Hey, I've been a huge F-body fan for a long time, and I've always seen myself buying a 3rd gen firebird (preferably '85-'90), for the usual $1500-$3500 or so pricetag, but this car came along for only $600...

(yea, busted headlight, meh)

It's a 1991 Camaro RS, an ex state patrol car at that, 350 v8 with less than 16,000 miles on the actual engine, and almost all available options on the interior in working order, the body isn't terrible either.
However, it doesn't run, and I'm no mechanic, nor am I made of money. I'd be willing to put money into it slowly, but I'm not gunna drive it in a wisconsin winter, so I might put a cover on it and let it sit at the appartment garage until I have time to work on it with friends who know more about how to deal with them (a few of which own 4th gen Camaros, one even has an ex-patrol car as well). The sparkplugs weren't sparking, we replaced them, it sounds better, but still no go. It'll turnover, but not actually start. I'm not engine-bay-savy so I'm just repeating what other people are saying, they think its a shot distributor or some lose connections, although it could be worse, none of us exactly know whats wrong.

But the thing is I don't think I have the money to get it checked out by a proffessional, but at this price, is it still a deal? If I can fix it, and if it runs well, I might either keep it, or ask for a trade on an f-body forum like this one for a firebird (since i'm more of a firebird guy myself). This would also be my very first f-body car.

For those who are curious, here's a couple more pictures:


Where it used to say state patrol, the driver's side door has a ghost image of where the police badge decal used to sit as well.


TPI 350


A little surface rust on the trunk.

 

Going by first look and gut instinct.

Buy it or tell me where its at and I will.

your worst case scenario it costs more to fix than you can afford, in which case u part it out and make back more than u bought it for.

later
Jeremy

 

Looks as if someone owned the car after the authorities: MSD stickers and tail pipes (not that those things should cause you to pass on the deal. Hey, price is right).

JamesC

 

Yea, someone did own it after the cops, 3 people I've been told (1 technically died before he could drive it, an old lady, and a friend who owns it now). I know he put on the tail pipes and etc, but he said he didn't mess with the engine I don't think. Theres a lot of MSD in the engine-bay, but the distributor is not, could this be a problem? I dunno, like I said, I'm not engine-bay-savy whatsoever.
As far as I know it's not an official B4C police packaged RS, it doesn't have B4C lettering anywhere that I can see, but I know police used it for most of it's life.

 

If you have no spark, probably like a ignition module or coil, bad case something in VATS(Anti theft)

 

How could I look further into that? If I pop the hood what should I look for?

 

looks pretty solid. ignition problem has me a bit strung, but she looks really nice.

how many miles on the rest of the car?

 

if it really is a b4c you're getting one hell of a deal, and its worth every penny to fix that thing up

 

If you think it is a electrical problem you can do a quick and cheap check for yourself of all the wires and leads. If you dont already have one, go out and buy a voltmeter (cheap ones are ok - you wont need any fancy dancy stuff). Set the dial to read OHMS and test the wires. OHMS is a measure of resistance. So when you conncet the prod ends to the wires ( red on one end, black on the other thus completing a circut) it shoudl give a reading. Now the actual number of the reading wont matter as much as if it gives one at all. For example I had a cyclinder that was not firing. Come to find out that my number 6 spark plug wire had a crack in it and wasnt pushing a spark. All of the other wires read between 80.0-100.0 OHMS (i believe that as long as they are within 20% of each other, varience is ok... the #6 wire read 0.00. Thus no spark = dead cylinder. You can do this with any wire you have on you car. Obviously thicker wires will have more resistance than thinner ones. Also, check all your grounds - I cant tell you how many car's I have seen that have "electrical problems" and really just dont have a ground hooked up somewhere. So try this out, you might find a break somewhere in the ignition system which might be the cause of your problem. If everything checks out ok, at least you've learned a nifty little trick for next time your electrical system has " problems" lol.

 

Definately a good deal! I'd love a B4C! Looks like an RS but sure as hell doesn't act like one! Unless the cops bought an RS and put the 350 TPI in it, that car is a B4C. Check the RPO codes in the glove box or the lid of the locking box in the trunk and if B4C is one of the ones in the list, then it's a B4C. Good luck with it. I would have snapped that up in a heartbeat.

 

It's a good deal and looks good but be prepared to spend some(alot) of money to get it dependable and reliable. Insurance is a bit steep also. Be extra carefull if buying from a youg kid. Do a carfax, only about $20.
Good Luck

 

Carfax are pretty much worthless on a car that old.. as with anything that old be prepared to put some money into it, your best bet would be to take it to someone who has some experiance with cars so they can at least figure out whats wrong with it and get it running, the old state patrol cars were B4c cars I have worked on a few when they were new (probably even that one)they are a good car to start with and also have some collector value if kept original, I had a chance to buy one a while ago but coulden't come up with the cash, they were usually maintained well so if the engine /trans are original you probably wont have too much problem getting it too run again ..

 

The total mileage is somewhere around 175,000 or so, if I remember right.
I'm not sure if its a real B4C, I haven't found a B4C ID marker or in the serial anywhere (although I haven't checked the trunk lid area). Although on that topic about cataloging all the B4Cs on this message board, it said if it has an 8 or an F in the 8th digit slot of the VIN, it's a good chance it's a B4c, (and it has an 8 in the 8th slot). I don't know how reliable that estimate is though. o_O

The guy selling it is having some problems selling the car because of he still owes the bank money on the car . We'll see if i'll still be able to purchase it, if he can make the last payments on the car soon, he'll be able to sell it no problem to me, otherwise, he may not be able to sell it, the bank may repo it instead and auction it (I might have to follow and track the car and see how much they pawn it off for if thats the case). I don't think he really knows what he's doing, but whatever, we'll see how it turns out.

Thanks for all the imput guys! I'm still going to see what I can do with it until I find out what it's fate is.

 

If the bank has the title follw him to the bank with cash in hand.

Tell them what u are doing and as soon as he signs off they will hand the title to you to sign.

Been there done that.

U vs repo vs bank, he will take your money in a heartbeat lol

Heck cause of that I bought a car for exactly what they owed on it lol

later
Jeremy