I've got about 24hrs to figure out if i want to buy a 92 RS before the guy trades it in. i didn't get a chance to look it over very good but i can get it for 1,000-1300. all i know is it is a 92, the guy says it has a 350 but i'm not sure if that is the case (I guess it could be a 305), body seems to be in decent shape, tranny shifts ok. i did not look it over carefully b/c the owner had to get to work. i know it has an electrical problem (batt dying or alternator going). i guess somebody put the 350 in themselves. he says it runs good other than a few issues. sway bar end links are gone. he's had it about 2 years. clean title. no clue how many actual miles on body or motor that is in it. my ultimate plan is to turn it into a drag car so it would be stripped eventually and everything pulled (think th-400 & big block or built 350/383 with Ford 9"). but if it runs good enough i might do some work on it and drive it on the street for now, not sure, just feel like this is a good deal? would you concur? What problems should i look for since it seems a different motor has been dropped into it? didn't seem to have any rust issues, and paint look pretty good except a few dings & scratches here and there. what would a rolling chassis like this go for? thanks for any help here folks!!

 

update: it is a 5.0L car originally, judging from the VIN and a new tranny has just been put in (not sure if it was new or just rebuilt).

 

I'd offer him the $1000 for it, especially since it needs new stuff almost immediately. He could probably get more, but I assume that's the price he's telling you he's looking to get, so take him up on it. According to KBB even if the car is in fair condition with no options except A/C, PS, AM/FM, & alloy wheels he could get $2000 for it. Do you know if it's fuel injected or if it has a carb?

 

thanks. i am pretty sure it is the 5.0L 305 motor, TBI. just ran a carfax and the one flag that shows up is a mileage flag. normal mileage (low) up til 2000 (71,000), then in 05 it reports 9,700 miles and later that year 10,000. this looks like normal odo rollover to me (exceeds mechanical limits). do theses car's odometers only go up to 99,999, then rollover? the care either has 11,500 or 115,000 on the odometer now, i didn't count the digits since i thought it was 115k.

 

For a grand, how could you go wrong? For what you say you're going to do to it, what does it matter how well everything is working? Worse comes to worse, you turn around and sell it for $1500-$2000 and make a few bucks off it.

 

If push comes to shove, part and sell. If the engine and tranny are decent, you almost make you money back on that alone.

Also, unless the car comes up looking like a Katrina car during inspection, I don't sweat what (IMO, overrated) Carfax says. For all you know, agauge cluster may have been needed to be swapped in....Carfax won't indicate that anyway.

 

I used to have a 91 RS 5 spd with the 305 TBI, trustworthy and reliable yes. but the car had a boat anchor for an engine. The TBI's are horrible performance wise. I ran a 16.0 flat in the 1/4 mile with minor mods (intake, fanswitch, chopped muffler and a few freebies) They are rated at 170 hp with 255 torque but i doubt my 100k mile car was even close to those numbers. My tranny also blewup, i had to replace 2nd gear 3rd gear and reverse (full rebuild). IMO a black thirdgen camaro is one sharp looking car, i liked the looks better than my 97 SS, but the engines are a whole different story. The open rear end also bugged me from the day i bought it. hope this helps.