CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[ecrabb]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

Oh ofcourse there is drawbacks, I wouldn't say there isn't. The cost to buy one new is one, but over here the cost to buy an American car is huge for what you get, which is why very few people entertain the idea here. Parts for a Mercedes Benz in my experience are mostly very cheap compared to other makes ive been involved in parts for, but having said that, "the cheapest car to repair is the car you don't have to repair"...

I add oil about every 6 months I spose, it doesn't leak or use any oil so its ages before it needs it. I haven't done the filter in 2 years. Fleece filter in these. Mounted top of the engine, 74mm special socket to remove the cover, oil filter slides down in there. To sell the car would not be worth the effort, so I don't make any more effort on it either. If it stops working I will buy another one, but its showing no signs of slowing down yet.

I don't know how often the 78 had oil added, but not very often cause it didn't use any either. I wouldn't call it an exception, there are a few getting around with high klms, a few around with higher than that. There is a 74 240E around here that last I knew had done 3.4 million klms with no major work, that was in about 2001, they still have the car but keep it for sentimental value as the man who owned it since new is dead. It still ran fine then.

Give me the deutsche tourenwagen anyday Crabb, besides that, they are a lot nicer to drive...

[ecrabb]

Hey, I'm actually a big fan of German cars, and as luxury cars, they are typically well-executed. There's no denying that a Mercedes has a nicer interior than a GM, Holden, or any Japanese or Korean car. Are they nicer to drive? Of course. I'd expect a $60,000 car to drive nicer, handle better, and feel better than a $30,000 car. Duh. I just don't think there's as big of a gap mechanically as you do. Gap? Perhaps. Big gap? Not so much, and you do pay for that gap. No free lunches.

Again, to your million-mile Merc. There really are plenty of those kinds of cars here in the states - maybe not a million miles, but right up there. I was in a sh*tty minivan cab in Denver last month. It had 500,000-some miles on it. There isn't much worse duty than a minivan in Denver. That's another thing... You see lots of older cars in the US southern climates with tons of miles on them. Where I live? Forget it about. The temp ranges from -20C in the winter, to over 38C in the summer. The cold, salt and sand, snow and freezing water destroys everything.

Pretty much anything with much over 100,000 miles is worth between $5k and $10k. The funny thing is the expensive German imports aren't worth much more than the Japanese or domestic stuff because they're so horrendously expensive to repair when stuff does break.

SC

[mx83toy]

Defender is still the king

[CasetheCorvetteman]

Different countries clearly present different prices too by the looks, cause while they can be expensive to repair here, they typically speaking are not, especially if you do it yourself.

The minivan probably ran near 24 hrs a day and rarely ever shut off. That is not uncommon here for taxis to make the million klms ( the Fords did, never the Holdens, the 4L60 and the E variant never EVER went the distance before it kicked the 3-4 clutches out ) BUT, having said this, the Fords bought for a Taxi here in Australia ( not sure if this is still the case now ) had a balanced and blue printed version of the same engine, and it was bullet proof. It helped to more than double the cost of the car too.

Id be very interested to know how all those Australian built Pontiacs you got over there in the last 10 or so years are going, GTO? I cant remember what they renamed them there, I think you also got the 4 door version as well, but I don't know. They were sold over there cause they were not popular enough here, so GM Australia did a deal and shipped them over there. Rare to see one here, they were not well thought out cars, chassis flex for one was terrible. It was quite an insult to the Australian public that were aware of the price they sold for there compared to here, they were about 3 times the price here just for the Buick V6 equipped version.

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[ecrabb]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

No mate, the LS1 in the Corvette was NOT the same. Even the block is different.

I spent quite alot of years involved in parts import, conversion to RHD, repairs, servicing, tuning and modding with Corvettes, although i have been out of it for many years and have forgotten alot, i still have a hige amount of data written down somewhere.

I didnt pluck the name "CasetheCorvetteman" from thin air AussieAl can confirm my former status, as his assistance was very much appreciated

[CasetheCorvetteman]

And dont try to understand the "dickhead" stickers in the lines youre taking, youre way off the mark there. Its a good guess, but its not it. It is all to do with the the fact they think the car has a Chevy V8 in it, making it a Chevy, which it is not. Its all Australian design. Few parts made here, alot, if not most, made in India, China, and Mexico.

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[ecrabb]

I've been around GM cars all my life, and I've never once heard that the LS1 in an F-body was somehow a completely different engine than the LS1 in a Corvette. Can you point to any source for your info?

SC

[CasetheCorvetteman]

I have had both apart. The fact one was made in USA and the other was not is a pretty fair indication that there is going to be differences too, in quality if nothing else. The first batch of the non Corvette ones were notorious for wearing the bores oval shaped.

Ive been out of it all for probably 7 years now, and although its really of no concern to me if you believe there are such differences, they are there.

[CasetheCorvetteman]

I will say though, the Corvette version of the LS1 actually is a good engine!!

[the big E]

wow if i knew the small reference of my luxury suv would cause this kind of response i wouldn't have mentioned it(just kidding)

i guess i ain't the only gear head and car fanatic on here

case the cadillacs here had engines almost the same as the corvettes(my uncle worked at gm)

my escalade has the 4L65E tranny and no problems and i am coming up on 180,000 miles us no problems(going to have the fluid and filter changed soon)and has the ls 6.0
remember the escalade costs roughly 80 grand here

[CasetheCorvetteman]

The 4L65-E is not the same as a 4L60-E, and there were many variants on the 4L60 series of transmission, again with the Corvette version being SUBSTANTIALLY stronger and more durable, as well as having a different case used only in the Corvettes. I used to know every single difference there but its been years since ive looked at one, id need to get the service manual out as well as dig up all my notes on what year and what version had which parts factory fitted, which im not going to do.

The 2 obvious differences on the standard version vs the Corvette version are the 2nd gear servo and the valve body, with the Corvette version able to make the 3rd ---> 4th shift at wide open throttle, where as no other version was able to without modification to the valve body.

The 4L65-E is a much later version ( 2001ish i think?? ) able to withstand a higher torque, not quite up to the 4L80-E, but certainly better than the bog-stock 4L60-E it replaced. Fluid and filter should be replaced on the 4L60 and 65 every 12 months or 12,000 miles, which ever occurs first.

Big-E, those LS engines were all "almost the same as the Corvette", but they are not "the" same. As i said earlier, almost every part is different, even if it is just slightly. Its a very broad "almost".

[the big E]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

I dont know what car youre restoring, or what engine youre going with, but a 4L80-E is quite an extreme transmission and without looking up the car i couldnt say either way, but id be saying go with a built up 4L60 instead, itll be strong, wont need a computer to shift it, and its a better performing trans for the most. Not in stock form, but certainly when built up properly with the right aftermarket parts.

[the big E]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[the big E]