It was my friends car. It is a 87 camaro lt(i think) with a V6 engine and 89,000 miles for $100. Here is the problem: he was putting premium gasoline in his car, and it started crapping out on him. I am not sure what is wrong with it, but it still turns on. Should I buy the car from him and try to put another V6 in it? Does this sound like a deal? I am not too mechanically inclined, but I want to learn, have access to a lot of tools, and a buddy of mine is really good with cars. What do you guys think?

 

What options?
Body condition?
Ever been wrecked?
Transmission?
Interiour condition?
Other ride while working on this?
Money to make all repairs needed?

If its still running, thats good, will somewhat make it easier to repair.
Just cause hes running premium Does not mean its a major issue, hell, that could be it, along with needing a tune up.

That list above is all things you need to ask.

We can guide you thru swapping engines if you have time and tools, and will to learn.

 

What options?
- none really

Body condition?
-some rust at the bottom, a dent in the hood and front bumper(can hit up a junk yard to fix that)

Ever been wrecked?
no

Transmission?
automatic, dont know what type

Interiour condition?
headliner missing, would need slight work to make it look nice

Other ride while working on this?
Red Cavy-hence the name

Money to make all repairs needed?
Just started a new job, but i still want to keep this on a budget.


Do you think it just needs to get that premium fuel out of its system and then it will run fine? How long do those engines last?

 

Tranny will be a 700r4

Do you live up north?? If so, slight rust will is probibly acceptable. But you want to lick it before it gets to bad.

No major wreck, good thing, that means no chance in unibody bent.

Headliner was gone in mine, made the heater not want to work as well, cost me 50 to fix it nicely.

I attempted to do mine on budget, didn't quite happen, but that was cause tranny was futher gone then thought.

I'm not saying that the 93 gas is what is causing it to run bad, but could be slight possibilty. It could be easy fix, it could be hard fix.

If its not smoking, or making clanking nosies, then it will possibly be easy fix.

I have 149,000 miles on my 3.1l and its still running hard. A guy named tomp has 200+ I belive on his 85/86? 2.8l. These engines if taken care of are a durable engine.

 

Ill have to start it and find out if it makes clanking noises. Do I have to drive the car, to hear the clanking noises, or can i just rev it?

 

Yep, 246,000 miles. If I were you, redcavy, bring the car to a mechanic. Don't bring the car to your friend's mechanic- nothing against your friend, of course, but the mechanic might feel "obligated" to give your friend some help. Find a mechanic that will be totally neutral in his decision, and ask him if he'd take $50 to look the car over.

And don't tell your friend that a Major Tuneup would probably fix the car's problem.

Another thing you can do- buy/rent a $20 compression gauge. That gives you a rough idea of the condition of the engine's cylinders and valves. Good readings are in the 140-160 PSI range. The mechanic you bring the car to will have one of these gauges, and it'd take him (or you) about 10 minutes to run the test. (You need to test each cylinder). If you buy the gauge yourself, pay the extra $5 for one with a hose attached to it. If you buy the $15 one with no hose, you'll be returning it immediately because you won't be able to get at some of the spark plug holes.

Also ask the mechanic to run a fuel pressure test. A fuel pressure gauge for fuel injected motors is about $40 (gauges for carburetors are low-pressure, and cost only $12). They're well worth the purchase price. But if the fuel pressure is crap, you'll need to replace the pump- $80 for the pump, and if you can't do it yourself, it's $300 for labor.

 

for $100 i'd buy it! i bought my 91 for $525 with a blown motor...a little time and $400 later.....i was cruising around in it. it could also be ignition problems, still no big deal though.

 

I paid $300 for a rust free banged up 1985 with bad interior. Killed engine after I brought it back to life.
Then did the 3.4 swap then a tranny, body panels, radiator from wrecking yard, electronics, fuel pump etc.
Worth it?
SURE!
Free rides in great shape are very hard to come by, these days.
Especially ones with all suspension option (better suspension than base line F body)
Oh my vehicle milage now is 126K, that's very low milage for a ride almost 20 years old. Engine milage is about 50-60,000 by now (I installed used running long block bough with only 44,000 miles on a 1995 engine), tranny has about 5-10K on rebuild.
Next comes new brake lines & fresh DOT FOUR brake fluid. And fix the oil leak due to being educated how I made leak in first place.
GRAB THAT CAR FOR ONLY $100! Could be as simple as bad alternator!

 

If you don't want it Ill take it. The bumper cover alone is about worth that price.

 

thats a great deal, i sold one with a blown motor for more than that..lol

 

you should definately DEFINATELY buy that car. Let's say there's no engine or transmission, the body is dent/rust free, but the paint's horrible and the interior needs alot of work. A car like this would be worth $200 at least. But you didn't mention anything about the exterior/interior appearance of the car so I take it that it's in fine condition. With the engine running but having trouble, and the interior/exterior fine, you could buy the car for $100 then sell it for $800. If you want to fix it up, you could get a new engine and tranny for $1200, that's $1300 for a good running car. If you don't buy it, I WILL!!!...