New Fangled Terminology?

[Fuzzy_C]

well, i've had my 80 t/a for a while, and i've only ever had old school vehicles, my 80 t/a is the newest vehicle i've ever owned, when it comes to fuel injection, computers, and that stuff, i have no clue what to do. i can fix anything on my cars with the tools i got in my trunk.

but a deal has just been made where i can get $6,000, the only catch is, i have to buy a vehicle 1995 or newer with it, and that makes me feel like a 6 year old watching a porno movie, i dunno what the hell is going on, so i come here for some help, as i know absolutely nothing about new t/a's, camaro's, or firebird's.

my first question is, what are common problems with the 4th gen cars? what should i keep a sharp eye out for when buying one?

and my other question is, and i feel like a retard asking this, but i'm used to knowing what size an engine is by cubic inches, and it's better to ask this here then get laughed at when i ask the person i'm getting the car from. so exactly what is an lt1 and ls1? are they like a 305 and 350? or what? thanks for any help

[97cavalier]

lol, i tink that porn thing was funny, any ways both the lt1 and ls1 are "350". The ls1 is actuly a 348 or something but every one just says 350. i would get an ls1, but i do not know if you will be able to find one for $6,000. the lt1's common problems are when they get high miles are, optic spark, and i think that is the only engine thing i can think of. The window motors go out also. that is all i can think of so far for the lt1. The ls1's problmes are the rearend does not like alot of torque on it all the time, so they go out some times.And then there is piston slap. This is where the skirts on the piston are to short and when the motor is cold they hit a little on the cylender wall. But when it warms up the piston expans and fits normal.

[Mr. Luos]

Originally Posted by 97cavalier

The ls1 is actuly a 348 or something but every one just says 350. i would get an ls1, but i do not know if you will be able to find one for $6,000.

346ci
Used...mine sold for $1250 shipped. 29,200 miles. That was heads, cam, internals. Missing covers, gaskets, intake, etc. though.
Can probably find a low mile LS1 with tranny for $3000. Complete.

Originally Posted by 97cavalier

the lt1's common problems are when they get high miles are, optic spark, and i think that is the only engine thing i can think of. The window motors go out also. that is all i can think of so far for the lt1. The ls1's problmes are the rearend does not like alot of torque on it all the time, so they go out some times.And then there is piston slap. This is where the skirts on the piston are to short and when the motor is cold they hit a little on the cylender wall. But when it warms up the piston expans and fits normal.

Rear end is an issue with LT1 and LS1 cars. Just a piece of crap for the power the cars make.
Piston slap is nothing to worry about.
Window motors are an issue on any 4th gen.

[97cavalier]

he has to get a whole new car.

[Mr. Luos]

See....that is what I get for skimming.

[97cavalier]

ya but $1,250 for your old ls1? that is cheep, did it come with the wireing also?

[pro_am]

Man, 6k will get you a nice looking early fourth gen F body, probably hard to find a later one. The 93-97 will probably be easy to get ahold of for what your talkin, good luck, they are tons of fun, and keep us posted as to what you go with. Good luck!
Jake

[Mr. Luos]

Originally Posted by 97cavalier

ya but $1,250 for your old ls1? that is cheep, did it come with the wireing also?

No wiring, no intake, no tranny, no flywheel, no oilpan, no front cover, no valvecovers.

It was heads, cam, timing chain, and shortblock. It would have gone for much more if I would have sold it complete. I priced everything out though and it wasn't worth selling it complete. Found someone that needed what I had.

[97cavalier]

ya, did it have piston slap when you had it?

[Mr. Luos]

Nope.
That is really a misconception. Everyone seems to think it is every LS1 that has it. It isn't. 25-30% maybe.
Mine didn't have any oil consumption either. Which can be/is a direct effect of the piston slap.

[6speed]

my 01 had piston slap but it only carried on til the engine warmed up then it queited down...nothing to worry about

[97cavalier]

same with mine, every one said they eat oil, mine did not!!

[Mr. Luos]

Originally Posted by 6speed

my 01 had piston slap but it only carried on til the engine warmed up then it queited down...nothing to worry about

Hey...off topic, but your avatar...
Reverse is on the wrong side.

[Rmbodie]

That avatar looks like Toyota not T/A , I think climate and oil type has alot to do with piston slap . Mine did it only once noticably . On a cold winter morn with Mobil 1 sinthetic . When I changed the oil back to Castrol syntec , I never heard it again . But I lost 3 Quarts in 3000 miles by supposedly not driving hard enough . HAHA . Rob
Body panels interior cracking is another problem I have encountered . And both sunvisors fell off in one week . Have one of those land in your NADS while driving . Rob

[Fuzzy_C]

i've found a few v6 frebirds around here, but i can only find 3 v8's, the cheapest one is $17,000, and the one with the most miles only has 15,000 miles, it seems that it's hard to find one that isn't practically new around here

i did find a 97 firebird v6 with 75,000 miles on it in great condition for $5,000 though, currently that's my best prospect. i just got a new job, so maybe i'll just save up for a month or so and shell out the 19k for that black t/a, it's a ws6 ls1 convertible with 8,000 miles on it, although i could buy 46 pinto's for that price...

thanks for the help so far guys, greatly appreciate it