Cascade Crew

[STEEL]

Hey guys, this is my first post here, but I dont plan on it being my last. I am 17, and I just sold my 1979 Trans Am for $2500, and Im looking to buy a third gen. I live in Puyallup, and my eventual goal is to have a third gen with a manual and a 350, but I know trying to find just that car is like looking for a needle in a haystack, so I am prepared to buy one, then convert it.

My REALISTIC requirements are:

Body and paint must be in fair to good condition, Im not a body man.
Must have EITHER a 350 OR a manual. I will not buy a 305 auto.
Must have T-tops
Must be ready to drive home
Preferably 4 wheel disk with Posi.

If you have an AWSOME 350 manual your looking to get rid of, let me know. At the completion of this summer I will have another $1500 to spend on this expensive hobby, but my plans for that money is either an engine swap (to a 350) or a tranny swap (auto to manual).

Just let know guys

[Dewey316]

Welcome!

Most of us are pretty fond of our cars, and not parting with them. BUT, there are lot of these cars around. How far are you willing to travel to pick one up?

Do you have a prefence on make and trim level?

I'll be sure to keep an eye out.

[Schultzy89GTA]

Welcome to the Crew.

We will keep our eyes open for a decent buy. Whichever way you end up going there is a lot of real world experience maintaining/modifying these cars here.

Good luck with your search!

-Schultzy

[Quasi-Traction]

[STEEL]

Ya, I didnt figure any of you guys would be too keen on selling me your pride and joys, just keep me in mind if you see something on craigslist

As far as years, make, or trim packages, if it comes with the four wheel disk and posi, then thats just less work for me. I dont like the real early ones that didn't have ground effects, (my memory fails me as to exactly which year) but other than that, Im not picky.

I am willing to go about 6-8 hours from here to find the RIGHT car, but if Im going to go that far, Im going to need to be absolutely sure I want to buy it.

I had always been told "If you want a manual, buy a manual, dont plan on changing them over later." until I met one of the members from here on the thirdgen.org. Now, I did some more research, it looks totally do-able!

Well, back to craigslist i go!

[Xophertony]

hey STEEL glad to see you made it over from TGO. you sold the 2nd gen eh? Welcome to the crew.

normally, on most cars i would agree with the "don't plan on converting it" thing, but you could NOT get a 350/manual from the factory on these cars, so it's your only option. we swapped my L98(L98=350V8 with TPI fuel injection) to a manual in only a few days.

Quasitraction also did the swap on his Camaro berlinetta. that was a little different becasue his car started life as a 2.8L auto, then was converted to a 350 w/ auto. then he bought it and we put the manual in it.

Twilightoptics also swapped his car over to a T56 (6speed out of a newer fbody) after going through a few auto transmissions.

Iansane swapped his car over to a t56 as well, i do not recall if it began life as an auto or a manual.

Schultsy89gta has an L98 equipped GTA (just like mine, only about 2X as fast) that began life as an auto and was converted to a TKO after market 5 speed transmission.

RjMcGee swapped a 5speed into his 350 camaro a while back.

Jenn just recently swapped a 5speed into her 350/305? equipped Firebird.

there is a lot of expertese crammed into this messageboard on the subject.

as far as buying a car, there is an 89 GTA for sale on the forsale bard right now with good interior and paint WITH an L98.(auto of course). but since it's a GTA it will have 4wheel disc AND a 9-bolt posi. if i did not allready own my GTA i would buy this one, hands down. it's in better shape (from what i can tell) then mine was when i bought it, it has the better brakes and other cool upgrades that the cars got in 89, man what a deal. and it's white. these cars look good in white.

EDIT* well damn, looks like we lost that post when the sight went down a few weeks back. there is a sweet formula for sale though, only 2900, 30K miles on a rebuilt 350.

[Sellmanb]

Quasi's Berlinetta started life as a 305 LG4/Auto btw.

If I was you, I'd find a straight IROC or GTA. Either will (from the factory) be more optioned toward a 350 w/ rear disk brakes. Plus T-tops are a dime a dozen w/ them.

Ground effects can be added, or substituted extremely easily 83blackbetty (uh, I think that's his s/n?) put some 91/92 gfx on his 83z, and after he painted the car, they look superb!

If it comes down to it though, auto-manual swap = much less expensive than 305 - 350 swap.

[aaron_sK]

Ian's was an auto too IIRC.

Listen to these guys, and look for an L98. They only came with autos, but most had some performance package. They are going up quite a bit in price though. I've seen legit IROC's going for about the same price as LT1's.

[Xophertony]

i picked up my GTA with 140K for 3000$
that other GTA was for sale in real good shape for 2500$

if you don't want one that is DONE (as in no work needed) you CAN get one for a deal. you just have to wait for one to pop up that somone needs gone NOW or someone selling one for sale cheap because it "won't start" since the VATS module went out.

most out there in good shape are priced accordingly, but there are the occasional deals out there.

[Sellmanb]

or better yet, wait to find one that has a blown tranny lol

[STEEL]

well, just found a nice looking black 89 IROC-Z. It has the posi, but not the rear disk. It has also been converted to a TBI. It has the 350 and the automatic, and it looks pretty clean. Going to be looking at it thursday

[iansane]

Check out South Tacoma Way right now, there are about 4 stealerships with 3rdgens on them. You familiar with Tacoma Dodge? There's a mini dealership across the street that goes through quite a few performance oriented cars and I think they've got a red GTA on the lot right now 88-90 for 4k which could obviously be talked down.

What part of Puyallup are you from? My girlfriend lives down off pioneer so I'm always over there.

[Xophertony]

converted to TBI from what? TPI?

this sounds a bit fishy right off the bat, so be on your guard. make sure the car is a 350 before you hand out any cash. EVERYone thinks their 305 is a 350. the 8th difit in the VIN# MUST be 8 for the car to be a 350 from the factory. that said it is possible someone swapped a 350 in a while ago, but unless he did it himself this is not the case. "yeah, the prior owner told me it was a 350" is about as meaningful as "yep, she only has XXXXX miles" when the odometer is broken.

the next best way to tell is to look at the SPID sheet in the center console. SPID stands for Service Parts Identification. it is a label on the inside of the center console that tells technicians what options came on the car so they know what parts to replace with what. L98 is the 3 digit option code for a 350. if it does not have L98 on that sheet it did not leave the factory with a 350. also make sure the vin on the sheet matches the vin on the cowl, AND the vin inside the rear quarter. usually you can see these by opening the rear cargo box and sticking your head in the trunk area and looking up.

the best way to be sure is to look at the casting numbers on the block, unfortunately in factory trim this is all but impossible. i had to remove my air injection before i was able to view my block casting numbers.

here is an article on casting numbers, print it out and take it with you if you must. http://www.mortec.com/location.htm

good luck and i hope the car is legit.

[Sellmanb]

I think it's the 8th letter of the vin, but yeah, make sure it was a 350 originally.

If it was "convertered" to TBI (which I doubt), then you dont know what kind of guy did the job, his skill level, etc... it could end up running off the lot, and that's about it. I'd be verrrry careful with that one.

If anything I would bet that it is a 305 TBI originally (and still is).

[Xophertony]

yes you are right bobby, it's in the 8th spot. it breaks down like this
1g2fw218xxxxxxxxx

[STEEL]

Well, They guy said someone put money down on the car last night, so he will get ahold of me if they fall through, but I did find a 91 RS that has a 305 5 speed (my entire family is still trying to tell me its much easier to put a 350 in a 305 car, than it is to put a manual into an automatic car.)

Its got the original paint, but its flaking off the hood. I have NEVER messed with trying to touch up paint or nothing, I don't know what to do with that....

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/car/333200463.html

[Dewey316]

Tony,

IROC's in 88 and also i beleive in 89, came base with TBI, getting the TPI was an option above and beyond just the IROC badging option.

STEEL,
Its going to need paint, once they start flaking like that, it is all downhill. Ask me how I know. .

If it is an RS it is a TBI car too, not a TPI, so going to a 350 is going to require a good ammount of computer work, along with new injectors, and probably an intake. If you are looking for a fun 350 car, to just row the gears on, I would look for an IROC or GTA, and toss in the manual tranny. IF you swap in a 350 on a fuel injected car, you better be prepared to do all the computer work, there is no way around that. It is not a case of just slapping in a new motor.

[Xophertony]

[STEEL]

well, he already had some mods on there, like a 3 inch exhaust, and the guy had mentioned that a mechanic had done the switch, I would have asked to see receipts.

When I swapped over to a 350 I would have gone carbed, simply because carboraters are so easy to tune. (My dad is like a god with carborators)

I asume that wouldn't be to hard, just rip all the computer stuff out?

[Dewey316]

no, not so easy. If you do that, you have to get a mechanical dizzy. Depending on the year, you also need parts of the harness for guages and such. Its not too bad, but you can't completely do away with everything.