more like whats acceptable? its a numbers matching pace car thats got the cfi/4wheel disc, considered the rarest by some. now what mods could i do that wouldnt devalue it.

would underhood appearance mods be okay? like chrome valve covers?

what about aftermarket catback? chrome tips? headers?

window tint?

aftermarket stereo and speakers?

the car is a base i think, has no power options and no AC, so would adding any of these devalue it?

i want to keep it stock as it is a limited edition car. i also dont want to ruin the car by modding it too much.

 

These cars, even a special one like that, will never be in the class that some of the 60s muscle cars are, where having all the right bolt heads in all the right places and the right numbers on the hoses is the difference between a $50,000 car and a $80,000 car.

That said, there's a big difference between that type of **** originality, and hacking it to bits.

Personally I wouldn't waste money on chrome anything under the hood. "Chrome don't bring the money home" they say at the track. Additionally, that stuff never accomodates PCV right, so the oil gets sludged up faster and the car always smells like an old car (you know, that hot oil smell); that stuff always leaks; and the base metal rusts, and the chrome flakes off, and then it really looks like hell.

Probably the single best thing you can do is to look at www.turbocity.com at the conversion from the Stone Age ECM that's in it to a modern one. That gives you the ability to tune it, which is pretty much impossible with what's there now.

A good quality set of headers, such as Edelbrock TES or even SLP, coated, along with a high-flow cat and a good cat-back, will make a HUGE difference in the way it runs. Get the stuff for a L69 or a 350 TPI car, NOT the parts listed for CFI; the Y-pipe and cat size is different, so if you keep CFI parts, you'll preserve the bottleneck.

A better cam is a good idea. Look at the Comp or Crane ones that are specifically for computer-controlled engines. Stick with an intake duration no greater than 210 degrees.

The ultimate limit to its performance is the intake runners. They're long and skinny. You can port them some, and it will help.

Gears are another place for improvement.... IIRC those came with something like 2.93 gears. 3.42s are said to be about the best match for them.

All of that is stuff that you either can't see at all, or that you can put back the way it came.

I would make every possible effort to keep the exterior and the interior exactly as they came. Clean, undrilled, no monster tach, no cheap imitation seat covers or carpet, match the original colors and the sticker pacakge. That's where the value will be; not under the hood. As long as you don't hack it to bits and it's still reliable and all that, its looks and trim package is what's desirable about it. I guarantee you, 15 or 20 years from now, people aren't going to be paying $40,000 for one of those, just so they can get reminded of the feeling of all that power, like they do GTOs and such.

 

thanks for the suggestions, so you think their value wont go up much down the road?? i know it will never be worth as much as first gen.

 

As with supply and demand,when the quantity has diminished and as the years go by as long as there is a need for them or the people that admired them are still around,it will have value(oops,long run-on sentence ).So anyway it'll probably take another 15-20 or so years before you'll see anything like what is being auctioned off at places like Barrett-Jackson on the SPEED channel..

 

for up in value im hoping for 10-15k nothing crazy, this car has over 100k miles on it, it was a daily driver. but im about to sink roughly 3-5k into it, id like to recoup that in the future if need be.

as for mods i just dont want to ruin its value by changeing too many things around. would a aftermarket stereo be okay??

 

You can put anything on that can come off if you want to sell it without damaging anything. Easy 'nuf, right?


Like a crate motor to get rid of that CFI

 

Go nuts, just don't do anything unreversible (ie. tubbing the rear, etc).

 

ANy mods you do to this car would devalue it. Unless it was year correct (adding PW DL & W will not devalue the car if you do it right)

Adding a after market sound system will.

 

lol who cares? You can pick up 82 Pace cars for $2000-3000 most the time... about the price of a Z28 or other 3rd gen!


Like adam said, go nuts. Just don't tub it! (wait... ya do it!)

An aftermarket stereo will never hurt the value of a car. It can be removed, and unless someone wants it to put it in a museum, they would want it!


And if someone wants the car to be a correct piece in their collection, I don't think options that don't match the RPO codes or the build sheet would be desirable. To someone who just wants a nice car to drive, sure.

 

So you are saying that if this was a 89 1LE? to mod it out like crazy? Or an even rarer 3rd gen Firehawk?

 

No. talking about the Pace car here.

A 1LE is way rarer than a Pace Car.

 

Ok then fine, How about one of approx 1590 cars made? To have the engine,tranny & brake set up made for that year of pace cars? One of the most looked for pace cars?

 

Actually I retract my 1LE comment. Same thing as above, mod the hell out of it, just don't do anything irreversable.


You can take a Yenko Camaro (approx value of $100,000+) and drop a 502ci in it. No problems with value IF you simply put it back to the way it was before you sell it! I really don't see the problem here...

 

My thoughts on anyone modding out any pace car or rare car is they are dumb as heck. because 9 chances out of 10 they are going to screw it up.

Oh By the way since the car is currently still mine I dont have to sell it or do anything to it if I find someone is talking about modding it out.

 

easy there tammy im not gonna mod it out or anything, i just wanted to knwo what was acceptable, window tint, stereo, catback, that sort of thing, if people are to say no then no, ill leave it stock. i dont need to mod out a pace car with tons of goodies, i already have a 93 formula, a 79 TA with lt1/4l60e, nitrous and turbo on the way so i dont need to go crazy with the third gen. all i wanted to do was make it look nice with underhood stuff. if you dont want to sell/trade thats fine with me.

 

Well, what some people might not see, is that these cars are not like those from the 1960s. By that, I mean that even when they do appreciate in value, it won't be like the '60s.

ie. A '82 Pace Car Camaro will never be worth what a '69 Pace Car is worth. Or a 1LE will probably never be worth what a '69 ZL1 is worth.

These cars just aren't those cars. They will appreciate in value, especially cars like the Pace Cars, 1LEs, 305 HOs, etc etc... but never to the point that the early cars did.

Thats why modding the car won't really hurt the resale value as much as some people would think. Especially right now.

 

Leave it alone! If you just want to spend 2 or 3k go buy a beater you can dog on and drive when it's raining! one thing good about it being a pace car is you can always get your money back or more when you sell it as long as it's still stock. If you have crazy dreams of never selling it, mod the hell out of it and kick some butt! BTW Krazzycowgirl , U rock! I just love girls that know their poo-poo!:rockon:

 

I understand its not ever going to be worth $50k like some of the first gens, But I have seen these cars sell for upward of $15K to $20k In show room shape.

Beleive me I know, a friend of mine just shaped up his 82 pace car & took it to a car show & was offered $25k for it. He wouldnt take it because the car belonged to his wife & it was her first camaro. But his car is a LG4 car. Not a LU5 car. He wanted mine as well but at that time I was not intrested in selling it.

 

i too realize it will never be worth the value of a first gen, personally IF i do get this id be happy with it being worth 10-15 k in the future.

 

Those are only the 140 or so pace cars that were on the track in 82 with documentation and low miles. One that wasn't with high miles but restored might bring in $5-6k

 

74027 miles: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...471145880&rd=1

Perfect condition
$4000
-------------------
46800 miles: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...473989104&rd=1

Some rust, nice daily driver condition
$4001
---------------------
105000 miles: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...473891135&rd=1

Needs assembly and possibly motor
$2500
--------------------


Those are all completed items on ebay, not running auctions.

 

All I was saying, is that its not going to kill the value of the car nearly as much as one of the old cars if you modify it. If you do it right, like with some of RBs suggestions, you can actually increase the value by modding it. Just gotta do it so that its not obvious, really.

 

Mine has 104k Miles on it. The more you guys talk the more I dont want to sell it to Stupid people.

 

So don't! No one wants to buy from someone who tells them what they can and can't do with it after they get it anyway! :lala:

 

Tammy, you're outta line with the name calling. Since this thred has gone away from the original question to name calling, it's now locked.

sorry sassyherbbassi that you weren't able to get the answer you were looking for.