Adding a Catch Can this time
 

OK.. Car has 200,000 miles - all stock except for headers and a tune. Daily driven ( obviously ) and a lot. Frequent oil changes - but was starting to use too much oil. Testing said 2 cylinders were going away. Seals were leaking. So, lots new parts, LS7 lifters, AFM gone, GPI SS1 cam, OEM pistons etc etc.. Get her back next week - and will start taking better care of her for the next 200K.

Wow 200k miles! Do you want share other maintenance parts you used throughout this journey. Spark plugs, coolant flush, etc....

So a tune and headers won't blow the valves lol

That cam lobe looks pretty gnarly, valves not much better.

I tore down an 80 TA 301 in about 94 that I swear never had the oil changed (solid chunk of oil in the valve covers) & the valves didn’t look that bad. LOL

That looks exceptional imho

Can’t really find a DI motor looking better at 200k

I would be disappointed with less than 350k due to being spoiled by LSx motors but still I wouldn’t be too torn up

What have I done from zero to 200k?

Loads of oil changes. 4 sets of tires. Brakes been good - swapped to Powerstop back in the first year. I think I have changed pads and rotors once since then. Fronts are due again for pads.

Front struts changed two months back - clunking.
Serpentine belt about 3 months ago - looked all cracked.
Trans flush around 2 years ago.

Thats about it - I am very happy with what GM built - considering the mileage in 4 years to the month - and it was still going hard.

Ill report back in another 100k. after a little more maintenance and care .

Homer, what type of oil were you using and how many miles between changes?

Thanks for sharing the info - especially the pictures. Many alarmist have warned us the LT1 valves would look like yours at 20K miles - not 200K miles. So not too bad IMO.

Question- Since you hail from the land up north - when you say 200K miles then you have about 321,900 kilometers showing on the odometer - right? That's a huge number to stare at. I got mine March 2016 and only have 29800 miles - I'll never reach 100K miles within my ownership - let alone double that. You must live in your car!

For a DI motor that looks pretty good internally for 200k miles. I still don't think it should be leaking like that though externally. Imho gasket seals should wear more based on age vs mileage. I have thought from day 1 that GM switching back to sealant instead of gaskets like the LS was a mistake. A 4-5 year old engine shouldn't be leaking like that even with high mileage. That is what my 2000 GMC Yukon with 225k looks like.

Most of the near 40 oil changes were done at dealerships - so whatever they throw in.
The computer guided my changes - averaging 7-8k KM

Yea, the valves were a little shocking, but not a lot.
Yes, KM is over 306000,, so Im not quite at 200K miles, but close enough to claim it. Its cool to see it actually - thinking I've enjoyed so much wheel time. A few roadtrips each year - headed south to wander the roads. A weeklong trip will see about 3500-4500 KM's. Thats a vacation for me.

I have a little over 5000 engine hours according to the dashboard. 1000 idle hours.

Yea, I suspect I have a pretty unique set of pictures of an LT1... and will for a while. Why isnt GM calling ????

Yea, the external leakage annoyed me - uncalled for.

WOW! You sure drive a lot but for 200K that doesn't look that bad, hopefully a catch can will help out this time around.

All of you guys that are shocked about the amount of buildup on these valves obvoiusly didn't work in a garage, in a poor county, back in the days of carburetors and leaded fuel. In my cousin's shop, we worked on a lot of cars owned by folks who couldn't afford to stay on top of routine maintenance. I have worked on countless cars where the carbon buildup extends from around 3/4 inch up the stem, all the way down to the valve seat area, the cross section of crud was at least 3/8" thick. For some reason old, neglected small block Chevys were the worst. The old Ford or Mopar small blocks didn't hold up appreciably better or worse than the Chevys, but for some reason the valves always looked better.