86 BASE FC, 305 holley 5speed swap
 

Disclaimer:

Save the rotary vs. piston BS please. I posted this in the "Other Engines" section but have yet to get a response.

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I am in need of some opinions. This car has been for sale about 35 min from my house for almost 4 months now. Ive been talking to the guy and found out the the engine and trans were from an 87' IROC camaro that was previously TPI (stock rated hp at 210) and converted to carb. His wifes uncle built the car about 5 years ago and they have been driving it ever since. Just this year it developed a fuel/carb problem and he said he hasnt had time to look into and has decided to sell it. It will start up and idle, but will bog when you give it gas. It was originally listed for $3500. He says everything works other than the fuel/carb issue and it is able to be driven around a bit to "test" it out.


Here is the info taken straight from the CL ad:

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1986
Chevy 305 and 5speed trans
Texas Car 99% rustfree
83,400 original miles
Motor/trans from a 87 camaro with 90,000 miles
PA inspected/emissions till feb/2012

Engine/trans swap done with kit from Granniesspeedshop.com
Weinand Stealth series intake manifold
Holley street avenger carb
Edlebrock airfilter
Hedman Headers
Aluminum Header Gaskets
Aluminum racing raditator
Adjustable rev limiter
True duals with Slp loudmouth 1
17" Rims with New hankooks
New 2" Drop springs
New front struts
Wilwood Master Cylinder
Electric Fan
New 100amp Alt
New tuneup
I PUT A LUND HOODSCOOP ON IT NOW

Car is not running rite...stalls out.....its as is where it is,you can start it and drive it around the big parking lot there to make sure everything is working good besides the stalling out.DONT TEXT OR CALL ME ASKING WHATS WRONG WITH IT IF I KNEW IT WOULD BE FIXED I DONT HAVE TIME TO MESS WITH THE CAR.AND I WONT RESPOND TO REDICULOUS OFFERS. .

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The rust is on the middle of the door right by the seam. It isnt through yet, but its bubbled up a bit. No other rust, no dents, fresh -ish paint. The interior isnt horrible, but it has seat covers on it so I'm assuming that they are ripped. The interior is maroon.

My questions:

1. Does anyone have any idea at all what to expect as far as gas mileage? Of course it will need to have the carb fixed first.

2. What do you think this thing would be worth after it was fixed up? I am working on getting pics up too.

Thank you for your help, Ive never even though of a v8 FC until today... I'm a 12a FB guy (ive had 4) lol Even if you cant answer my questions or anything, can you at least give me your opinions?

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/...07/yellow7.jpg
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/...yellow7003.jpg
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/...llo7engine.jpg
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/...yellow7001.jpg
http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/...yellow7002.jpg

My opinion is that rotary/V8/whatever, I would pass on that car for $3500.

I've never priced out FC V8 swaps, so I have no clue what it would be worth once he issues are fixed. It's mainly my gut instinct telling me to pass on that.

Most of us probably would be guessing big time on any fuel mileage numbers.

i'd pass on it too, its not worth $3500 running....

it DOES sound like its a fuel filter, or fuel delivery problem though, so it might be a simple fix.

the pic where your finger is pointing to the rust, is also pointing to bondo, that car is going to look BAD under the paint.

That was my concern, too. There's no telling what's underneath the rest of that paint.

Agreed with the pass. Also, if it's a 4-lug base model, the drivetrain is going to be a weak link due to wear and the ever-present lust for more power. Not the worst swap I've seen, but it seems like an "I can't figure out this rotary engine thing" swap rather than a fully thought out build.

The car has been running for 5 years and just developed the issue. Hes asking $1500 for it now.

My guess (strictly a guess as i habe no idea) is that his wifes uncle or who ever built the car, he got it somehow, and it broke. I dont think he knows anything about carbs and there it sits. Think its worth $2500ish in good running condition?

It's not worth it, it's a base, weak Na diff, ugly ass yellow and maroon interior. I would pay like 1500 tops. If anything the carb could need an overhaul (which isn't too bad), or it's related to the fuel pump. And it's a carbureted v8 you don't buy it for fuel economy.

You may wanna check out the v8 rx7 forum, you definitely won't get flamed there and they might be able to help with the problem.

Bye

An LS motor into FC swap is one thing, and might be worth $3500., but that motor swapped in ain't worth nothin'...and with a carb too.???!!!

Someone has put money into it. Grannys kit, Holley carb, all that.

I'd say $1000 tops. A fuel problem is an easy fix for a carb engine. Check pump, filter, lines, then carb.

Go to www.norotors.com and post this. 90% of people here will refuse to give a respectable answer.

All too Serious
 

If you are buying it for a Daily Driver, flee the scene.

If it's a toy car, then its kinda intriguing, for cheap fun only. You can spend more money than that $1500 on an induction system. However since there are millions of carbs from that vintage and millions of TPI setups in the picknpull yards of america you could have some cheap thrills. Who cares if it has a rust bubble and some bondo? It's ok, the nature of the beast.

And this is NOT a sports car anymore, it's a Hot Rod. Hot Rods are supposed to be a primary color R-Y-B. Or basic black. At lease it's not painted with a paint brush.:icon_tup:

Offer the guy a g. Sell the motor for 500, put the correct motor in it.

Yep... I don't get much more respectable than my sig/title for this topic..

B) I like your thinking!

Or do whatever you want to it? Put a lawnmower engine in it. Put wings on it and make it fly. If you get it, do whatever you want. Just keep it out of the scrap yard.

Oh yes my friend, I know haha. We've had our bickers over it a few times I think. Everyone has their own ideas and tastes.

the 305 isn't really that bad of an engine, it certainly isn't anything performance wise, out of the box, though a lot/most 350 parts swap over, you just have to measure heads because the bore on the 305 is significantly smaller than the 350. Plus parts for the motor are plentiful.

Having worked with a few Iroc Camaro's, once you open up the 305 from the factory stuff, you're looking at the low teens for city if you're nice to the throttle, high teens, low twenties for highway. I think that carb might be a bit much for the engine, I have seen camaros pick up horsepower and mpg's going back from a street avenger to a factory-ish two barrel from a earlier 350. Only wild card is the N/a rear end, if it's too steep then you're going to hurt a bit more on gas, I don't remember what the Camaro came with but I doubt it is as high as the 4.10:1 rear end the N/A car has, may have been a 2.73:1 or a 3.23:1

Give him a grand for it, take care of the fueling issue and have fun.
If this is a daily I don't know how much you'd trust other people's swaps, put some time into it and I think it would be an okay daily driver. That Loudmouth muffler is.. well.. loud.

If you're asking about resale value before you buy something you may consider why you're buying it: I think if you changed the red interior to black(not too hard to do), addressed the problem of the weak/steep differential, and stole a 350 out of something a bit nicer in a junk yard, you could get 2500-3k for the car on a good day. More *maybe* investment than return.

overall, who cares what we think, I'd bet the car would be fun to romp around on a bit once you get it running well, it probably sounds decent, the paint is okayish, worlds different than an FB, and you won't have to correct all the old dudes at the gas station when they ask you what kind of V8 it has.

-M

True.. Tis' much better than being scrapped, at least it could be un-swapped someday.
hehe Yea XD

Not sure about Ohio but that car wouldn't be legal in CO.
Here, our swap engines have to be as new or newer than the chassis and the carb would have to go, replaced by the original intake.

Most likely, fuel consumption would be better with the V-8.
My swapped V-8 FD averages @22mpg/city, a big change from my rotary FC's 16-17mpg/city.

Hi, the engine swap kit from grannys is about 1400. The Iroc engine and trans are about 700. I've got an ls1 in mine and it's a rocket ship. If you buy it and get it running right, you'll love it. Good luck

1) get about 16-18mpg highway and 10-12 city, if tuned decently.
2) it would be worth about the $3k in good running condition with the rust issue fixed.


all in all it would probably run about as quick as a decently well running stock series 4 rotary would, would leave the line quicker but run out of breath earlier. even the gas mileage would be similar. i have no idea why he bothered doing it in the first place. yes it probably has about 20-30 more horses but also has an engine with 2-3k less RPMs.

regardless of what the V8 lovers think you can't pin a V8 at 6k all day like a rotary, the redline on these cars is more for a shift indicator than a stress indicator for the engine.

Shhhhhhh....yes they can!










*waits for boom....*

:egrin:
Yeaaaaaaaa... Give it a shot....

"V8's never ever blow up!" :egrin:

I don't know any V-8 owners who think that and fail to see the relevance anyway.
How does redline alone elevate one design over the other?

IMO, the biggest obstacle facing the V-8 swapped FC/FD is the diff.
The range of gearing- 4.10-3.90- is just plain wrong (my FD could easily pull a 3.55 and maybe even a 3.27) and not easily changed.
Options are becoming available-not cheaply, of course but forcing the V-8 to run rotary gearing is counterproductive.