im buying a camaro

85

Asked by Bernard Feb 14, 2009 at 05:07 PM about the Chevrolet Camaro

Question type: Shopping & Pricing

im on a 3000 dollar budget
and i dont know much about camaros but i have heard they have amazing engines and im dying to work on one
so i need help knowing which one is good

42 Answers

65

Almost all of the older style camaro's have a reliable engine...the new ones that have the v6 in them have to engine versions the 3600 and 3800, the 3800 is way better, the newer camaros with the v8s have 350 or ls1 englines

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85

so do you think i could possibly buy one with a v8 or ls1 under my budget? or will that be close to impossible?

15

If you do find with a v6 from the middle eighties, a v8 swap out is not that hard. Most camero books like year 1 or paddock carry a large supply of parts for reasonalbe prices or catch a car swap meet.

15

For instance, one of the local junkyards around here,(Minnesota) and the junkyards name is Frenchlake auto, they have a 1978 camero z28 for 1250.00. The car is complete but am not sure of the eng and tran condition. Their web site is www.frenchlakeautoparts.com

65

yes if the interior is good i would get right on it. You could just overhaul the engine and trany, that would be cheaper than new and it would have the same effect. $1250 for the car...about $500-1000 for the engine overhaul.....and if you know who to go to $750 tops for a trany rebuild. this is just an estimate for what it would cost for me to have it done at one of my local shops...do some checking around to see who will do it for free....dont forget to check to see if they do reliable work though.

65

ok i checked the web site....im guessing your gona use this as a drag car? Cause there is now way your could get that street legal in under $3000

85

ok that your gonna have to explain... im sorry im new to all of this. why would it be so hard to get it street legal? because i want to use this as a weekend project and a weekend car.

375

Just get a third gen camaro that is already drivable and start from there. not every car needs a complete rebuild. The third gen cars are great, their reletively inexpensive, the handle like a dream, its easy to find one with a V8, and most of them have an overdrive transmission for good gas mileage. Also, they are a great start for whatever you want to do with the car whether a daily driver or drag car or somewhere in between. Iv'e owned three of 'em and dont have anything bad to say about them. Oh, and I've never lost a race to a mustang. LOL

85

i will look into it thanks and btw i couldnt help but laugh at the comment u made about mustangs. i am willing to go all out on anything that will make a mustang look bad.

16,925

i would recommend an 87-89 iroc with the 350 tpi. the body should be solid even if the paint is cashed for $3000. you can rebuild the engine and make it a screamer. plus they look very ncie in mint condition. i had an 87 with a 305 and i blew it and put a 400 in and blew it then i got an 89 with the 350 tpi and i babied it and that thing treated me very nice.

85

thats the one that im dying to get but im not sure i can find that one for under my budget, because even if i buy the car for 3000 there r still the tune ups i need to do on the car to make it run like perfect.

16,925

if you are patient you will find one. i suggest waiting for a somewhat beat up but not bad 89 iroc. i had the one with borg warner rear axles(3.27) and 4 wheel disc brakes plus all the other goodies. i got it with 60k miles on it in mint condition from an old farmer who had it sitting in an old barn covered up for years for $5000. needed nothing. thing screamed. if youre patient i garuntee you will find one for $3000 that will need some work but not a lot. i got lucky but i waited for 6 monts to find that car too

85

ok then thanks i guess i will keep looking,, but if i find one with with mabey 130k miles on it how will i know if it will still run, or if it even works?

16,925

test drive it. and beat it while you do it so you make sure it runs fine too

85

with 3 grand it would be easy, i just bought an 84 camaro, 355 v8, new cam and heads. yah there is a lot of body work but its a daily driver and thats what counts. this project set me back 1200.. try look on criagslist theres a lot of good deals there hope that help s and good luck

If you can raise your budget about $1000 I have this for sale in southern Ohio. 1998 camaro v-6 5-speed 80,000 miles.

85

Unfortunatly I am on a pretty tight budget and I was looking for a v8 or a zr28 But I approtiate the offer

5

dude i just bought a 94 z28 and it is awesome, i got it for 3500 and its sick! spend the money and get a newer body style, no ugly ass 80s

16,925

i think the 80s camaros look better than the 93-02 camaros. the 93-02 models are too thin looking and pointy

85

or if you do it right you could spend 1200 on an 3rd gen and beef it up with what you have left over. thats what i did with mine and its workin out great. knock on woood

1 people found this helpful.
705

for $3000 you can buy a 93-97 Z28 camaro or a Firebird Formula/Trans Am both will have the LT1 350cid V8 me personally i'd find the 6 speed manual instead of the automatic, the auto's tend to go out rather quick. I got my 97 Trans Am for 3200 it only had 110k miles. But well worth the money my distributor was bad when i got it so i spent 300 for it and another 100 on the waterpump and got them both out of the way on the first shot. If you plan on working on it get a chiltons or haynes, makes life so much easier on an LT1.

20

honestly for 3000 you are gonna have a hard time finding a newer v8 camaro...you may be able to get into an lt1 powered camaro (93-97) for that price range but honestly even that will be hard. As for the v6's in the newer camaros they came with a 3400 up until 95 or 96 (i dont remember the exact year) and after that they came with a 3800. Well anyway good luck finding a camaro, i myself am also looking for another one since i just wrecked my 98 z vert :(

16,925

if you are looking at small project car throughout the years but want to start at something for $3k or less get an 80s Z28 with the 5.7L. pending on your preference you can redo the interior/exterior/drivetrain. if you start the interior there are fold out dvd players with nav that are sweet and new generation insturment cluster to put in. plus its really simple to do a seat swap for newer interior also. if its exterior you want to do match the paint thats on the outside so you dont need to redo the entire engine and wheel wells along with door trims otherwise you are looking at thousands to get a new paint job. in other words if you get a red camaro get a new red paint job. get the 5.7L so that it comes with the 700r4 and you have some power right away. first thing if you want to inmprove thr drivetrain is get a rebuild on the 700r4 depending on how much power you want to do. anything over 400 hp get a rebuild but if under just put in a shift kit. next a 350 lt1 engine swap is simple with the already stock 350 installed. then if you want to upgrade that engine just put an lt4 conversion kit on it to get 400 hp. this way you get a better looking car with the 80s but the power of the newer camaro. nothing is better than having an "older" camaro and crushing a "newer" car of any sort because they think you are slow. get the 80s and build it up bit by bit.

15

It really depends what you are looking for. If you want a drag car go as old as possible for bigger engines. If you want a quick nice looking car with more reliability, 4th gen or higher; you might pay more right away but you won't be fixing it as much. If you want a reliable-ish muscle car that's easy to work on: 3rd gen F-Body. I read somewhere you were looking for a V8. So I would recommend either a 86 to 92 Iroc-Z(86-90) or Z28(91-91) or Trans Am GTA (same engine) with a 350 TPI Fuel Injected, 4 speed automatic (they ONLY came automatic). If you are looking for something that has more potential in the future and that you could work more on, then any 3rd gen with a manual transmission, and a 305 either 4bbl carb. or TPI. Do not get TBI, it's sounds alike but it is the weakest V8 engine of the 3rd gen; it is basically an electronic carb that sucks. It is easier to swap a motor (with the same fuel management : carb or FI) than doing a trans conversion due to the different accessories. Here's a good site for stock specs about the F-body http://www.thirdgen.org/ Decide what you are looking for, do some research and then find a car. Good luck

16,925

I've read that the reason they went with the 700R4 tranny(auto) instead of the 5 speed manual for the 350 TPI is because the manual tranny cant handle the extra hp from the 350 and that the 700R4 is a better built tranny. 700R4 can handle up to 400 hp without any needed work done but after that it needs to have high performance parts put in it. I'm not sure about the capabilites of the 5 speed manual but i heard they are lower

35

If you want to work on a Camaro, then get yourself a 1st gen with whatever motor. The parts are everywhere and on most shelves still. Your options become endless. It will take any motor trany combo you wanna through at it and with somthin (sorry I have to drop the F bomb)like a ford 9 inch it can put that power down. And I'm sorry but they are by FAR the sexiest.

35

and the gen 4 ss came with a Ls1 and a Hurst 5 speed so the 5 speed can handle the power, a nice clutch and controlled foot go a long way

16,925

you mean the 4th gens came with a 6 speed right? not a 5

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35

Yes I'm sorry a six speed Hurst, Very nice trans and easy to drive, They came with either a Ls1 or Lt1 making from 305-335 bph stock, and with a little modification they would make alot more

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65

The F-body 6-speed is not a Hurst tranny...it's a Borg-Warner. And the sweet thing about the B-W T56 is that it will slide right into a 3rd gen car with next to no fabrication. You can get a Hurst shifter for it though..... With a $3000 price cap you'll definitely be best served with a 3rd gen. The '85-'92 5.7L TPI is a fabulous engine, putting out as much as 345lbft of torque bone stock (in '92.) The '90-'92 engines are the best for both torque and power, and have the added bonus of NOT having a MAF sensor (which is pretty expensive to replace) like the '85-'89 and 4th gen ('93 and up) cars. Do some research on www.thirdgen.org and you can find anything you'd ever want to know about these cars, from sales brochures to technical details to the best way to get 500hp out of one. I've been driving and modifying them since I was 18 and I wouldn't have any other sports car (except maybe the NEW Camaro.)

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705

its not a hurst at all for the 6 speed. 93-97 LT1's came with the Borg-Warner T56 (same used on the cobra and vipers of the same years), 98-00 (i believe) T56 still on the LS1's. Then in 2000 Tremec came along and bought the T56 and beefed it up. 01-02 LS1's (and any later 6 speed's ie corvette's, cobra's, vipers, Aston Marton DB9's) came with the Tremec T5060. I'm going to throw some numbers but for the most part are close but not dot on. T56 Power rating was like 350-400 tq T5060 was 450-550. Their both great trannies. but really expensive if you get any kind of camaro it doesnt really matter make sure u get a T56 or the T5060 the T56 will be cheaper though. Also grab a rearend from a newer camaro V8 make sure it came from a manual u deffinantly want the 3.42 gears. save ya some on gas and get alot of horse.

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1,255

look for an 80's era camaro they should be cheap enough. but it really depends on the kind of condition that you are willing to accept the car in.

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35

i got my irocz cheap on ebay only 3300 it has 130k miles on it but was in pretty good condition no rust just needed som tlc just look around on ebay craigslist and auto trader youll find a good one eventually and camaros are deffinetly the best car out there and they have an amazing engine

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sweet, same color as my convert..you did good!! trying to dload photo ...keeps telling me page expired??

1 people found this helpful.

You'll have to save a little more money than that if you want a camaro with an engine. usless you get something from the 80s. or early 90s

2 people found this helpful.
5,095

most people buy a car they can drive , not a car to work on , if you want to work on cars get a job at a service station at least you'll get paid for it.

2 people found this helpful.

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