Hello everybody-

This is my first time on this site so I hope I am posting in the right place.

No, I am not posting as a buyer. LOL

I am buying a 1992 z28 manual camaro and need to know if there are anything in particular I should be looking for when I take it in for a look.

Known issues with it:

He says that first gear comes and goes; you have to push it hard up in first before it catches but otherwise transmission runs fine, he says.

Guy says there is a hole in the exhaust somewhere; did not specify where. Says that some days it sounds really bada** then some days it doesn't. I was planning on putting an Edelbrock exhaust system on it anyway so I don't think I need to be too worries about it. (My 88 IROC-Z had that exhaust)

Also says he had ignition trouble with it (turning the key) and jury rigged a push button start under the dash... idk what to think about that.

He is asking for 3800...

Now, I am not a mechanic nor am I especially techy with cars but one thing I do not want is a one-wheel wonder. When I drop the hammer I want to stretches of rubber. Also, am I to understand that all 92 camaros have the LT1 corvette engine in it??

I would really appreciate any feedback from you guys, since you are the experts (at the vary least compared to me) on whether this camaro sounds like more trouble than it is worth.

 

1) RUN RUN RUN - Run as fast as you can! $3800 is $3000 overpriced! $3800 is a very very clean low miles car, not one with a tranny issue, or an ignition issue, or an exhaust leak, and certainly not any 3rd gen with any "jury-rigged" anything.

2) No 1992 car had the LT1 except the corvette. An LT1 is a 5.7litre (350) motor, and no 350 was ever offered with a 5-speed car in a 3rd gen. What your looking at (assuming it has 8 spark plug wires) is a 5.0 litre 305 V8, should be TPI (Tuned Port Injection) with an injector for each cylinder.

Now - a previous owner might have swapped in an LT1 motor , but I don't think a 5-sp will directly connect to a LT1 without some major bellhousing changes.

The 8th digit of the VIN will tell you what the car with from factory:

E = 5.0 litre 305 TBI - 170hp
F = 5.0 litre 305 TPI - 215hp
8 = 5.7 litre 350 TPI - 225 hp

Like I said, if it's a 5speed, then it's not a 350 (unless someone has swapped one in). And then the 5speed is toast because the stock factory 5 speed can not handle the extra power of a 350 without some rebuilding and beefing up, and then they still crap out.

TPI has a weird looking curling piped intake system with NO round air filter - TBI has a standard looking 14inch round air cleaner.

For $3800, it better come with $3000 cash in the center console!

 

OH - btw - welcome to TGO!

Where are you located? If you can make the trip, the southeast is used car heaven - with a little patience and a daily scan of craiglist here in NC I can snag a 3rd gen in at least as good if not better condition for under $1000!

 

I agree with most of everything camaronewbie said, except I would have to see pics inside and out before I could give any kind of estimate about how much it is worth.

If the interior and exterior is practically perfect, the mileage is less than 100K, the AC works, and it's a TPI car, it could be worth $3000 even if it needs a new tranny.

the odds of that being the case are slim to none. I hate to even start throwing numbers out without seeing pics

 

Firstly, thank you all for the feedback and I was kind of afraid of that. I have a few pics that I can upload here but from what he said, it use to be a show car until he took possession of it 2 years ago. Mileage is under 100K and says that the body and interior are next to perfect. Have yet to actually see it in person, car is currently in storage (Minnesota winters and all that here).

It is a Tune Ported Injection and I think wikipedia is off then or I misread about the LT1. LOL

Give me a sec and I will upload

Thank you!!

Sorry for the small pictures. These are how they were sent

 

the pics look promising... you have to figure around a $1000 for exhaust repair. If he would take $3000, and you spend another grand getting it going, it actually may be worth $4000.

spending $4800... not sure about that. There's a lot of desire around the TPI/5 speed setup, and this guy may knows it, so the price may be firm

I'm going to answer your question with a question... would you spend $4800 on a car that looks like that, and runs and drives just fine? I think if it's as good as it looks in those tiny pics, it may indeed be worth it. You couldn't get a beater TPI/5 speed and restore it to desireable condition for that price

 

Thats kind of my thoughts on it too. He was talking 4000 at first and got him to drop down to 3800 before diagnostic. Maybe afterward I can get him closer to 3500 or below if all turns out alright.

My concern in terms of pricing is my 88 IROC that I bought (TPI 5 speed) I got for about 2100 and that came with all sorts of problems. Young and naive and didnt have a mechanic look at it first and all. :P Had it running for about a year before all sorts of problems blew up; Engine, braking, and electrical

What about the push button jury rig? Simple/make permanent fix?

As I said in the first post, i dont want the so called "one wheel wonder" like my 88 was. is that fixed in this year?

 

I'm sorry, I'm not even familiar with that term...


yep.. given the option between a $2000 junker or a $5000 show car, always go for the show car. especially if you don't have the time or skills to do all of the work yourself

 

Thats it exactly. I have no problem putting down the money if I know its going to work.

One Wheel Wonder, as I understand it, is when you smoke the tires and the car only leaves one track of rubber instead of two. I think this can be fixed with a Limited Slip Differential...? lol I think that is what it is called.

 

lol, i'm a V6 guy. that's why I've never heard of it

ask the guys in the racing or TPI forums...

 

Lol I will. Thank you so much for all of your help. I will probably still have more questions though.

 

I just have to say, clean interior/body or not I'd run away from it.
The pinstripes alone are crappy.

but the fact jerry-rigging has been done on that car really scares me off, who knows what else you'll find out is messed up

 

One wheel wonder, or peg-legged. There are many terms for it. Posi/spool/limited slip will fix that

 

Lol I want to go back to the burnt orange that my 88 had. Had a lot of compliments on the color. I guess we will just have to see what the mechanic has to say about it.

 

ok if it's got a nice paint job on it and you plan on repainting it, don't get it. you're going to be paying for a paintjob twice then

only buy it if you want to keep it that way

 

@58mark:Point

@The Monster: any ideas as to the costs of that? That will be a top priority for me if this is the way i go.

 

To give you an idea of some grounds on buying this car, I found my 1988 IROC-Z 350 TPI on Craigslist and the kid wanted $4,500 for it. I talked him down to $4,000. I wished I had talked him down another $300 since I had to spend money on a new battery, alternator and a few other parts within the next 2 weeks of having it.

Overall though, I got a clean, rust free, relatively low mileage IROC (122,xxx original), shifting good, braking good and then quick car. So his asking price may or may not be off too much. I agree with "Camaronewbie" up top too.

 

the rear end may already have positraction... just ask

 

You may even find old cigarette butts in your radiator fluid if you buy this and every change out the water pump/radiator!

 

@58mark: I dont think the guy knows to be honest with you. He inherited from his dad when Dad didnt was done showing it. I will ask though.

@CamaroIROC88350: I hope not! LOL. I found a bunch of mud in my last one tho so I wont throw anything out. Haha

 

for $3800 for a car that old without a rebuilt engine, the tranny should have no issues and the ignition switch should function normally.

For $2,000, if the interior and exterior are good and the compression test on the engine is ok, then the tranny can have issues.

if you are looking for a reliable daily driver right from day one, and only you can honestly answer that question, then it doesn't sound like you have found the vehicle.

To say "I could fix that" and to really mean it are 2 different things. I've bought vehicles that I had to have transported home by flatbed because the powertrain was coming out and that was part of my plan. Go into this with your eyes wide open and your emotions left at home. Buying a vehicle should never be an emotional event yet your concern for laying patches of rubber would lead me to believe that your are emotional about the purchase.

 

torgue_is_good:

To a certain extent, I think you may be right. I have been waiting for a long time to get another summer toy since I was forced to sell my old camaro so there has been a lot of built up anticipation for this.

However, I am not so eager to throw money around that I am not going to be willing to wait a little longer if necessary. From what I am gathering out of this thread from everybody is that unless the interior and exterior are in next to perfect condition AND it is the G92 higher end performance, then I should not waste my time and I accept that and thank you all for your advice.

In terms of the positraction, I think they are just a lot more fun to play around with plus my parents house is on a steep hill. It was a struggle trying to get my old Camaro up that driveway without the limited slip, which is part 2 of why I want it. Progress is beautiful.

The transmission rebuild is something that I have already been factoring in for if necessary. I am planning on restoring this up to 7000 total (including the purchase) so as long as the number is under that, I am willing to put the money into it.

Do you guys think with that POV that I would still be making a mistake in getting this car (after taking into consideration everything previously talked about here)??

 

OK - after seeing pics, the car looks nice, granted.

Would still have to verify whether it's a 305 or a 350 - but if it's factory it's a 305.

The tranny issue might be as simple as it needs new clutch/pressure plate/release bearing - not hard to do, takes a day, about $400 to replace on your own. 1st gear is the hardest gear to get into - you are stopped, the tranny is stopped and the engine is turning. Every other gear easier because you are 'matching' tranny rpm with engine rpm when you change gears, and the gears mesh much easier (syncronized gearing). But 1st is always harder to 'shift into'.

You can buy and have an exhaust shop install a complete cat-back stock exhaust system for well under $400. Intermediary pipe about $150, $100 muffler, $75 to have someone weld it up (assuming you put the pipes in yourself). Just use clamps and metal coat hangers to hold it together for the ride to the exhaust shop, and have them weld it together with nice tips.

Ignition - probably needed a new key cylinder and was too lazy to install - about $75 from Napa/Carquest for a new key cylinder, need to 'rent' for free a steering wheel puller from advance/az and replace, not that hard. Or might have had a bad neutral safety switch or bad igntion switch (the actual switch, not the key cylinder). But who knows how he's jerry-rigged the ignition and the VATS system to make it a push-button start. Worst case scenerio you replace all those things, about $175 and your time.

But - even explaining away all that, we're still talking at max a $2k car. Tell him you have $2k, and the car is not worth more since you'll have to pay someone to replace the ignition issue ($500), correct the exhaust issue ($500), and replace the clutch ($700) - and all that is assuming the only thing wrong with the tranny is the clutch. He might bite.

But then still - if YOU can't do the work yourself, you'll end up spending $4k total since you have to pay someone to correct that stuff.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

I think you all are underestimating what a TPI/5 speed car is worth. Add to that (assuming it's correct) and really nice body, paint, and interior, and I just don't see how you are saying it's a $2000 car.
I know if it was my car (and the transmission worked) I would feel downright insulted if somebody tried to tell me it wasn't worth at LEAST $5000.
Like I said earlier, if you did find a junky TPI/T5 car for $2000 (doubtful) and spent what it took to get up to the level that this car appears to be, you will have spent a good deal more than the $3800 the seller is asking.

Of course I'm basing my whole argument on some tiny thumbnail pics.

WMlover... go look at the car... start it up, take lots of good pics, and then post them here for more opinions and thoughts. You might see it in person, and make up your mind right then one way or the other

In my experience, if a seller doesn't provide lots of good pics, there's a 99% chance there's a REASON for that. you know exactly what i'm talking about

 

Thanks for the run down and well wishes. I am not much of a mechanic so I would end up having someone else do it for me. Too much on my plate and not enough time to learn a new skill at present. Ah well.

I think the bottom line is that it needs to be checked out and its secrets discovered before I jump any sort of gun on this. We just need a beautiful day out here in MN to do it. Lol. BTW, does anyone know where the RPO codes are located in this car? I want to direct this guy to send me a picture of it and the dash gauges so I can see what this car really is.

58mark: there is truth in both arguments here and I understand both. My feelings too are that if this car is everything he says it is (assuming he is being honest; this is Earth afterall) I wouldn't want to low ball but dont want to get screwed over again. I will go take a look at it, grab some pics with a better camera and post them back up here. It will probably be a little while but hopefully sooner rather than later. In the mean time, I want to get those RPO codes

 

The RPO codes are listed on a sheet in the middle console where your controls for the windows and back hatch are located. Just open up the flap to find the sheet in there. That's if nobody removed it of course.

 

perfect. thanks. guy says the car is wrapped up tight and doesnt want to go unwrap it for me...

 

What do you mean unwrap it? In the garage?

 

backyard; 2 tarps and a car cover...

 

that's a horse of a different color.

if you are looking for a project vehicle then focus on the exterior and interior. Mechanical work is simple compared to messing around with windows, rust/rot, interior, exterior and new paint.

I have a 4th gen and an 07 stang. if I want to go fast I can hop into either of those. My 3rd gen is a restoration project and I bought an 89 RS with the 305 TBI. I could care less about making it a screamer (see other vehicles). I like the lines of the 3rd gens and I bough the 89 because it had all of the pieces. I've replaced the entire interior, rebuilt the engine, tranny, rear end, new shocks,struts and bushings, added headers and y pipe with a real free flowing cat (there is none) and it's now a whopping 310 cid having been bored and I'm sure it upped my compression something major (I'm being facetious)

You can follow my restoration thread at another forum camaroforums.com under the same user name. Oh, I paid $500 for the car and it ran and shifted. The tires were almost new, the brakes recently done so that in itself was worth $500. I'm putting the final mechanical touches to it and will hopefully fire it up this weekend. THen, it's the sanding and painting (uggghhh I hate body work)