Hey guys.

I have a really beat up old 1995 Chevy Camaro. It has a V6 3.4 engine.

The engine has about 185,000 miles on it.

The paint job is really scratched up and worn.

It has a minor crack in the bodywork at the front left lights from when I was learning to drive.

The inner bodywork (seats and such) are worn and torn up some of the sponge inside shows now.

The Camaro was a 1995 (BASIC) model, No air conditioning, no automatic windows, nothing nada zlich.

My family and I were talking very seriously about if we should scrap the car get about $1500 for it and save up to buy a new Ford Fiesta (Due to its 40mpg hwy Ford Fiesta Out the door price at $16,400) maybe a Chevy Aveo as well, or spend about $11,000 to pimp and repair the camaro to where it looks absolutely stunning...

The car is basically going to be used to commute from home to college and back...I'm going to a university that is about 20miles away from my house round trip daily so MPG is a big concern for me...

After careful consideration and about 2 years of saving our money we decided to pimp out that car ....IF we are able to meet what I'd like it to have for the budget.

First off I'm going to have the work done in Mexico, I am from Mexico and my entire family lives there. We know very good trust worthy mechanics who can do an awesome job on it. In fact one of them is my cousin lol.

I have a few questions now for you guys some are very specific questions but some are subquestions.


#1 The V6 3.4 engine is old, I want a new engine, does the agency sell new engines for that model / year camaro or am I going to have to hunt left and right until I find one? I don't know If I trust remanufactured engines...

My backup plan was if I can't find a brand spanking new V6 3.4 engine I would put in a different engine...that would mean swaping out tons of parts and that would probably alone with engine and installation cost take up a solid $6000 But anyways....do they still sell brand new V6 3.4 Engines for a 1995 Camaro anywhere? Can I order one from Chevy?

SUBQUESTION #1 Does switching an old engine with 180k miles for a new engine with less than 4000 miles on it make a large improvement on the car's MPG?


#2 A full high quality paint job in Mexico goes for about $1500 dollars, that includes completely removing the old paint and so on..the process takes about 5-7 days to finish.

That shouldn't really be a problem but I would need to get all the scratches bumps and beat up body work fixed first I assume.

That will go at around $600 down there.

My question here is Do high quality paint workshops generally take care of small scratches as well? or do you have to do those on your own before the paint job?


#3 Air conditioning...as I said before the car was the Standard model of 1995 camaro...it doesn't come with air conditioning or even the proper hardware (Sorry I don't know the car term for it) the hardware to equip air conditioning. I would have to buy EVERYTHING that is needed to make the car able to use it. I don't know how much this would go for but I assume it would be no more than $500 What do you guys think?

#4 Internal body work...how much would you expect to pay for a decent internal body work...I honestly don't know the english name for this but I know in spanish its "Tapizeria" and it includes a completely new cover for the seats and flooring and so on...In Mexico from what my cousin the mechanic told me I can get a good solid one done for about $800-$1000. As long as I don't ask for 100% high quality leather.


I just also wanna say I made a post about this before too. I don't know where it went but the car has a lot of sentimental value to me and my mom. It was actually the last thing my dad got me...and I should say only thing my dad got me in terms of being a responsible father. He promised me that if I graduated from high school with a 3.0 GPA he would buy me a sports car..and he kept his word in 2007 for once. The very next summer he passed away. He wasn't the perfect father or husband but I still loved and cared a lot for him. So part of the reason why We are willing to spend $11,000 to overhaul and fix the car is the fact it has a lot of sentimental value and I don't just wanna chuck it if there's a way to make it run smooth and powerful like it might have when it came out of the line the first time.....soo yeah




These are all the questions I have for now...If I come up with more ill ask here.

 

For $11,000 you could probably buy a Z28 in decent condition- why not look for one of those? I know it wouldn't have the sentimental value of the one you got, but at least it'd be a Camaro.

I'm gonna advise against an Aveo- if you're going that direction, you'd be wiser to look for a Cobalt that's a year or two old- you can get one with very low mileage for about the same as a new Aveo, and you'll get more power, more space, better looks, and better fuel economy even.

Could also look at a Cruze; they're coming out pretty quick and would be another good choice.

 

heck for 11k you could pick up a very nice ls 98-02 camaro. lt1 s go for even less so 11k would get a cherry 93-97 z28. all the 4th gen camaro's get good milage 20 to 27 mpg for the v8 and 25 to 30 for the v6.

 

I actually really like the look of the 1995-1996 camaros more than the other 4rth generation ones....But maybe I can look into finding one with less than 80k miles in perfect conditions.

 

I don't know if I would spend that kind of money fixing up a generic car. But I do understand the sentimental value of something given to me by someone no longer with us.

GM has several crate engines available. You should contact your nearest dealer and see if they have a correct 3.4 available. If they don't, then a complete rebuild on your engine would be the best choice. You will effectively have a new engine without having to wonder about how it was maintained before you got it.

As far as the paint and body work goes, you really need to talk with the shops you are planning to do the work. See just what is included in their "high quality" job. My local body shop / painter will work with his customers to have them do most of the disassembly and prep work to save a couple of bucks on the final job. It saves him some time and he can work on more cars that way.

Is the interior work going to be a full custom job? Or are they just going to install factory seat covers? Again, talk with the shop about what all they are going to do and if there are some things that you can do on your own to save a few bucks, then consider doing some of the work yourself.

Adding AC to your non-AC car will be a lot of work. It will definitely not be simply buying $500 in parts and bolting it in. You will have to buy some of the parts new/reconditioned just to ensure that you get something useable. Honestly, adding AC may be the single hardest thing that you are thinking about.

With a car as old as your's with as many miles as it has you need to be looking at some other systems just to ensure safety / reliability. Your tranny and rear end will need to be serviced. Is it an auto? If so, then it is about time for a full rebuild. Definitely time to go through the brake systems as well. I'd also look at replacing all of the body / suspension bushings to restore the stiffness to the chassis and improve the handling.

If it wasn't for the sentimental value, I would just scrap the car and use the $11K for something new(er). But, like I said, I understand sentimental value and can understand why you want to keep it.

 

go for the 96 or 97 it has a better computer system.

 

I was doing some searches online around my area (San Diego CA area) and All I could find in terms of V6 or V8 1995-1997 (Non convertible) camaros was either $4000-$6000 but with more than 100k miles...or around $13,000-$16,000 with less than 70k miles.

I figure If I'm going to be paying $10,000-$11,000 for the car...I should be able to ask for less than 60,000 miles if its a V6 and or 75,000 miles if its a V8.

What would you guys say is a good price / deal?

 

what your saying sounds right to me. it may be worth your while to look outside the state or at least s d area.

 

Just gotta look hard and long. Could also look into the firebirds as they some times are cheaper than a SS or Z28. $11k around my parts would be able to get you a 98-02 ls1 with 50k+ miles. I lucked out with mine paying 12.8k for a 41k miles car.

 

well if you need parts, im parting out right now, ive got great parts for a great deal, i just posted a thread with a remaining parts list, just search for my user name and itll come up, if i have nothing for you good luck