High miles
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 194
Likes: 23
From: Illinois
High miles
I bought my first Vette it’s a 2000 looks great runs great the problem is it has 174000 miles on it no knocks leaks or smoke has great oil pressure the car still has life in it. I want to do some mods eventually. Looking for simple advice on how to proceed. Should my ls1 have a fresh rebuild first?Thanks in advance.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,812
Likes: 2,028
From: eastern NC
I believe it really depends on what mods you are talking about. If you are talking about more benign things such as a Cold Air Intake you should be fine. If you are talking about power adders such as, heads, cam, turbo or supercharger, you really should look into the overall condition of the engine. A well cared for and unabused LS1 should have no difficulty lasting 200k miles or more. The same would apply to the rest of the powertrain.
If you are not aware of how the car was used and cared for up to this point, the prudent thing would be to evaluate thoroughly what you are starting with. There are plenty of reputable shops, tuners that can give you a comprehensive evaluation of what you have.
Good luck... GUSTO
If you are not aware of how the car was used and cared for up to this point, the prudent thing would be to evaluate thoroughly what you are starting with. There are plenty of reputable shops, tuners that can give you a comprehensive evaluation of what you have.
Good luck... GUSTO
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 194
Likes: 23
From: Illinois
Thank you I have had two mechanics I trust look at the car and say it is very sound and yes I’m thinking eventually can and headers and some other bolt ons not thinking sc. just looking to get some extra hp to make it more fun.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,791
Likes: 355
From: Northville, MI
Several years ago GM took one of their engineers DD 2002Z at 216000 miles and spent almost a week tearing the engine apart and inspecting everything for wear. Since he was an engineer, he religiously changed his oil an filter, everything used was Mobil1. They were amazed at how little wear the engine had experienced and the sodium filled valves were is remarkable shape and even the valve springs were in good condition. Now this car was driven summer, fall, winter, and spring. It ran numerous HPDE's and was heavily autocrossed. They figured the answer was in the maintenance the owner had given the Corvette. That car is still running strong today with about 270,000 on the clock.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,496
Likes: 353
From: Little Rock Arkansas
Honestly I'm of the logic where if it ain't broke don't fix it. If your mods don't foresee boost then I don't see a reason to go through a rebuild. Bolt ons are easily transferred/handled/left when dealing with either a rebuilt or new long block.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 2,800
Likes: 456
From: USA
When I purchased my 2001 coupe it had a very significant oil leak. It was leaking at the rear of the oil pan on both left and right sides. The PO had had the oil pan gasket replaced 3 times with the leak still there after all 3 repairs. I decided to pull the engine to repair the leak due to the above attempts at repair. I then tore the engine apart and found the problem was with the upper oil pan not being flat across the back.
It was one of those well while it is apart I will replace this and that situations. The car had 144000 miles on it. Everything in the motor looked like brand new except a couple of minor items.
I am sure that the motor would have ran well past 200000 miles if I had not done anything but fixed the oil leak.
I would take the advise above in post #3.
It was one of those well while it is apart I will replace this and that situations. The car had 144000 miles on it. Everything in the motor looked like brand new except a couple of minor items.
I am sure that the motor would have ran well past 200000 miles if I had not done anything but fixed the oil leak.
I would take the advise above in post #3.
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Team Owner
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 31,976
Likes: 486
From: Guinness Its whats for B'fast JAWGA
CI 3-4-5-9 Veteran
As mentioned above, I'd do a compression test. You can do an oil analysis. If they come back clean, keep running it. What is your goal? A decently maintained LS will drive a long time.
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
High miles
Just acquired 2001 from a family member, it has 238,000 miles on it. He had some transmission work and a clutch around 60,000 miles. Most of them between Ga. and Fl. It drives tight, clutch feels good, still shifts great. Pulls hard to redline. This is my tenth corvette since 1974. Enjoy it
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,366
Likes: 249
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
My 2003 Z06 has 164,000 miles on it. It still drives as good as new. Starts perfectly, runs cool and uses no oil between changes at 40-50% on the DIC. It's done its share at Englishtown drag strip, does some road course work and run close to top speed several times. I still love my car and have no intentions of getting rid of it anytime soon. Still modding it, too. Use it and beat the hell of it as you'd like. It can take it. These cars run great even with lots of miles on them. A C5 was recently donated to the NCM with around 700,000 miles on it and still running fine. BTW, the most major repair my car has had is a bad slave cylinder led to a clutch change at 106,000 miles.