Hey guys, sorry if I ask some dumb questions here, but I'm a mustang guy and know nothing about camaros.

Here's the details of the car I am looking at straight from the ad:


96 Camaro Z28 LS1 6 speed

Center force clutch
T Tops (Don't leak)
All tinted
Hurst short shifter
166KMS
No leather
Just serviced at Corvette Specialties & Flag 1. New back breaks
Richmond Racing rear end
Racing exaust
Strut tower bar





What I want to know is, As far as i knew LT1's came in the 96, and the LS1's didnt start until 98 camaros. I asked the guy on the phone and he didnt sound like he knew too much about it. He said he's had it for 6 months and when he got it serviced they said it was a LS1 from a corvette. Is it more likely he's mistaken, or is it a common swap? Also I haven't seen either engine in real life so I wouldn't know how to tell the difference. What things should I look for engine wise? Does anyone have clear pictures to compare?

The guy wants 5k for it (canadian), which seems like a better deal than any mustang I can find, which is the reason I am thinking about the camaro. I believe he said the car had around 150,000 kms (a bit under 100,000 miles)

Is their anything specific I should look at when I go to check it out tomorrow? And common problems (remember I know nothing about camaros)

Sorry if there were some common questions or dumb questions. thanks guys.

 

No. Its not a LS1.

Thats 98 and up cars. And no way it would be going for 5000 if it has a LS1 swap.

Dont get a mustang, This Camaro will take a dump on mustangs and look 30 times btter.

Looks clean to me, im trying to figure out if its original paint...maybe in an accident, repainted and also put a new hood on. Check body lines..

Be smart...just be aware, look at everything.

 

Lol, I have a mustang right now (1990 5.0lx) and I like it. Ive always liked mustangs since I was a kid. But I want something different and this seems like a good price. I'm going to see it tomorrow and kind of expecting a "reason" for it to have such a good price. So we'll see how things go. What are some obvious ways to see what motor it has?

 

Oh also he said the rear bumper needs to be repainted cause he hit it with his van backing out of the driveway, and he said something about a paint chip thats hard to see on the front bumper. But Im not too worried about a few minor scrapes.

 

Just thought I would mention that the place where he got it serviced is a shop called "corvette specialties" and they're the ones who told him its an LS1 engine.

 

They probably told him it was an LT1, the LT1 was also a corvette engine. Where in Canada are you located? Seems like the car is a couple grand cheaper then it would normally be given km's and shape...

 

Go look at the car, you'll be able to tell if it's an LS1 or LT1 as soon as you look under the hood. Check out pictures of both.

 

Its a possibility that a conversion was done, they are pretty popular. As mentioned above, it is very easy to tell once the hood is opened.

 

If the owner of the car doesn't know much about Camaro's, he could be simply going off the regular Blue Book and not adding in the price of an LS1 swap.

But there's also a good chance he mis-heard, or the mechanic was simply wrong. Ask him to send you a picture of the engine and post it up on here and someone will be able to tell you in a second.

 

Quick way..

Look at the valve covers. (if you can) if you see 4 black coil packs on the valve covers its a LS1

Or if its just plain black valve covers with nothing bolted to the top of them...its a LT1

 

Well I went and looked at it...

Not a chance Im buying it. Looks like its been beat on big time. It was a Lt1, could tell right when he popped the hood. It was missing the air filter and frayed wires were everywhere. There was front end damage and the fender was a slightly different green too... It used to be a race car, apparently at one time it had a roll cage and it has a bunch of holes in the dash from gauges. The funniest part was when the guy was leaving, I told him to show me what the cars got, so he did a burnout and killed the car HAHAHA. it stalled right after and he couldn't get it going again. I pushed him to the side of the road and check the car out for him (the guy was an idiot, Im half his age, never seen an LT1 before and I was able to do more) I checked for fuel pressure and found it was getting at least some fuel. So I figured theres probably something wrong with the fuel. But I had to go. So pretty much it was the biggest waste of 3 hours.

 

lol, funny story.

 

hahaha thats hilarious...ive had a few 5.0's myself, and its a BIG diff between a 5.0 and lt1...my camaro only has k&n air intake and an exhaust cutout, and beats my roommates 91gt every time.(trickflow intake mani, trickflow stg 1 cam, headers, no cats, 3.73's, massair meter, 70mm tb, etc). its amazing how quick these cars are with a few basic mods. 5.0's are good bang for the buck cars and very reliable though, that and they sound amazing..cant beat the sound of a 5liter. Anyways, if you are looking for a z28, i have a 93 black z28, auto with hardtop..looking for $4200 out of it. This one is not beat on, and won't break down when you get on it haha. send me a pm if interested
James

 

I think Im just going to keep my current 5.0, I wanted a change, but seems everything I find is over priced or beat to hell. Even though the LT1's are faster, they look like abitch to work oin compared to my car. And I didn't like the view from inside the camaro, when I look straight ahead, I was half looking into the visors.