79 Caprice 2 door

Saturday was a pretty long day.  After taking care of my responsibilities of overseeing people to come clean our church, we headed over to U-Haul for a trailer, and then got on the highway for the 1 1/2 hour away trip to go get my new car project.  After many of my past project car options failing to come through, I didn't want to share one again until I actually had it on the trailer. It's pretty hard to find something not tusted out here in Utah.

Luckily,  I did find this 1979 Chevy Caprice 2 door, sans motor, and a good deal on a 5.3l and 4l60e with about 110k on the clock in south central Utah.






From what I am reading online, since the front front suspension is really similar to the second gen f-body, I will be able to use a lot of the same setup to drop the engine in, correct?

Next step is going to be clean up and mock up.  It needs a deep cleaning due to mice however,  so I'll have plenty to do.  Hopefully the wiring harness isn't trashed.

For now, I plan to just do a simple daily driver type build on it over the next year or so.  Upgraded shocks and swaybars, jeep steering box and steering shaft, newer gas tank with in-tank pump, Impala SS dual exhaust, etc.  Nothing crazy. If i somehow find extra money I will eventually look at 1LE or C5 brakes, hydroboost, and a cop car or SS 8.5" disc brake rear.  If I'm really lucky, a used LSA supercharger would make it even more fun, although that would probably blow the 4l60e to smithereens.  

This isn't my first '77-90 Caprice, growing up in Montana I've had quite a few, including my first car, a black '84 4 door. This will probably be the first one that I really spend the money on and keep, though.

Box

Welcome, and that '79 looks like a great base for a project.  

Many of the 2nd Gen Camaro in regards to front control arms, and sway bar, possibly other items, are interchangeable from the research I have done, however, those items are not required to perform a LSx swap into your '79 GM B-Body.  LSx swaps can be done on the cheap, or more costly depending on the items you choose for the swap.  There are many reasonably priced items that are required to make the swap a success.  This isn't 2005, 2010 or heck, even 2015 anymore as there is so much available for swapping a Gen III or Gen IV, heck, even Gen V engines swap applications now.  The information is so vast with a strong aftermarket support, ie. no more hacking of the frame to get oil pans to clear, as there are some really nice LSx swap pans out there.  Just be sure to make sure the engine swap mounts you choose are compatible with whatever headers/ exhaust manifolds you plan on utilizing. LSx swaps in GM B-Bodies are plentiful,  I follow so many on YouTube and it is fun to see the frugal vs. moderately frugal vs. high dollar builds, all great in their own respect.

Enjoy and document for others to see as well!

Welcome to the Forum!

Gotta love them Uhaul car transporters!

Welcome aboard! looks good, ive also got a 79 2 door, wouldnt sell it for anything in the world, love these aerocoupes, pretty hard to find now, and i know youre happy you got one. Anyway keep us updated, make a project thread as you go along and show us all the details!

Wow, nice find! That's a cool color too! Welcome to the forum! Love the 79 2-doors!

Thanks guys!

So, this also happened today:




I went on to a local demo derby facebook group hoping that someone might have a tranny crossmember and driveshaft from a 700r4 equipped Caprice, but instead  I found a whole 1990 Caprice 9C1 for $300!  

Obviously,  it's very rusty and partially stripped to be turned into a demo car, but it still has the engine and tranny,  as well as all of the good suspension stuff.

My brother, you are livin' right!  Great finds there!

Thanks for the pics.I will be in need of a trailer soon.I had in mind to go with the Uhaul until I have the cash to buy..I was concerned if my car would fit on the Uhaul THANKS!!