Caprice engine swap?

[kevm14]

Here's the thing about the wagons.

I do like them. I grew up with them. But my Ranger is more flexible regarding cargo space. Now, would I rather drive a b-body if the cargo I happen to have would fit? I think that goes without saying. But the wagons are severely load height challenged. I can put both garbage cans in my truck, right side up, and that fits under the cap (they just make it under the cap hatch, which is the lowest point). Can't do that with the wagons. That's something I do 52 weekends a year.

I fit a 60" plasma TV right side up (without the stand). Couldn't do that in the wagon either. You're not supposed to transport plasmas laying down.

I brought a bunch of furniture back from Plainville over the summer. Most of it was too tall for a wagon.

When my old Sony CRT died I brought that to the transfer station for recycling. I believe that was also too tall for the wagons.

It goes on and on.

Many years ago I looked into getting rid of my Ranger for a b-body wagon but a simple height measurement told the story. I need the height most often. Width and depth are secondary. And even then my compact Ranger still has a 7 foot bed and while it doesn't have 48" between the wheel wells, it does have 52-54" in the bed (I just checked).

Last year I bought a Rubbermaid shed for my old house. That would have been too wide for a wagon.

With a truck, you just put stuff in and go. No folding down seats, no worrying about ruining the interior, no issues with smells (gas cans), significantly decreased load shifting hazard risks, since they are in a confined box.

I do not see a wagon as a suitable replacement for a truck, period.

[Adam]

93-96 sedan
1566mm - narrow (9C1 - disc & drum & some other drum applications)

While I'm at my parent's house this weekend, I need to measure the axle width on the Monte Carlo. Is the above measurement backing plate to backing pate? Or axle face to axle face? Or some other measurement?

[kevm14]

I would expect at the axle flange. But, not 100% sure.

[Adam]

I'll see what's easiest to measure with the other stuff in the garage. I can always measure the 9C1 axle the same way later.

[kevm14]

I like the color on this one http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5301920506.html

Got pics and SPID.

What's up with the steering wheel? That's weird. Also upper wood trim strip on the passenger door is missing.


2.56 car, non-V08. Need to decode to find the rest of the things. Seems pretty clean. Long Island though so need to check for rust. At least it's close. Price is reasonable.

The guy called me today at lunch. Some highlights:
- It has a hitch on it, yet no tow pack. Not a big deal if it's a light trailer but the thought of a 2.56 Roadmaster towing anything of any weight...that 4L60-E is going to hate that
- The only issues that I currently know of are: driver's side mirror, rearview mirror glue failed, wood trim piece on the passenger front door, some aging cracks on the surface of the leather, some dog fur stuff from having animals in it
- Car is currently not registered so, Fleetwood-style test drive unless I get bold and do something illegal
- He stopped driving it due to gas prices, though gas is obviously lower now than when he stopped
- Has had a replacement water pump, radiator, front coil springs (wtf?), some computer (maybe BCM?), an A/C line
- Generally I do think the car was well maintained, FWIW

He wanted to know when I could come look at it. I said at this point the biggest question mark is rust, and having been used on LI all it's life (he is the second owner, did not garage it, and bought it around 80k from the first owner, also on LI), I am skeptical that it will be as clean as I would like it to be.

So the question is, do I waste a day and go look at this thing when I don't really have a day to waste, or an emergency need to replace the Caprice?

He had a caller from PA who was giving him the run-around. So he'd rather deal with me, certainly. The price is negotiable but I don' t know what that means. I should probably not expect to get it for $1300, so probably assume $1700-$1900.

Thoughts?

[Adam]

I like the color on this one http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5301920506.html

Got pics and SPID.

What's up with the steering wheel? That's weird. Also upper wood trim strip on the passenger door is missing.


2.56 car, non-V08. Need to decode to find the rest of the things. Seems pretty clean. Long Island though so need to check for rust. At least it's close. Price is reasonable.

The guy called me today at lunch. Some highlights:
- It has a hitch on it, yet no tow pack. Not a big deal if it's a light trailer but the thought of a 2.56 Roadmaster towing anything of any weight...that 4L60-E is going to hate that
- The only issues that I currently know of are: driver's side mirror, rearview mirror glue failed, wood trim piece on the passenger front door, some aging cracks on the surface of the leather, some dog fur stuff from having animals in it
- Car is currently not registered so, Fleetwood-style test drive unless I get bold and do something illegal
- He stopped driving it due to gas prices, though gas is obviously lower now than when he stopped
- Has had a replacement water pump, radiator, front coil springs (wtf?), some computer (maybe BCM?), an A/C line
- Generally I do think the car was well maintained, FWIW

He wanted to know when I could come look at it. I said at this point the biggest question mark is rust, and having been used on LI all it's life (he is the second owner, did not garage it, and bought it around 80k from the first owner, also on LI), I am skeptical that it will be as clean as I would like it to be.

So the question is, do I waste a day and go look at this thing when I don't really have a day to waste, or an emergency need to replace the Caprice?

He had a caller from PA who was giving him the run-around. So he'd rather deal with me, certainly. The price is negotiable but I don' t know what that means. I should probably not expect to get it for $1300, so probably assume $1700-$1900.

Thoughts?

FWIW I have all your spare LT1 parts still.

[bill25]

Number 1: Do you want the car?
Number 2: Just because the Caprice is running doesn't mean that a reliable backup that you can drive in the winter is unreasonable. The CTS-V is out because you won't drive that in the winter, for good reason, so that leaves the truck. I get that the truck works and is good for odd jobs, but I personally wouldn't want to have to rely on that for 5 months of winter. Then you will be in a situation where you are rushed to find a car, which is never a good position to be in.
Number 3: the car has been up with no buyer for almost a month so you could probably grab it for $1,500. Maybe a little less.
Number 4. This guy contacted you again because nobody is interested in the car. You could probably get him to take a couple pictures of the undercarriage and maybe a couple specific things of interest before you go out there.

[kevm14]

More info.

Front springs and possibly all 4 shocks were replaced.

The computer was actually the PCM. No idea what that was about.

He sent some pics. The undercarriage actually looks surprisingly good. Not NC good but pretty amazing for a 20 year old B-body driven exclusively in the LI/NY area. He also sent pics of some slight seam tearing on the rear seats. I think at this point I can afford to be picky enough and say this is not the right car. I am really looking for a pretty mint interior. I haven't replaced seats in any car I've owned, so I'm probably not about to start now. If it turns out that I really can't get what I want at $2000, then I will make arrangements to raise my budget. But I think I CAN get everything I want in a RMS at $2k. Really.

I have to tell him by this weekend what is going on. I wonder if that is because his neighbor would consider taking that PA guy's low ball. The money matters, but despite what I have said, it isn't everything. The car has to be a certain thing for me to want to buy it for any price. And if it is that certain thing, a few hundred dollars either way doesn't really change the ballgame that much.

[bill25]

I don't disagree with anything that you are saying really. I am just saying that we have been discussing RWD platforms after the B-Body. This seems like a good full sized candidate. If you don't like the styling, then it is really a non-starter. I am not a full sized car guy, but if I had to buy one, this would probably be it. I wouldn't keep it stock, but the plus is you can get them newer than 1996. Looking at Monte's I can see it is getting harder and harder to get a decent one for 3 or 4K. You seem to be looking for an immaculate B-Body for 2K. I think that is going to be less and less likely since they are 20 years old. That is not a knock against the car, it is just a long time to go by and have a perfect platform. The latest one in Long Island seems to be in really good shape, but you don't want to swap out a back seat? That is stupid easy to do, and these are elderly cars used primarily to go to church. There are probably thousands of these that never had a passenger in the back seat. I am not giving you a hard time, it just seems like you are making excuses not to buy. I think the longer you wait, the more you will see that pristine examples will fetch more for their old age, and the rest will be in rougher shape than you will want to deal with. It might be time to move on from the B-Body...

[Adam]

Which was painfully ironic because the pillow soft civilian versions of the 94-96 B-body still used the LT1 which was in another league from the lame SOHC 4.6. They needed something pretty bad and GM is the one who delivered.

Fun fact, the ZZ4, ZZ5 and new ZZ6 small block crate motor from GM uses a bottom end design based on the LT4.