running condition. You'll have to check your area and see what the going rates are. I paid $4500 for mine @ 93k miles with a rebuilt title and it was still a good 4-5k cheaper than it would have been with a clean one. And before you ask, no it doesn't have any issues. It drives straight, runs fine, electronics all work, has ~40psi oil pressure at hot idle, doesn't make funny noises and the A/C even works. Aside from a slightly twisted radiator support, you'd never know.

Chris.O

I dont think its worth the effort just to resell it. If you keep it for a project or if you were just swapping in another stock ls1 then sure buy it up. But you can get nickle and dimed to death. By the time its all said and done you might not make much money. Id go check it out and see what his definition of piston slap is. Im wondering if his piston slap is a rod knock lol. Like whats been said piston slap is common and they still run forever.