Chevy Caprice Derby Wagon - $500

[Intrepidation]

http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/cto/1435274128.html

I hope it doesn't end up a dirby car.

[Camino LS6]

Worth saving for sure.

[Satty]

Looks like the body is in good shape, but with the 307, the thing is an automatic money pit.

[Camino LS6]

Easily remedied...

[Satty]

Not cheaply remedied, and with a 350 (or rebuilt 307) its still a good day when gas mileage hits double digits, not something appealing to a person who only has $500 to get a car.

[Camino LS6]

Not cheaply remedied, and with a 350 (or rebuilt 307) its still a good day when gas mileage hits double digits, not something appealing to a person who only has $500 to get a car.

True enough for some people, but not all.

[cletus8269]

Looks like the body is in good shape, but with the 307, the thing is an automatic money pit.

pull the 307 and trans and sell. gut from behind the front seats to the gate and then sprinkle with love. Long Roof's = sleeper win.

[Satty]

I spent nearly two grand (even taking into account what I got for selling the rebuilt 307) and did much of the work myself to keep the Buick running. And the thing was still impossible to keep legal. The fuel system, the electronics and the complete lack of parts availability (especially interior bits) pretty much sealed its fate. C4C came along at just the right time, allowing me to get ahead on what seemed like a bottomless pit of cash. Now tell me, how many people cruising Craigslist looking for a sub-$1000 car have the time or money to keep something like this on the road? The car in the ad is obviously an oil burner (2 pics show it smoking) and having the gaskets done professionally is a $1200+ job, to do it in your own garage would be much cheaper, but damn near impossible without pulling the engine.

[Camino LS6]

You sure seemed to be enjoying that Buick judging by your posts. I get that C4C made sense money-wise for you, but it sounded like you were having fun with it prior to that.

[Satty]

I also had the luxury of time, money and a big-ass empty garage in which to play with it, not something most people have. Realistically this car is either going into a demo derby or a junkyard. Would it be cool if it were saved? Yep, probably closer to being roadworthy than my Buick was, but the way the world is right now, it probably wont happen.

[Camino LS6]

Possibly.

These things still make decent beaters though, and there are lots of folks who fiddle with such things in countless garages across the country.

At $500, there isn't much to lose by playing with something like this.

[Satty]

The make decent beaters with gas at $1.50/gallon, but with gas pushing $3, FWD A, W, J and N bodies will be the GM beaters that people will put their nickels and dimes into to keep on the road.

[Satty]

BTW, this=win if you're talking about saving a rare b-body wagon.

[Camino LS6]

The make decent beaters with gas at $1.50/gallon, but with gas pushing $3, FWD A, W, J and N bodies will be the GM beaters that people will put their nickels and dimes into to keep on the road.

Haha!

Not me!

I buy fullsize Blazers instead.

[Satty]

I have a friend who had one of those Cutlass Cieras (I think, the same as a Century) with the 3.3. Her parents bought it for her when she turned 16, she got 6 years (lord only know how many of the cars 250,000 miles were hers) out of it before she had the money for a better car. I owed her for something so I did a tune-up, threw on new shocks and did the brakes, all together it cost maybe $250 to get it street legal (including 2 new tires) and she sold it for $900. Without all the work I did, she may have gotten $400-500 for it. You may not like it, but the market for those things is large, and will probably keep growing because they'll run forever without any maintenance and get pretty good mileage.

[Camino LS6]

GM has been building "run forever" cars of different stripes for many, many, decades.

I just wouldn't bother with any of the FWD stuff myself, not worth it to me.

[z28luvr01]

Problem solved, on the cheap

I'm sure someone mechanically adept can tune a carbureted 350 to flirt with 20mpg highway.

[Camino LS6]

Just a little effort and there you are...

[cletus8269]

I spent nearly two grand (even taking into account what I got for selling the rebuilt 307) and did much of the work myself to keep the Buick running. And the thing was still impossible to keep legal. The fuel system, the electronics and the complete lack of parts availability (especially interior bits) pretty much sealed its fate. C4C came along at just the right time, allowing me to get ahead on what seemed like a bottomless pit of cash. Now tell me, how many people cruising Craigslist looking for a sub-$1000 car have the time or money to keep something like this on the road? The car in the ad is obviously an oil burner (2 pics show it smoking) and having the gaskets done professionally is a $1200+ job, to do it in your own garage would be much cheaper, but damn near impossible without pulling the engine.

eh, we dont have near the emission restrictions we used to. the only times cars are inspected in SC as far as i know are when there is no title and the state hwy department has to issue one. but my post was about the car only needing to go through a burnout box and around 1/3 of a mile at a time. well... now that i think about it, it would have to go through tech inspection...

[cletus8269]

BTW, this=win if you're talking about saving a rare b-body wagon.

in the 9th grade a had a saturday morning job where from 9 am to 2 pm i would wash cars at Arnett BPG. they offered free car washes for the owners of the cars. there was an older gentleman that was a real PITA about his car. grumpy and gruff you could just smell scrutiny on him. anyhoo he had a gas wagon along those lines but i think his was new prolly 87 or 86. course when there were no customer cars we washed lot cars... having the honor of driving new 95/96 firebirds and trans ams at the fresh age of 14/15 was nice.

[cletus8269]

Problem solved, on the cheap

I'm sure someone mechanically adept can tune a carbureted 350 to flirt with 20mpg highway.

what is that guy doing in the 5th and 6th picture of that auction? looks like he is relieving himself...

[gm4life]

This Caprice looks darn good, way to good to be in a derby. I hope someone gives it some TLC.

[2005 EquinoxLS]

Its too good to be in a derby. You all must have the worn 307s because mine doesnt use a drop of oil and the very little it leaks isnt even worth changing the valve cover gaskets. The 1984 Buick Park Avenue I had for a little while also had a 307 with 260,000 miles and that one didnt leak or use a drop of oil. Its the transmissions that were the weak links with these. The body is pretty good on this. There are far worse cars here that are running around. They dont do inspections where we are so it doesnt matter what you really do. I dont know if either of my cars would pass an inspection or not.