IcemanSS454

I am starting to shop for a LT1 or LS1 Camaro. LT1's are more in my price range so they are the one's I am most concerned with. First off alot of the cars I have been looking at have 100,000 or more miles on them. Are there any kind of major concerns I should have with a LT1 with that many miles. Also my roomate who owned a 97 Z28 for a while told me that he heard to only consider 1995 or newer due to some change made. However, he can not remember what that change was. Does anyone have any idea to what he could be refferring to.

I know the basics of looking at used cars but any specific advice on what to look for in a LT1 car would be much appreciated. I am also interested on info on the LT1 SS's because that would be my first choice if I could find one within my price range.

NVetro

Well with any high milage car check out the physical condition of the car, check for leaks, etc.. Ask the owner what maintence he did (Opti Spark, Starter, Altinator, Clutch etc...) Nothing is worse then blowing your cash on a car and then needing another 2k in parts to fix her. Most LT1's have the dreaded intake manifold leak. Feel around the BACK of the passenger side of the motor to see if it has any oil. Its an easy fix. See what mods he has done, chances are the car was prob beat on for those 100k miles, some people luck out and get a car with 100k that was all highway. Regardless see if she smokes. If its blueiish white, then your burning oil, if you see black smoke your running rich (to much fuel). And of course drive it, see how she feels, see if the SES (check engine light) lights up when you put it on the "on" position, see if that light lights up in the upper right of the cluster. Some people like to be slick and take the bulb out Let us know what u find. Hope this helped. O yea, diffrences in years:

93: Speed Density (No maf)
94-95: MAF, one cat, OBD1 computer
96-97: 2 cats, OBD2 computer (SUPPOSED TO be 10 more hp at the motor cus of the 2 cats, and exhaust, etc..) Diffrent interior in 97.

Personaly, I would get a 94 or 95. Then agian 97's have a cooler interior, hehe.

Antz97ZNJ

Id stay w/ obd1(computer) w/ is 94-95....the LT1 is a great engine and will run like new past 100k miles if it was treated properly...96-97 has 10 more hp on "paper" but ive yet to see any performance differance between 93-97...0bd11 w/ is 96-97 has given people problems in the past even though i didnt see any w/ my either of my old 96 or 97 , id try to stay around 50-70k miles, you can find them pretty cheap if you look around and some are already modded and runnin fast, less work for u. z28 resale value really blows but thats good for us. good luck

PurplePonyEatr

I would watch out for the 93-94 LT1s. They came with a sealed optispark. The opti gets hot and can crack easily. Some people have endless optio problems, some never do (i guess it's a hit and miss thing). 95+ was when they started with the vented opti. Probably the better way to go. Good luck with your search!

natalie

hot_red_z28

Just make sure ya test drive it and that it pulls hard. As for the years, I recommend the 94-95 so that you have the odb1 system, which means you have 2 less o2 sensors to worry about, a much easier time installing a off road pipe, and the y pipes are cheaper once you get some headers...

The difference you are talking about is what was mentioned above, with the sealed optispark. I have a 94, with about 80k miles now, and I run nitrous and many bolt ons. My stock original opti-spark has not given me any problems at all. Some people have bad luck with them, others have good luck. However, the sealed opti should not be your decision maker for buying a 94 or a 95, because you can put a vented opti from a 95 onto a 94 fbody.

Also, if you decide to do custom programming, the odb1 system is about the only one you can completely falsh and program in 5 mins with just a laptop and cable. If you go with a company like PCM for less, for programming, you'll save tons of money by being able to flash your own pcm.

Rival

If I were going to buy a lt1/ls1 camaro now I would go for the ls1 all day. No optisprak, changing plus, driveshaft vibration, etc. the lists of stuff that was addressed toward the ls1 car was a lot. I am not saying that they are perfact either but they are a hell of a lot better that the lt1's. Plus the ls1 is .5-.6 quicker in the 1/4mile. It is just a flat out better car. Wait to see if you get people who have sold their lt1 for an ls1. They tell you. Save your money for a little while longer. You can find 98's with 70-85k on for less than 10 grand. Maybe less than nine. But it would be worth your while to wait. I wish I did.

GREGG 97Z

Here is an article I scanned from GMHTP magazine of what to look for when buying a used LT1 fbody, it's got some good info in it.