ok iv got this 87 camaro rs at the moment which i got for free. its a v6/auto with primer for paint and the interior is trashed. so im trying to think of what to do to the car in order to up its value. so far my plans are to take the paint down to bare metal and well give it a fresh paint job. im gona take the current v6/700r4 out and replace it with a built 350/700r4 combo that iv got sitting in the garage and thinking about just trashing the red interior and replacing it with black interior. at this current moment the only mods that have been done were i put 15x7 alumimum z28 rims on it and a 115mph speedometer with tach. so lets hear it what should i do in order to boost this cars value and when done how much $ will i be able to get for it ?

 

Honestly, Id drop in the 350/700r4 combo (as its free if you already have it). Leave the car primered ready for paint as someone may not want a car the color you paint it. If the interior is in decent shape...leave it alone...sell it as it sits and get what you can out of it. That way, its all profit...I couldnt see myself investing too much money in a third gen to sell...

 

well i figured id paint the car sense its only the cost of paint hell my labor is free and the red interior is trashed so that needs to come out and get replaced


but if i were to just leave it in primer and do the v8 conversion how much $ do you think id be able to get for it ?

 

This is a tough call. I guess you'd have to figure what your time and energy is worth. If you are a good painter you might have a chance of making some money here. I can tell you from experience that the V6 to V8 engine swap is going to cost more than you think it will. I did it and it took a long time to sort everything out properly. Your best chance at turning a profit is to leave the drivetrain alone. I'd get a junkyard interior and paint the car. Then see if you can sell it for a profit. If you don't get any bites being that it's a V6 then maybe consider the engine swap. The problem I see is by the time you do all of that are you really going to make any money?

 

1st paint it red and put iroc stripes/decals package on it, it will look hot.
make sure u paint the headlights pockets with black.

get 16 inch iroc wheels(1985-1987) or 18 inch iroc chrome if u can afford it ,much better than 15 inch z28 wheels.

interior wise , get a sporty small Steering wheel .

u can put black leather seats inside .

buy a cheap used T56 trans.(when u say u have 6 speed thats desirable )

and put a L98 in it or LS1 ,

a nice cat-back will make it look much better

and this link might give u better ideas

http://www.fbodymotorsports.com/91_ls1_camaro_for_sale

 

Crush it and make $100 or so. Put that money toward something else. Or, sale it as is and make a couple bucks. No really labor for you, which frees you up for something worth your time. my .02

 

i agree, sell as-is. these cars wont fetch enough to cover your costs. most people only restore them to keep for themselves, not for resale value.

 

Why is it that the History/Restoration board on this Forum always gets the "What's my car worth?" threads? Can't we continue to look at the actual restoring of these cars or the history of them? If you want to know the value, look in the thousands of classifieds available online! What is the cars value in it's current state does not pertain to History/Restoration.

 

anyway, I would say leave the car as is because you won't get much out of it after the time and money you put into redoing the interior and painting the car. Swapping the engine and tranny probably wont boost the value of the car by much. What exactly are you looking to make from it anyway?

 

If I was going to put that much time and effort into a car I would surely keep it and enjoy it. If you want to make money play the stock market or invest in something other than a car.

 

I still cant beleive fbodymotorsports hasnt sold that car yet well I guess it makes sense when they want 20,000 for it

 

If you put in a V8, you will want to put in new exhaust, headers, V8 suspension(i think). It adds up fast.

Keeping it primered might be a smart move. Someone whose looking to customize rather than just restore a car may want a different hood, spoiler, and/or ground effects.

One little thing I would do is get some cheap black car carpet from Menards and put it in, if you have a Menards store in your area. You will have to cut it and work with it and it won't be fun putting it in. I only spent $42 when I replaced the carpet in my brother's 95 T/A and that included $10 for a can of 3M adhesive glue. For the money spent, it really helped the interior look better.

If you can find some decent black cloth seats, either 3rd gen or 4th gen then throw those in too. Leather will cost too much in most cases.

If you know how to weld, maybe weld in some spohn subframe connectors. I would use that as a good selling point, its the #1 upgrade for these cars.