The_Maniac

iTrader: (2)

To my knowledge the Berli was supposed to be a "luxary" version of the Camaro. No ground FX, I believe the front nose is more narrow and a few other differences.

Also, I do not believe a v8 was ever standard with a 3rd Gen Berli (I could be wrong). But I'm 90% sure the v6 was the standard engine in a Berli, so someone added the v8 later if I'm correct.

If you want Ground FX, there are aftermarket ones made for both the standard sports coupe and the Berli....

Well, it sounds like you may have found a bit of a project car and now have a donor car.... Does this Berli have T-Tops?

kptkid

No it doesn have T tops. Its a 84 305 carburated V8. and it runs well. On the dash on on the passenger side it says Camaro. on the stering wheel it says Berlineta. and the car has a million buttons. lol. so is it like the piece of **** V6 or is it like the z28 just minus the GFX and T-tops??"

And for $600 what do think???

what should I look for?

85TurboGT

If its a running driving car, thats not a bad price. It is most likely a converted car, but what does it matter? For $600 you will get a running driving V8 car.

tpiroc

The Berlinetta was Chevrolet's attempt to make a luxurious version of the Camaro by forcing nearly every feature in the car to be electric or motorized. A carburetored 305 was available. The nose of the car is different (not as appealing) and had no ground effects. However the body is of course the same so you could transfer higher/later model body parts to it. I've never seen anyone take a Berlinetta and deck it out with nice ground-effects, and built the motor up, it'd be an interesting ride. Good luck, kpt.

kptkid

why does it sound different???

is it worth it??

tpiroc

How do you mean "sound different"? It is much different in that it has power windows, power rear hatch, a digital speedometer, all digital gauges, and a funky bar-graph like tach. The radio is all electronic display on a funky swivel pod. The nose is a little different too, but the body is still plain 'ol Camaro. Berlinettas were just never the hot car to have, I think they could have been if they looked half-way decent, but I think since there was so many stinking electronics that it was problematic at times. Also since it was a comfort car rather than a sports car it was really lacking "sack", for example the 305 was the largest motor it came with. As far as suspension, I'm unsure what 'package' it has, I'm sure the standard lowest one, but again, you could just bolt up late model Z28 or IROC suspension components. Anyway, like I said earlier, I've never seen one decked out, and think it could be an interesting project. Hope that helps...

The_Maniac

iTrader: (2)

The guy who runs this site LOVES the Berlinettas.... I've e-mailed with him before and he has a green one he recently got repainted that has a Turbo Daytona hood and other goodies...

http://berlinetta.info/

And here's the link specifically about his green Berli:

http://berlinetta.info/greencar.htm

BTS88IROC

The only way you are going to get that back to original is have a body shop do it. You are NOT going to be able to do it yourself, I don't care if you have a welder, a torch, 5 trees, 10 come-alongs and a tractor. And if done right that car isn't going to be any worse than before. You aren't going to just pull it out and be done with it, the car would need to be pulled to within specs and then most if not all of the metal would be replaced, there is no way that rocker is just going to be pulled back out, it would have to be replaced probably along with some other things.

However if I was you I would just consider that car totaled. To fix it RIGHT would cost way more than the car is worth.

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

Just drive it the way it is! I got in an accident with my baby, and I wanted to fix it sooooo bad, but it was hit so hard in the back that both doors and even the hood was crooked! I drove it anyway, till I sold it the day I found my Iroc. The only problem with that was I had to climb in the car Dukes of Hazzard style....

kptkid

well I took it to a body shop that someone told me to go to. The guy at the shop estimated around $2,000 for the car to be back to condition it was in before. I suppose this car isnt even worth that even though i spent 1,900 on paint. lol, well I guess I should never disbelieve what you people say here on this site, since your always right.

The guy with the berlineta raised the price to $700 now so im not sure if i want to look for a z28 or Iroc or if I should go for this berli.

thanks.

85IrocNOH

keep looking. there are some really good deals to be found if you look. i got my iroc for $800. drove it home....(yes i know the pic is krappy, but it's one of the few i have of my car from when i originally got it)

kptkid

keep looking???? Where???

all the ones i can find are $1500 and up. I have no money lol. I can barley get $600 for this one. But, if its more worth it to wait and actually find a IROC that might be better, but i have no clue where to look for them. and if there out of state how would the cheepest way to get it to florida be???

85IrocNOH

i checked www.autotrader.com and my local newspapers EVERY day even though i found this one by happening to be glancing in the right direction at the right time. (it was parked behind a garage that sat alongside an alley) i actually looked for like 9 months before i found a decent deal on one locally. until then, i drove a beater. i don't know if you have a job, but if you have a car then you might wanna be getting one. how else are you going to pay for maintenance/repairs, insurance, gas, etc?

kptkid

i could work at mcdonnalds or windixy or something
but than that would be takeing time and hardly paying anything. lol
I dont even know how i could get a better job than that at 16 though. i would like to work from some car place or computers or somthign but you have to be 18.

well i guess ill get this berlinetta and switch the interior out of my camaro now over to it, since mine is better. and other things like that and then sell it somehow and take the money from that and put it into the berli.

tpiroc

If that's the plan, at least you'll have a V8 power plant now, and I'd see about swapping your nose onto the car (if you're parting it out anyway). Or I'm sure everyone would agree that just shell a few bucks away and nab some pretty inexpensive 85-90 nose and ground effects, I think that'd be pretty slick. Good luck man, hope it works out for the best for ya. Post some pics of the new ride when/if you get it! We're all behind you on your 3rd gen quest...

kptkid

if i were to get the berli. my camaro has a working radio and the shocks that hold the hood and rear hatch up work. the berli's dont. and by switching things over and making the car close to a Z28 or IROC as possible, would there be other things to change on it like suspension or engine stuff. If im going to have a V8 camaro I would like to be able to say z28 or IROC stuff is on it. like it puts out like one or something. How much change do i need to do to get to that level car/

TomP

I'll still never understand how people slide out in the rain with f-bodies.... I never have, unless I wanted to kick the back end out on purpose- and I never lost it, either.

That being said, You need to get that car to a frame shop, have them throw it on the rack. They can straighten the frame out for you. If it's just the damage to the side, and the frame is otherwise okay, then you've gotta buy yourself a MIG welder and go to the junkyard, cut those parts off a junkyard car, and weld them in.

If you can't afford a full MIG setup, look to http://www.eastwoodcompany.com for their arc welding kit; it's their $100 arc welder with tools that let you weld thin sheet metal; I think the whole kit is $229. My Lincoln Electric mig (WeldPak 100) was $300, $120 for gas bottle, $100 for flux core to gas kit. Benefit is, I never have to buy another welder again. But the arc welder kit should be fine for you.

Good luck! I totalled my car in '96 (went under an illegally parked pickup truck), it took a parts car, and a front frame & windshield swap (done by the body shop), and many days to put my car back together. Only thing that I had (which you don't) is that my hit was straight on- no frame tweaking, other then the truck's bumper stopping at my strut tower and mashing everything backward. Total cost? Parts car $250. Frame swap/windshield swap, $900. Misc parts (radiator, hoses, intake, etc) about $300. If I had the body shop do all that work for me, it would've been an easy $5k that they probably wouldn't have even wanted to do. I had to strip both cars to just a motor, no fenders, wiring harnesses, nothing left on the firewall, etc.

Oh and one more thing; don't label an f-body as an IROC or Z28 if it's not a v8; that's just lame.

kptkid

OK Tomp, do you personaly think thats what i should try, to fix it by going to a junk yard and cutting off that portition of the floor and welding it in??? my neighboor has these two big tanks and thats his welder. im not sure exactly what kind its called but I know its big. lol. I took it to a body shop and he estamited around 2k to get it fixed by him. im thinking that maybe I could do something my self and have him do the stuff that i just totalty cant do. where that might be actually cutting off the floor part and somehow welding it in to this one? is that something that is very hard to do???/



Also the berli is a v8 305.
how much added extra would i have to do to make it even compare to a z28 or IROC????

TomP

Well, you need to find out what the shop would charge just to straighten the frame, and do nothing else. Then you can make your decision after that. Keep in mind a body shop would rather work on a new car, something that they'll make more money off of. If you make the job easy for them, they'll probably be happy to do the work. If they have to unbolt/remove anything, the cost goes up. Make sure when you ask, you say that you'll remove everything that's in the way- and ASK them what they'd want you to remove.

Say you had a rusted out floorboard and just brought the car in to be fixed. The shop would have to remove the seat, move the carpet back, move any wires in the way, and do the repair. After they finished, they'd have to paint the new floorboard, put the wires back, put the carpet back, and put the seat back. They'd much rather just do the repair with nothing in their way, and have someone else do all the "BS" work. And BS work is what most bodywork is about- removing things that are in the way, and putting them back after the repair is finished.

Now, keep in mind I'm slightly crazy; I'll always fix my car. It's not cost effective (249,000 miles and counting!), and people can't understand why I still have my car, but it's my decision, my money, and my insanity. You might rather find a completely beat up parts car, and swap all your good stuff into it- like was previously mentioned. In fact, all you need is a somewhat decent shell with a blown engine or transmission; and those aren't that hard to find.

kptkid

should i try to cut and weld it my self????


what part of the frame is bent? just that piece below the door???
because the main frame ends at the bigginng of the doors and starts again at the back where the axle is?

Midnight Sun

Just get a fat girlfriend dude...


Man, it is totaled, say you ever decided to mod it out. You would have a fast car on a crooked body. Get a job, wait a few years, and get a new 3rd gen when you are 18.

tpiroc

That scale of a project isn't anything I'd advise for a first timer. There's not too much cosmedically involved, but that doesn't mean it's not a challenge. As far as what you'd be doing, it's basically just floorpan, so that's not too bad. I'd get a quote to see about how much that size chunk would cost you, also, see if you can get a hold of a friend that would help you out and perhaps have some useful utilities. Basically, the way I see it, the drive-train and other body components in your car are good, meaning you could probably get a fair amount of cash for it (even more if you parted it out piece by piece), since the Berlinetta is pretty cheap, I think if you were to aquire the Berli, swap your gear into it, then sell your car off, you'd be investing about the same it'd be to fix it. The platform of those models is basically the same, so you'd wind up with a buttload of odd elevtronic stuff, a V8, and a "clean slate" - basically you wouldn't tie up a vast amount of time and effort into repairing (cutting and welding, and rewelding, and adjusting and rewelding...). As far as Z28/IROC suspension components, all of them can be swapped into either model you're toying with (rear panhard rod, anti-sway bars, lower control arms, etc), the motor however is a different beast. The Berli has a computer controlled Rochester I believe, the IROC has a tuned-port fuel injection system, the swap is involved, but incredibly doable (MANY have done so). Anyway, basically it makes sense to me to snag the Berli, stuff your gear into it, and really not be to bad off (while I'm sure many will argue two factors, cost and priciple of fixing the car; it's going to cost more than just the chunk of metal to slap in there if you ask me, and for principle; it wasn't a super pimp model, besides **** happens).

90RS305

Ok, this post is to cover two things. First off, why should you have to get your car inspected to have full coverage? When I got my 90' Camaro, all I did was call my agent, give him the vin, say "full coverage," and drove my car around. If you do have to it must be a Florida thing. As for the secong topic, my sister and brother-in-law lives in Florida, and when I went down there last (shortly after I bought my car) I wanted to point one out to show them what it looked like. Well, that came easier that I thought it would. As a matter of fact, after spending about 3 days there, I realized that Florida residents drive one of two vehicles; #1 being the H2 Hummer, and #2 being a 3rd Gen F-Body. Almost to the point that if you didn't have one, you more than likely were a tourist. Keep looking in the autotrader and the local paper (got my car from autotrader) and if nothing else, just start looking at the back window of cars. Probability sais you'll not only see a 3rdGen, but one for sale before too long. And if thats how you find it, well, it obviously works right? Then again, regardless of the model, if you can get a V8 that works even half-way decently well for $700, go for it dude!! Like eveyone else was saying, you have a nice looking car to swap out not-so-nice looking parts with. Hope this helped, Good Luck!

Click my link to see more pics of my 90' and my 305...

kptkid

Ok so it seems like im going to have to get the berli, since my moms 96 nissan altima started knocking yesterday.

If I got the berli, the gear in my V6 camaro now isnt the same as a IROC is it?, and what is the gear already in it, and what better change do i see by actually changing it. Now i know the berli's engine is different, but in 84 they were all carbed werent they?
so in the engine actually doing mods to it would still be worth it I hope. if not well maybe i might be able to find a 305 or 350 block but i doubt in finding the computer and TPI plitum for it as well. so i guess ill be with a carbed 305. as for the suspension, i have no clue what that does for my porformance, i always hear about everyone changing it to make there car better but what exactly does it do.

I guess I keep asking all these questions because when I found my camaro i got now on ebay, i thought it was all around asowme because i guess of the name "camaro" well then when i got on here to find out how to fix it i soon found out the difference between a IROC-Z and a crap 2.8V6. So really since I have no clue what the berlinetta is, and I always wanted my camaro to be as close as possible to a Z28 or IROC, im trying to find out everything about it I can.

Badazz86z28

Hey Man i got a Z28 for sale with t tops 305 New carb (edelbrock 660) and many other goodies for 2 grand its really nice

TransAm12sec

Its not too hard to swap over to tpi. Check thirdgenresource at the top of this page.

Suspension mods will help you cars handling and other things like traction and lower center of gravity depending on what you do to it.

kptkid

about the 305 thats already in it. how bad is it being carbed????
I mean how much better is injected???



Also the suspension thats already in it, isnt that good, since it is what GM put on the car, wouldnt they pick a pakage that makes it handle well?? I guess safest???


Peoson with the Z28 , where are you located, where am I going to find $2000, How would I get it here??/

lol

thakns

TransAm12sec

Its not bad to be carbed. Still got the stock q-jet on my 82. But carbs are not great for gas milage, and if that car has a stock carb and intake, a switch over to tpi will increase both performance and fuel economy.


For suspension, the cars do handle well. But theirs always room for improvement. You can hold off on suspension mods for a while.

Badazz86z28

Located in charlotte North Carolina you can find 2 grand by robbing a bank???

83firebirdS/E

Just get out there and buy that Berl!
The suspension will be better than your current POS V6 suspension!
An '84 Berl V8 will have the EXACT same performance as a '84 Z28 LG4 V8!

kptkid

berli it is than