98hardtopZ

iTrader: (7)

Bought a used 2000 SS Camaro and went to tear down the motor today for a cam swap and noticed it has 706 truck heads and an iron 5.3/4.8 block. The guy has obviously misled me in the sale so I'm considering taking him to court over the inaccurate listing and recovering some of the value difference. My question is, will my 3 bolt cam fit in the meantime? What value differential and pros/cons do I have at this point? TIA

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Unless the person you bought it from was the original owner, I think it will be hard to prove that he knew the engine was replaced and willfully mislead you. He could simply claim that the car is exactly as he bought it, and that he didn't know either, and that a previous owner must've done it - which might even be true.

Hard to quantify value difference on something like this though, there are just so many variables involved, and these are special interest vehicles that don't often sell for book prices in the first place. I would say that it's worth less than an otherwise comparable example, but I imagine the dollar figure would be very different for a #1 condition show car with under 10k miles and rare options vs. a typical garden variety daily driver with 6-digit mileage, for example.

98hardtopZ

iTrader: (7)

In the listing he did claim he swapped a 2004 LS1 from a GTO. Which would be an all aluminum 5.7l. So that right there I should be able to prove he knew better.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Not necessarily. He may claim that the seller of the engine he bought told him it was from an '04 GTO and that he didn't know any better about the block material or looking for other markings, so to the best of his knowledge that's what it came from; that he just passed along what he was told. Although there is an obvious difference (iron vs. aluminum), it's not like it's a 4 or 6 cylinder from a completely different engine family or something like this, so there is plausibility there.

One could also argue that if the most obvious difference is the block material, and you knew that the vehicle had received an engine swap (per the ad), then you should have noticed the different block material during a per-purchase inspection of the vehicle. Such a difference might go unnoticed if you were told it had the original engine, but since you were aware of a swap it would be reasonable to assume that you'd have looked it over a bit more carefully.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's quite unfortunate that you didn't get what you were told you should have gotten. I just think that legal action is most likely not going to get you anywhere on this one.

cookseyb

Install your cam and send those heads to Texas Speed and let them work their magic and you will be fine power wise... I'll leave the legal stuff with the jailhouse lawyers. This would also be a great platform for a Turbo build..

98hardtopZ

iTrader: (7)

Is there an easy way to tell if it is a 4.8 or 5.3? I just swapped the cam today and I'm changing the valve springs now.

cookseyb

Get a bore scope and look in the spark plug hole, if the piston is flattop it is a 4.8 if it is dished it is a 5.3