Okay, readers, I’m leaving this ball in your court. Normally I feel pretty confident when I pick a Craigslist ride to share with you, but in the case of this 1984 Chevrolet Caprice station wagon, I’m not committing to anything. Visually, it’s ready for the yard once those Impala SS ROH wheels are removed. But patina is a thing…some people embrace rust with open arms. I can’t say I do…I’m allergic to that stuff. But the Caprice does have a reason for being kept alive besides a solid mental sickness: a 454 and an NP440 overdrive four-speed. And that is just the start of the fun. I’ll post the ad in full, because the seller is exceptionally detailed:

Body:
Body is solid, but doors are in rough shape. Driver’s side floor pan has hole, spare tire carrier rusty, but not gone. Rear inner fenders have holes. The remainder of the car is SOLID. If you’re the patina type, it’s pretty much ready to go. If you want it painted up, I’ve got two full sets of clean doors to go with. I carefully removed EVERY bolt from the front clip, one at a time, anti-seized and reinstalled. It WILL come apart nicely if you wish to restore it. The body mounts are shot and will need to be replaced. I did NOT attempt to remove any of the body mount bolts. I also have an extra hood with a snorkel that will go with. The intake pan on the hood was cobbled together for a small block, and will probably need to be re-done for the big block…

Interior:
The interior is fairly clean. Cloth seats (all three rows). Okay carpet. I’ve got a nearly full set of nice interior plastics (missing rear pillar pieces) from an 89 wagon. Slightly different color blue, but it goes well with the 2-tone paint. Manual windows and locks. Dashboard is from the 89, upgraded with 9C1 speedometer (125mph) and 9C1 gauge set (oil, temp, volts… electronic). All idiot lights still work, too. Tachometer added to A-pillar. All wiring goes through the bulkhead connector as if factory. NO EXTRA HOLES. All wiring was loomed into the factory harness. Monster Cable speaker wire was routed separately and the factory speaker wiring removed. The entire dash harness was disassembled, thinned (removed the factory ecm wiring), inspected, and re-taped with 3M tape. Steering column is a custom piece built from a tilt, manual trans S10 and looks like a factory job. Hurst shifter with OverDrive knob and S10 shift boot (no console). Dash pad needs to be replaced. Clutch/brake pedals are custom modified from ’68 Chevelle and use stock bushings and hardware. There is currently NO clutch safety switch or wiring, and NO reverse light wiring, although the switch is present and functioning in the trans. Dash still has a little work to go, I intend to finish it before sale.

Engine:
I pulled the engine from a ’77 Impala in favor of an LS engine. It’s a former truck engine with 2-bolt mains and nodular crank, but the previous owner had rebuilt it with flat top pistons, Melling oil pump, and lots of ARP fasteners. When I pulled and inspected the engine, I discovered a chipped lifter and a scratched cam lobe, so I replaced the cam and lifters with a .505 lift Howards hydraulic and checked the oil pump (good). Cam was broken in properly… Cam break-in lube, zinc additive, 2000 rpm for 20 minutes. Pertronix HEI Distributor was shimmed properly and has a good pattern on a new gear. New plugs and wires. Weiand aluminum water pump. Holley Street Avenger vacuum secondary carb (rebuilt) and Edelbrock dual-plane intake (large oval port) feeding large oval port heads. New Hooker long tube headers with silver ceramic coat (headers were modified prior to coating to fit A/C brackets). Temporary (but solid) 2.5″ exhaust with Flowmasters. Sounds nice, probably around 400HP. Low-mile alternator. New P/S pump. New thermostat and housing, hoses and belts. Low-mile fan clutch. NEW CoolTech aluminum radiator and cap. Diesel radiator shroud (doesn’t fit quite right, needs to be modified). Cooling system works well as is, but fan has cut into the shroud. Complete set of A/C brackets and core A6 compressor included. I fully intended to install A/C on this car, so everything fits and care was taken to not damage the A/C components. It will need hoses, etc, made up. New stainless fuel lines front to rear. Newer fuel tank and NEW sending unit installed.

Transmission/Driveline:
Rebuilt NP440 overdrive transmission. These were offered in GM trucks for a few years, usually behind 6.2 diesels. Option code MY6. A popular swap for older muscle cars due to their strength and the overdrive 4th gear. These are very similar to the Hi-performance Chrysler A833 transmissions offered behind Hemis. Hurst shifter, gone through (cleaned, inspected, lubed, re-assembled) and properly adjusted. Used clutch, new flywheel. New clutch master and slave cylinder. (Both are modified, but are iron bodies, so they will last a while, and can be rebuilt). New speedometer driven gear and seals in used aluminum housing. Speedometer is calibrated for current rear end and tires, but has a 5MPH OFFSET error. Driveshaft is a custom unit from Machine Service in Pewaukee, WI. It uses a 1350 transmission output yoke, and 1350 front joint. The rear joint is an adapter joint (1350 to GM 3RL). Please note that it can snap the rear joint pretty easily. My plan was to upgrade the axle and use a 1350 pinion yoke. The current axle is a GM 8.5″ wagon axle with factory 2.73 gears and a factory Posi diff. 28 spline axle. The axle was a “get me by” axle until I had another built. It really needs to be gone through. For an extra $1000, I can install a freshly built 8.5 with NEW Eaton clutch-type posi, NEW Richmond 3.73 gears, and NEW Moser 30-spline axles (all new bearings, gaskets, seals, etc) AND the correct 1350 yoke.

Chassis/Steering/Brakes:
Solid frame. Any areas that were worked on were cleaned up and painted, but it’s not 100% done. As mentioned before, the body mounts will need replacement.
Front suspension: The front suspension was on a previous car that I built (t-boned, totalled) and has about 20k miles. This includes all MOOG ball joints, tie rod ends (although the outers need replacement due to bad studs), idler, drag link, etc, etc. The lower control arms are the big ball-joint 9C1 control arms (5/8″ lower ball joint) with NEW Energy Suspension poly bushings. The upper control arms are tubular Heidt’s arms for a 2nd gen Camaro (they’re nearly identical to Caprice geometry). Koni RED adjustable shocks, NEW Moog springs (for a 1/2t Dodge pickup, to support the 454). Large wagon sway bar. Armored limosine spindles (large dia) with 12″x1.25″ 1/2-ton pickup rotors and calipers.
Rear suspension: Also from the wrecked car. Hotchkis tubular upper control arms, BMR tubular lower control arms. Moog Cargo Coil springs with Koni RED adjustable shocks. Factory A-body convertible rear sway bar (doesn’t fit properly, but it works). Stock wagon brakes with new cylinders and hardware, good drums (drums could use paint). Brakes are hydroboost with new P/S pump, new master cylinder, and ALL NEW STAINLESS LINES FRONT TO REAR. Earl’s racing stainless braided brake hoses. Combo valve was disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled. ALL NEW power steering hoses and lines. Overall, the rear sits a little too high, and the roll axis is a little messed up because of this. I have part numbers springs that will level it out, as well as a properly-fitting rear sway bar. For extra $$, I can install these as well. Decent looking Impala SS 17″ wheels with
serviceable 255-50-17 tires.

Other Piddly things:
Wiper motor isn’t working properly. I haven’t gotten to it. Washer bottle needs to be reinstalled. Fan shroud needs repair. Rear window motor is weak, but works. Rear exterior door handles are broken (they work, but are tricky). Handles are included in the spare doors. Mirrors don’t match. Tires are NOT in good shape. Carb does not have the choke hooked up (cable choke), as I was going to convert it to electric choke. Takes time to warm up before driving. It WILL blow intake gaskets if you try to drive it cold and lean-pop it. The power steering reservoir is difficult to fill (or rather, easy to OVERfill) and needs to be bracketed up. I’m hoping to get the bracket done prior to sale. Parking brake does not work, and it’s kind of a pain in the ass (Needs cables). I have a Class II fixed hitch that will be included. This nicely obstructs the license plate. I’m in the process of finishing the dash wiring, and am willing to increase the pace for a serious buyer.

Overall, it’s a fun car, but I don’t have the desire to finish it. I have other projects to move on to… The hard stuff is pretty much done, and done properly. It’s a matter of changing out a few parts to get it right, and throwing some paint on it. I’m not hurting for money, so no lowballs, please. I’m looking for an LS3, LS7, or LSA and TR6060, or a Hellcat engine with AUTO trans, and would consider a full or partial trade, depending on what you’ve got. I don’t want boats, powersports equipment, guns or anything else. Just an LS or Hellcat…

$8,500 for all of that. What say you, readers?

Craigslist Link: 1984 Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon