Chevrolet Caprice - mid 90s ownership
Discussion
Hi all,
First time poster in this sub-forum. Please go easy on me
I have been toying with the idea of completing one of my car bucket list items and using mid 90s Caprice as a daily.
Mpg I am not worried about as I do 2k a year and commute on a motorbike.
Always has a soft spot for these and their burbling V8.
While Crown Vics get frequently discussed and pop up on Autotrader sometimes, Caprice seems to be absent in the UK.
Any experience with them in the UK? How expensive are they to import and convert lights etc.?
Would
Love to own one. Even more so Roadmaster or Fleetwood but those are too expensive even in the US.
Thoughts and advice welcome.
First time poster in this sub-forum. Please go easy on me
I have been toying with the idea of completing one of my car bucket list items and using mid 90s Caprice as a daily.
Mpg I am not worried about as I do 2k a year and commute on a motorbike.
Always has a soft spot for these and their burbling V8.
While Crown Vics get frequently discussed and pop up on Autotrader sometimes, Caprice seems to be absent in the UK.
Any experience with them in the UK? How expensive are they to import and convert lights etc.?
Would
Love to own one. Even more so Roadmaster or Fleetwood but those are too expensive even in the US.
Thoughts and advice welcome.
Welcome to the asylum 
They come up for sale from time to time, not particularly desirable so prices are low generally ?
One of my customers had one, and a Taurus Estate car, which looked like a big Mondeo , both drove nice, the Chevy's quite a large car!
Probably better finding a car already here, light conversions can be very expensive,
enjoy the search ....................
They come up for sale from time to time, not particularly desirable so prices are low generally ?
One of my customers had one, and a Taurus Estate car, which looked like a big Mondeo , both drove nice, the Chevy's quite a large car!
Probably better finding a car already here, light conversions can be very expensive,
enjoy the search ....................
Edited by newsatten on Saturday 13th February 16:36
roscobbc said:
Caprice is more last of the old school type vehicles - UK ones seemed to have 305 cu in engine - Crown Vic was relatively 'new wave' and had Ford's injected small block (as per Mustang plus other later engines) - also used by US police
Great workhorse, had a wagon as a daily driver for two years, Did a six week road trip to Spain and it didn't miss a beat apart from a puncture. Economical as well especially as three of us were sharing the petrol bill.
roscobbc said:
Caprice is more last of the old school type vehicles - UK ones seemed to have 305 cu in engine - Crown Vic was relatively 'new wave' and had Ford's injected small block (as per Mustang plus other later engines) - also used by US police
Lots of US law enforcement agencies used Caprice for cruiser duties, as well as Crown Vics. The LT1 small-block with Optispark ignition was 'troublesome' to say the least and there was an inherent design fault in the throttle body (steel throttle plate spindle wearing an ovoid hole in the throat) which caused an unreliable idle due to the resulting air leak. The fix was a bit expensive.
Caprice was a hefty car to be hauled around by those lo-po motors - 700R4 trans wasn't great either at hauling these wide-loads around. Corvette powered SS is still desirable, but everything else is pretty much junk-yard fodder here in the US. A quick look on local selling sites suggest an average of $1500'ish for a 'well-used' example.
Matt Harper said:
Lots of US law enforcement agencies used Caprice for cruiser duties, as well as Crown Vics.
The LT1 small-block with Optispark ignition was 'troublesome' to say the least and there was an inherent design fault in the throttle body (steel throttle plate spindle wearing an ovoid hole in the throat) which caused an unreliable idle due to the resulting air leak. The fix was a bit expensive.
Caprice was a hefty car to be hauled around by those lo-po motors - 700R4 trans wasn't great either at hauling these wide-loads around. Corvette powered SS is still desirable, but everything else is pretty much junk-yard fodder here in the US. A quick look on local selling sites suggest an average of $1500'ish for a 'well-used' example.
Some very handy info , from someone in the know, basically a 25 year old banger, approach with caution, but with luck you should be able to buy your dream car at sensible money, and then improve it over time .......................................................The LT1 small-block with Optispark ignition was 'troublesome' to say the least and there was an inherent design fault in the throttle body (steel throttle plate spindle wearing an ovoid hole in the throat) which caused an unreliable idle due to the resulting air leak. The fix was a bit expensive.
Caprice was a hefty car to be hauled around by those lo-po motors - 700R4 trans wasn't great either at hauling these wide-loads around. Corvette powered SS is still desirable, but everything else is pretty much junk-yard fodder here in the US. A quick look on local selling sites suggest an average of $1500'ish for a 'well-used' example.
Matt Harper said:
Lots of US law enforcement agencies used Caprice for cruiser duties, as well as Crown Vics.
The LT1 small-block with Optispark ignition was 'troublesome' to say the least and there was an inherent design fault in the throttle body (steel throttle plate spindle wearing an ovoid hole in the throat) which caused an unreliable idle due to the resulting air leak. The fix was a bit expensive.
Caprice was a hefty car to be hauled around by those lo-po motors - 700R4 trans wasn't great either at hauling these wide-loads around. Corvette powered SS is still desirable, but everything else is pretty much junk-yard fodder here in the US. A quick look on local selling sites suggest an average of $1500'ish for a 'well-used' example.
That is top advice. Thank you. I was under the impression (illusion?) that a venerable small block would actually be much more reliable and robust than crown Vics once unit. The LT1 small-block with Optispark ignition was 'troublesome' to say the least and there was an inherent design fault in the throttle body (steel throttle plate spindle wearing an ovoid hole in the throat) which caused an unreliable idle due to the resulting air leak. The fix was a bit expensive.
Caprice was a hefty car to be hauled around by those lo-po motors - 700R4 trans wasn't great either at hauling these wide-loads around. Corvette powered SS is still desirable, but everything else is pretty much junk-yard fodder here in the US. A quick look on local selling sites suggest an average of $1500'ish for a 'well-used' example.
Fiedka said:
That is top advice. Thank you. I was under the impression (illusion?) that a venerable small block would actually be much more reliable and robust than crown Vics once unit.
The motor itself is almost indestructible - and was used in a whole range of cars, light trucks and vans. Optispark was where GM shot themselves in the foot. Many chose to remove the Optispark distributor and revert to the previous, more conventional version, but that mod did require some timing and fuel delivery adjustments. The throttle body issue was a very common premature wear issue effecting GM full size sedans, Camaro, Firebird and to a lesser extent Corvette with LT1 and 4 and L99 small-blocks, but the cost of an OEM replacement throttle body meant that many either bodge repaired or ignored the issue until the air leak got so severe the motor wouldn't idle and/or stalled when the trans was shifted into drive.Ford's "modular" OHC V8 came a little later - most Crown Vics of that early 90's gen (body on frame) had 302ci Windsor OHV - a motor that has it's own set of foibles - I know - I have one in my 92 F150 pick-up. But to reiterate, it's the ancillaries that cause the issues with these vehicles, rather than the motors themselves - which may be a little soft on power compared to modern equivalents , but were under stressed, over engineered and built to run forever.
This is the 302 boat anchor in my truck...
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