96 used camaro doubts

Hello everybody
This is my 1st post in this forum.

I live in Italy so I do not have a lot of experience with american cars, but I read on the internet somebody is selling here in Italy an imported 1996 camaro convertible with Z28 engine and 24000 miles for less than 13000$: to me it seems a reasonable price, but I would like to ask the community what should I have to look carefully in getting this kind of used car. I am opened to any suggestion, since I want to be sure before getting a 5.7L car in Italy :)
Thanks to all.

Even over here, that sounds like a decent price. A year ago, I was looking at a '97 with 40,000 miles for $11,000. There's nothing like American muscle.. I say if you have the cash, go for it!

Hello everybody
This is my 1st post in this forum.

I live in Italy so I do not have a lot of experience with american cars, but I read on the internet somebody is selling here in Italy an imported 1996 camaro convertible with Z28 engine and 24000 miles for less than 13000$: to me it seems a reasonable price, but I would like to ask the community what should I have to look carefully in getting this kind of used car. I am opened to any suggestion, since I want to be sure before getting a 5.7L car in Italy :)
Thanks to all.

that would be more of a reason to get it there because they are more rare. and that is a good price here in the states so it is a great on there. as for what to look for there is nothing specific that goes wrong on them other than the opti spark and the window motors. the opti spark is the ignition system and is problematic at times in the lt1 cars, but luckily they worked out most of the problem by 1996 by putting a vent in it so the mosture is dispelled from it. (the earlier ones did not have this so they were more prone to wear) NEXT the window motors are slow and seem to last 2 or 3 years due to a thermal module that wears out and creates electrical resistant that causes more strain on the window.

other than that there is not much to specifically look for other than the normal of check the oil look for leaks put it in neutral and hold the rpm at 2500 ish to listen for a miss. (if there is one the plugs, wires, fuel filter, opti could need replaced in the future)

somthing else to look at is the brake petel, if there is a lot of wear on it then it may have seen lots of stop and go driving which would indicate more city driving than highway. not a big deal tho with that low of mileage.


Is it an automatic or manual?

thanks to all for the answers. In fact I always liked the classic american muscle cars, and this one seems a good one (actually there aren't much to choose from over here :D ). I have asked for some more details and pictures to the car dealer, but I read it has manual transmission and 300HP (could be the SS version??? )
BTW, I read some posts through the forum and if I did not understand well it seems it is possible to actually collect data from the engine sensors, is that right?

i'd say go for it, i wish i had a Camaro and lived in Italy, its prolly like having a Skyline in America

Over here is more common to see a Corvette, Mustang are really rare and Camaro I think I have never seen one.
I tried to search around what should be the stock Camaro SS engine torque, but I couldn't find the same number: does anybody know?

If it really is a 96 SS, then the peak hp = 305 hp and tq = 325 ft-lbs...not sure what that is in metric...N-m, I guess?

Gohan,

If the car in question is a 1996 SS then it will have different 'SS' badges on the car, a ram air scoop on the hood and more 'raised' spoiler on the back. Since it was the first year that the SS returned I believe if you look under the hood the air filter box will say 'Z28 SS'

If is a regular Z28 then it will not have these special features. Both cars were equipped with the same motor but the SS was rated 305 HP from the factory and the Z28 with 285 HP.


Da quale parte sei? E dov'e la macchina? Se hai bisogno di aiuto in italiano puoi lasciarmi un messaggio privato!


Ciao.

No Lamborghini will touch it.

If it really is a 96 SS, then the peak hp = 305 hp and tq = 325 ft-lbs...not sure what that is in metric...N-m, I guess?

That converts to 440N-m... I was expecting a little more from an engine this big... btw the car dealer is saying the car has 300HP, but I am waiting for more pictures of the car: I hope it is the SS :)

That converts to 440N-m... I was expecting a little more from an engine this big... btw the car dealer is saying the car has 300HP, but I am waiting for more pictures of the car: I hope it is the SS :)

Don't worry, it is a very mod-friendly motor. You can bump up the power very easily.:D

This is nice to hear, but instead of pure power I was looking for more torque: we do not have such big straight roads as US to use the full 300HP, but high torque is much more enjoyable from corner to corner :D
Do you have any link you can suggest to look for some engine mods?

Just look through this site for mods. Probably everything that is available has been tried by someone on this site.

Don't worry, it is a very mod-friendly motor. You can bump up the power very easily.:D

I noticed you are very close to Chicago: maybe next time I'll fly through Chicago I'll stop by and take a look at your car :D

Check out the supporting vendors on here, the amount of modifications for these car is endless.

do you guys know where I can find a picture of a camaro convertible? :confused:
I read it is really small, but actually I would like to see it just to get an idea. :)

do you guys know where I can find a picture of a camaro convertible? :confused:
I read it is really small, but actually I would like to see it just to get an idea. :)

google images...

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=images&imgsz=all&imgc=&vf=all&va=1996+camaro+z28+ss+convertible&fr=yfp-t-501&ei=UTF-8

you have no idea how many pictures I have searched and seen :shame:
My previous post was my last options.

PS I am sorry guys... i just realized i forgot a word in my previuos post: i was looking for a picture of the trunk of the convertible. My mistake.

It's a 2002 but it gives you an idea.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-camaro-ss-35th-anniv-convertable_W0QQitemZ320115623310QQihZ011QQcategor yZ6161QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

so, if I have seen right it is basically a hole (or pit however you call it) in the trunk.

...but it's a really deep hole. Here's a partial picture of my 02 vert trunk:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/ZeeVert/2002%20Z28%20Convertible/P1000504CDChanger050528.jpg

thanks ZeeVert and MTL_Z28. Now I know that there is enough room for a short weekend luggage :D :cry:

I am considering the possibility to transform the car to run on LPG in order to lower fuel cost and lower pollution so I can go around without any worry about traffic restriction in the days where there is too much pollution. Since the LPG has 105 octane, is there any modification you suggest able to modify the PCM to take full advantage of the much higher octane and go back to normal when running on normal gas (either 95 or 98 octane, we even have 100 octane)?

If you do that LPG deal keep in mind that you'd probably have to swap out the entire fuel system as I'd think it would eat up the lines etc.,


BTW I don't think the higer octane will have much of an effect on HP, unless you get heads that decrease chamber size etc., However, maybee a slight increase in MPG (I noticed an increase of about 2/3mpg when I increased the octance by 6 .. 97 to 93) ... also if I rememebr right the 1996 has a compression ratio of roughly 10ish:1 but don't quote me on that

The LPG system would run next to the stock fuel system, because the car would always start on normal gas and after 1 minute change to LPG (that is how it has always worked). My question is more related to the possibility to have more aggressive spark advance in order to have some benefits using a 98 or 100 octane gas and better efficiency with the LPG.