Thread: The Grandma Wagon (New Intake Mani)

So, My dad bought this car about a year ago, and had it financed through a little car dealer...

Someone sideswiped him about 4months ago, and it turned out he didnt renew his insurance, and that was the first day of no-coverage.
We still owed over $4000 on the car, so we told the car lot to come repo it, since it wasnt driveable.

They wanted nothing to do with it, so my dad asked them what they wanted for him to buy it outright. They wanted $3500, and my dad countered with $100. The salesman hung up on him, only to call us back 10minutes later saying "if you can have the payment up here in 30minutes, we'll take your offer".

So...we got the wagon paid off, and I bought it off my dad for $1. Little bit of wrenching, and new front end suspension parts off of our donor wagon, and she was up and running.

She's not the prettiest thing ever, and is pretty damn fat too..weighing in at just under 5800Lbs...

Its a 1995 Caprice Classic Wagon, sporting the LT-1 and the 4L60. Just ticked over 120k miles last week.

Without further adieu...I present the grandma wagon.









First Intake


How the motor sits today.




And just poking around having some fun.
0-60, on a slight uphill climb.


55ish to 90ish. Gave it 2-3 little revs so you V6 owners can hear what a car should sound like XD.


Yes, she is sporting my Black Torque Stars XD.
Needs a good bath, and I need to scrape all that adheasive off, and get her into the shop.

So, the wheels I wanted to buy from you went to this, hmmm.

I actually laughed at first, but then realized its kinda cool, lol.

Future plans are, in order of importance to me.

Body shop..Got a friend willing to get it totally ready for paint, using the rear panel off our our donor wagon, for $800. That's for the entire car, including having all the doors/fenders/hood gapped properly too.

Paint...Either going with flat-black, or a tangerine orange, depends on what I can work out with the painters.

18's...probably mags, or Z06 rims...not too thought out yet.

Go fast stuff.
Headers...want to get them asap.
Ported Intake, Throttle body, and heads. Cam, and supporting valve-train.
383 on giggle juice anybody?

I almost bought an Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser once. I would swap in an LS1 I know someone makes a kit to do the swap.

Its the LT1.

You need to drop this....... Those things are so awesome. There is a white one around here with the wood grain sides ,Its also bagged too...

oh hell yeah make that thing scape some of that fat belly on the ground.

^^ this. as much as id love to see it be super fast, id rather see it low.

i never say this.....needs bigger wheels

Yeah idk what it is about those Caprice Roadmaster and Custom Cruzer wagons they are just bad assed. A guy around here has one he drove by me and I was looking for like an old muscle car that's how bad assed it sounded.

buy some alum Fbody heads ASAP !!!!

those iron heads suck

Screw F-body heads...For the price of getting a decent set(the cast iron actually flow slightly better due to port design) I can get the stockers totally reworked.

It's going Lower, rest assured concerned community. 2" drop is on its way. I'd love bigger rims on there, but monies dont really allow at the time....

But...found an great deal on some longtube headers that everyone in the B-body community loves..
I'll see about getting a set of electric dumps just past the collector...let everyone in the county hear it.

Lt1 dumps open=win. Lt1 dumps open coming from a wagon=epic win

Those cars are sick if done right. My buddy had one that was bagged, just pure badass. As far as paint, if ur gonna go with a tangerine have u thought about a two tone scheme? White on top/ and tang on the bottom? I know moneys tight, buuuuut it'd look sick! Imo I don't think flat black would work on that car. The cars got some big curves that need to be shown off!! :-)

needs cowl hood,

Originally Posted by sic6

Yeah i know but the caprice comes with a 4.3 v8 lt1 and a 5.7Lt1. Just make sure you have the 5.7 though.

They had the powder-puff 4.3L...and the 5.7L LT1.
The L99(4.3L) is marked with a 588 Casting on the block, and 4300 on the inspection pad behind the driver head.
The LT1(5.3L) is marked with a 327 Casting on the block, and 5700 on the inspection pad. It's also identified with "P" in the vin.

Both 5700, and P are on the Vin plate on the motor.

(sorry bout being an ass)

Originally Posted by OH4CompG

The 4.3 externally was identical. It was in the bore and stroke that it was different. The 4.3 was RPO L99, the 5.7 is RPO LT1

Hrmmmm...............

4.3L (262 CID)

The 4.3L (262 cid) V6 is the last and most successful engine in the Chevrolet 90-degree V6 engine family. This engine was introduced in 1985 as a replacement for the 229 cid V6 in the full-size Chevrolet and the Chevrolet El Camino. It also replaced the 250 cid in the Chevrolet full-size trucks and full-size vans as the new base six cylinder engine.
The 4.3L V6 has a 4.00" bore and a 3.48" stroke, identical to the 350 cid Chevrolet V8 engine. To create a true even fire engine, Chevrolet produced a crankshaft with 30 degree offsets between each rod pin. Consequentially, rod journals were increased to a larger 2.25". The connecting rods used on the 4.3L are therefore unique to this engine, being 5.7" in length, but having the larger 2.25" journals. The 4.3L also used larger valves than the 229 cid V6, with a 1.94" intake valve and a 1.50" exhaust valve.[2]
In 1986 and 1987, the 4.3L engine saw engine design upgrades similar to the Chevrolet small block V8. In 1986, the rear main crankshaft oil seal was changed from a two piece to a one piece seal. Some 1985 model year vehicles would have a 1986 engine due to service replacement - cylinder blocks were shipped with oil pans.[3] 1987 saw new center bolt valve covers and hydraulic roller lifters.[4]
For the 1992 model year, the 4.3L had its block design modified to allow a balance shaft to be installed.[5] Even though the 4.3L is an even fire V6, the 90 degree block layout is not ideal for smoothness. The balance shaft on the 4.3L is installed above the top timing gear, and runs through the top of the lifter valley. It is gear driven off the timing chain, and therefore a new timing chain cover was designed for these balanced 4.3L V6s.

Think 5.7l, 350 SBC with two cylinders cut off.