My cousin just picked up a blue 1991 L98 G92 Z28. It has 156,000 on the clock, and only slightly shows it. Interior was somewhat well taken care of, engine and transmission status is unknown but it drives around just fine. Suspension is probably all worn out, but it's all there and drives and seems to run fine. It needs some body work, a new front bumper cover, new hood, and a new fender or two. The damage is mostly surface damage everything else (underneath) checks out okay. The car is bone stock.

Me being the 3rd gen buff was all over it. He only paid $500 for it. Are we crazy to part this thing out? Or should be bite the bullet on some suspension pieces and some body work and have a clean car?

 

If the car isn't a roach, then for what you paid for it, you've got plenty left over to get it back into decent, usable condition. Save the parting for the rotten garbage cars, the six cylinders, and the TBIs.

 

This is a perfect example of how spoiled rotten you California guys are-probably doesn't have a spec of rust anywhere does it? Never been undercoated and clean paint on the floorpans?

Save it!

 

I agree 100%. People need to start stepping up and saving these cars. There was a third gen supplier that advertised online that they looked for these prime cars (IROC,GTA, etc)as a source for clean parts. This is wrong and I will never buy from them. Sorry for the rant but I would say keep it intact.

 

Part out a complete running CA car that only cost $500?!?! That's crazy, save it! Or sell it to me for $600 and make 20%.

 

Sorry but I take offense to that statement.

+1 Seriously, anybody that parts out a perfectly clean 3rd gen needs to seriously be institutionalized. Yes I want [and need] clean good parts--but not at the expense of a non-wrecked clean 3rd gen.

 

Preach!

Sir Bull... I am afraid I can no longer pay homage.

 

I think your crazy no way would I part out a perfectly restorable g92, I could see if it was wrecked or was messed up bad, but sounds like you have a solid car according to your description

 

I too am offended...I like my TBI...save the car

 

No Disassemble!!

 

lol, I didn't mean to offend regarding the TBI. I guess I'm biased. However, I do stand by my statement. If two cars of equal condition are being considered for demolition, and one is a TBI and one is a TPI, I'd part the TBI car.

 

Save it! Too many third gens get scrapped already.

 

hah, i just watched short circuit yesterday (not my first time). now i'm gonna have lines from that movie in my head all day.

btw, the indian guy is dirty as hell in both movies.

 

The nerve!

Well, I never!

Harumph!

I get better mileage than you. So there!

 

If you decide to sell it let me know. I'll give it a good home

 

I'd save it doesn't matter if it were 6,8,tbi,tpi it's still a 3rd gen.

 

lol, what do you get?

I put in 93 octane on the last tank, and increased to 20.5 mpg for my commute (had been a bit over 19 in previous weeks on lower octane fuel)

 

If it drives and doesn't have major body damage or a fire damaged interior then yes, it is crazy. Is the market so bad there you couldn't make a few hundred flipping it? It must be a basket case, right?

I'm having a hard time parting an 89 bird because the metal on it is perfect except for a 2 inch dent on the drivers quarter, when I took out the interior the floorpan looked like new. The car was on it's way to the yard and I made a deal with the owner to strip it first. It would need quite a bit to be road worthy again though, an engine just for starters. Then who knows what else just to make it safe to drive plus rear interior, all rubber everywhere on the car replaced and all the little things that don't work anymore.

I am taking everything but the shell but it is still hard to send a solid car to the yard. I know when I lived in Ohio I would have paid a good price for a rust free body but that is the pleasure of living in warm weather is that even most the cars in the junkyards are in better condition then cars from the rust belt. Lots of good spare parts though.

Anyways, unless it is toast try to resell it first to someone who would drive it.

 

I average 27-28 mixed (mostly highway), and my best is 30.17 about a month ago and I've never run anything but 87 octane in mine....

Oh, and it's a TBI with 165K on the clock.




SAVE IT!!! Mine was a POS when I got it, but a little elbow grease and a little $$$ later it turned into a nice driver.

 

No fair, Fyr, you have a T5 and I have an auto!

 

I would save it, put a little money into it fixing the front end, and then sell it for a nice profit if you don't want to keep it for yourself.

 

No one said they didn't like TBI's. ...but there are SO many of them out there compared to the TPI cars. You've gotta part SOMETHING, so might as well be the common ones.

....and quite frankly, with regard to the OP, sometimes a noble death is better than a miserable life. I would ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS recommend restoring/modding a car as opposed to parting it. YOU know the condition, and if YOU are willing to put in the time to save it, then by all means, please do so. However, if you don't think you will actually DO THE RESORATION, there's no reason for it to just sit in anguish, rusting, only to be just another POS thirdgen. Make something of it. Sacrifice it so another nice car may live.

Part it or build it. Don't just let it sit in hopes that someone else might someday make it a project.

 

On the topic of parting out cars and wanting to save everyone clean one left we all need to face reality, it comes down to money, pure and simple. Case in point, a friend of mine picked an already very clean '91 GTA several years ago. It was a HT, 350 TPI, auto trans, burgandy with grey leather interior, ran great, cold AC, the only issue it had was the clear coat was lifting off in a few places and a crack in the rear spoiler. He spent close to $1K getting the seats recovered with new grey leather, put new carpet it in it, and it had current stickers. We figured he could get $4500 with all the new stuff, up for sale 3 weeks, not even a phone call. I was selling my IROC at the time and a guy asked if I would sell the 350 TPI and trans. out of my car for $2500. I didnt want to sell mine but I called my friend about the guy looking for the engine/trans combo and he jumped at it. We pulled the engine/trans out the following weekend, parted the interior, suspension, body panels, and ended up getting over $5500 out of the car. Granted we had to turn a lot of wrenches but he made more money. We still talk about it to this day. Love it or hate it but the car hobby as always had and will have junkyard cars, no matter how clean they are. Just think how many First Gen Camaros were parted and crushed during the 70's and 80's. There were tons I am sure.

 

I guess you have to take something into consideration...

As of right now 3rd gens are on the rise for value, there should be no doubting it with ebay values for low miles cars in the mid $20K range. We still have doubers but they are far and few between and own fords.

Personally I think you have to decide wheter it would be cheeper to rebuild the car into something nice, or buy one done. High miles cars do not have the value, if you repaint it, and give it a new interior etc. then you have a nice car with a new interior and fresh paint... Unfortunately it still has the 150K miles. Figure if you do the work yourself your looking at 2K for QUALITY paint, primer etc. A new interior will cost you around $1000 if you DIY. All of the nitty gritty things will cost another $2000 if you do it right. All in all you might get away with $5500, and a TON of work. You could look for a car already done in that range (which is becomming more uncommon with the specs you have above) or you could take it upon yourself to pour your heart and soul into it for a year.

As for the V6, LO3 arguemt vs a TPI car... I almost have to agree... I do not own my car for a daily driver and if I did I would own a V6 or LO3. For people who want ONE car to drive back and forth to work and get good milage are going to look for those cars... The fact is people who would be interested in collecting (By collecting I mean would own more than one) these people ARE going to be more interested in the LB9, L98 or LC2 (TTA) cars. The faster a car is are the more desirable they become, options like Convertible helps too. Fuel milage matters none to a collector because they do not drive the car every day. Take me for example, I really could care less if I get 10 Mpg or 50Mpg in my 3rd gen, since I put less than 2K on my cars a year its not a big ole hary deal. I like the car and how it looks not what I can squeeze out of the pump.

As for buying and selling cars for a profit you have to have a resource for parts. I have bought several 3rd gens and sold them all for more than what I paid for them, of course I had to do some work on all of them, but ultimately it was my labor that paid off... There are places in the US what no longer allow people to roam the Junkyard due to the off chance they would tear their pants on a piece of scrap metal. If you live in an area where 3rd gen parts are still reasonably available it will be much cheaper than buying new...

as a note: What makes a car Collectible? "A Collectible car is a car that people collect" That helps doesn't it... What you want to find is something that more people are intersted in collecting than only a few people are interested in. Like I stated above if you are buying it to drive then who cares about the big engine... If you are buying a car to preserve and enjoy as a second car then the Big engine is the way to go all day long. As of right now it is unforseeable if this will continue but all indications are that it is gaining momentum, there has been a slowdown at the Big Auctions (like Barret Jackson), but smaller auctions are becoming more popular which may be pulling away from those large auctions. On-line auctions of Collectible cars are on the rise as people become more comfortable with the transaction and less fear of being ripped off on a car they do not Listen to, touch, smell (very important) and see...

Interestingly enough the cars that would get the worst gas milage tend to have the highest value...
John

 

Let me post my '91 red Formula with 48k miles 305 TPI with a 3:42 gear that is really dam nice in and out with Firehawk rims and see if I get anywhere near 10 let alone mid 20's on eBay. Any takers, step on down please!.

Remember the green NY Formula on eBay for under 13k with 300 some miles, man I would have grabbed that if I had the money, it is on auto trader with dealer now asking 22k. Andrew

 

Unfortuantely people forget that the Formula was the GTO of the day, they see the mystical GTA and think that was the performance model... So-Be-It I like my Formulas and the more people I talk to it seems that the formula is gaining popularity because it is cleaner in appearance than the TA or GTA IMHO.

What I really find interesting is many people who are REALLY into all 3rd Gens lean toward the Formula, not all but there is a trend.

But I admit this is just personal bias as I know they are the best

John

 

If I could, I would have a fleet of Formulas in my collection. I just want one in every color. My problem is I get tired of the same car color after a while and want to trade it for another color. Lotto is tonight, who knows! Andrew

 

i love my TBI and would never consider parting it. its very very dependable, which is why i love tbi. very simple with relatively little to go wrong with it compared to just about any other fuel system. you guys are going to laugh, but my other cars is also a tbi. 1991 cavalier, 2.2 tbi. i simply love tbi. i dont think clean cars should be scrapped. if you have a car that has some body damage, you could even make it a drag only car. only rotten garbage should be parted out. its a real shame i dont see more third gens on the road, considering how many were originally made. with the increased price of gas, i would even consider buying a iron duke for a daily driver and keep the L03 for the weekends. it would get great millage and i would still be driving a third gen camaro, however their are really no clean iron duke cars around anymore. if there are, they are in terrible condition. so many built and relatively few remain. its too bad because they are built much better than alot of the crap is today. they are a fantastic car.

 

I prefer a 6 cylinder car at this time.. Couldn't afford insurance or gas on a 305.. But I wouldn't part that out, sounds like a pretty badass ride.

 

This is it, gas will not get cheaper, oil companies will not give in due to the supply and demand. We may be looking at the end of the muscle car era again. It is $4.33 here in Miami. Andrew

 

You just don't get it. The reason why the Muscle car era stopped was not only because of High fuel prices it had to do with emissions. The big three could not make a car that had high horsepower and kept the emissions in tack in the day. Gas prices did not help, but back in the 70's Car collecting was not what it is today. Stack on top of that high insurance premiums for said muscle cars and then no one wanted them.

What we have here is completely different. If you want to DRIVE the car EVERY day and use it as primary transportation then no, a Third gen is not what you want, unless you have the Dogged I4. Fortuantely COLLECTORS (not drivers) want the cars to COLLECT, not drive. A Collector does not care if it gets 10Mpg on a good day going down hill with the wind.

I would be willing to bet that in 5 years we will all find that the 350 cars will still be worth more than a V6 car, and a Camaro will still be worth more than a Chevette.

 

well well well depends on what u wanna do with the car heck its ur car or his car maybe my car for the write price just kiddin , If ur going too part it for a project then make sure ur going too give/sell the parts too people that may need them for what ever perpose that may be .

I go to my local junk / salvage yard like every week and call them every few days as I live in PA and theres 2 that let us pull the parts and 5 that don't let us even in too the yard there the 5 that I would say suck because U don't know whats in there yards as camaro /firebirds and if they have the parts I need there way out of price or just opt to sell to other yards or just plane scrap it all , The 2 that lets me in too the yard's too see all the cars is awsome prices are write and not out of line but parts and cars are gettin harder too find as scrap prices are on the rise ,so since iv'e got the inside tip on those cars and yard I get too get the parts from camaros / firebirds , so I ether get hole car and store it then maybe sell it or start to strip it out and put parts away in stell storage bins then sell but camaros / firebirds haven't be in my yard in some time .

So like I said its up too u as long as we can get the parts to keep our rides going and lookin good / restoreing them / makeing then stree/ strip cars . SORRY I GOT OUTTA LINE WITH MY STORY WAS WAY OFF SUBJECT but like I said part only if its going too make us fellow car guys/woman happy and of much need for ur parts
----------
well well well depends on what u wanna do with the car heck its ur car or his car maybe my car for the write price just kiddin , If ur going too part it for a project then make sure ur going too give/sell the parts too people that may need them for what ever perpose that may be .

I go to my local junk / salvage yard like every week and call them every few days as I live in PA and theres 2 that let us pull the parts and 5 that don't let us even in too the yard there the 5 that I would say suck because U don't know whats in there yards as camaro /firebirds and if they have the parts I need there way out of price or just opt to sell to other yards or just plane scrap it all , The 2 that lets me in too the yard's too see all the cars is awsome prices are write and not out of line but parts and cars are gettin harder too find as scrap prices are on the rise ,so since iv'e got the inside tip on those cars and yard I get too get the parts from camaros / firebirds , so I ether get hole car and store it then maybe sell it or start to strip it out and put parts away in stell storage bins then sell but camaros / firebirds haven't be in my yard;s in some time .

So like I said its up too u as long as we can get the parts to keep our rides going and lookin good / restoreing them / makeing then stree/ strip cars . SORRY I GOT OUTTA LINE WITH MY STORY WAS WAY OFF SUBJECT but like I said part only if its going too make us fellow car guys/woman happy and of much need for ur parts

 

The following comments might offend a few but here goes.

I generally don't like the '91 Z28's, very long build (16 months) and most of the G92 cars escaped with rear drum brakes. To me they're very generic and plain. If it were me I would fix the mechanicals, the suspension and drive it when I could afford to put gas in it.

 

Ya it sucks that GM didn't build 3-rd gen camaros on all BETTER ASPECTS as of more engine power , which from year too year they strugled with but could have just said **** it and put a big block under there hoods LOL that would of been nice too see . Some 3rd gens should have been dif like the Irocs / z-28 they should of set those cars from the rest but they were at a total lose from year too year trying too make these cars better ,
DAME - some of these were mustang 5,o killer's and they even did an article about this car pissing on a 5.0 mustang -I have the article some where will post it ..WHATE DO ES EVERY ONE THINK ABOUT THIS - ALSO this morning I was driveing and saw a 86 Iroc for sale I stoped too look at it .
car had the following -----

Black -gold trim body -body is junk u name its it has it not worth even makeing a drag or demolition car out of thats how bad it was .
Had the Iroc rims - and they were in awsome shape , also had new Hancock street tires on it the kid s mom payed like 5oo.oo for them
Interior needs too be re done the only thing that was still good was the dash
Car had the t-tops which leaks due too rust issues
CAR - has the rotar posi rear NICE BUT NEEDS WORK
305 MOTOR RUNS SMOKES NEEDS WORK BUT WILL RUN HARD WHEN WORKS DONE
BRAND NEW REBUILT TRANS A YEAR AGO 700 R-4 OVER DRIVE
Did I mention a kid about 18 had car and just beat the **** OUT OF IT I asked him why he was selling it and hes said he wanted a new car and his dad said he has too sell , also he had work history on the car for last year and dame kid put like 3 g's in too it just too get it road worthy etc and wan'st too sell it what an *** so the Kid want 's 1800 .00 for the car I said too him after I was all done with lookin and test drive , whats the lowest he can or will go he said 1500 so I said ill give u 800 and thats about it the cars was truely just a parts car what a shame but I think thats a fair price what does every one else think was I wrong too offer 8oo for the car and that offer is still pending he has too talk too his dad but cARS PARTS ARE WORTH SOME MONEY but the KID DON'T KNOW WHAT HE GOT what a shame my email is njsc007 @aol.com email me with ur reply If im wrong too offer him 800 for the car or not like I said car is parts car body is **** I would rather ride with FRED FLINSTONE IN HIS FOOT MOBILE LOL

 

Street-Demon,
You really lost me there... I sat here for 2 min trying to figure out your point and how it related to the thread...

John

 

Im sorry u got lost , i recently go a message about a post and performance etc about camaros from this forum so thats why I said what I said about the big blocks and performance modes and how gm could have build a better car then a 3rd gen camaro ,Which is just my opinion , And how I looked at that iroc as an example of parting out or selling cars and if i was crazy too too offer the kid 8 hundred dollars insted of the 1800 he wanted heck that car was beat so I just wanted imput on that matter too see if I was crazy too pay him 800 and thats for the parts on it but i would take the car and junk the body cuss its un fixible unless u wanna pay thousands too do so so again I am sorry that u got lost , also I;ve been haveing trouble posting as of trying too sell some parts too

 

$625

 

are you okay man? Unless you have a legitimate learning disability, please try to write in sentences and try to stay somewhat on the topic of the thread. Is English not your first language? I'm not trying to make fun of you, but you spelled "enough" as "enoufe" in your profile on the left side and you're rambling like a mad man.