Learn me Caprice LT1

So with the health of my daily Impreza quickly declining, I've been on the hunt for something a bit more cushy. A very clean '95 Caprice wagon(168k, lots of new parts) has popped up on the local Craigslist for Challenge money; I'll take a look in the morning.

I've done transmission replacement on two of these, so their underpinnings aren't foreign to me... Anything glaringly obvious I should be looking for on it?

T56 bolts in, just sayin'...

EDIT: added photo... I like shiny things.

opti spark and engine wiring harness are the only things that went on mine. had 2 of them for 580,0000 kms combined. 1 is still going strong

that is a BIG ride. but wow they are faster than they should be. the LT1 is awesome. at 168k the trans is gonna be an issue. should have a 4L60E, you already know this. if you need the space you cant go wrong.

make sure to run the vin and check that it is an LT1 not an L99

I drove a roadmonster wagon once, and I really dont get why people like those. The Mercedes I just got (w126) drives much better and has just as much room inside.

check the vin and the SPID sticker for LT1. The baby LT1 (L99 4.3L) is a dog and can't be externally distinguished from the LT1. The underhood emissions sticker will also be a clue.... this is all assuming its the original engine.

Otherwise, don't listen to the Optispark haters. They aren't the greatest, but they're good for about 140k miles and even then its usually just a cap and rotor. The optical pickup and the coil are wonderfully reliable.

Rock solid cars, have fun.

if the engine hasn't been changed, it will be an LT1. the L99 was only used in base model 4 door Caprices, some cop cars, and nothing else.

the wagons have highway gears- like 2.56 or so. swap in a rear axle from a 90-93 TBI cop car and get 3.42 gears to wake it up a bit without killing gas mileage. all the wagon disc brake stuff will bolt right to the new axle and the ecm is easily reporgrammed to keep the speedo happy.

get past the weird looking water pump and the oddball distributor placement, and you are dealing with a damn near bulletproof Chevy 350 V8 with a one piece rear main seal and a roller cam. the trans is a glorified 700r4 with electronic controls, and the rest of the chassis goes back to the 1973 A bodies (Chevelle, Monte Carlo, El Camino, etc) and downsized 77 B bodies (Impala, Caprice, Roadmaster, etc) so wear items are cheap to get and easy to replace.

Travis_K wrote: I drove a roadmonster wagon once, and I really dont get why people like those. The Mercedes I just got (w126) drives much better and has just as much room inside.

You're comparing a Mercedes to a Buick?

Mmmm, LT1 B-body. I would have liked a wagon but my 9C1 was fun!

do it! Swap to the 9C1 swaybars, upgrade the springs and shocks, put some 17x9's with 255/50/17 Nitto's and enjoy the thing for another 200k miles.

wagons do not take sedan rear axles or swaybars.

leave the low rear axle and enjoy 26+mpg

patgizz wrote: wagons do not take sedan rear axles or swaybars. leave the low rear axle and enjoy 26+mpg

Actually they do. You just have to be careful with backspacing on wider tires. The wagon axle is 3/8" wider than 9C1 and 1/2" wider than SS, but otherwise the same.

3.08 is about minimum for 26" tire ranges IMHO. The really deep 1st still gets you off the line and the .70 OD keeps highway RPMs in check. Anything lower and you're lugging the engine and MPGs can start to suffer.

I'm still getting darn near 20 mpg with 4.10s

that looks like a nice wagon. whatever you do, keep the hubcaps.

Had a worked p71 and miss her. Looks like a good find. Panthers have become extinct.

curtis73 wrote:

patgizz wrote: wagons do not take sedan rear axles or swaybars. leave the low rear axle and enjoy 26+mpg

Actually they do. You just have to be careful with backspacing on wider tires. The wagon axle is 3/8" wider than 9C1 and 1/2" wider than SS, but otherwise the same. 3.08 is about minimum for 26" tire ranges IMHO. The really deep 1st still gets you off the line and the .70 OD keeps highway RPMs in check. Anything lower and you're lugging the engine and MPGs can start to suffer. I'm still getting darn near 20 mpg with 4.10s

I thought that sounded low. I had 3.08's on my 84 full size CARBED truck and got 19 mpg highway without an overdrive. I can't imagine going lower than that, especially with one.

swap in a 6 speed manual and hoon it to your heart's content

N Sperlo wrote: Had a worked p71 and miss her. Looks like a good find. Panthers have become extinct.

what?

The 6 speed swap is way cool, but it'll nickel and dime you to death to do it right. Gear change, modified drive shaft length, re-flash the ECU, etc... It'll run you about $3-5000 depending on how much you do yourself and how cheap you get the T-56.

Someone signed papers on the car this morning in the 45min interim of my call to see if it was still available and my arrival with a wad of cash. Them's the bricks, but still visions of circle track suspension bits danced in his head...

Appleseed: I have read on the intertubes(so it must be true!) that when T56 swapping a 4L60-equipped B body, the stock auto driveshaft can be reused sans modification. Makes me want to try it all the more.

T56 is the same length and uses the same output shaft size/spline. the only trouble you tend to have is vibration with the .50 OD.

Cut a hole for the clutch master line, modify some F-body clutch pedals to fit, cut a hole for the shifter, modify the crossmember slightly and you're in business.

I wouldn't say its easy, but there are thousands of B-body owners who have done it. I'm in the process - I have the parts, now I just need to do it.

BUT.... keep in mind, highway gears will suck. The T56 1st gear is 2.66:1 and OD is 0.50:1. Compared to the 4L60E with 3.06:1 and .70 OD, its not set up for 2.73s despite the fact that some F-bodies came with that ratio.

Just do the math to find the right rear ratio for your style. A stock Impala SS has 3.08:1 rear gears for a final drive ratio of 2.16:1. In order to keep the same highway RPMs after a T56 swap, you need 4.30:1 rear axle gears. That's a huge change.

curtis73 wrote:

patgizz wrote: wagons do not take sedan rear axles or swaybars. leave the low rear axle and enjoy 26+mpg

Actually they do. You just have to be careful with backspacing on wider tires. The wagon axle is 3/8" wider than 9C1 and 1/2" wider than SS, but otherwise the same. 3.08 is about minimum for 26" tire ranges IMHO. The really deep 1st still gets you off the line and the .70 OD keeps highway RPMs in check. Anything lower and you're lugging the engine and MPGs can start to suffer. I'm still getting darn near 20 mpg with 4.10s

Lower control arm bracket center-to center distance: (measure from "oval" on back of bracket) Sedan 47" Wagon 49"

Spring perch position: Wagon lower spring mounts are further apart than sedan, do not align with upper spring pockets in rear frame crossmember--resulting in canted springs

2" difference in control arm widths is not something i'd be comfortable having just jamming the stock arms to fit. the wagon rear frame is wider hence the wider mounts. real tubular lower links with rod ends would fix it. you can't just slap a sedan rear bar on a wagon due tothe width. i went to great lengths to find a 3.23 wagon axle with limited slip when i had my wagon. now that i have a real SS i can focus on fun stuff instead of trying to make a normal b/d body act like an SS.

curtis73 wrote:

patgizz wrote: wagons do not take sedan rear axles or swaybars. leave the low rear axle and enjoy 26+mpg

Actually they do. You just have to be careful with backspacing on wider tires. The wagon axle is 3/8" wider than 9C1 and 1/2" wider than SS, but otherwise the same. 3.08 is about minimum for 26" tire ranges IMHO. The really deep 1st still gets you off the line and the .70 OD keeps highway RPMs in check. Anything lower and you're lugging the engine and MPGs can start to suffer. I'm still getting darn near 20 mpg with 4.10s

wagons should have a 235/70/15 tire, which is 28" tall.. regular sedans had a 225/70/15 that is 27" tall. cop cars and any other car with the HD suspension used the 235/70/15 tire. the tall tires are one reason the Caprices like deeper gears- the engine doesn't have to work so hard to get it going and maintain a set speed.