Hey guys,

I currently have an 1985 Pontiac Firebird that's likely YEARS from completion...it has sentimental value (father purchased it new) and I won't be ditching it, just taking my time.

My wife and I now have two kids, and my former passion (motorcycling) isn't as fulfilling as it used to be, and I can never seem to find time to ride. So, I'm planning to give up the bike and purchase another car as my fun weekend toy. I've located a local LS1/4L60E swapped 1992 Camaro RS for sale for $4,500. Car has recent paint, 4th gen seats, 4th gen rear (poking tires, gah) and the aforementioned LS1. Owner says car has 16x,xxx miles, engine/transmission are around 90,xxx miles. He didn't build the car, purchased it recently as a daily driver then he blew the engine in his other vehicle, needs money to rebuild other motor. The owner is asking for $4,500 which I think is a fair price for the car, and I think I could use it for several years minimum as a weekend driver.

From the photos, it looks like the AC isn't hooked up, but the dryer is still in place. I'll check the crossmember for the required notch for the 4th gen AC compressor when I see the car in two days. I know to look for obvious leaks, squeals, whining, bangs, etc... but I just want to see what items you guys would really LOOK over hard when purchasing a car such as this?

I look forward to the replies, pictures are below. Thanks!

The best part most of the hard things are done already if you ever thought of doing such a swap.To say if the car is worth the price is hard because that comes down to the test drive seeing..hearing feeling every aspect of it.Since the owner isnt the person who had the swap done..its hard to get detailed answers to some things in regards to what is or isnt 100% complete. But aside from doing the usual visual inspection and a test drive for any car..on a swapped vehicle I look at the wiring as best i can for any shady work,check fuel lines and filter/regulator.i also carry a obd2 code reader and see if there is any cel info since not everyone uses the cel light on the dash. car looks fairly clean body wise.Good luck.

Fuel and wiring are the biggest things to look for. From a distance it looks good. Not a huge fan of the 4th gen fuseblock rendering half your stock under dash fuseblock redundant, but it works. Does the entire gauge cluster work?

If the car doesnt have any major flaws, then its a steal at $4500

Looks like a 98 PCM, so likely 98 engine too. Might hurt resale value from the stigma, but functionality wont be impeeded

I paid MUCH more than that for my LS1/4L60 car, but like it's been said above, it's hard to say without driving and seeing it in person.
However, it's fun to go to autozone in it and tell the counter guy that your car is a '02 Z28.

Price kinda seems too good to be true for me. It is possible that the guy is in a pinch and needs the money quick, but in my opinion, the car has to have at least one major flaw if he is trying to get rid of it for that price. Looks like a reasonably clean install from the pics you posted, but its tough to say anything without seeing it in person or hearing it run and driving it. Definitely worth taking a look at though.

Thanks for the replies guys.

The guy's story. "Purchased the car 3 or so weeks ago intending to use it as a daily driver. Blew the engine up in his Chevelle and now needs cash to get that engine rebuilt." So he's now "stuck" driving his truck again which he was trying to avoid driving as a daily.

The ad from the previous owner is still on CL. That advertisement was listed for $5,500, so I'm not sure why the $1000 price drop, unless he's just trying to move it quickly. I'll be the first to see it tomorrow, has two more guys "wanting" to look on Friday, but I know how selling stuff goes...so it's all blah blah blah.

I'll look for leaking fluids, strange fluids in the radiator, or burnt transmission fluid. Check for squeaks, and look for any floor rot, or other damage under the vehicle. If it looks good, I've got cash and will post back here. If it's not good, then I'll be walking back home with my $$ and he can sell it to the next guy. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Looks like it may be a steal if it doesn't have anything serious wrong with it. I saw the same car on craigslist, thought about making the drive to look at it just because of the price. He said it was sold when I sent him a text though.

I got the same response from the first guy, and this guy took a few days to get back to me. The old add saying the car was in St. Louis County is the old advertisement, the new one is in Illinois.

There was another LS1 powered car I almost purchased about 5 months ago. There was a guy selling a 1991 Firebird Bandit II that had a LS1 swapped in, the swap had some wiring issues that allowed some kids to get the car for cheap. I think they're on the boards here, and sold the car between $2800-$3200, and I think they picked the car up for nearly NOTHING because the PO couldn't figure out why it wouldn't run.

There's another guy in the STL metro area selling a 91' or 92' Z28, LS1/T56 and asking nearly $20k or so...I think he'll be sitting on that car for a while, but it looks top notch in the photos...and I've seen some "appear" to move around here $7000. Those have all been more desirable overall cars though, IROCs, Z28's, Formulas, or Trans Ams...I'm half wondering if the base RS model has much to do with the low price.

Car base trim level has little to do with it. That's a mostly stock auto swap with old paint. Appearances are HUGE when selling a car

Most of the completed cars I've seen sold on here went for $6-9k. Projects brought much less

If it's a solid car and you like it buy it

Thanks guys - I talked to the owner, apparently he got the car for $4,500 instead of the $5,500 list price. Only thing not working is the speedo, and I've already looked up the fix you described in another thread, we'll see if that turns out to be the problem with this one. I'll post back tomorrow - wish me luck!

That's Josh (Bluezee or something), he's the guy that built mine. That car is a quality ride. Not by any means trying to take anything away from him or his car, but it is a high price and the car probably is worth it. I believe that he said that he doesn't need to sell it, and that's partially why the price is high.
Based on how mine looks (paint, interior, engine swap) he does pretty good work. The harness is very well labeled, basically everything that you'd want to see done correctly in one of these swaps.

Yeh, it looks like a beautiful and very well put together ride. It's way above my price point (clearly from my $4500 upcoming purchase price) but if someone has the cash and wants a truly awesome car, I'm sure that'd be a great one to pick up.

BlueZ is selling? That is a fine car.

As for this one @ 4500 bucks? Thats a buy now price imo. A couple thoughts from years of buying "built" cars. Easiest, and smartest thing you can do is to go over the ENTIRE build with a fine tooth comb. Check it all, set whats not right to right and dont be surprised when you find a lot of bolts finger tight etc. Torque everything back together and I mean everything. Then you will have a fine ride that will bring lots of smiles per mile. Often buying a swap car can lead to a lot of problems otherwise. I have stories lemme tell ya, most of em not good and thats why you see so many "99% done" builds for sale and why only 1/100 projects ever truly get "done"

As with anything, you usually get what you pay for. Keep that in mind and you'll have heaps of fun

His car is worth it. Read the build thread, everything has been properly addressed

FYI, I built the harness in both his and your cars

For the price I'd still buy the car. Speedo fix will take longer to type out than to fix

Well guys, I now have an LS1 powered 3rd gen. Gave it a pretty decent once over, didn't notice anything major...no leaks, good power (not scary but I didn't hammer it to hard). No squeaks or rattles that couldn't be accounted for (i.e. just another 3rd gen) but the exhaust does need some proper hangers to hold it in place as it slaps around a bit.

Car has SFC's, no AC as stated earlier, and the vent selector doesn't seem to work (blower does) and cracks in the dash pad. Carpet looks newer, and the power driver seat isn't hooked up yet. One headlight has a short so I'll have to get that fixed before inspection day, 3 beams on with high beams, 2 on regular, one tail lamp bulb out, and the car has aftermarket temp and oil pressure gauges (both are dead in the cluster + the speedo).

Either way, I'm excited, happy, and nervous for pulling $$ out of the bank, but all in all, I think I should be able to enjoy this car for a while And love spring / fall driving.

Couple pictures after getting her home.

Congrats!

Assuming no oil pressure issues, knocks, leaks, smoke, or weird noises... that was a good deal! I mean, you have to look at the time and labor put into even a quick swap, all the little things that always destroy our budgets, etc etc.

I was going to mention the exhaust would be one of my concerns. If that was slapped together and bad, you might spend a bit sorting that out.

Does it have Long Tubes? Or manifolds??

Car looks decent in the pictures!! Ide say you got yourself a good deal!

Justin

I've often wondered why these guys spend all the time and money involved building and putting together these swaps and then put them up for sale.

Maybe you can tell us after you drive it for awhile.

No smoke or leaks, oil pressure was looking like 40-50 psi while driving around...only noise is the stupid exhaust, looks like it received a new I-pipe from behind the cat. The car has shorty manifolds, and I need to do some more looking to figure out how he solved the Y-pipe and how the 02 sensors are hooked up.

We'll hope not, but it's a minor worry of mine...If the damn thing blows up tomorrow, I'll be the first to say WTF followed by "Eh, guess that makes sense"

Thought you did Pocket, thanks for the good work on the harness. I've read the threads on both cars, he does good work. Not trying to tie this thread up anymore about Josh and his car, or mine for that matter.

85f-bird, you should get a lot of enjoyment out of the car. I love mine, I drive it more than I ride my motorcycle. A hint though, get a cheap OBD2 bluetooth adapter, and download the free apps. I use Torque and OBD2 Car Doctor to watch what's going on with the car. It's pretty neat to see everything that is happening to with the engine in real time, and very nice to be able to pull codes and deal with the issue on the spot instead of having to take it somewhere.

I'll definitely look into the cheap OBDII reader, should be lots of fun. Thanks.

Getting the car ready for inspection over the last day, couple light bulb issues (one headlight out, one taillight out) and realized the horn didn't work, checked fuses and noticed a 25 amp fuse where a 20 amp fuse should have been...also noted that the fuse was blown, so I'll have to figure out what's blowing that one. The owner did add a power 4th gen seat which is hooked to that circuit, possible that's the culprit, but we'll see.

Engine wise, she starts every time on the first try, idles around 600 rpm smooth as a whistle. My biggest complaint currently is that the exhaust is rattling like crazy near the catalytic converter, going to check to see if there's a loose heatshield, then see what the heck it's vibrating against cause it sounds terrible. Also need to improve/build some exhaust hangars for the rear of the car near the muffler and tailpipes so they're not bouncing all over the place. Hopefully after that she'll be a quieter car.

The way summer is, I'm really getting interested in putting AC back on the car. I'll have to address the vacuum lines for the air, as I'm assuming something didn't get hooked up during assembly. Luckily the crossmember is notched, so getting the compressor in shouldn't be terrible, I just have to figure out how the rest of the lines need to be routed for the 3rd gen bay...luckily, I have a stock 85 firebird sitting in the next garage bay I can look at. We'll see how it goes.

bored, loss of time to enjoy.. Ive had mine for years. there are times when the car sits and then there are years where you drive it almost every day.

I might know what you're talking about.
So many inside jokes and trolling going on there.

you got a great price on that , head over to ls1tech.com . Im over there , good place for ls1 info . Lots of knowledge and bs too .

Hows the car running . Inspected yet . Seems it needs a little tlc and you will have a solid performer on your hands.

That's the one...I really did like that car from a "unique" vehicle standpoint, Bandit II's just have something cool and quirky about them.

I wonder if the new owner has joined the boards here yet...

Car runs fantastic (big grins on every drive). Got the inspection done, it'll need tires soon, but not immediately, steering is a bit looser than I'd like, might look at a rebuild kit, and plan on upgrading some suspension, wheels, and freshening up the interior...besides that, it'll likely stay fairly "stock".

The LS1 rear axle is good, and the brakes have good bite...the front brakes (which look like stock 3rd gen units) leave a bit to be desired, so I think that may be the first big upgrade to get the car to slow down properly.

Theres only a few sound reasons to want to build a car, but theres a million reasons to need to sell one.

So, after a couple commutes in the car and trips for State Inspections I finally took her for a drive this evening (when the temps finally came down)....lots of fun!

Like I said, the steering is a bit loose around center with some slop as you turn just one way or the other, but the car really reminded me of why I've loved thirdgens for so long! The LS1's power isn't immediate, and I still haven't run her HARD to redline occasional blips of full throttle, but mostly mid throttle acceleration and it's fantastic. Plenty of torque to move the car off the line, and even through the factory exhaust, the car sounds proper.

Unlike my '85 Firebird Project, this one seems like it'll be a "piece here / piece there" vehicle...And if I put a little money into it at a time, I should have a fantastic ride for the foreseeable future ... my bird on the other hand, has a LONG way to go.