New guy questions

Hello. Just registered yesterday, and as I explained in my intro, I'm looking to buy one of these cars in the near future. I'm curious to know if there are any trouble spots to watch out for. I understand as far as the body goes, rust in the spare tire well is common, as is rust around the rear window, and the front inner wheelwells. Any other areas to look for? Any common mechanical issues? I know that the LT1 cars have more power and factory dual exhausts, but how about the TBI cars? Any ways to wake up a TBI engine and stay smog legal? Also, I'm wondering why the '91-'93 Roadmasters got the factory tach & gauges setup, while '94-'96 cars didn't. Any and all help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

I like Harris TBI. Lots of great info there for the tbi. That being said,there are feces loads of info on this site. Just gotta spend some time in the archives.

The biggest concern with these wagons is rust. Quarter panels, various pillars, floors, etc. Your best bet is to search online for cars from the southern US states. Texas, New Mexico provide cars that are pretty well rust free. Cars here in Florida can be as clean but ones near the beach can have issues.

Thanks for your help.

Quote :

I'm wondering why the '91-'93 Roadmasters got the factory tach & gauges setup, while '94-'96 cars didn't.

So are most of us. Chalk it up to a number of quirky decisions made by GM during the production runs of these cars. About the time the cars hit their peak in 1995-1996, they quit making them and focused on producing more SUVs.

GM seems to have had a habit of discontinuing good vehicles, just about the time they get them sorted out. Station wagons used to be the "family trukster" for many people, especially years ago. Now it seems that station wagons are for people that are well-to-do., while the rest of us now have SUVs, crossovers, or now less and less, minivans.

I purchased my 95 last year. I held out for an lt1, glad I did. Rust is not much of an issue in my area,  (S.C.) but definitely something to look out for. A big issue in my search was interior condition. I found plenty of decent cars that had trashed guts. These are great cars. Very affordable, comfortable ,reliable

94-96 Roadmasters are notorious for bad interior door panels. They are flimsy, and easy to break. The door panels and arm rests are difficult to find if they are broken, especially the driver's side front. There aren't really many issues that are killers. The trans could go 100K or 300K, you can never tell. When they go, third gear is the culprit. The 94-96 cars have 2.56 or 3.08 gears for the most part.

You can wake the TBIs up a little with headers, larger TB with bigger injectors, LT1/L99 cam, and maybe 1.6 valve lifters. The bigger injectors come from the 93 9C1. The 93 9C1 TBI 350 is rated at 205 HP vs. the stock 180 for a 350, and 170 for a 305. You need the computer, from the donor car to operate the engine. If you are going to do your own mods, you need to have a chip burned for your application. The chip is in the computer. ou can also use the Y pipe from the 9C1...it is larger. Electric fans will give you another 5 HP to use.

I am not sure if all of the mods above will still be in compliance with the regulations were you are.

You should put your zip in for your location.

Thanks very much for the info. No zip for my location, since I'm in Ontario Canada. I'm enjoying the Harris TBI site. Lots of info there.

your best bet is buy a southern or Western car (CA, AZ, TX and OK would have the least rust as it's humid in the SE (FL, GA, Carolinas)

Interiors are better in Northern cars as it's cooler up there. It'd probably be worth it to buy a rusted out northern car for the cleaner interior and swap it into a sun baked southern car, unless you can find a garage kept gem.

Another rust spot is the top of the A pillar, either side.

I've owned every drivetrain variation that was available in the wagons. On TBI cars
the base rear is a 2.73, tow pack 3.23. Lt1 cars was a 2.56 base and 2.93 tow pack.
Posi was an option even on tow pack cars (G80 on the SPID), but most tow cars will have it.

The LT1s are really nice, but honestly I've logged more miles with 305s under the hood as they are usually less expensive to buy (out of 13 I have owned 5 have been LT1, 5-305s and 3-350 TBIs).

It's probably more a matter of taste price and availability. I would take a rust free 305 over a junky LT car anyday. you can always swap a motor in. So my 2 cents is buy the cleanest one you can find in your price range and worry about the motor later. A TBI to TBI swap (305 to 350) is easy as bolting it in and flashing the prom. An LS swap is more $$ but then you are past the LT1 in performance already. I don't think swapping an LS into a TBI is anymore difficult in either type of B-Body.

The 305 to 350 swap only requires that you get the computer from the 350, or at least the chip.

The difference between swapping an LS in a TBI car and an LT1 car is the transmission. You have to rig a cable kickdown for the TBI car, and you can control the 4L60E with the computer from the LS engine. You could even put the 4L80E that comes with the LS engine into the car, with a different crossmember. You need adapter brackets in either case for the engine mount, and you need electric fans, and maybe a heavier duty radiator.

The 91s have a different engine harness than the 92-3, and you need to use the harness for gauges and speed information.

clean8485 wrote:

Thanks very much for the info. No zip for my location, since I'm in Ontario Canada. I'm enjoying the Harris TBI site. Lots of info there.

where in ontario?
whats your name?

Once again, thanks to everyone for your help, I appreciate it. Is there a thread on this site for the Camaro instrument cluster swap into the '94-'96 cars? Has anyone here seen the manual transmission conversion setup from Three Pedals, or better still, has anyone tried it?
Phantom, I'm in the GTA-see my intro above. Whereabouts are you located?

Sprocket is in the middle of doing a manual conversion. See his thread in the member projects section.

There are a number of threads on how to for the Camaro cluster swap in the impalassforum.com.

Thanks Fred.