Sorry i posted this in the wrong section!

Well, My dad did a job for a friend and his friend couldnt pay him in cash so he gave him a 1987 Camaro V.6 2.8

And now he is giving it to me as my first car.
Its a stick shift but I plan on learning how to drive it this summer im going to be very dedicated towards it.

My big question is..

The car has 500,000 miles on it. It needs 4 new tires, New spark plug, New battery? ( Dont know if it needs a battery, We jump started it it turned on fine the engine started smoking mildly and the RPM WAS AT 7! We waited for it to go down but it wouldnt) Then we turned it off, And attempted to turn the car on without the jumpstart IT WOULDNT TURN ON so i think it needs a new battery. Its going to need a drain on the old gas the car has been sitting on his driveway for a VERY long time.

Their are MINOR scratches

POSITIVES
Old owner installed an AC system
Aswell as a sound system, Speakers in the front and back of the car aswell as in the trunk i found that pretty sexy! since the trunk window is BIG so you can see the speakers right in the middle its kool

New leather White and black seats, all i can say he payed about a good 800$ for that, Not to mention the A.c + Sound system


So im wondering.

Do you guys think i should keep the car and work on it? Or put a downpayment on a new car

The camaro is FULLY payed off, it just needs work.

 

500K miles? DO you mean 50K? 500,000 miles is impossible.

The RPMS are probably a sensor, some of the more computer savvy guys here can help. May not be a huge issue.

Owner installed AC.....does it work? Sounds like an expensive boat anchor to me.
Leather seats? ???
Sound system? Pay attention to the road and turn yer fuggin music down.

Honestly, Id put a new battery in it and find out whats going on with the RPM's. If I were you Id get it running, replace the tires and drive it. IN THAT ORDER. Be aware that this will be an expensive toy to keep running. My only concern is you said it was 'smoking' at 7 grand. White puffy cloudy smoke? Sooty clouds?

AND.....its a 2.8...dont try and soup it up...dont add a KN filter or muffler tip for HP gain....and for the love of Dog dont ask about a V6 to V8 swap.

I say go with it. Your getting it for free....dump a few hundred bucks into it. (3-400) you can always sell it for at least that much if it turns out to be a roach.

 

Yes Ac works perfect, front and back.
Stereo system he installed and im not the type of teens that has my music at full blast with windows rolled down. Trust me i know better :P

The seats are custom, and are very nice


Yea, I hope your right. 500,000 Miles sound like alot to me. And The Rpm being at 7 doesnt make sence! But it was all comming from a person who knew how to drive stick shift but he didnt drive it in a WHILE.

The camaro ide say had like 6 meters! Like the meter for speed, gas all that maybe he got confused?

The smoke i can explain was white, And very little of it. comming from the engine definatly! I personally think it is the old gas that has been in their for a very long time but hell im not very good with cars so yea lol thats why im here.

How much do you think it will cost to fix everything? You said 400 bucks? Really? O.o i mean wheels.. alone are more than that lol.

 

if its white smoke off the engine, its more than likely old oil leaked out of the valve covers and burning off the exhaust manifolds. its very much normal, and as long as its a little bit, id leave it alone. only be concerned about smoke from the tail pipe in any other colors than a light amount of blue. as for the tach reading 7k, there are issues with the tach signal on these cars that often double or triple the rpm reading, or it ends up reading backwards. if the engine wasnt screaming, then its more than likely the tach. if anything, just get a cheap $40 tach from autozone and install it. its only 4 wires, and are accurate enough for normal driving.

 

I dont know for a fact but their is a irritating screach i dont think its the engine.

But im sorry the rpm is at 7! not 7000

How do i get rid of the white smoke?

 

7? x1000? it couldn't be at 7 revolutions per minute, you're reading the tach wrong

 

The Tachs in most cars dont show the full number they will show 1-2-3... or 10-20-30... and usually have a designator near the label on the tach like x1000 or x100. Your car should in reality idle around 600-800 RPM (just under the "1" on your gauge) and redline in the 6000-7000 RPM range (the 6 or 7 on your gauge). Hope this helps

Massey

 

Tach jumps like crazy on these.

 

White smoke (antifreeze burning) is most likely a head or intake gasket, or possibly a cracked head. Have a local shop check for exhaust gasses in the coolant. Usually a .5 hour test and it shouldn't cost too much. Also it may save your motor. Not catching a head or intake gasket in time is enought to wipe out your motor all together.....
Good luck!