Boxy B bodies unite!
Good to see some more discussion around these cars. I have a DIY Twin Turbo in the finishing stages. Check it out at
TT Caprice

383, 6 speed, lots of fun so far. Good luck to all of your projects.  

I own a '88 Caprice grandpop special (vinyl roof, electric everything, 2.73 geared one legger). Got it for 99 bucks from a guy who later lent me an engine stand to build an engine for it. It ran at the time but the 305 was weak. it was originally an Arizona car so it is pretty clean especially for Pennsy.
I dropped a 4 bolt 350 with vortec heads in it last summer.Got the mottor for 400 bucks still running and pulled it apart to find it didnt need a rebuild.
I gutted the engine bay, ripping out emissins and the ac heater assembly.

I have yet to really tune the motor but the car runs real strong especially for the 2.73s in the rear.
When we get some warmer weather me and my buddy who are diehard carcrafters will send some burn out pics.
Definitely feature more caprices in the magazine. That goes for anything American, full-frame and rwd.
I would also like to see a petition get started to bring back the caprice in its full frame entirity. It was axed to make more SUVs which are now not very popular. cops need a caprice or impala, not a crown vic or wimpala they are forced to drive now.  

Time to resurrect this thread!  I haven't updated in a long time, but I've slowly been making progress on the Caprice.  All the paint is stripped off and all the trim holes are welded closed.  The vinyl top is long gone and I've primed the roof with DuPont V-2970S Direct to Metal epoxy primer sealer.  I'm finshing pulling a few parking lot dings before priming the rest of the car.  I bought some single stage gloss black over the weekend which I'll spray on a test panel to see how it looks. If I like it, look for a glossy black Caprice lurking in the background of photos in the CC shop!




 

Car is looking good, John. Keep up the work. Are you going to bring it along the Anti-tour this year? My Impala is now sporting a new front clip. Hopefully, it'll be all flat black by the tour rolls around.


 

Thanks, Scott.  That's my goal- I'd love to take it on Anti-Tour.  We'll see how that goes, though.  It's still got the leaky/crappy 4.3 V6 and the trans is on it's last legs, too.  But, the sooner I get it into promer, the more time I'll have to fix the other problems.  

Your car is looking good.  That would be sweet to see it in flat black this year!  We've got a month to see how much we can get done!  

If you don't get yours running in time, you can drive my 70 Caprice. It's got a 454 thats tired, but will still burn rubber all through first gear. I want to race against my other car! LOL. Just bring lots of $ for gas.

 

Thanks for the offer, Scott.  That's totally cool of you.  I'd love to drive the car, but I'll be riding with Doug in his Rambler probably taking pictures out of the window most of the time.  

It will be cool to see you again!  

Hey John,

So you are going hanging out of the window of Dougs Rambler taking photos? Bring a helmet. If you need to ride with someone else to get pics of Doug's car riding down the road; give me a shout.

Bring a bunch of photos of the progress on your caprice. I'd like to see how it's coming. If you need wrench help; I'm available.  

hey i am so glad i am not the only box lover in the car world who see's these cars for what they are and with the right imagination what they can be true perfomance machine's i have an 83 classic sedan that i picked up for 300 bucks it was a little rough on the edges but having had two before this one i saw that one day she would be able to shine i must make myself clear this is not going to be a run of the mill donk but a true 4 door sport sedan the motor took a crap on me one month after i bought it i looked in the local classified and found what was listed as an "83' stock 305 no leaks no funny noises runs strong 125.00 i bought it ran the vin#'s turns out to be a 71' 350 255HP score!! big smile on my face i got a tire roster for super cheap the caprice is alive a gain keep up the good work on your 86' i will post later on mods and other things i have done to it

john 9c1 eater!  

Hey all,

Here's tha car as of last week.  I primed and painted the Caprice in our shop using the DuPont primer I mentioned earlier and then sprayed Hot Rod Flatz satin black urethane paint.  Not so much for the rat-rod look, but as a temporary thing until the engine swap is done.  Also, I got the front end put back together.  You'll read about part of it in March's issue, but I rebuilt the whole thing with new bushings, ball joints and springs and shocks.  The rear axle is next.  Then LT1 time!  



 

Dang!   That actually looks good in the photo, (not just being polite).

John, have you made plans on engine mods to the LT1?   Mild head work and a mild cam or something like that?   Do you have to pass CA emissions, (I guess so).

Karl Ellwein  

It's looking great. I say put the LT1 in first, then have fun grenading the rearend. Should make for an entertaining weekend. We could head to Irwindale and have an audience when it goes boom!  

Rocketman422:
I own a '88 Caprice grandpop special (vinyl roof, electric everything, 2.73 geared one legger). Got it for 99 bucks from a guy who later lent me an engine stand to build an engine for it. It ran at the time but the 305 was weak. it was originally an Arizona car so it is pretty clean especially for Pennsy.
I dropped a 4 bolt 350 with vortec heads in it last summer.Got the mottor for 400 bucks still running and pulled it apart to find it didnt need a rebuild.
I gutted the engine bay, ripping out emissins and the ac heater assembly.

I have yet to really tune the motor but the car runs real strong especially for the 2.73s in the rear.
When we get some warmer weather me and my buddy who are diehard carcrafters will send some burn out pics.
Definitely feature more caprices in the magazine. That goes for anything American, full-frame and rwd.
I would also like to see a petition get started to bring back the caprice in its full frame entirity. It was axed to make more SUVs which are now not very popular. cops need a caprice or impala, not a crown vic or wimpala they are forced to drive now.

Rocketman422,

General Motors never did stop making either the Caprice, or the El Camino. What they did do was STOP selling them in America. The Caprice is a fantastic sport Luxury sedan with a 6.0L V8 and a 6-speed auto. See for youself in the link below. There is a slid show with different views of the car and number 3 is my favorite. This car is flat goregous.

http://www.holden.com.au/www-holden/action/modeloverview?modelid=8000

The El Camino is now called the Ute and comes in an Ultra cool SS-V series that also gets the 6.0L and either a manual or Auto 6-speed. Here view number 5 is my favorite. Seen at:

http://www.holden.com.au/www-holden/action/modeloverview?modelid=15004

All is not lost, in early '08 Pontiac will come out with the G8 which will have 361HP and 385ft-lbs, and a 6-speed. This is a large 4-door V8 RWD sedan. There has been some talk of returning the Impala to its former glory as a sister to the G8, but that will be based on the success of the Pontiac version first. Check out:

http://www.pontiac.com/g8/

In the mean time lets build up some LT1s and stuff them in whatever we can get our hands on.

-quik71  

amen to that! i can't remember if i read it in car craft or hot rod, but i read about the impala going back to its former glory around the same time the camaro concept was released, and i think it was supposed to use the same chassis platform. if i find the article, ill post the issue info for review  

Hey guys, I have a 77 Landua with a 350 4 barrel, cruise, pw windows and locks......and.....last but not least, a killer mechanical push button high powered monophonic AM radio.  Gotta love that static piped into a single dash speaker!  Anyway, my car has about 24K miles.  Nice to see B fans are still alive.

I though about an engine swap but I'm hesitant on that idea.  Thought about selling it but in the back of my mind, I know it will be next to impossible to find one like mine.  

So for now, I drive it.  The chrome Crager SS wheels with 255-60-15 tires really show well on my car.  

I'll have to post a pic of my car.