Hi, just bought my first Camaro yesterday. It is a 97' Z-28 30th anniversary white/orange stripes. It has 95,000 miles. I bought it for $7,000.00. Do you think that was a good price. It need the passenger seat fixed and the stripes replaced. I will probably just paint the whole thing later and put in a new striping kit. My question is when I picked it up yesterday I had the AC on and the temperature ran at close to the 210 mark for the 15 mile trip. However, when I left the car on idle for about 15 minutes at home the gauge got to about 215 or so. When I turned the car off and put the switch on to listen to the radio it climbed a little higher than this. Is this normal. Also, what is the correct temperature that an LT-1 should operate at? What is the proper way to put in extra coolant if it needs it. I really like this car and hope to have it for some time. If the motor has been well taken care of can you get some good miles out of an LT-1?

 

from what i was told, the lt1 runs hot, up around the 3/4 mark in traffic. there are products out there that let you set the temp at which they come on. as far as a good deal, i'd say not. mine is a '94 with 72,xxx miles and i'm only trying to get $5500.

 

the deal you got isnt to bad as long as the car is in good shape. it could probily use a radiator flush and, or you could add a aditive to the fluid from lucas or royal purple. or go tosummit racing.com this is were you can get like new fans or radiators,or get a lower temp thermastate.

 

Actually, since it's the 30th Anniversary Special Edition car you got a pretty good deal since it's a potential collector car since there were limited numbers made in that paint scheme. As far as your temp goes, it sounds like it may be running a bit hot. Was the 15 mile trip in the city where you're stopping at stop lights etc. or was it more on the highway where you're actually moving and getting air through the radiator?

 

I thought i was a pretty good deal considering as you said there were only 3400 + made. Despite the fact that jbz28 thinks a 94 is more collectible. Actually the trip was on the highway and I had the air on. The car actually was running at about 190 with the ac on. It was when I was at home with the car parked in idle the gauge went to about 210. When I turned it off it climbed to about 215. The fans did not go on. I checked the coolant level and it was a little low. I am going to buy some Dexcool today to top it off to see what happens. Do you add the coolant through the bottle or do you top it off directly through the radiator?

 

I'd say you got a pretty good deal too. Low miles, 97 and a potential collector car. LT1's do run hot and 215 might be a tad high but only by a few degrees. My LT1 has a entire new cooling system (rad, therm, fans, hoses) and it will get up to about 212 sitting in traffic so your not bad. Do a flush and it might help a bit but still expect the car to run hotter than most.

 

Thanks LT1Runner. I am pretty excited about getting the small stuff done to enjoy the car. What should the mixture of Dexcool to water be? Are you running a 180 thermostat? Also, when you replaced your radiator did you go original or did you go with an aluminum one? I sure would like a Be Cool radiator eventually, but those things are kind of expensive. I think I'll try the flush first. Thanks for the advice.

 

I think the proper Coolant/water mix is 60/40 but I could be wrong. Yes I'm running a stock 180 degree thermostat and all 4th gens have aluminum radiators and I'm running a stock delco there too. Unless you're pushing 500hp I'd say go with the Be Cool rad but if you're stock to mildly modded then the stocker should do just fine. If you decide to replace the radiator then be carefull with the Autozone/Checker rads. Those things are 1 1/2 inches thick and the stock rads are 2 inches. That half inch made a huge difference with my car. Anytime I ran the ac the car would overheat. When I purchased the factory delco I had no problems. Good luck.

 

The fans do not turn on until the car hits 220, so don't worry about that. If it got up to 215 just sitting that's not too abnormal, maybe a bit warm, but nothing to be concerned about.