If things keep on the positive momentum for me, I have been thinking to look for a early 4th gen.
What would a good deal be on a roller without an engine?
A roller with a decent interior, no rust on the body and a manual chasis?

An associate of mine has a 1996 Camaro Z-28 Coupe with the leather interior and 6 speed transmission.
He wants to sell it for $ 5,000, and knowing my situation, even offered me to make $ 200 a month payments.
But the problem with the car is he let his brother use it for a weekend. He had the traction control on with his brother not knowing this.
His brother then went and tried to burn the tires off.
The car runs and purrs at idle, but has missing issues at higher RPMs.
What would break and cause problems in this sort of situation?
My experience with the nuances of the 4th gens are limited where the drivetrain is concerned.
I am wishy-washy at this point. I think it is too much money for that car, but I am a cheap skate anyways.
What are your thoughts/advise.
I know alot of you suggested I keep the 83, but I had to sell it to take the financial pressure off from me with the medical bills.

I just purchased a running 94 6sp firebird for $1700. You can get them all day long $2000+ on craigslist! I got a ton of backup's for the AI car, plus a host of hp parts!

A quick guess i would say Opti! I would stay away from the TC equiped car's too.

It is an LT1, first suspect for any miss is always the opti.

Unless the car is LOW MILEAGE MINT, or has race goodies on it...too much money.

Ditto on the opti as the first guess for a miss as you describe. Second chance option is fuel pump. Neither of these is a nice easy change.

You could try the old: "This car has problems and if its the Opti, it will cost me nearly a $1000 to fix it...plus it needs tires, almost another $1000, fuel pump, blah blah blah,...I'll give you 2000 for it."

Dealer price to replace an Opti now is up near $800, and on a car this age probably should go ahead and change the water pump. Of course this would be a good time to do a CAM swap The frontal accessories must come off to change the Opti (belt, balancer, water pump, fans) so it also requires a coolant flush and fill.

The positive for this car is you kinda know the history of it. The $2000 craigs list cars could be anything...like flood victims for example. If this car has been abused (hinted at by the brother burning the tires off), you may be looking at a clutch which a PITA like most clutches, and you will want to drive the car to make sure all the gears work smoothly.

The LT1 cars are pretty much dinosaurs nowadays...even the groundbreaking LS1 motor (98 & up) is starting to be old school now. Just more ammunition to convice the guy the car isnt worth much.

Bock
96Z

I thought 5 k was too much.
In a perfect world, I would find a v-8 5/6 speed coupe that needs an engine. Something I can use to put the 305 in for now, and get some use out of it (the 305).
I could always put the 305 in the 81 Datsun 280 Z I have. It is my other winter beater besides the POS truck I have.
As a side note, yes the wife has the good minivan (if there is such a thing).

....AND bleed. I hate that part.

I bought my 97 6sp coupe with 45k 4 years ago for $5k. You can do better...