What would you do?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Likes: 8
From: Raleigh, NC
What would you do?
My corvette is an 05 with a full exhaust, CAI, underdrive pulley and a dyno tune. It currently has 148k on it and I wanted to add an intake manifold with a ported throttle body and possibly a mild cam. My question to you guys is would you rather freshen up the motor or would you just add an intake manifold and throttle body with the current mileage? I am on the fence about the cam but I assume if I went with a rebuild it would be smart to swap cams at that point. As you can tell I enjoy driving my vette. I have driven it across country twice and up the coastal drive in cali and more. I really just want to stick with bolt-ons right now but just trying to decide what to put my money towards. Thanks in advance for your input.
P.S. There is nothing wrong with the motor now and she still runs strong.
P.S. There is nothing wrong with the motor now and she still runs strong.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,122
Likes: 199
From: TX
I wouldn't worry too much about that mileage. I've seen many, many ,many LS motors well over the 300k mark. You may be on the higher end of Corvette mileage, but certainly not on the high end of LS engine in general.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,085
Likes: 395
From: ARKANSAS
I would assume it is an LS2. I don't see any reason to change out motor to an LS3. If you want to build current motor do it. The cam and additional parts will go a long way to extending motors life. I'm not a knowledge base about what needs changing to upgrade, but you can find it on this forum. Still gotta be cheaper than new motor. Plus it's you motor.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,062
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
I dont know if Id stick expensive heads on an old bottom end youre going to twist (and you will).
If something gives, it may be fixable, may not.
Should you rebuild, are you keeping the same size motor so you can reuse these parts? If not buy used.
If something gives, it may be fixable, may not.
Should you rebuild, are you keeping the same size motor so you can reuse these parts? If not buy used.
Last edited by cv67; Sep 15, 2018 at 01:00 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 163
Likes: 8
From: Raleigh, NC
I guess the question im trying to ask is from you guys experience is 148k too much to add more boltons? I know its a “you never really know” question but I was hoping someone has experienced modding at this point and if they ran into any issues or how long did their motor run without any problems.
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Race Director
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 12,009
Likes: 3,547
From: Central MO
I have a buddy who added a Vortec on his 2003 Avalanche at 230k miles; it had previously been stalled and cammed. If you have properly card for the car and kept up with the scheduled maintenance I wouldn't worry about adding additional bolt ons.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 14,555
Likes: 1,255
From: Saint Albans, WV
He probably already had replaced the oil pump, lifters, push rods, retainers, springs and timing set.
Last edited by saplumr; Sep 15, 2018 at 06:39 PM.
Instructor
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 235
Likes: 21
Does the under drive pulley replace the harmonic balancer ? if not id look into that for sure. i have a 08 LS3 and at 110k i did cam but did the refresh lifters, trays sets, rockers, HB ect.
that being said dad drove his ls1 c5 to 190k and never had a problem
that being said dad drove his ls1 c5 to 190k and never had a problem
Racer
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 303
Likes: 72
From: Arizona
I guess the question im trying to ask is from you guys experience is 148k too much to add more boltons? I know its a “you never really know” question but I was hoping someone has experienced modding at this point and if they ran into any issues or how long did their motor run without any problems.
I know it isn't exactly the same comparison, but I spent many years in the import world, and oftentimes those engines would start at about 100k miles before the new owners bought and started cranking on them. Often times those were forced induction applications. The high mileage itself doens't immediately mean there are going to be problems. Especially since you already have bolt ons. Do you burn excessive oil? Are you leaking fluids anywhere? Any interference noises? Any temperature problems? You mentioned you got a tune, are you running it right to the edge of safe AFR? Or are you running a nice, safe AFR? Running lean and burning pistons tops or rings could be an issue, if your tuner ran you right to the edge of lean.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 35,874
Likes: 1,600
From: Honolulu HI
Whats your endgame for the car? How many more years/miles do you plan on keeping it? If its conceivably a "forever" car, a motor refresh (or a LS3 swap) would be prudent. If you're thinking about getting rid of the car relatively soon, I wouldn't change anything really...certainly not a cam, as you'll need a complete valve job at those miles, springs, lifters, etc. I suppose if you found a crazy good deal on a intake/TB...sure, why not.