I'm crossing into unknown territory here... I'm looking hard at buying a turbo hood for 386 bucks plus shipping, and replacing the driver's side fender with a 86 dollar aftermarket from Hawk's.

I have waaaay too much in the car already, and have little (IMO) to show for it. Bought it for 500, and have over 4 times that amount into it. Some pics.....

 

Here's the engine.

 

A brief rundown on what I have so far:

Engine - bored .030 over, hyperetic pistons (9.5:1 flat tops) w/chrome-moly rings, .010 undersize crank, tri-metal bearings, model 2040 Crane compu-cam, heads rebuilt and teflon seals installed, stock intake, CCC Q-jet. TES headers with stock exhaust from there. All new front end parts with poly PST bushings and frond end kit, new tires, new starter, rebuilt carb, new radiator, front brake calipers, K&N filter from Autozone. New clutch, new T-top weatherstripping (GM), new CAT, new master cylinder, new window motor (passenger side). I know there's a bunch I'm forgetting, but you get the idea.



Things I like about the car:

-Engine seems to run strong.
-3.73:1 gears give it serious take-off
-It's an L69
-5-Speed
-Handles better than any car I've owned
-T-tops

Things I don't like:

-The thing rattles worse than a school bus- if it isn't the doors, the T-tops squeak
-I replaced door hinges on both doors - upper and lower, and they STILL aren't right. (Tiny bit too low)
- I am having serious difficulty getting the secondaries dailed in (i.e. hesitation, slight bog.)
- I need to replace the synchro for 2nd gear - on it's way out.
- Interior in bad shape - looking for 91-92 interior, or 4th gen seats.
- Speedo doesn't work, neither does A/C, Cruise, washer pump.
- Needs paint (another 2000 minimum.)
- It has more than it's share of rust. I managed to "patch" up the floorboards with sections out of a donor Camaro.

I know I'm at the point of no return once I commit myself to the hood, fender and SFC's. I have been thinking about getting rid of the computer and getting a non-CC carb and distibutor and unplugging the "Check Engine" bulb. It seems like the fuel curve or timing curve are off somehow..maybe limited by the LG4 computer I stupidly traded my L69 one for at Autozone.

I guess what I'm asking for are some opinions on where to go from here...




P.S. - I DO plan to build a 383 with AT LEAST 400 HP ... whether it goes in this car or not, is still up in the air...

 

From one retired Master Chief to another, get rid of that car, cut your losses and find a newer one, like a 91-92 model that has a 350 and TPI. You'll find someone who wants that car for about $1000.00. Or part it out. The engine seems like it ought to be worth that much.
I had my heart into a '74 Stingray a couple years ago. I should say my heart and my checkbook. I took a loss on the sale, but I haven't looked back (more than once or twice anyway). I have a nice clean TBI '92 RS that is a pleasure to drive, everything works, it's solid, doesn't leak, etc, etc. I'm swapping in a cam later this month and have done some other minor things to improve handling. I autocross and can keep up with the LS1 powered SS's on the course even with street tires . Third gen's are great little cars!

Mike
CTICM(ret) - also in '98!

 

yeah, that is good advice,
You could chase this **** around for a long time and not be much further down the road then you are now.
I HAVE my *** sunk into a '74 vette now to the tune of $25k
(It's for sale for $14,200)

Don't waste it on a Turbo hood.
Pick up a fender from Ebay or pick and pull for $35
Check into the weather stripping for the rattles
Get a computer from a newer car at the pick and pull or ebaY.
cHECK THE o2 SENSOR, BUT BASICALLY THOSE COMPUTER GREMLINS ARE ****ED, (opps)

If you live in a state where there is no smog law then pull the computer ****, put a Holley double pumper on it and just drive it.

I wouldn't put my heart and soul into a problematic third gen.
Sometimes they don't get better.
They just become problematic race cars

 

would you sell your complete engine for $300? im driving an 84 berlinetta 2.8 v6 (its my first car) ive driven 5.7L camaros before but my car is so f*ing slow its kind of embarrasing becuase evryone wants to race you and everything thinks you got this super fast drag muscle car but you really have this slow *** 107 horsepower granny sports car.

 

- The rattles will simmer down a LOT with SFC I hear... and you're planning on doing that anyways.

- One of the vendors offers a fix kit for your problem, I think it runs about 100 (dont quote me, I havent looked it up that much) but that would probably last you until the day the car dies.

-Guess it's time for a World Class T5 anyways, since you aim for 400hp the stock trans wont hold up, you didnt expect it to either I'm guessing.

-Interior is easy enough to make look nice. replace your carpet if it looks bad, and that will make a HUGE difference. Then put some nice seat covers on or something (or if you plan to drag race it w/ 400hp you'll probably be needing a 6 point harness anyways, right?)

- The gauges are just electrical problems. Chances are that the senders just dont work. The washer pump is probably the easiest to fix. If you cant get it working, you can get one from a junkyard for cheeeeeap

- Paint will need to be done to any car that you do body panel switching with. And most thirdgens for sale need paint badly anyways with just their stock paint on! Van Nuys was not nice to us.

- Small patches of rust arent too hard to fix if you have the tools and time. But if you have rust in lots of structural places this is where I would say to cut your losses. Or better yet, just take out your engine and trans and everything and all the body panels that you want to keep and ground effects, and buy a rolling chassis to put your stuff in.

 

sellmanb : Even though I really do appreciate your response, if you look at the original post dates....... this thread is 3 years old!! lol... Someone brought this back from the dead.

There's been a little bit done to the car since I posted that!

- Doors are repaired and are fine now. (Andy's kit)
- I have a G-Force T-5 with a Pro 5.0 shifter
- All the gages now work, I even have a 140 mph speedo I'm installing soon.
- New carpet installed and better seats, but still need a headliner and small stuff.
- STILL needs paint, all floorboards I patched are holding up well.
- Removed the trusty 305, and installed the engine in my sig now. I didn't quite hit 400 hp, but close enough for me.
- Installed Griffin aluminum radiator
- Also installed a Moser 9"...still breaking that in.

creepingdeath - I have the HO engine in the pic above on a stand doing nothing at the moment. Complete - Great running engine till the day I pulled it, rebuilt with less than 10K on it.

I haven't put it up for sale because quite frankly, I know I'd most likely lose my *ss off on it. I have a bit over 1K I spent rebuilding it, and no one will give me anything remotely close to that.

I'm not expecting to get all my money I dropped into it back, cause I know better than that - but 300 is a bit too low. Sorry, but good luck on finding something.

 

what is the lowest you would go on the engine?

 

I know how you feel.

I bought my car 4 years ago for 2000$.

A year later I spent 3000$ replacing the engine.....the a tranny....then mods...paint....wheels....ect ect....now another tranny.

I could never get half of what I have in it. It really sucks.

 

Confuzed1,what is andys kit for the doors?Mine are sagging terribly.How much and were they easy to put on?

 

350 TPI - The hinges aren't cheap, but they did fix the sagging doors, on mine at least. Here's the link. Hope it works:
http://3rdgensolutions.com/

creepingdeath - The lowest I'd be willing to go is 750 bucks. I'll include the distributor, ECM harness and wiring, rebuilt Autozone carb I paid $210 for and used 1 year, stock intake and exhaust manifolds, valve covers, water pump, balancer and balancer pulley and oil pan. But it won't include the air cleaner or snorkles. BUT - Sorry, I'd rather not ship and if I did it would cost a bunch extra I'd think.. Pick up only.

88Camaro350 - Yep, you get to a point in which your car is worth more parted out than whole. Even then - we'd still lose a ton of $$....

 

Holy crap,$200 to do 2 doors!I guess it does a better jobthan the $14 kit on ebay lol.

 

WoW!! I didn't look at the price, but I assure you it's raised in the past 2 years. I think I paid 125 back then.

 

Sounds like your car is Fine.. i think we all went and had those same ideas. But i Would Stick w/ it and finsh it.

 

88,

Believe it or not, your's is a more typical 3rd gen ownership scenario than anyone else's. That is if you are serious about your car.

There are two philosophies a person can take going into the purchase of a car that is at least 13 years old;

- I'm just going to find a 3rd gen in reasonably good shape and then drive it until the wheels come off

- Or, I love 3rd gens and want to keep one as my personal favourite for many years to come

A lot of people get hung up in between these two, especially when a major item like a tranny goes south. But for the money invested, there simply isn't a more fun or better handling sports/muscle car to be found anywhere.

And that's why we keep fixing them

 

"And that's why we keep fixing them" That sounds.............................Bad you mean




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