EARNHARDT INTIMIDATOR SS

[Belair62]

I don't want to get in the middle of this love fest !!

[NCGuy68]

You Forum Leaders crack me up (grinning) and I know its all in good fun.

Belair62 has it right. The LS1 and LS6 motors are the logical 'step-up' from GM in the last 30 years. They make great power at a reasonable price bone stock. Even Chrysler has raised the bar with the introduction of the 'new' Hemi. The muscle car wars of the 60s' could be heating up again.

I enjoy and appreciate the 60s-70s cars as much as anyone. However, I'am intrigued with the potential of the LS1 based cars.

Any other thoughts on this?

[Chevy454]

The LS1 based powerplants are nice, except for 1 thing: the piston knock. That's the one thing where GM really stepped in it, and I get a good taste of it daily[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif[/img]. Other than that, they are EXCELLENT engines.

[CWilliams]

Weight to horsepower ratio with the LS1 is where it shines. I've got an '01 and haven't really noticed any knock but.

[Chevy454]

It seems like the piston knock is a hit or miss kind of deal. Mine has it, my brothers doesn't...2 others in town, they don't have it, but one of those 2 owners had a previous car that did.

Oh, and I forgot...tranny problems. Any of you LS-1 guys ran into that? It blows my mind how the Vipers and ZO6 cars have no problems with the T-56 (yeah, they get different ratios and forks/synchros) yet a LOT of the F-body guys run into trouble (my car is on it's 3rd!). Kind of makes me wonder how the T-56 will EVER live behind some of the ZL-1 cars...

[COPO PETE]

Rob, Run some amsoil in the old girl. I bet the piston knock goes away!
Peter

[CWilliams]

You guys want to get the skinny on oil, check out this site.
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

All you ever wanted to know about oil, filters, etc. but were afraid to ask!

[NCGuy68]

[ QUOTE ]
Rob, Run some amsoil in the old girl. I bet the piston knock goes away!
Peter

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree Pete......been running Amsoil for years in all my cars including the race cars. Never had a oil related problem.

[moparts]

Hate to bring this up Rob but didn't your piston knock start at the drag strip after your wide open throttle shift from 3rd to 2nd? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif[/img] (couldn't get the burnout smiley to do it backwards) "O" and isn't most of the tranny problem got to do with the shift knob comming off in your hand? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[Chevy454]

Mo:

You just HAD to chime in! Yeah, the 3-2 shift wasn't one of my "brighter" moments, but the tranny and knock were there LONG before I came along!

It seems that if the car doesn't knock or have tranny problems in the first few thousand miles, that you are generally "ok". I've personally seen and been in BRAND NEW F-bodies that have had tranny problems and engine noise. The tranny problems ranged from notchy between the gears to darn near impossible to get in reverse...of course the dealers didn't notice anything wrong. Uh huh, riiiight.

If I'm not mistaken, and Murphy or Barker could probably tell better than me, but I "believe" the ZO6/Viper T-56's get steel vs. aluminum forks, and they also got beefier synchros (along with a slightly different gear set). Did the ZL-1 cars get the "standard" T-56?