So I'm looking to purchase a 1991 Camaro RS from a guy that lives near me. I originally saw it on craigslist and instantly fell in love with it. I talked to the guy and I went and checked it out, it was in insanely good condition, no paint damage, no scratches but a small bubble rust spot on the inside of the read drivers fender. Its chevy blue and it has 1970's centerline rims. (I will have a picture attached). From what the current owner told me, he bought it a few years ago from a teen and his father in Virginia, it has a built 400 small block v8, bbk headers, geardrive timing, 3" flowmaster exhaust (catback I believe) and throttlebody injection, it still has the original 5-speed manual transmission and a newly installed clutch. The motor has around 4000~ miles on it since it was built around 2-3 years ago. We took it for a test drive and it sounded great, drove smooth as hell and shifted smooth aswell. It got up to speed pretty quick without giving it a lot of throttle. The original odometer took a **** before the new motor was installed by the previous owner so the mileage on the transmission is unknown, but they installed a new one to track the mileage on the newly built engine. Overall this car is in amazing shape, and he wants $4,000firm for it, which from every mechanic friend I have talked to, they've all said thats an amazing price for everything that this car has. He wants to get rid of it as he has two Chevelle SS's, a 1973 which was parked in the garage next to the camaro and another that was at his relatives house in storage, but he wants to get rid of the camaro so he can have both Chevelle SS's at his house and the fact that he doesnt drive it much. It has never seen snow and it has been garage kept since he's owned it. I want some outside opinion from people who are familiar with these cars as to if its a good price.

 

I had a 91 305 RS, was the second owner. Completely stock, interior was spotless, no rust on the outside, and paint was very presentable. I sold it in 2009 for $3,100. For what yours has in it and the overall condition, I'd say it's a good deal, especially if you love it (that's whats most important). Be careful not to beat too hard on the trans, GM didn't put those behind anything bigger than the 305 for a reason. Yet, other guys drag race with that trans in stock form.

 

Hey thanks for the input! Yeah I dont plan to beat it unless I do some work on the engine. I mainly plan on using at is a daily driver/cruiser in the summer. I dont drive super long distances as I currently only need to travel to college and work with are both less than 15 minutes away from my house. I want to do this at it takes miles of my current daily and in general it would be fun. (I live in buffalo ny so winter is a no go for these cars) I was thinking about investing around $10,000 into it possibly, upgrade the engine internals to run a single or maybe even twin turbos and running low amounts of boost to get a decent bit of horsepower and torque out of it.

 

Small block 400 is not a good turbo engine. It has inherent cooling issues that will not respond well to boost and certainly no reason for 2 turbos. If you really want a turbo research the LS engine platform. You certainly don't need 10k unless you are looking for over 600 hp

4000 sound like a good deal like Camaro 69 the Stock t-5 was not designed to handle the torque of a stock 400 or even a stock 350. The 400 is a torque monster and torque is what breaks standard transmissions. Course a "built" 400 can have too much torque for even a t56. I believe the WC/T-5 trans is rated at a max of 250 Ft/lbs of torque That car already has too much power for its trans and rear. I think a drive line upgrade will be needed way before you think about engine upgrades.

 

The twin turbo is just an idea for the future. Since it was only a test drive, I don't really know how big of a punch it packs. He said it was an original trans but ill ask him just to be sure, you never know it could be an upgraded one or just built very well. They built the engine from the ground up so they had to have know what they where doing so I would imagine they would up the tranny a bit to handle the 400. If its not, what would you suggest for a tranny that could handle around 500hp for under $3000-$4000. 500 is my ultimate goal but if I can go past it that would be awesome. I know the twin turbo sounds crazy since two turbos with a proper setup can push way above 500hp depending on how much boost you run. But I couldnt find any reputable sellers with a single turbo kit for a small block.

 

The biggest issue with the T5 is the case itself so it can not be built to handle much more torque then stock. The base T56 6 speed that came in the LT1 Camaro 94-97 can handle about 400 ft pound of torque but can be upgrades to about 500 ft/lbs. After that the stick get very expensive. Your 5K may not be enough.

The SB 400 has cooling issues in the center 2 cylinder. The size of the bores do not allow enough cooling and these center 2 cylinders tend to run very hot. The biggest thing about turbos is keeping the cylinder temps under control. Putting turbos on a SB 400 might look cool you just can't drive it.

This is all about research. The LS motors are soooo much better in design to the old SB. Even a bone stock high miles LS motor can handle 500hp all day long. Single turbos are about 50 times more common the twin. A twin turbo setup can be difficult to balance and tune. I have seen experienced tuners blow twin turbo setups right on the dyno. Unless your goal is 1200+ hp no need for twin turbos unless the goal is to take it to a show and make everyone go wow with the hood up.

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I looked at summit racing and considering the fact that this engine has very low miles on it (4000) I was thinking maybe this tranny: (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/a...KJ7BoCCSjw_wcB)

The cooling seemed to be very good on the car when we test drove it, it didnt overheat after driving it a little hard, and the oil pressure stayed stable. When my brother, father and I go to look at it, my brother is going to take it for a long test drive and push it a bit hard. Hes not a mechanic but he rebuilds trannys and motors on his cars if something brakes, so hes very good with cars. He used to own an 85' z28 so he knows what to look for in this type of car. Ultimately im leaving the decision of buying it up to him because he knows a lot more than me in terms of cars in general. Im very new to cars as im only 18 but I love learning and honestly the turbos are a far fetched dream that maybe one day could possible happen.

 

^ That's the trans I was going to suggest, either the 500 or 600. The 500 & 600 numbers are their torque rating.

 

Those have dropped in price. I guess all the factory six speeds has tightened the competition.

The over heating issue with the SB 400 is not something you will see on a gage. In their stock or near stock form they will run fine for 150,000 miles. Back in the 80's I used to do circle track racing, or I should say I built circle track cars. We ran a SB 400 for 2 seasons. Budget wise the 4 bolt main version where a good way to get completive. We were warned that they will go through head gaskets and we should buy in bulk. They where right and it was always blown in the same place n either side. By Season 3 we moved to a 383 which was a 350 with the same crank stroke as a 400. We never blew a head gasket. The 400 was a 12;1 compression and the 383 was 14:1.

Turbo chargers are extremely hard on head gaskets. Combining a SB 400 and turbo is just a bad idea. But like a said before building a Gen 1 small block engine is a waste of money. The LS motor basic design is so much better then the old school engines. There are guys pulling high miles 6.0 truck motors out of junk yards and push almost 1000 HP to the wheels. I am not saying you should do that but getting to a dependable 500 hp can cost as little as 3k for the engine itself.

As for a turbo kit, IMO step one in turbo charging your car is to figure out who is going to tune it. If you are doing a blow through carb or EFI it will need turned. Ask that tuner what kit to get based on your goals. 1- you will get something that is proven and 2 you will be getting something the tuner already knows. Tuning is the most important part of a turbo setup and a bad tune can turn even the best motor into scrap.


Here is a local tuner, talking about 500 Whp on a stock LS.

 

My plan at the moment for this car is a daily summer driver/cruiser. Ill have to look for a LS motor, any suggestions on size and such? I want to eventually upgrade this car so it packs a very big punch hence why I was thinking turbos.