I have been drooling over an ECO swap in my 2000 Cavalier with the pesky 2200 engine. While browsing my local junk yard I found a 2004 Cavi that was pretty dented up on the outside but structurally sound. Its definitely not reasonably rebuildable, way too much body damage. But it seemed like a good car for an engine donor, and some other stuff I was wanting to upgrade
I talked to the dealer and they told me the car was reported to only have 4000 miles on it. They wanted 1000 for the engine and transmission. After mulling on it for a few weeks I went back today and asked how much they'd sell the whole darn car for, just on a whim. They said 800 for the entire car, 1000 for engine transmission.....go figure on that one.
So I am seriously considering this. My buddy said I could use his garage to rip the motor out of the donor and all the parts I wanted and store it there till I was ready to do the swap.
It certainly seems like this is a winner of a car for parts. and for 800 bucks I bet I could sell the parts I don't want on eBay and actually come near breaking even.
The hesitations I have are as follows, these are really what i am looking for advice on.
They claim 4000 miles, this seams very low for a 2004 car, hey its possible. I thought I might bring a battery and a spare cluster (Not sure if the one in the car is good, just in case) and see what miles it reports. It actually has the keys still in the ignition so I thought about trying to turn it over in the junk yard. No major parts are missing from the engine bay. It should at least turn over. I see the serpentine belt is cut, But it should crank without that...no alternator due to that though, so the battery will wear down fast. If they'd let me....i was thinking of putting a little gas in it and see if it starts.
I checked the engine oil, it looked very clean. Tranny looked clean through the fill hole but I didn't drain it or anything to see how the fluid comes out. The radiator reservoir has nice pink fluid in it....The engine is very clean...It is certainly possible it is actually a lightly used engine......
The largest thing I am afraid of is the car seems to have a light mud coating a lot of the interior parts. I could really care less about that but it makes me wonder if the car was in the water. I looked down the throttle body it looks clean all the way down....if there is mud or water in it i'd think I would see it up there.
So before I buy a lemon of a donor car do you guys have any junk yard advice? Things I can check at the yard? The parts I have bought so far from this yard are all as is....I don't know what the policy on the car would be, but I suspect highly that it would be the same.
Thanks!
pull it out and rebuild the motor.
why rebuild the motor if its fine?
Call the insurance company or whoever is selling it and ask them how many exact kms are on it. They cannot lie to you. If your still unsure get the vin # and carfax it or something.
I want to share something with you - the three sentences that will get you through life. Number one, 'cover for me', Number two, 'oh, good idea, boss', Number three, 'it was like that when I got here.'
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They claim 4000 miles, this seams very low for a 2004 car, hey its possible. I thought I might bring a battery and a spare cluster (Not sure if the one in the car is good, just in case) and see what miles it reports. It actually has the keys still in the ignition so I thought about trying to turn it over in the junk yard. No major parts are missing from the engine bay. It should at least turn over. I see the serpentine belt is cut, But it should crank without that...no alternator due to that though, so the battery will wear down fast. If they'd let me....i was thinking of putting a little gas in it and see if it starts.
defiantly a good idea to boost it. personally i like to see the odo reading on the car, especially since your taking the drive train.
most likely theres still gas in it. at least enough to start it.
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The largest thing I am afraid of is the car seems to have a light mud coating a lot of the interior parts. I could really care less about that but it makes me wonder if the car was in the water. I looked down the throttle body it looks clean all the way down....if there is mud or water in it i'd think I would see it up there.
the mus is probably from the tow drivers, yard guys and auction guys. i work at a salvage auction so thats my guess. probably mud on the steering wheel, air bag,shifter,console and the door panels right?
on a side note is there anything written on the car in yellow paint marker? if its a 7 digit number followed by an X or FX. the car has been at a COPART salvage auction, and i can find out the mileage and if it ran and drove after it was written off. if theres nothing written on it i can check using the lat 6 digits of the VIN
http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg
Well I brought a battery booster and spare cluster to the yard today. I had to put the ignition back together...someone had removed it and cut a wire....oh well.
Anyways once I keyed it it fired right up on the second rotation. It rev'd a couple seconds and died, probably out of gas, or the pass lock crap. Since the ignition had been removed (The three black wires from the key switch were cut) It sounded very nice. Didn't want to start a second time, but not bad for a battery booster, cut wires, no serpentine belt and questionable gas.
The only thing that was odd was the mileage on the cluster reported "0". I thought it was supposed to store the mileage for a long time? I guess it could have not had a battery for a few months or whatever....Does the BCM have a battery that it uses to store the mileage? I wonder how long this car was sitting.
The last 6 of the VIN is 148528, I checked the carfax to try and get the mileage and it comes up as invalid though, at least the one I got from them did, I forgot to check the one on the car. If a car is written off as totaled shouldn't it still come up in carfax? There was some yellow writing on the mirrors, it was DK 9528, I think that'd just their locater though. If you could check any databases that'd be super, Thanks!
As to the location of the mud, yeah....more like the whole interior. Door panels, seats, flooor, even the head liner has some mud. It looks covered, but doesn't smell rotten or like mildew though. I don't know how useable any of the interior would be...see how it washes off
They were running short on space so they had it stacked on top of another cavalier, Since it wasn't sitting on the ground anymore. I got to see that all four wheels rotated nicely, The fronts rotated without too much fuss but the rotors were kinda fouled up with dirt.. No noises from the gearbox or anything like that. I could almost just throw some tires on it and tow it home. I don't think that'd be legal though.
I wonder what happened to the car, there is no body panels that are good, except the trunk lid, which I am gonna keep. The roof is messed up...and all the sides and bumpers....but very little structural damage. Even the radiator looks good enough, it doesn't leak. Just some of the cooling fins don't allow air flow.
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The only thing that was odd was the mileage on the cluster reported "0". I thought it was supposed to store the mileage for a long time? I guess it could have not had a battery for a few months or whatever....Does the BCM have a battery that it uses to store the mileage? I wonder how long this car was sitting.
that really strange, the BCM stores the mileage, unless it was damaged or removed you should have an odo reading. did you plug the cluster in then turn the key on and off a few times?
as for how long the car was sitting after it was wrecked its safe to bet 4-6 months. usually they will sit at the auctions for a few months then the wreckers for a while.
i can't help you with the mileage because it was never sold through a COPART yard. if you really want the mileage ask the wrecker which auction they bought it from, then just call them with the VIN.
http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg
Yep. did the key a few times as I was starting it and stuff.. I'll see what I can do with the VIN
I got the correct VIN today, When the second owner registered the car it was 4776 miles. According to Geico the car was wrecked 14 Months later. The mileage Geico reported was unknown. They said that was odd, usually they get an odometer reading. Maybe the odometer was erased in the accident....I dunno.
I got the previous owners name though. I also found a phone number for them. Would it be tacky to call and ask how many miles the car had when it was wrecked? I'd just be afraid to call and ask for kenneth to find he died in the accident.
I guess they really wouldn't have put a super huge amount of miles on the car in that time. I average 13k a year. A safe estimate would be that the car has 20k miles on it then. The engine and transmission should be just fine.
I decided to go ahead and contact the previous owner. Turns out the car actually had just over 32k miles when it was wrecked. He is a traveling sales man so most of those were highway miles. Still 800 for an engine and tranny in good shape. Not a bad deal.
He said he hit a patch of ice and slid off the road and ended upside down in the ditch. The mud was from the accident. No one was hurt so the car isn't jinxed or anything. So thats all good.
32k aint bad.
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
Sounds like a good find.
Out of curiousity, what kind of interior trim level is it? If it's the base black cloth, I'd be interesting in buying the 60/40 seatback from you should you actually pick up and part the car out.
Too busy driving to mod...
Its the charcoal interior with Black/Grey cloth seats. Everything is coated with mud though. I am not sure how usable it would be. Also not sure if I will get it after all. My budy bailed on me and now I have nowhere to keep it or do the work. Good thing I didn't buy it yet. Just have to wait and see what happens
where you at? If you don't want it I will take it!
Scott
When I boost, you boost, we boost
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You have been banned from NEJBODY.
You've displayed wayyy too many acts of pushing people to their limits.
It's never cool to tear people down for what they want to do.
NEJBODY is a team. We're not the same as JBO where everyone bashes on eachother.
I'm surprised you show up to our meets after half of the things you say on here.
The car is at State St. Auto Wrecking in Provo Utah. I won't be taking it after all. Just too much other crap going on in my life. Anyone around here should feel free to take it.
