by John C. Carpenter

Created on: July 19, 2009

How To Locate And Buy Your First Muscle Car

First of all you need to know what you want to spend on the car; you need this planned out very well, or you'll never get the car you want; another this that you need to realize is that there is no such a thing as a $2,500 dollar first generation camaro.


If you want a car that is in good condition plan on spending a least $10,000; if you find a car that's in good shape for that price, your a good car finder; usually you can find a good car to restore for this kind of money.

If you not planning on restoring the car you'd better start with no less then $30,000 to start your hunt; 1969 camaro's start about here for the ones that don't need a restoration; I have seen them sell for $880,000 at auction.


So once again I'll say make sure that you have the money; and a good idea of what your looking for in a 1969 camaro, the best place to start you hunt is on the internet; you'll have a lot to choose from here; the more you compare, the more you learn.


If your looking at the car as an investment you'd better spend some time learning about the codes on the car such as the vin code; the rpo code; transmission code; the rear end code; and the paint & interior codes.


You can buy books to learn about the codes; if your just buying the car for fun, then the sky is the limit; let's say that your buying it to restore, and drive; rather then for an investment; you can do what you want to the car.


Just make sure that if you modify the car, that you keep the old parts; never throw any of them away; this way if you decide to sell the car you still have the original parts for it; myself I tell people to make their car what they want it to be.


Let's go in to the finding of the car a bit deeper; for the sake of this article let's say that your looking for a 1969 Z/28 Camaro; and you want it to have an original engine, the 1969 Z/28 only came with one engine; and that is a DZ 302.
Let me explain where the DZ comes from first; this is the suffix of the rpo code on the engine, or the last letters in the code; the rpo code can be found on the machined pad in front of the passenger side head on a small block Chevrolet.

There will be some other numbers that come before the suffix of the rpo code; these numbers will tell you the year of the engine; the assembly plant that it was built at, and the month it was built; to know it it's a 302 all you need to find is the DZ.
The only bad thing about a rpo code is that a scammer can re-stamp it; I will

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