I don't know if I'm posting this in the right place or not, but kind of want to talk to some people about buying a Camaro. My husband and I just moved to NE Pa, and...well...long story short, he wrecked my car while moving. Our deal is, since he broke my car, I get whatever car I want that we can afford from what we get back for my old car. Unfortunately, that's only like $2000. Somewhere in our deal, he's also allowed to get a motorcycle, but only after I teach him how to ride one.

What I need to know, first off, and it's looking like this is a yes, is if I can actually get a decent running Camaro for our price range. I don't particularly want to spend more than $1500, because I'm factoring in money for some initial repair work, inspections, title and tags, and whatnot.

What I'm looking for is basically this: A decent running car, that's inspectable with a minimal ammount of work. Paint doesn't need to be perfect, but I'd appreciate it not being an eyesore untill I can take care of the paintjob. Manual transmission is a must, unless someone can give me a really good reason to get an automatic. I'm serious when I say this, I don't know how to drive automatic. I don't need it to be a V8, and to my understanding a V8 with a manual is kind of hard to come by anyway. I don't need it to be an IROC either. From what I can tell, an RS is probably what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for a show car, and I'm not looking for a race car, either. I suppose what I'm looking for is a mild fixer-upper that's going to end up being nice. It needs to be able toget me around at first, because it is going to end up being my only car for a while. My husband and I trade off on his car, but it gets complicated, especially when daycare is involved. I'm not planning on racing this car...ever, nor do I intend to abuse it. I used to joke about starting a "Social Services for cars" that reposesses cars from people who don't appreciate them or abuse them. My ex had a brand new Mustang that he blew the clutch in at 10K.....I don't like seeing that happen. So...is my price range reaonable, or am I totally nuts.

I almost bought a Camaro around ten years ago, but ended up getting a Shelby Z Daytona instead. The Daytona was beat when I got it. It ran, but it needed a transmission, and the paint was shot. I ended up dropping a new engine and transmission in it, doing the paint job myself (I have a HVLP system I used). It ended up being show-car quality when I was done with it. It went from being an eyesore, to getting a lot of attention really quick. Sadly...it developed a fuel leak that I found out about a bit too late, and it's gone now. I'm lucky I'm not gone from that one, actually. I saved what I could from it, and tried to start working on another one, but after the fire, I never quite had the drive to do it. Bad memories, I guess.

Anyway, that's where I'm coming from. I also need some general advice about this to look for, things to avoid, and things to be concerned about. Thanks for listening to me ramble, and I hope someone is willing to give me some advice and pointers. I'm sure there's plenty of guys out there that would love to talk to a girl about cars, lol.

 

Uh well to be totally honest you can pick up a 6 cylinder camaro for less then your price range, personally I don't think it's worth buying a 6 cylinder. You can find a descent Z28, with a 305 and T5 (V8 and five speed) for like $1800-2,000. My biggest problem with your price range is the rust the car is going to have. The car may appear to be very nice, but I can guarentee rusted floor boards at the least.
For a daily driver your main concern should be your safety first. Don't buy something with rusty floorpans unless your husband is capable of cutting them out and welding new ones in.
Believe it or not, it might just be me but it seems like the five speed camaros hold their values better then the automatics do.

In short:
Yes you can find a descent camaro for under two grand.

 

Emily, there is a decent one for sale here in New Jersey, the auction is almost over though. It's currently at $830.00....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1991-...=p4506.c0.m245

 

I do all the welding in this household, lol. Actually, I do most of the maintenance. I grew up with my Dad having a Trans-Am and a Hemi Barracuda...it rubbed off a little. Very good point though. Safety is pretty important to me, especially because my Son would be in the back seat from time to time. I don't particularly WANT to have to do any welding. I've done it before...it's not my idea of a good time. Were there any years that were more or less prone to rust?

I actually have that one in NJ on my watch list on Ebay right now. I've been watching it since it went up, but it's automatic, so

 

agreed on the flooprans.. they like to go. also worth noting is the fuel/ brake lines like to rot. fuel pumps also like to give up the ghost on these cars. oh, and the fuel gauges love to lie. other than that... great cars!

 

i think it sold for a little over 1300

 

89 camaro blue, t tops exterior is in mint condition,motor has 3k on it, 355 4 bolt main, je pistons, manley rods, world product sportsman II heads 64cc chambers ported and polished, crane 1.6 roller rockers, comp cam , edlebrock performer intake, edlebrock thunderseries carb 650cfm with a rebuild done last month, t5 world class trans 5 speed, stock gears w/ posi,, sub frame connectors, i have a full mallory spark system with the latest digital ignition box with a two step , and a brand new in box holley fuel pump , interior is in good condition headliner is mint, the only thing it needs is a dash pad and the drivers seat has a small tear. im asking 5500 neg. if ur interested shoot me an email at KAWASAKI_FIEND@Yahoo.com
i dont have a camera so i cant send pics but the car is awesome

 

I got one! My husband and I bought a 1987 Z28 for about a grand. It runs good. It's a the 305 V8, with the 4bl carb. It has a newly rebuilt 4 speed automatic transmission. T-tops, that don't leak. I drove my husband into work today in the pouring rain, and not a drop of water leaked. It has one bad rust spot on the rear wheel well, that I put some Extend on. It needed a battery because the girl who had it before me was having trouble with the trunk latch opening and closing untill the battery would die, but I got that worked out already. One of the fog lights is missing a cover, so I might buy a new set if I can't find a cover for cheap. I can tell it was repainted once, and it was very well taken care of.

The gauges are an issue, which I expected. I think the gauge cluster isn't original. The speedo only goes up to 85, and I think for an 87, they should go up to 115, or 145. The temp gauge doesn't work, but I need to go find and play with the sensor to see if it's either not hooked up or if the sensor is bad. The gas gauge is off by 1/4 tank in either direction at any given time. The needle bounces, so I just assume it's trying to trick me. The tach also bounces, but I always go by sound for that anyway. The gauges are a little dim, but I might just be used to our Subaru. The radio is kind of wonky. It's like it gets stuck on seek, but reads the same station all the time. I'm going to put a CD player in it soon, though. I didn't try a tape yet, but unless I want to listen to Heart, or Pet Shop Boys, I think I'm out f luck on music at the moment.

The one thing that concerns me is the seat belts. They don't seem to lock when you pull on them. I don't plan on getting into any accidents, but it feels like the seatbelt wouldn't do much if I was in one. Granted, in terms of cars I'd feel safer in if i was in one, I think I'd rather be in the Camaro than the Subaru if for no other reason than the fact that the Camaro is a lot more car in front of me. I barely fit in the Subaru, and it feels like it'd be obliterated if it were in an accident, where the Camaro fits me, my husband, and my son a lot comfier, and it feels like I'm driving a tank. I don't know if that's just how the seatbelts are, or if I should consider replacing them. I'd also consider trying to retrofit shoulder belts in the back seats if it's possible.

 

Congrats on the purchase! Post up some pics whenever you get the chance. As for the gauge issue, its very possible that someone might have tried installing a V6 cluster in your V8, and that's why everything is sporadic. I just installed a 145-mph speedo w/cluster for very cheap, and I'm sure you'll come across one on ebay, sooner or later....

Again, congrats on the purchase....

-Rob

 

Is there anything I need to look out for when replacing the gauge cluster, or will pretty much any of them work? I'd worry about the speedometer being accurate, or connecting a different way.

 

'87 is the best of the LG4's, with electric fan, in-tank electric helper pump, power steering cooler and a few other refinements. It was, however, a cross over year for the transmission with beefed up internals but most not having the extra valve body. I've been through engine swaps in two '87s so far with one re-built wiring harness. If you have any questions feel free to ask. You should expect 20+ mpg from one in good tune.

The standard speedo should be an 85 mph.

The tach needle bouncing is usually a sign of a bad pickup coil and associated mis-fire. The small cap dist may need to be replaced. You can replace just the pickup coil but ONLY if you make sure that there is no side to side play in the dist shaft. I've seen a few of these small caps get way sloppy.

It's common for these guages to be pretty inaccurate, even when new. Think of them as little wavy things that may, or may not, be an indication of an actual physical measurement.

 

You'll want to target a cluster exclusively for a V8, as this way you'll know that your RPM's will be accurate, and your V8 senders will be compatible. The speedometer will be accurate, so long as you utilize the entire gauge (there is a yellow sensor that is located behind the RPM gauge on the back side of the cluster, that works in conjunction with the particular speedometer being used; 85-mph, 115-mph, 145-mph, etc). I recently installed a 145-mph out of a V8 cluster into a V6 cluster, and it works perfectly. Here is one on ebay, it's kind of steep, but that's because they are getting rarer by the day. Seatbelts you can pick up anywhere, even from a 4th gen....

-Rob

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/82-89...Q5fAccessories

 

I took it to get inspected today. No problems, almost. It passed saftey inspeciton, but not emissions. It needs a new air pump. The old one was seized. Normally I'd go get one out of a junk yard, but they only wanted like $150 total including the inspection and emissions to put it in. Other than that, they gave it a good once over to make sure there wasn't anything I should watch out for. No floor-pan rust, but there was some on the rear quarters that I already knew about.