OK, I have personally have around $5500 wrapped up in this V6 (after I have demodded and sold some stuff). My parents paid for a tranny rebuild in November ($2700 at AMACO ) I have been working on it spartically since then to get it ready to sell.

My parents have agreed to give me half of what I get for selling it. The original deal was they would pay for the tranny rebuild, but I would give them what I sold for it.

I have almost got it all sanded, primed and ready for paint. It got a new OEM ignition control module (The Holley was way better IMO and $7 cheaper too bad I dind't listen to TomP and add some Heatsink grease, I used a lot this time ). New Tune-up as well.

I still need to paint ($300 @ MAACO), new T-top weatherstripping ($265), and weld up Cat so it doesn't keep folling off and fix squeeling brakes (the new pads didn't help ).

I am so close to finishing this, it isn't funny. I have rear ended somebody in my daily driver and am actually walking away with $3300 after loan was paid off. $2000 would be put into down payment of a new daily driver.

Should I finish the car and try to get my $2500 goal price, or finish restoring it with a rebuilt 3.4 and keep as a summer car.

I would not be putting any more High performance parts, just a plain resto. Probably maybe $3000 to finish this thing.

I need some suggestions please. I really want to do a 4th gen LT1 Rebuildable project down the road, but I don't think I can sell this car. I don't know if I could put anymore money into either. It really is a tough call.

I could drop a LT1 into this car, but what about that recently rebuild tranny with less than 2000 miles on it?

This won't be my daily driver, so I can continue to put enough time into this.

 

why so long on the "gett ready for sale" process you ask?

I have been getting all those mods off and putting the original parts back on. Sanding and preping a car takes time, escepially without a garage, and when I finally get a panel sanded I run outa time to final sand it to primer it. Then it would rain, and I would have to sand again, and not have any time to final sand again! You get the picture!

I have been working 45 hours a week, plus part time college, and working on thise

 

I hear ya on the no garage thing. When I redid my 85 I had to do it out doors during winter, sooo cold
I would keep the camaro and make it reliable as possible, thats what I have decided to do with my 85. I have turned it into a very reliable daily driver, she gets good gas mileage 26.1 mpg Very seldom does something break, usually something like an exhaust leak. Since I have that performance and style in me I've deicded to make a 82 Targa Z28 since I no longer have to put loads of money into the 85

 

Restoration always takes forever... to finish my car in '97, I took a month out of "life"- didn't see anyone, didn't go out at all, etc. I went to work in the morning, went right home at quitting time, and did bodywork until it got dark. Then I went to bed, and repeated that day over and over again.

Putting the car together after the paint job was fun... all those parts going on at once! I took a week off of work to put all the goods on; that was much less tiring then bodywork. Ah memories... I slept in my car almost every single night. The floorpan's damn comfortable without the seats... the grooves in the floorboard fit behind my back's "spinal curve" and behind my neck... feet up on the angled floor that's behind the rear seatback... good times.

One point "against" finishing- you can get started on your next project car, or daily driver, or whatever your next move is.

One point "for" finishing it- you'll never say, 10 years from now, "I wish I finished it. That would've been cool."

 

finish it definately and keep it for yourself. if i was you, after all the work i had put into the car, i wouldn't sell it unless i got an offer that was just too good to turn down. i cant believe the tranny rebuild cost $2700....i'd prob. buy a rebuilt one (roughly $1200) or pull one from a junk yard and buy a rebuild kit to do yourself. then sell the tranny you got rebuilt and have a stronger tranny with some cash left in your pocket to go towards the LT1 engine. yeah you'd lose some money in selling the rebuilt tranny since you couldn't get near $2700 for it, so i guess it boils down to how important the car is to you. if it has sentimental value or something keep it and chalk up your $ losses...live and learn. if it doesnt, sell away

 

YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER!
Glad to hear school is paying off so well!
Keep at it.
IF the car MOVES delay a 3.4 install.
Finish paint & find a location with a garage.
By that time a NEW 3.4 mill would be most cost effective at $1800!
In mean time, grab a spare set of 3.4 injectors, have then cleaned & then keep working on small projects on car (brakes/suspension), while garaged at new location.
AN easy decision you'll never regret!
PS My 1967 RS/SS 350 Camaro Convert 4-speed still awaits awakening from its hibernation since 1990!
AND was stored outdoors from 1990 until 2001.
Very well wrapped, yes (and effectively done with no damage at all!)

 

Yeah I know its tough partin with a car you put so much into. I stripped my Sport Coupe bare, inside and out. Had it painted, put in a new rug, headliner, 4th gen seats, Dynomax exhaust, tranny has 5k on it, car is damn nice. Finished it all last May, and bought and IROC in September. Sure it needs to be cleaned up a little, but with the tops off and my foot down life doesn't get any better.

Plus, now I get the fun of restoring an IROC-Z!

 

Well I just got my check from the Insurance company, and most of that will be a down payment on a 2000 Cavalier Z24 my dad picked up for me (only $7825 w/ only 23k miles on it, all options minus sunroof). I will be leaving this stock, well maybe beef up the lighting (I like to see at night) and install my Elemental Designs e12a Subwoofer, buts thats all.

My parents are bugging me to get rid of the Camaro. And after turning in the Rental (it was paid for by Geico) I realized I liked low miles for a daily driver. I had to drive "krissy" (Camaro) today and it just isn't there for me anymore (sad isn't it?)

Got to work some more on the primering (not being as meticulous anymore, its just gotta go.

Maybe after I get my associates, I could get a new project car. All I know is that I want to do is a LT1 project. I can never make up my mind on car or color it would be painted, either Sunset Meatalic or Chysler Platinum.

 

btw, I got to drive the 3400 v6 in the 2002 Impala as the rental, man thats a nice daily driver engine! Just enough power to get you around, but not enough to get you into trouble. Better than the crappy 1.9L SOHC in the '99 Saturn I had.

The Camaro won't be so bad once I have the exhuast welded at the Catalytic Converter, and fix the d@mn squeky brakes. I think it might be the hold-down springs, but I tried some from a 84 Z28 in the boneyard, that didn't help any.

I put new shoes on there at first, but no luck either. I keep putting some greese on the spots where the outside of the screws are rubbing the plates, but It stars sqeeking again in a few days. gurr

 

I have a 2000 Grand Am with the 3400. I agree, very nice ride. Was a pleasure to drive 1200+ miles from New York to Florida.

 

i've driven that 3800 impala, and that thing will get up and go like no one else....tons of ***** off the line. With my car, i'm at the point of no return, there's no way i could get the money back that i've invested, so, i must keep on, andk eep the vehicle for as long as i possibly can...who knows, in another 20 years, maybe it'll be worth what i put in
lol

 

That's what you get for giving it a girl's name! Instead of selling it, you'll be "breaking up with it" for a new woman.

That's why I never named my Firebird. It has a name already: Firebird.

 

That's why I got my car after I got a new daily driver. Then I bought the TA two months later.

I am working on the Trans-AM outside but My paint is good and I have no body work to do. I have a single dent and that's it. Barely noticable at all.

I do have to do interior work and I don't look forward to doing it outside.

However I am working on a deal to get a garage.

 

Get a 2 vehicle car port, and put your own walls in. You can make a nice garage for under 1g, lol I made my entire shop like that.

 

LOL dude. All three of my Camaros have interchangable names. They are made known when I work on them. They are named Bitch , **** and *****.

 

If my luck could get any worse, I got hit while driving the Camaro!! Idiot was making a right onto a two lane road, took the turn too wide, came into my lane and clipped my front tire/fender.

Steering knuckle bent. Shop said I also needed a new strut and bearings.

Gave me a 1500 estimate on both mechanical and body work.

Repair the hood ( I spent over 50 hours prepping that thing ) repair front clip, replace fender and sidemarker.

Since the car is not painted, estimate does not include paint (was like 1900 with paint)

They gave me a "low retail value" of the car at like 1275, but the guy didn't want to go through his insurance company and ended up writting me a check for $1400 which was handed right over to my parents! I am now in the clear (only got to get the car outa there driveway )

Well I pickedup my new driver! a 2000 Cavalier Z24 with the 2.4L DOHC, 4 Speed Auto, All Power, 16 alloys, Dark Tint, Bright Red, Dark Charcoal interior. What a beautiful car. Gets a lot more attention than the camaro sadly only 27,800 miles and I got it for $7200 yup, only $136 a month it pays to have your father own his own used car dealership

Now to get rid of all these parts and to sent this thing to a boneyard I am sure going to miss this thing, but I look forward to bigger and brighter things! I don't look at this as a $5500 loss, I look at it as a $5500 learning experience I have come from knowing nothing about cars to knowings quite a bit in just under 2 years. I still got a lot to learn and I look forward to my next adventure!

btw - the cav will stay stock, except beef up the lighting and install my audio system.

I hope to get this car gone soon so that I can go back to working my "regular" hours to save up for another project in the future.

 

YOUR 1969 L72 427 CORVETTE!
Good thing ya made it out ok!

 

Why send it to the junkyard? Get a knuckle, strut and strut mount, and a fender from a junkyard, and put 'em on the car, and then sell the car for $200 more then you buy the junkyard parts for, with a big 'ol AS IS sticker on it.