Noobie here.

Looking at red 95 tan leather ttop LT1 113k-used dealer wants 4895. Says tranny just rebuilt-have not verified but will. Will be needing tires soon. Has flowmaster, clean, scrub wear on driver seat, and a few nickle and dime stuff.

Have a couple questions:

Does price seem reasonable?
I'm figuring $800 more for tires and $200 for little here and there stuff that I saw. So thats another grand.

AND....is there anything in particular to this year/model that I should pay particular attention to?

thanks in advance-love the car hope i can get in it for around 4300.[8D]

 

What size wheels are on it, stock salad shooters? That price seems about right for a used car dealer to asking. You should try to negotiate with them though, tell them about the things wrong that you have noticed and at least ask them if they would be willing to split the difference between $4,895 and $4,300. If they don't budge then imo it would still be worth going for it.

 

Check for any leaks under it. Check the rear fenders for rust (inside and out). See if the t-tops leak.

 

The price seems right, you should go for it. Try to get them down on price a bit from what it's at due to relatively high mileage.

 

make sure there arent any oil spots or leaks under the car, problem spots being the back of the eninge (intake manifold) and in my experience the water pump at the front of the engine. the water pump wouldnt have been such a huge problem if it werent above the distributor, otherwise it sounds okay. is the tranny manual or auto? a rebuild can mean it was beat up, sounds good but be careful, people dont buy z-28's to obey speedlimits hahaha

 

Thanks. The car is an automatic, I'm going to get more info on the tranny rebuild today. The wheels are stock, no apparent mods other than the flowmaster and I think that was out of necessity (exhaust leak), at least thats what the sales guy said. Which probably means it isn't true LOL.

He did say that they had it up for 5900 but reduced the price so they can move it. But its been there over a week at least that I have observed (it is hidden-they dohave alot of cars). Maybe its the time of year, things are probably slow.

I'm going to take another look today.

 

Drove her today. hmmm. They didnt have the tranny rebuild receipt. Someone they know fixed it in their shop so it was probably under the table and probably not a full rebuild, thats my bet.

Dont care for the flowmaster. It almost seems that it makes the car lose backpressure.Like if the car was not as powerful as it should be and a wee bit too noisy for me. Would probably take it off and replace it with either original or something else.

Started getting a very faint whiff of coolant, sure enough caught a slight drip beginning at the level of the water pump. Not sure if its the waterpump but it appears that it is.

So now i'm not sure if this is going to work out or not at least not for that price. Luv the car though-and it seemed that everybody wanted to race-gheez here we go again.

Any feedback on the water pump replacement would be appreciated. I do most of my own work but have not worked on an LT1 before-looks aweful tight in there.

thanks

 

To take the water pump off you have to remove the electric cooling fan assembly, then remove the upper and lower radiator and heater hoses. You'll have to disconnect the electrical connector from the coolant temp. sensor on top of the water pump, and unbolt the ignition coil bracket to move it out of the way. Also you'll have to unbolt and move the air injection pump. To take off the water pump use a soft head hammer or a block of wood, also the handle of a hammer (don't pry between the pump and block) When you put on a new water pump clean the mating surfaces and put RTV sealant on the new water pump gasket. Remove the splined coupler from the drive gear on the engine, it comes out from the block and is above the distributor. Also replace the o-rings on the pump and drive splines then put the new water pump on. The rest of it all is the reverse of removal.

 

Also ask the dealer for any extra fees that they will charge you. My car was for sale at the dealership for $4000 flat. That really sold it for me but then it turns out the dealer also charged an $800 dealership fee so with taxes it came out to be over $5000.

 

dont worry that aint gonna happen over here. been there many times and have learned to very nicely walk out and leave my cell phone in case they change their mind. Almost never fails, within 2-3 days they are calling back. There's just too many cars out there to fall in love with one. Yeah last time one tried to pin a $130 doc fee on me. I didnt ask him, I told him to take it off. He said he couldnt blah blah blah. So i told him to take it off the price then-m=he muttered and I said I'm leaving guess what happened.

On the water pump how much time are we talking?