Dont post here too often as most of my time and monies have been funneled into building and modifying my 3rd gens. My 96 Z28 has less than 46K orginal miles on it. Have done a few mods, gears, exhaust, OBDI conversion and tune. Runs good and strong, and it looks great.

Very recently, dealers have made offers of $8500 - $10K for it as trade value on LS Camaros and early model C5's. Should I take the trade and run or keep it and build the LT?

If I keep it, I'm inclined to go one way, purchase a 383 or 396 crate motor from Golen or replace the heads and cam on the stock bottom. I've looked at the eportworks packages, the new Dart's and the AFR's. Dont have any experience with upgrading the LT's (even though they dont differ much from the Gen I sb), kind of weighing my options before I begin this part of the project as I know the rest of the power train will require upgrade replacement as well.

Build it or sell / trade it? All suggestions welcome.

 

I would build it. I personally like the front profile of the LT1 Camaros over the LS1's, but that's just me. There's a lot bigger market for the LS1 over the LT1, but I'm a sucker for old school engines, and I love the sound of my LT1. Just my $0.02.

 

How would you suggest building the motor? Retain the stock bottom and add aftermarket heads and cam or farm the OE heads out to eportworks plus one of his bump sticks? Or go the crate motor route?

All feedback / suggestions welcome!

 

If a dealer offered you 10k for a LT1, I would of taken the money and ran. You could use that toward a C5, LS1 F-body, or use the 10K toward the third-gens. I vote for the third gens, but I am biased.

 

10k towards a c5 in a heart beat....

Guessing its really worth more around the $5k mark than $10k, I would say build it. You already have the car, go for it.

 

To begin with never believe what a dealer says----what ever they give for credit as a trade in they will tack it onto the cost of the new one.

I.e. if you ever do decide to "trade it in" don't tell the dealer. Wait til you get the lowest quote for the new one and then, and only then, ask them what they will give you for yours on a trade in. It is more than likely less than half of what they quote you if you tell them up front that you want to trade in.

Most likely you'd get a lot more if you sold it yourself.

As far as selling and buying---depends on what you intend to do with the new one----if you plan on jumping on the mod wagon on the new one, I think you would be better off improving on what you have. The 96 looks good and can be modded to do anything that a C-5 or LX can do for the cost of what you will lose by selling and buying. JMHO

 

IMO, It is that nice of a car and those are real offers. However, I clearly understand what you're saying. The moment I hesitate on a trade, I'm reminded that NADA and KBB values are out the window. So, instead of fishing I should cut bait!

BTW, have had a great time building my 3rd gens. To quote tool man Tim Allen, "never leave um stock baby".

Thanks for the feedback!

 

I share your thoughts and views, having been around long enough to sport gray hair. Yeah, the modding part... that's exactly the point and question.

Thanks for the input!

 

We're talking grey here too, cira 1942. Anyway, there is no way in hell that a dealer would give you 8 or 10K no matter how nice a car. They make their living on selling used cars more so than new cars. And if they can't get a sellable car at a steal, they won't touch it. Ergo, the fibs about how much they will give you for a trade.

I doubt that they would give you more than 4k on a trade, and they wouldn't even buy it at all straight across, unless you are sellling to a gypsy and they might give you 3-4. JMHO

 

BTW: I have a 97SS with 10k on the OD and about 2K on a 4-bolt main with heads and a baby cam. The reason I keep it is because I believe it is worth about 20K, but doubt that anyone else will agree with me and sure as hell won't give me that much.

And yet if I were to buy a late model LX or older C-5, what do I get---either a chrysler looking front end or a beat-up C-5. Thanks, but no thanks.JMHO

 

Bubba is telling you straight - I agree with him. It doesn't matter if your car is perfect. You should probably sell your car and get a LSx based car to enjoy and build unless you just really like the one you have.

 

How about selling it for good bucks and buying a trashed LT1 real cheap for the engine mod? Folks don't realize that LT1's in good stock or near stock condition are becoming more rare and the good ones are starting to hold their value.

 

As "BUBBA" alluded to, a dealer trade in value doesn't mean a whole lot without knowing what they want for the LS1 Camaro or Corvette. I also agree with "91RSLT1", if a dealer will give you $10K straight up, then I would probably take the money and run. Especially since you are already thinking of buying something else. If I had an LT1 car with that kind of mileage, I wouldn't let it go for less than $13K, but I'm sort of attached to the LT1 cars. You will lose if you trade to a dealer.

As far as a Golen buildup, I was looking into this myself. If you go with his least expensive 383, figure on around $10K complete if you do the work yourself. Once you buy everything that's required (headers, adj fuel pressure reg, injectors, etc., etc.), it really adds up. I bet it would be at least $3K more to have someone do the work for you.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Neither option is going to be a sound financial decision, but it should be fun!

 

Thank you one and all that took the time to share your thoughts and advice. Now that I've bench raced the keep or sell options, have decided to keep the 96Z and build my own stroker motor for it. So, yesterday I purchased a complete LT1 motor for the build project..I'm commited now!

That's again everyone!

 

Good luck with it!