Considering buying a 1996 Camaro 3.8 ATX. I know next tonothing about this platform or american cars in general. Only looking to buy it as a daily driver. It has recently had new rod bearings installed and a new oil pump to remove the knocking. Crank was micced and is fine. Still knocks, he says its cam bearings I consider myself mechanically adequate. I own 2 3000GT vr-4's and have rebuilt the motors on them but that is about the limit on my knowledge. The car is for 1500 and runs. Is all that I would have to do, yank off the valve covers and cams and replace bearings and re-time it. Or is there alot more to it on these cars. Is this a good price. Thanks for your time.

 

it still knocks? even after the rod been replaced. if your going to buy it and it still knocks, talk him/her down a bit.

 

You have worked on too many ricers . The 3.8 Cam is not under the valve cover. Its dead smack in the middle of the motor. You really should not install Cam bearing with a motor assembled and in the car. IF the problem is cam bearings you need a rebuild. The reason I said "IF" is as a general rule CAM bears will not cause a knock. Bad CAM bearing normal show up as low oil pressure and a lot of valve noise. Doing a one bearing and a oil pump repair is, well a dumb move. So whoever made that decision to try that is a bit of a moron to start with. Trust nothing they tell you.

This advise goes for any car. If you are buying a car with a noise in the motor assume it needs a motor. (unless you are 100% sure you know what it is) If you can not test drive it assume it needs a transmission. Some people lie some people just repeat what a mechanic told them (sometimes a mechanic that just scewed up) and some times they think they are right and they are just clueless.

I am not saying don't buy the car, Thats up to you, but for me it would have to be such a good deal that even if you have to put a motor in it its still a good deal.

 

Thanks for the reply's fellas. I'll write off the ricer comment as friendly jabbing to hide your deep respect for a car with a 3.0 liter V6 that puts out 500 AWHP lightly modded. I did not know the cam was dead center in the motor. I'm not looking for something that requires allot of work as I already have a motor waiting to be rebuilt in the garage for now. As stated I know nothing about the 3.8 so I figured you guys were my best bet. He said Oil pressure drops to next to nothing after driving for about 5 minutes. Basically He tried to get me to take it right then for 1500 but it seemed like a lemon. I appreciate the opinions and will look elsewhere for a daily driver. Thanks for your time.

 

Now I'm very curious about something..."500 AWHP" equates to approximately 588 h.p. at the crank. In stock form, a 3000gt VR4 puts out 320 hp at the crank. I really want to know what kind of "lightly modded" things you did to gain at least another 268 h.p.?

 

I'm not here for a pissing contest. I just responded to his comments in a friendly manor. I have no interest in laying my e-peen out to measure it next to yours. I have not insulted your platform and it would be a shame if you insulted mine for no reason. I really hope this isn't like other forums I've been to that have no interest in helping other people but rather troll looking for new people and try to "catch" them in something. Lightly modded for me includes larger turbos, hot-wired supra fuel pump, larger injectors, etc, nothing as in depth as forged interals, sleaved cylinders, etc. Also, My car is not 500 HP, ( I have around 415 I think, never dynoed, 16T turbo upgrade, injectors, ported heads, nothing insane but I enjoy it) I did not claim it was, But our platform is extremely cheap to modify compared to other comparable platforms (supra, 300zx, rx-7) And is relatively easy to attain 500 HP. Again, thanks for the help. And mod on!

 

WOW, were you reading between the lines!!!
My son has a 3000gt, non-turbo. He would like to have a VR4 one day. I also once drove a friends Galant VR4, but that was a 4 cyl that was modded to the hilt putting out 325 hp. I was mostly curious what you did, and you did say (implied) you had 500 hp.
Don't go jumping to any conclusions, it wasn't a pissing contest. I have nothing to prove.

 

My apologies sir. I must have read your post the wrong way. I hope no hard feelings. Anyways, I will not be joining the camaro family yet as I dont think the car I'm looking at is worth the money. Maybe if I find a better one. Thank you all for your help and sorry for the misunderstanding. Mod on!

Edit: Beautiful car in your sig. btw.

 

having had 2 3000GT's before I got my 3.8... the 3.8 is a freakin breeze to work on compared to the 3.0!