Hey guys, I"m looking at a 1998 LS1 for a swap.. but I thought I read somewhere to stay away from the '98 model years, the first LS1's?

Am I dreaming this up, or is there some truth to that? Thanks!

 

yea, theres some truth to that..


the heads dont flow as well, and are a primiter bolt design. all others are centerbolt.
the intakes arnt as good as the 01+
the PCM and harness is unique to the 98... all 99-02 fbodies are the same... meaning they have most of the wiring and tuning support.



really, its just a bunch of little things... ideally, if you want a LS1, you want a 2002 model with the updated pistion ring pack, LS6 manifold, ect...

really, id reccomend any 99+ one, unless you score a kickass deal.

 

Actually the first LS1's were the 97's. They came in the Corvettes. The 98's also have a slightly bigger cam than the 00-02's. But the 01 and 02's have the better LS6 intake and better exhaust manifolds. Both worth maybe 10 hp. When I owned my 98 Z28 it had 50,000 miles on it and it ran a 13.3 stock. Some of the 98's with a build date between february and april had extreme piston slap and head gasket sealing problems. So you should try and get donor cars build date info before purchasing the motor. Good Luck!

 

engine is still in the car. car is acutally complete and never crashed, etc. was going to buy it, rape it, then part out the rest.

thanks for the info guys! where can I check for build date?

 

The build date sticker should be on the driver side door. It is imprinted with all of the other info like, tire info, gross vehicle capacity, vin #, and all that kinda crap. It might be some sort of code sequence. I cant remember off hand. If it isnt easily identified, You should take a picture of it and I can help You figure it out.

 

There is some lore about the 98 being weeker but unless your are beating it to death...it is a great engine

 

98's do have some differences but you can usually get a good deal from the right person.

I just picked up a complete 98 LS1 for $1,100 and will just swap out the intake,heads and cam.

If you get a good deal then you can might get off cheaper just replacing the different parts.

Mike