That's the story. It's a 95 w/ 99K miles on it. Seems it was driven hot, and the owner says he thinks it has a cracked head now. Shouldn't the Al heads not really crack?

Could this be a blown head gasket? You LT1 guys out there let me know what y'all are thinking. Would it be a bad thing to buy this car and fix it up?

It has a t56 gearbox and the body is in good shape. I just don't want to pick it up, fix the heads, and then find out the rest of the engine is in poor shape. He says it ran fine, but how would I know. Could the block have been damaged? What about the rest of the engine. It's been setting four months now.

Tell me what to look for. I think I'm going 8 hrs away to look at it Saturday so give me some advice as to what to look for. Thanks.

Ben T.

 

Truthfully, I wouldn't bother with it. If something is wrong with a car, there are usually plenty of other things ready to mess up due to the original incident. Believe me, I learned this lesson from experience. Buying it would more than likely just bring you grief. Then again, if it's the head gasket, it may not be as bad as I make it out (even though my experience was a car w/ a replaced head gasket, I lost about $3K on that deal ).

 

Unless its a screamin deal I would not take the chance.
3g,s I would pass.
1500? I would take it even if the block was broken in half.

 

3K is a lot. I'm almost sure you will find other problems as well and you'll end up regretting the whole thing unless you really have a lot of time and space you've got nothing to do with on your hands.
I just went through the same. Picked up a $1900 93 Z28 with a bad rod. $1200 for a '94 low mileage engine.. $3100 so far.. Screaming deal for a car with a very nice engine, right?
Well that's what I thought and then all the crap started.
On the way bringing the engine home, the engine hit the sidewall of the bed of a borrowed truck. $250 in damages.
All sorts of tools I didn't have ~ $300
Broken bolts - lots of time to drill out, and money to have new studs welded in.
And that's just a few. Plus I did ALL the work myself and sometimes I'd stay in the garage for 15-17 hours in a row.

Needless to say, I wouldn't do it again unless I'd have a REALLY NICE, built engine to drop in...

 

with something like that ur lookin at 1500 to repair and that makes it 4500 and whatever might be wrong...

 

i agree with the above said: there are always unforseen problems that can/will happen with a project like that..... beleive me and look at sig

 

I say it depends on what you are planning. I wanted a 94 or 95 z28 with a strong bottom end 355 with nice heads and cam that could take a 200+ shot of nitrous. I also enjoy having a project to work on and I didn't need the car immediatly to drive. Buying a car that ran perfect seemed like a waste of money to me, I was going to re-do the entire engine and drivetrain anyway. I bought a 95 z28 that had a bad head gasket for $2000. I need a built tranny (a4) anyway so it doesn't really matter that this one has a lot of miles (I was told it works fine) and I am putting a 12 bolt in it so the rear doesn't matter. The car also has a new opti, tires and fuel pump so I think it was a good deal. I pick the block up from the machine shop tomorrow so the project will really get rolling

On the other hand, if you want a car that runs close to stock, I would say stay away from the hassle. On my car I have spent hours cleaning parts and figuring out what is bad. It would not be worth my time if I was looking for a "stockish" car.

Dustin

 

thanks guys.

it's cool somewhat b/c they heads will get a full radiused valve job, but now I'm wondering if it's such a great deal....

Should I go and look at the car, or tell him I've been researching it and I will give his less money?

What would be a reasonable price?

Ben T.

 

Oh yeah he says the miles are mostly highway, from Tx to California.

Ben T.

 

Can't I get some more opinions from you guys?

This guy is telling me that some guy from some website called something like superquickcars.com or somethign went and looked at his car and told him the heads were cracked on it.

I have another friend that's taken more ME materials classes than I have and he claims that the properties of the aluminum that the heads are made out of would not easily allow the heads to crack. He says they are more ductile than iron heads and that they are way less apt to crack.

Can I get some feedback on it possibly being a head gasket? Let me know guys. He saids it still runs, but heats up quick and that it "smokes". I'm thinking the "smokes" is of course, just water/ethylene glycol in the exhaust.

Thanks so much thus far. I'm trying to slow down and not just "jump into" the deal. The board has me thinking.


Ben T.

 

if the head is cracked, could be from something getting down into the intake, dropping down into a cylinder, smoke could be from bad rings, etc etc.

if the dude is running it w/ a cracked head, don't you think that would let coolant into the crankcase as well? ...and he's running it???

offer him what you think it's worth. if he doesn't take it, walk away... quickly.... run, drive, haul ***.

 

id offer him $1800 for it and if he didnt go that low then id walk away. as far as the head being cracked.. probably just a blown gasket. of course you will still have go get the heads milled down b/c they are likely warped too. but i agree with madwolf.. if you dont have a built motor waiting to be installed then id let it go for $3000.

 

forgot to mention, i went through a similar deal, supposedly a 95 lt1/t56, all kinds of goodies, running motor, car was t-boned. ended up motor was hit so hard that starter snapped tab off of motor, was welded back on, #8 was engorged w/ oil/antifreeze, #6 had rust throughout the bore, couldn't turn motor over by hand cause rust was binding piston on top stroke, looked like motor had sat out in the rain for months, bellhousing was replaced, input shaft was bent... etc etc.

GET PICTURES BEFORE YOU WASTE YOUR TIME!!!!

 

If you can get it for under 2500 I would do it. Used stock LT1 heads go for about 250 in the for sale section. Most of the time they are fully assembled. Put it back together for 3 grand or so and sell it for 6K if you can do the work. Otherwise it would be a cheap ride.....

Brad

 

If you would be doing all the work yourself then i would maybe go for it. Offer him 2k and if he accepts, your golden