Hi Guys

The car isn't doing so well. Heres the deal.

83' Camaro SC, originally a V6 auto,

I swapped to 5.0 with t5 and put on
-Edelbrock performer cam
-performer rpm air gap intake
-performer 650 carb
-Flowtech headers and ypipe
- High flow oil pump

I recently developed a tapping noise, that developed into a heavy metal on metal noise, that turned out to be the #8 piston hitting the cylinder head. (I havn't pulled the motor yet, so I don't know what happened) I'm assuming I'll have to rebuild the bottom end to fix this)

Now what
Considering it is my goal to get rid of this car and get an 87-92, and:

The Good stuff
-Perfect Body
-2 year old paint (Still Beautiful)
-Near perfect interior (headliner sagging)
-2 year old carpet (like new)
-Emissions exempt
-Classic

The To Do List
-Fix the above engine problem
-replace the windshield (cracked)
-replace the tires and wheels (guy I bought the car from got wheels with the wrong offset, tires are bare)
-replace the headliner
-replace floorpans
-replace fuel lines
-replace brake lines
-replace v6 rear end
-replace the transmission case (cracked at the torsion bar mounting point, it came out of the donor car like this)
-Fix the windshiled wiper wiring and or replace steering column (84 wiring (motor powered by cockpit switch) is not compatible with 83 wiring (motor powered from engine bay, grounds through switch)

***It should be noted that when I swapped engines, I also reduced the engine harness to 4 wires (since i was using aftermarket gauges and transducers), and eliminated all emmisions equip (I left the cat) so anyone who might want to put it back to stock may have a hard time


Should I
1
cut my losses, sell the car without the engine (or worste case scenario, scrap it), and sell the performance parts.

If I go this route what do you think the car would be worth?

2
Fix what needs to be fixed and sell it in good condition (I have serious doubts about this one, as i foresee spending more to fix the problems then i would get for the finished product)

Thanks guys

 

Heres a few pics btw

 

Need one more option: Fix and keep.

No matter what you do, you will never get back what you put into it. The damn things are usually worth more in pieces than whole but then you have to take everything apart and spend a fair bit of time mailing things ect.

 

A car with no running engine isn't worth much more than scrap value, regardless of condition. If you do decide to sell it, it might be worth it to swap in any junkyard V8 in running condition you can get your hands on.

 

What/how did you find it was infact #8 cylinder. Did you do a compression test, or is it missing on #8. Your 100% positive it is a piston or internal damage at least? Coud be a crakced flywheel, and or broken fuel pump spring. Just asking, as you never know.

 

You'll get $50 scrap for it as a rolling chassis or with the engine (running or not) so just forget that option.

The body looks decent enough that someone may just be willing to spend a couple hundred bucks for it (with a non-running engine or even without one).

If you can sell it without an engine go for it as you may be able to part out the engine for a few more bucks.

Personally I wouldn't bother with it. Sounds like you'll be spending a whole lot of cash to get that project where you want it. There's a point where bailing is a better option.

 

The body looks pretty good- if as you say it's mint except the floorpans- that's got to be worth $500.00 easy to someone. The rearend needs replacing because it was a V6? Why- same rears in V8 cars. Floorpans are an easy fix, windshields are cheap these days. yada yada. It's the re-wiring that may stop alot of people- thats a pain in the a$$

I'd say list it "as is" and see what you might get- you know the engine's fubar (metal on metal thump is probably a connecting rod bearing gone bad)- and pulling it is just more work for which you might never get any decent money from- the complete engine isn't worth ****- only your upgrades- not including the oilpump- no one wants an oil pump from an engine that went south.

I wouldn't want to venture a price on what you could get- but like I mentioned $500.00 for the shell w/all parts excluding drivetrain has gotta be do-able without too much effort.

 

I'd fix it as well.
This guy has a 350 TPI in a car running for $500.
613-374-5636 Last I spoke to him it was with computer/harness/engine etc.

Find something like this and change engines, even if it is only the long block (block + heads) with your stuff added to it. You can get a decent 350 for little $$.

Other parts are minor..chances are any other car you get will need stuff as well for safety/emissions anyways.

At least change blocks first, before selling.

Pick up a set of decent wheels..SLP still has 16" take-off 5 spoke rims with new tires from the ram air birds I think for about $600USD. BTW the tire offset will not cause them to wear unevenly, it's your alignment.

 

....or give me the car and 4k and I will give you my 88 IROC (5spd, T-roof, mint body):

 

....or give me the car and 4k and I will give you my 88 IROC (5spd, T-roof, mint body):

 

I pulled off the cylinder head. TDC on #8 is about .25" higher than the other cylinders (blows my mind)

There is a shinny 3mm depression in the raised lip of the piston below where the combustion chamber isn't and below the spark plug. There is a matching shiny ring on the cylinder head


The wheel problem has to do with the rears sticking out too far and interfering with the quarter panels.

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate the help

 

Ahhh..that makes sense.
You must have some screwed up rod in that thing!

 

Tore the engine down yesterday. When i pulled the oil drain plug, about 4 L of coolant came out before i saw oil

I'm not sure where the coolant was getting into the oil (bad intake gasket maybe), but what a mess.

Every bearing in the engine is fried. and the cap on # 8 was terribly worn, explaining the extra stroke it had developed.

I I took what i could and scrapped the rest... back to the drawing board i guess