I am not sure if this is the correct place on the boards to post this or not but.......I am posting this to get an idea of what you think the value of thirdgen cars with the LS1/T56 swap is running these days. I realize that there is a lot to be considered like the mileage of the car and the mileage of the new engine along with the condition of the car.

I am basically talking about a nice convertable IROC that is mostly stock and in good condition or a good GTA or fomula with the project car having low mileage (under 100,000 miles). The swapped parts would be from a low mileage fourth gen car with as many parts coming off of that car as possible - (Rear end, seats, console, wheels as I have access to wrecked vehicles)

The reason I am asking is that I have a good friend who has a shop and does engine and tranny swaps all the time. I showed him the conversion parts on the Hawks website and he is sure he could do it very reasonably. I realize there will be a lot to learn but I think he can do it. I do not want to get too far over my head again if at all possible in terms of outlay of cash and not be able to get it back if I go to something else later. (I am already there with my GTA big time and two projects at once can get expensive)

I hate to sound so practical and this may sound crazy but I want the project to be wise financially if possible - or at least have an idea in advance of its value to wiegh out whether or not this is good right now.


Thanks for any help!

 

You will spend more than you will ever get out of it. 3rd gen's don't hold a lot of value no matter what you do to it. Most guys who do LT1/LS1 swaps have no reason to sell their car since they just built it the way they wanted it.

 

You will not get your money back, unless you can buy a wrecked 4th Gen, take the engine/tranny/rear end/wheels/seats/console and then part out the rest of the car so you can get the following dirt cheap....

Remember, when you go to sell it, you'll need to find that specific customer who wants to pay the extra money for a thirdgen....

To get your money back, you'll need to charge the exact same amount as a 4th Gen already with an LS1

Which one is a car buyer going to want? A custom swapped LS1 Thirdgen, or a 4th Gen is a factory LS1 installed??

Chances are that if people have $10,000 to shell out for a car, they won't be buying a thirdgen.....

Value?

$9,000 - $11,000

Depending on the amount of aftermarket goodies you put on the engine, and what type of car you start with (t-tops, vert, custom options, etc, etc)

 

Yeah so buy mine.

 

It's worth what 1 seller and 1 buyer agree it's worth on any given day.

If you get the motor and tranny for free, install them yourself and sell it you'll get more money than if the car was non-running to begin with, but like others have said.... don't expect to get rich selling old 3rd gens with new motors in them.

 

THis is good info here - especially since you have done this already. I am thinking that a good thridgen with out an engine and tranny could be bought for $2000 and under. The LS1/T56 package could be bought for under $5000 even off of Ebay. All that is left is the conversion parts which amount I do not fully know because I have not researched enough to know what that will run. After that is labor and whatever parts are added and extra work done to the car.

The best deal is to get the donor car that has been wrecked. I see wrecked cars all of the time with my friend's business. I would just have to wait for a good fourthgen to come up. He gets stuff cheap...

With the new Pointiac Mag that just came out with Hawks thirdgen car on the cover and the growing interest in this concept I am thinking a guy could come out OK if he had to. Alot of people do not prefer the body style of the fourth gen over the third gen cars either.

If $9000-$10,000 is possible if done right - it might work out if I needed it to.

 

If thats possible, mine will sell. So I will keep you posted.

 

My deal is, I really do not like many cars out there - corvettes are impracticle - mustangs are..... mustangs enough said - and fourthgens dont look like and feel like the thirdgen cars. Imports are out of the question. This idea is the only thing that is even interesting right now. I am hoping this is a good option.

 

The only reason to do the LS1/T56 swap is because you love the third gen.
You can't make money or get your investment back. You do it to enjoy!!!

 

Words of wisdom

I agree with the above statement 100%

 

Yet sometimes life kicks you in the ***** and you have no choice... we shall see...

 

If only that thing was a Vert, I'd be all over it, right now i'm trying to find a black/black vert to start as a project car.......

With no luck..... Red/White/Purple seem to a dime a dozen around this area......NO BLACK....

 

In all honesty I dont think I could part with this car... Once the thought of not having it sinks in I get depressed. I think I might sell my soul before her... Anyone wanna pay $10,000 for a soul? haha...

 

I do not see why you cannot get ten grand for the car. Have you seen the prices thirdgens are getting on Ebay right now? Lots of cars are up towards 8,000 and 9,000 for clean original cars. I have seen low mileage transams on the transams for sale page that were clean gor for 11,000! On the camaros for sale page lots of guys have irocs at 10,000 with a L98 engine! with the LS1 and t56 mods - that has to bring the value up. I think the novelty of these cars is going to put them in more demand. Like I said before - that really cool car from Hawks on the front page of the new pontiac mag says a lot.

My dad who is a professional classic car restorer says that the stock cars are not worth as much in todays market as cars that have performance work and custom body and suspension work. It is all in how you market your product and what target market you market to.

You can see this in the import market all of the time - the older cars have more appeal than the newer cars because the manufacturers lost sight of thier market and ruined what they were building. New products in older models is very popular there.

How many modded mistubishi v6 late model cars do you see? compare that to the mid 90s cars that were allwheel drive and turbo cars. Better looking and better handeling. The new parts off of the evos are going into these older cars and are now very expensive.

Imports are not that great but it is an illustration.

I may be off here - but it is possible - the future is still being developed - this may catch on.

 

Throw it on www.ebay.com

Set the reserve at your asking price, and see how it does......

 

I think we could be surprized at what Ebay brings.

 

Well put it this way, if someone's willing to pay 8-10k just for a swap, why wouldn't they pay $10,500-$12,995 for a complete running car that they just have to get in and drive?

 

I think the real problem is the buyer's fear that the job wasn't done right. Too many things can go wrong, too many things the buyer would have to take your word on. mileage, mods etc. Guys like Flyinglow and myself who sent our cars to pros would have a slight advantage over a home built. I still doubt anyone could recoop their investment.

 

can people post pics of LS1 swaps I would like to see how other peoples cars turned out

 

I dont know if you have seen my thread, but I have alot of time in it and about 7K in it and need another 2K to finish it like I want it. I dont see it being forsale for a very long time. But when its done, the body will have about 90K miles on it, and everything else will be brand new or barely used so... Its more of a hobby and a having fun kinda thing for me, I've already forgotten about the money it has cost, because what else do you do with money other than spend it?

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/for...?s=&forumid=20

 

here

 

I bet $8 to $12 thousand could be had, depending on original car mileage, engine mileage, overall condition of the vehicle, and the current moods of the Ebay bidders.