LS1 Worth it?

**Fterr99ss** · 11-23-2011, 12:59 PM

Ok so ive always wanted to start a project. A buddy of mine had a 98 Z28. He had it for 2 weeks and then totaled it. (the ass end) the front end was undamaged. The motor has 149k miles on it. He said hed sell me the motor and ECU for $1,200. Is it worth it? Also a motor having 149k miles wouldnt really matter if ur planning on modifying it anyway.. right or wrong? Any help is appreciated.

**WS6SP33D** · 11-23-2011, 01:53 PM

i would offer less with that kind of miles. I see them go a lot for around $900. Also the miles really don't matter if you are planning to bore or stroke it.

**Firebirdjones** · 11-23-2011, 02:08 PM

Being as old as I am I'm used to seeing used engines for dirt. So seeing these LS engines priced that high with alot of miles is pretty damn hard for me to swallow.

I personally wouldn't go through the trouble of installing that engine in something with that many miles. To give you an idea, I bought a 2004 6.0 LQ4 with only 80,000 miles, complete with computer, harness, complete accessory drive with all accessories, manifolds etc....for $1200 from a major distribution chain (no discount). So there's no way I'd pay $1200 for an LS1 with 150,000 miles on it. That's just me though.

Since LS1's are sleeved, and don't like much more than a .005 or .010 hone, and this one having 150,000 miles, I personally wouldn't give more than $500 for something like that since I'd go straight to the machine shop. To be frank, I'd rather pay more for something with less miles.

**Fterr99ss** · 11-23-2011, 02:28 PM

So what should i pay for one then? Sort of new but interested in this stuff and it sounds really stupid but what is the difference between bore and stroke? ALso what is sleeved?

**WS6SP33D** · 11-23-2011, 03:21 PM

I would not go over $800 just me tho. The combined attributes of bore and stroke makes engines very different. Bore is the diameter of the piston (or the diameter of the inside of the cylinder). Stroke is the maximum distance that the piston travels up and down inside the cylinder. Sleeved or sleeving a cylinder is a replacement for when your cylinder wall is messed up beyond repair.

**Firebirdjones** · 11-23-2011, 03:59 PM

When I said sleeved, I was referring to the aluminum contruction of the block, which has a sleeve in each cylinder. The issue with that, and a big reason I won't pay alot of money for an LS1 with high miles, is because these sleeves are thin from the factory, and will only tolerate a mild hone during a rebuild. Otherwise it's a very costly procedure to remove and resleeve the engine.
The problem with high mileage, is that sometimes you run into a cylinder (or 3 or 4) that are so far out of round that a simple .005 to .010 re-hone isn't enough, and you can't bore it. So it's re-sleeve time. That's what turns me off.

If there is a draw back of these LS1's and LS2's with their aluminum blocks, that's the big one for me

I much prefer the cast iron 6.0's from the trucks.

**WS6SP33D** · 11-23-2011, 04:14 PM

Agreed on the 6.0l cast block

**kenro23** · 11-26-2011, 09:14 AM

So for those of us looking to upgrade, yall are saying get the 6.0 from a truck and work on that one? So if we hci a 85k ls1, is that a bad idea? Look for a block from an escalade and do the work on that?

Sorry OP. Didnt mean to jack your stuff. Thought this may help and I have Been wondering about swapping blocks.

**Firebirdjones** · 11-26-2011, 10:19 AM

Just depends on what's out there. I didn't mean an LS1 was a bad start, I just wouldn't pay alot of money for something with high miles.
Getting harder to find this stuff with low miles. I waited about a year before a low mile 6.0 popped up thorugh a major engine distribution chain that deals all over the country. Had 80,000 miles on it, and that was a 2004 model before GM got into all that cylinder deactivation crap.
Most everything out there had well over 100,000 miles on it, didn't interest me.

Just a matter of what you want to deal with..

**kenro23** · 11-26-2011, 10:36 AM

So would the same h/c/i setup that is planned for an ls1 work for 6.0?

What is the differences between the 2 blocks? Is a 6.0 an ls block?

**Firebirdjones** · 11-26-2011, 11:08 AM

Yeah it's an LS block, just made in cast iron. Everything bolts on the same.

They respond just like LS1's do as far as bolt on's. You get a larger 4" bore to start with so that's a plus.

**kenro23** · 11-26-2011, 11:18 AM

You know an aproximate price for those?

**Firebirdjones** · 11-26-2011, 11:24 AM

They are all over the place as far as price. Depends on the mileage.

I paid $1200 for mine with 80,000 miles. I was willing to pay more for low miles as most seem to have well over 100,000 miles, 150,000+ in some cases.
But I wanted something before 2005-2006 when GM went into cylinder deactivation and variable cam timing junk, because that just makes things more expensive. Because of that, I was looking for older 6.0's which made the low mileage hunt even harder.

**matt evans** · 11-26-2011, 11:28 AM

IMO i prefer the ls1. you can still make loads of power with stock bottem end. Look up Texas Speed's camaro. Im not putting down a lq4 by no means. We had a ls1 we tore apart that had 180,000 miles on it and it still had the factory hone marks in the cylinder walls and that motor was not babied, it seen some RPMs. but its all personal preference. again my $0.02.

**kenro23** · 11-26-2011, 11:29 AM

So, this is considered an LS what? My LS1 has 83k on it now. When the money is right, I was gonna get it re-machined and all that jazz with the upgrades that I want. I like keeping things as close to original as possible. I have heard a lot of people talking about the 6.0 though.

**kenro23** · 11-26-2011, 11:31 AM

This is why I wanna stay with what I have. Just getting all the kinks worked out on what exactly I wanna buy when that time comes.

Originally Posted by matt evans

IMO i prefer the ls1. you can still make loads of power with stock bottem end. Look up Texas Speed's camaro. Im not putting down a lq4 by no means. We had a ls1 we tore apart that had 180,000 miles on it and it still had the factory hone marks in the cylinder walls and that motor was not babied, it seen some RPMs. but its all personal preference. again my $0.02.

**matt evans** · 11-26-2011, 11:43 AM

it just depends what plans you have for your car. Do you plan you race it regularly or just making a nice street rod?

**kenro23** · 11-26-2011, 11:49 AM

I have the h/c/i, sfc's picked out for it now. Just need the money to buy it. Nice street rod to answer your question with occasional track use.

**Firebirdjones** · 11-26-2011, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by matt evans

IMO i prefer the ls1. you can still make loads of power with stock bottem end. Look up Texas Speed's camaro. Im not putting down a lq4 by no means. We had a ls1 we tore apart that had 180,000 miles on it and it still had the factory hone marks in the cylinder walls and that motor was not babied, it seen some RPMs. but its all personal preference. again my $0.02.

Depends, it's somewhat of a crap shoot. How the car was used and how well it was maintained is going to be the key factor. In some instances I've seen, the cylinders may still have some cross hatching, but they were still too far out of round for a simple hone.
It's going to take a bore gauge to really inspect the shape the block is in....

Yes you can make power with the LS1's, you can make power with anything if you stick a 15 degree head on it...it's the lack of boring that turns me off. If you have one that can be honed, that's great. I'd use it too. If not,,,then it's a door stop as far as I'm concerned. I'm not spending $800-$1500 to resleeve it.
Besides, it's much easier to make power with a 4" bore, and that's been the basis of performance since the early 60's. The 3.9" bore tends to shroud the valves.
But the real advantage to the cast iron 4" bore blocks is the ability to bore, more than once. Up to .040 over or more, so there is another rebuild left in the block for cleanup down the road without the expense of sleeving. You get your money's worth.

**matt evans** · 11-26-2011, 12:08 PM

im running 7.70s in my car in the 1/8 and i dont drive it very often and my motor has 79000 miles on it runs strong. if you can get that block down cheaper from that guy awesome if you can find a 6.0 block for decent snag it. just shop around and see what you can find before you impulse buy. these motors are a dime a dozen anymore.