1973 camaro im thinking of buying

[BurnoutNova]

im new to the camaro thing... a friend of mine has a 71 Z28, and my dad bought a brand new 72 camaro for his first car.

i found a 73 camaro here in town for sale, it has original paint, and the bosy is pretty decent, the only rust i could find was right at the front of the quarters where they meet the rocker panels

it has a 355 with a .630" lift solid roller cam and 13:1 compression, bowtie angle milled heads. th400 5500 stall, manual valve body a 12 bolt from a 70 camaro with 30 spline moser axles and 5.13 gears.

it seems to be a pretty nice car, and prety solid. the opnly thing it would need is some interior pieces are mismatched and theres some dents and dings and the minor rust needs fixed. the guy has owned it since 1977, and doesnt really need to sell it just doesnt mess with it anymore. he wants $6500... is that about what its worth?

[73RS/Z28]

If the underside and trunk are rustfree. Sounds like a good deal to me, without seeing the car.

Good Luck and keep us posted.

[Kamikaze]

^ Ditto! +1

[68400BIRD]

What is your main purpose for the car. Toy,DD, or a project for fun. The reason I ask is with that kind of compression and gears it's going to be spendy on the pocket book for the gas additives and the high revs going down the freeway at 45mph.

[BurnoutNova]

Originally Posted by che77vy

What is your main purpose for the car. Toy,DD, or a project for fun. The reason I ask is with that kind of compression and gears it's going to be spendy on the pocket book for the gas additives and the high revs going down the freeway at 45mph.

i have a 72 nova now that is similar, steep gears lots of compression but the body is ruff, so i found this camaro an the body is much better with a similar engine and such.

definately not a daily driver, more for a friday night car. even at that it is going to be a handful, i know. and in where i am in nebraska i dont need to worry about freeways or emissions, ect.

[BurnoutNova]

heres some pics

[m pozzi]

Looks like a nice car for the price and good find. The 13:1 compression would need to be rethinked if you're planning to drive it as-is much on the street. Won't run on pump gas and recommend you detune (read: change compression) if you buy it. Nice car, though, and you should do it.

Lots of help and information on this site. Welcome aboard.

Cheers,
Mary Pozzi

[BurnoutNova]

im not new to the car scene really, just new to camaros

i totally agree 13:1 compression is a bit much for the street.... but we do have a couple gas stations around that sell 112 octane gas.

what i'd probly do is just swap the motor from my nova into it... still has alot of power but not quite as radical.


i was looking to see if a nop option 73 camaro is very desireable, and worth 6500$

my friend bought his numbers matching 71 Z28 with the lt1 and m22 trans for slightly over 6000 about 6 years ago... i know thats a long time ago, but im still wondering if this car is worth that much.

[71 Camaro]

I'm not saying $6500 is too much to spend for that car, but it looks like it's been through a lot. You can see it likely will need some mechanical work, it's been raced, not a big deal probably.

Don't be afraid to take a magnet to it. Your in Nebraska dude, that car has rust your not seeing. How many coats of paint on that thing? The last coat is coming off, so the last guy who painted it wasn't going for quality. Check it out very closely. Know what you're getting. If it has rust and mud under the paint use it for leverage to bargain him down.

Good luck and I may be wrong, but I used to be a used car dealer and can kinda tell these things sometimes. Most times I'm right.

[pete0331]

Originally Posted by BurnoutNova

i totally agree 13:1 compression is a bit much for the street.... but we do have a couple gas stations around that sell 112 octane gas.

Yeah man my DD Camaro runs 11:1 cr and even thats killing me right now with the gas prices

[akcamaro]

Is the hood black? It looks like it's not painted. I think the cars worth more like $4500-$5000 myself. hard to say, just an opinion.

[wookie]

I agree with Eric, somewhere around 4500 is a good starting price for it, especially since you wil need to do engine engine work. Check for chassis twist and abuse if it has slicks does it have connectors under it? How about wiring gremlins? Race setups tend to screw up factory wiring harnesses in a hurry "Oh, we don't need any of this crap, just rip it out!"

Just things to check....

[dj_951]

my two cents. IF you want a show car, pass. Other than that your 72 nova is a good base of knowage. The major problem with a $6500 camaro is the RR quarters (little rust ok, cutting out and replacing bad. Check the rear frame very well and there is a dog leg behind where your describing that is a problem. The camaro (as you probably know) is a unibody and me and my freind joke the frt clip is replacable the rear is forever. The floor plan should be checked closely to because it ties the frt and rr together. These things are fixable but $$$$. Also Glass and interior work seems to ad up quick to.

I think $6500 is a good deal if the car is basicly as is what you want. If your planning a frame off restoration keep looking. The 71-73 camaros are quickly going up in price. Buy now before he thinks its worth double next year.

[silver72camaro]

yea i think its a little to expensive too.. welcome to the board!!

[zgator]

Tell him you will give him $4,500 and he can keep the tach and sell it to the ricer gang