HI folks, I'm picking up a 1993 Caprice Wagon, Are there any areas of rot, or known weaknesses that I should be checking out on the car. Below is the story of what's going on. came to this site becuase I'm soon to be a station wagon owner. To start off, I'm a car guy. I have a 53 f-100 project for my son, a 53 Chevy project for myself and have completed cars of a 56 Plymouth and a 77 Volare Road Runner. I always wanted a wagon, but a new full blown project wasn't in the budget. I bought a1993 Caprice, 5.0 engine., sight unseen from a friends father (he's 86 years old). I originally thought the wagon had been parked, not driven for over 10 years and my plan was to use the drivetrain in my 53 Chevy. But after him accepting my $500 offer. I come to find out the car is white with woodgrain and a beige interior. His dad had it since new. Unfortunately it has been parked in a driveway it's whole life so I don't know how that affected the car. I'm told no rust (but I'm sure they haven't looked from under the car), good tires. I thought it hadn't run it years run but evidently has been driven a little each year. Last year it was driven enough to take it to NJ motor vehicle inspection and have a repair to the emissions done. I was told, no problem driving it home (but come to find out I need to tow it home as they let the registration and insurance expire). The son told me that dad was up on mechanically taking care of it, but not so much with a wash and vacuum... But here's the kicker. The car has original 28,000 miles. So with that being said. My plan now is to bring the car home and check it out. Put it on the lift, check brake lines, fuel lines, rust, rot, etc and see what kind of shape it's in. If it can be cleaned up with a compound, buffing and vacuum. There's not rot, etc and I can put it together not too expensive. I may just make it my daily driver (saving some miles from my minvan that just hit 208,000), from reading around, it probably gets better MPG than the van(2001 town and country AWD).
There aren't any really weak points on the car, unless there is some wild rust issues. They start and run and run and run. Many have seen 300K miles without major issues. You can get a factory service manual on ebay for about $10-30. It is about the size of a telephone book. Check your SPID on the passenger's side D pillar behind the gate for equipment. The FSM has a list of all of the codes, so you know what you have. The only differences between a 91 and the 92-93 versions are probably the lack of "push brake to shift", and the upper seat belt anchors. The early ones look like a really tiny, thick wire coat hangers, and the newer style are cast with a plastic coating. The interior color you have is known as Camel. A couple of quick SPID codes you might want to look for are the G codes. G80 will have a posi. The GU? or GM? codes will tell you the gear ratio. GM8 is 2.56, GU2 is 2.73, GU4 is 3.08, GU5 is 3.23, and GU6 is 3.42. G67 is auto level control. The 5.0 (LO3) is a bit of a slug, but it will haul the car around to about anywhere you want to go. If you are going to drive it in the winter, under coat it, or it will disappear as rust. The area under the battery tray is notorious for rust, but other than that it is about like every other car. Gas tank straps are now available (they are known to rust in the rust belt), and I have a set of used ones from Florida. Wheel houses are another rust collector, and you should watch them. Some of the cars have rusty floor pans, but in the north you look for that stuff anyway. The little plastic parts are getting hard to find. Try to close the doors from the inside with the pull straps if you have them. If not, there are some reinforcements available for the arm rests on impalassforum.com. Interior parts for the cars are getting scarce, so do no break them. SEM makes custom color paint for plastics, and can match the interior colors pretty good. I do not know what amenities your car has, but there are a goodly number of upgrades to the interior if it is a low level model. I sell a lot of hard to find parts for the 91-96 B bodies, but yours should be good for a long while. I have a parts for sale post on impalassforum.com and the longroof forum. Both are good sources for info on the cars as well. From the B pillar front the car is identical to the sedan. The drive train is identical to the sedan, except for the rear axle which is about 2 inches wider.
Sperduton, you bought a '93 Caprice wagon from the original owner with only 28000 miles on it for a mere $500? I hope the local authorities don't find out; they'll lock you up for grand theft auto!! You got a great deal assuming the car's in good shape. How could it not be with only 28000 miles on it? Congratulations. I'd love to see some pictures.
I got the car home. Once I jumpstarted it, it ran and idled fine. I wasn't able to go anywhere other than around the corner and onto the trailer with it as it has at least one rotted brake line so it had no brakes. I haven't had a chance to get it up on the lift yet. It's white with woodgrain and there's a dent in the lower left qtr panel below the moulding that I may be able to pop out. Interior is clean. back seat looks as if nobody sat in it. The power window switch on the driver door is broke and it needs at least one tire. Once I get it up in the air, I'll determine where i go with it. From the outside, there's no visible rust. The woodgrain on the tail gate is peeled in one spot. It also looks like the woodgrain outside trim is covered in some kind of plastic kind of like a wrapper that would protect a phone. All of that is peeling off, but it looks to me like it maybe just make the woodgrain look darker? I haven't had a chance to wash it and see what the paint really looks like. It's pretty dirty. I'm thinking of fixing it and using it as a daily driver (with the exception of snow) I already have a truck and an all wheel drive minivan for that stuff. The interior in the rear is really clean. Inside the rear facing seat are folded up blankets. I'm guessing they used them in the back if they were carrying anything. I also smelled old fuel when I was underneath taking the straps off, but I didn't see anything dripping onto the trailer, so I'm not sure why I smelled fuel.
WOW, I can't wait to see pictures...no matter the condition. "Before" pictures are especially fun after any type of restoration work is performed. Congrats on your find and good luck moving forward!
The rotted brake line might be a clue. Sometimes both lines run alongside one another and fail together.
How's your wagon going. The driver's side window switch may be just the paddle. I have a lot of paddles for the switch. All of the window switches have the interchangeable paddles. The fuel line is nylon, so I do not know why it is smelling like gas. The sender unit in the tank has steel lines that extend from the center to the front of the tank, and could be rusted above the tank. The clear coming off of the trim is the top coat film from the factory. It is not repairable. Most people I know take the trim off, and either leave it off (there are little T pins under it) or paint/polish it (aluminum) and put it back on. If you are keeping the woodgrain sides, putting it back on is probably the best direction. The fasteners for the trim are easily broken, and not available, so be extremely careful with it.
