I'm newish to the third gen camaros and I've been looking for one for a while. I found a 5.7 350 with about 100k miles and I went to check it out. It drove fine but we discovered that it leaked oil. the only other problems were some fans that he installed would not turn off (easy to fix) and my friend said it blew some smoke when driving (bad cat on the car, but I'm not sure thats the problem.) He offered I pay 2k for the car after he fixed the leak. I was hoping someone with some experience could come with me to look at it so I don't overlook something. I'll buy you dinner or something. Thursday After 2:30 would be good. Sunday after 5 is also fine. If you have an opening in your schedule that doesn't meet mine post up and I'll do what I can to get off work/school. I hope to be around here a long time and I don't want to miss a possibly great opportunity. This would really mean a lot to me so so much for looking! -Nate P.S. I live about a mile from Springfield Mall and the guy lives 20 mins from me.

smoke coming from the exhaust grey= worn out cylinder walls or broken piston ring, or bad valve seals. black= car running rich.

Thanks for the reply. Is that the only help everyone can offer? wow I was hoping for a little more....

is the price right anything? possible reasons for the leak?

Well,

You did not state what car this 5.7 was in?? 100K is not that bad for our years of cars. I bought mine 10 years ago with 109K on the ODO. It still runs very strong with 170K plus right now. I just also bought a 92 with 160K on that. So, it's really all dependant on how it was taken care of. I think the biggest hurdle is the transmission. Those are more prone to giving up the ghost at 100K. You definitely wanna look for rust in the floors and rear hatch area. Our cars are prone to window and T-top leaks. Look under the car at the floor pans for rust and under the rear carpet and in the 1/4 panel wells areas. You may also be able to tell how hard it was run. If you see paint cracks where the roof meets the 1/4 panels then the torquey 350 has been twisting the unibody a good bit. You really can't go wrong with the L98 motor as long as the car is not ****!!

If you were closer I would help out but I am in Harford county and I have my own projects. You may wanna contact a guy by the user name of Steveo. I believe he is not far from you and he has some knowledge on these cars you might find helpful.


Hope some of this help. There is a wealth of knowledge in these few million gigabytes here.

what he said, i just didnt put more info cause of the fact that it was smoking, i never buy a car that smokes, unless i plan on rebuilding the motor anyways, that is the only way i ever buy a car that smokes.
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dont like having a worn out motor, and dont like changing the plugs once a week or more.

Hey, i can probably give you a hand to come look at the car if you would like. I can give you quite of a bit of info and my opinion on the whole car if i see it. Let me know, and ill give you my cell and we can meet up and check it out. I wont guess at what i think till i see it. Im about a mile away from springfield mall also so id perfer to just go check it out in person.

Depends when i get off work tommaro, but ill see. Sunday at 5, skins are playing so i wont be available then.

-Steve

Stevo,
You like the Deadskins???? Oh, man I thought you had some sense about you.

Just messin with you, .

Let me know what you find out for the guy. Hell he might want the short block you have for sale.

L8R

Everyone: Thank you so much for the feedback! It means a ton to me!

Steveo: I checked my work schedule and it turns out I don't have to work on sunday so we could (if you were up for it) go anytime Sunday. I checked and noticed that the redskins play at 4:15 so 12 may be good for you. It won't take more then about an hour including driving. you seem to have a lot of respect on this board so coming out to take a look at the car would be awesome! I am very interested in the short block you have too. I've been eying it since you posted it. we can talk about that too!

Thanks again
-Nate

any updates?

Yeah btw, move the carpet when looking at the trunk if you can...The trunks in these cars like to leak as well, and if it has been left outside for a length of time and has leaked into the trunk area it is very likely to rust (for 2k its a great street/strip platform) depending on what route you're going though for 2k i would look for something with a motor/trans problem with a fresh interior and just slap a 400sbc or 350sbc that you can build to your own spec for a good bit cheaper then a crate motor.

and on another note, 350 4bolts are a dime a dozen 9billion of these motors were produced. You can find a core on Craigslist or ebay for 100-200$ (shortblack) and punch it out or w/e....so a 305/2.6 wouldnt be the end of the world :P be patient though if this one seems to have ANY problems you wouldnt be willing to address then DO NOT buy it, you will just end up loosing your ***