From the past few COALs I had learned a few things: 1) I was in love with the B body design 2) I missed the LT1 performance of my 9C1 3) I liked the white non-descript color of my 9C1 4) the utility of the B body wagon was essential 5) I liked cushy brougham interiors 6) I liked the big fold away heated side view mirrors of the 95-96 B bodies.
I was passively searching for a replacement for my last COAL because nobody wanted to ride in it anymore and came upon the following:
1) 1995 Chevrolet Caprice wagon with big, fold-away heated side view mirrors
2) Cranberry red cloth interior with power windows, locks, seats and antenna
3) Bright white exterior with no fake wood (a huge bonus for me)
4) Station wagon with third-row seat
5) 5.7 liter LT1 V8 with 260 HP
6) Definitely a B-body
My car with a friend’s New York City driven but only 30,000 original mile ’87 (Che)’Vette
A point-for-point match…it couldn’t get any better than that. It looked like a wagon version of my 9C1. It was not easy convincing my wife to support me in bringing home yet another B-body. Eventually, she grudgingly relented and I made the appointment to see the car, knowing full well there was no way I was leaving without it.
The car was at a small used car dealership in Belleville, not far from where I work. When I saw it, I was even more convinced that I had to have it. It was a one-owner car with about 120,000 miles on it. The car spent its winters in Florida which accounted for the non existent rust underneath. Moreover, the car had recently had its transmission rebuilt. I saw this as a good thing because these cars were equipped with the 4L60E transmission, about which I have heard many horror stories of early failure. I was glad that this car’s trans had already been redone.
The cranberry red cloth upholstery was in good condition. One thing that I did not mention in my previous write-ups about these cars is that the window rollers were very common failure items on the 91-96 B bodies which resulted in windows coming off the track and not being able to close properly unless manually guided upward by hand. This wagon was afflicted with this problem, which rendered the left rear passenger window inoperative. The fix was apparently very easy but I did not have the proper tools to remove the door panel as required. In addition, the factory cassette player was not working. The radio worked fine but it would not accept cassettes. This was not really a problem, since most of my music was on CDs and I was slowly transitioning to MP3s. I had one of those transmitters that allowed me to play my portable music trough an unused radio frequency on the car stereo.
The Corvette derived LT1 ran well and was recently serviced. I did find that the suspension was much softer than my 9C1 but this was to be expected since it did not have the police or towing package. By the way, Chevy did have a special service/police package for Caprice wagons, called the 1A2. Only 846 were made so they are relatively rare. Unfortunately, the few I have encountered were pretty well used up. Finally, like my previous Roadmaster wagon, the anti-lock feature of the brakes was no longer working. I wonder if this was a common failure item with these cars. I had another B-body wagon after this with this exact problem.
Despite these issues, I was sure that I would not be looking for another car again….I finally had my dream car. It was a very nice car that I maintained meticulously–at first (although I never did repair the misaligned window or ABS light). This was in part due to a fuel pump failure early in my ownership that was not cheap to repair and broke my budget in terms of repair/improvements to the car aside from the installation of XM satellite radio. I did make sure oil changes and such were done according to schedule.
I must say the Caprice wagon was a fine vehicle. It was competent, comfortable and fun. Like my last two wagons, it could haul an impressive amount of stuff. For example, our current dining set was delivered via the Caprice wagon. In one trip that car hauled the dining table, diner-style sectional bench, and three dining chairs. The other customers where I bought the furniture, many with full sized pickup trucks, watched in disbelief as the entire dining set fit in the wagon and on the roof rack. Later that same day, I used the Caprice to deliver an oversize antique sofa to my brother-in-law’s home in Baltimore.
Handling was nowhere near as tight as my 9C1 but it handled pretty competently. The LT1 pulled strongly and was entertaining in a straight line. I remember one Sunday morning, I had to get to an early morning graduation. It was about 7 AM and the highway was deserted. With absolutely no traffic around, the car got to triple digits quickly and easily. I was cruising at about 108-ish in the right lane. Out of nowhere, this motorcycle flashed past me like I was standing still, quickly leaving me in the dust to the point where I could no longer see him. If I was doing 108, I wonder how fast he must have been going!
My use of it as a daily driver ended because I made a serious blunder purchasing a vehicle for my wife. I will discuss this in detail next week. Suffice it to say that she needed a car so, for the second time, a Caprice was relegated to baby-hauling duty.
The car served her well for a few more years, surviving a series of parking encounters with larger vehicles (and our house) which resulted in a creased fender and dented tailgate. This car actually survived and outlasted the next six COALs, which you will be reading about in the next few weeks.
In the end, it was my perpetual lack of funds to properly take care of it which led to its rapid decline from flagship to liability.
The first problem stemmed from an aftermarket alarm system. When I bought the car, I was told that the system was inoperative. A few years into our ownership, I realized that inoperative was not the correct word: It was actually only hibernating. One day it came out of its slumber. The alarm would sound at random moments and then shut off by itself. This happened maybe once every two weeks. We didn’t have a fob or any other means of shutting it off, so we just let it be. The real problem came when the second feature of the alarm system became active once again. Namely, the starter interrupt feature. Without the fob, we couldn’t disarm it; therefore, we couldn’t start the car. At the same time, we were more broke than ever, so we didn’t even have any money to tow it somewhere to have someone look at it. While we were pondering this, my wife had to walk to get to where she had to go (which entailed having to cross a busy highway; thankfully, there was a crosswalk). I finally realized that funds to fix the problem were not coming anytime soon, so for the second time since my Saab, I performed a DIY auto repair. I went through the car, pulled any fuses that were not in the owner’s manual, and removed any parts that did not look stock. I also took a great risk by cutting any wires that looked out of place. Well, I was lucky. I cheered loudly as the LT1 roared back to life; I screamed and danced around in victory as my three-year-old looked on proudly.
The LT1 B-bodies had two main weaknesses. One was the 4l60E transmission, with its debatable reputation for early (and expensive) failure. Are the transmissions inherently bad due to a design flaw, or is the failure rate due to neglect and abuse? I have heard both sides. I’ve also heard that the 94′ 4l60Es were stronger than the ones in the 95-96 B cars. The second weakness was the Optispark. What is an Optispark? The Optispark was essentially an advanced distributor that used infrared and optical sensors to operate properly. Because it was such a high-tech piece of equipment, it was not cheap. In addition, it is difficult and tedious to gain access to it. At the time, a genuine GM Optispark cost between $600-$800 before installation. In addition, like replacing a timing belt, replacing the Optispark meant replacing the water pump because water pump failure almost always meant damage to the expensive Optispark. These two components are what have led many to give up on their LT1 dreams, and probably why they are not more prolific today.
As I said, the transmission on my car held up pretty well. The oil was pink, in good shape and serviced regularly. There came a time when the car began running roughly and eventually missing, running on seven cylinders. The driveabilty issues began to worsen until it became obvious that the Optispark was failing. I did not have the $1,600 minimum needed to replace the Optispark, the plugs and the water pump, so my mechanic suggested an alternative. At the time, various companies offered “generic” equivalents to the Optispark. Some were of better quality than others, but all were considerably cheaper than the OEM part. So, I gambled. And lost. We tried replacing the part twice, both efforts ending in failure and stranding me on the side of the road.
It was heartbreaking to make the decision to cut my one-time dream car loose. This vehicle was our last GM product to date. Incidentally, after it left our service it was replaced by a vehicle that we kept until November of 2014. You’ll read about that one next month..
Since I parted company with my Saab, I had been enjoying an unprecedented eight years or so of automotive reliability. This would change very quickly. My next few COALs will feature some of the worst automobile decisions I have ever made, leading to some of the darkest days in my car-owning history.
“The LT1 B-bodies had two main weaknesses. One was the 4l60E transmission, with its debatable reputation for early (and expensive) failure.”
Actually the LT1 B bodies had 4 main weaknesses. 3 engine/trans related and one GM electrical related.(which actually plagued a lot of GM cars during the years they used that anti theft resister in the key)
For the engine the following was apt to go bad:
1. Transmission (usually the clutch packs for reverse go AWOL)
2. Opti spark
3. Water pump
The other weakness is that the car’s anti theft system would stop working right and then keep you from starting the car. the reason for this was that the “sensor” that lives in the ignition stopped being able to read the pellet in the key. The trick to fix it was to simply clip the 2 wires to this “sensor” then take a ohm meter and measure the resistance on the pellet on the key and then get yourself a bunch of resisters and solder them together so that the resistance matches the resistance in the key and boom you fixed it.
You said the next few COALs that you got made you wonder why you bought them? What did you do? Buy a bunch of Mopar products?
Leon, you are partially correct. But not just MOPAR. Actually, every one of the big three (Chrysler, Ford, GM) will be represented in my automotive nightmares of the coming weeks.
Before my friend got his last 1996 silver Caprice he had a red 1999 Crown Vic LX with a hair over 90K miles. That car just had it’s transmission rebuilt according to paperwork in the dash, both tie rods and a driver side ball joint replaced, a new rear end pinion seal replaced and a short while before that it’s intake manifold was done because of an anti-freeze smell coming from inside the car.
While he had that car the famous Ford light control module failed which caused all sorts of problems with his headlights and interior lighting. He had to pull the fuse in order for his headlights to continue working I think and left it out. The part that the Ford dealer said he needed was a couple of hundred bucks or about 80 on eBay. He also wasn’t getting any heat and the dealer said he needed a new blend-door actuator motor which was about 40 bucks.
Gas mileage was also inexplicably bad which turned out to be a couple of partially bad oxygen sensors which ran him 50 beans for both.
No experience with similar year Chrysler products other than my friend’s aunt who went through Ultra drives like water in her older Caravans.
Actually, the water pump failure is usually what causes the Optispark failure. The Optispark is located directly beneath the water pump on the front of the engine.
Another most sought-after option is the T84 export headlamps with vastly improved lighting output from the ECE-specified reflectors and H4 bulbs. Yes, the lens is glass instead of plastic.
http://pauley.org/kpauley/Impala/t84.htm
The OEM supplier, Bosch, stopped manufacturing them about twenty years ago, and the new units are so impossible to find. In some instances, the headlamps are more valuable than the cars that have them. It is not unheard to come across the complete kit for €2,000 or more.
As a general rule, ECE spec lights produce a much more useful beam pattern than US DOT-spec lights. Correctly aimed, ECE lights create an even blanket of light, without hotspots and feature a sharp cut off to eliminate glare for oncoming drivers.
The stock B-Body headlights weren’t all that great even when they were new. The wiring is undersized and does not use relays. Compound this with aging lenses that start to craze and turn yellow. The use of 9004 bulbs also leaves much to be desired.
Upgraded battery cables (power and ground) are of benefit to the whole electrical system. A headlight harness with relays provides more power to the bulbs and bypasses most of the stock connectors and switches for less of a voltage drop. A good source for these upgrades is from here: http://innovativewiring.com/
The B-Body T84s are labeled “Guide” which was GM’s lamp division. Being made of tempered glass, they do not turn yellow with age as OE lenses do. The H4 bulbs feature a better filament layout and much larger choices of higher outputs.
On both my ’95 Caprice Classic wagon and ’95 Impala SS, I run T84s with Hella 80/100 wattage bulbs, and both the upgraded battery cables and headlight harnesses. Here’s a pic of my SS with them:
Sweet!
Thanks for additional information. Does your Caprice have export taillamps (the one with amber turn signal indicators)?
http://www.angelfire.com/fang/impalaskunkworks/export_tails/tails002.jpg
My Caprice wagon runs the OE USA tail lamps.
On the Impala SS, I went with the the 1991 – 1992 Caprice smooth tail lamps with the chrome strip painted body color. I like the smooth lenses over the later ribbed ones, and the 3 red segments per side is a nice nod to the earlier Caprices and Impalas:
What tire and rim are you running? That looks clean.
I wonder what the reasoning behind using the optispark system was? Did the LT1 intake cover where the distributor went? And how did these compare to the 96 and up Vortec 350? I had one in a 98 Yukon that worked really nice. The only downfall was the distributor cap needed replacing every year and a half or so.
The heads on the vortec engines flow closely to the LT1 heads, the vortec heads also have quick burn combustion chambers. The LT1s do have a reverse flow cooling system which cools the heads first & then the block, the vortec has a more traditional cooling system. The iron headed LT1s & vortec 350s were pretty closely matched in hp.
I don’t know why chevy didn’t use a DIS coil pack set up instead of opti spark.
Your question is one of the biggest mysteries of GM management decisions that I have also often cogitated over.
My 1988 Buick had a flawless coilpack ignition so it’s not like the technology didn’t exist when they designed the LT1.
The 4th Gen F-Body forced the LT1 to have much lower intake manifold due to the extreme angle of the front windshield. This same design issue makes a conventional SBC distributor impossible to remove in a 4th Gen F-Body.
In a perfect world, GM should have gone with a coil pack system as was already in use with the 3800 V6. Instead, a cam-driven pancake style distributor was designed and mounted in front of the timing cover, behind the water pump and harmonic balancer. Thus, the Optispark was born. In early material, GM also called it “ABITS” (Angle Based Ignition Timing System).
“Well, I was lucky. I cheered loudly as the LT1 roared back to life; I screamed and danced around in victory as my three-year-old looked on proudly.”
You made me immediately think of an insurance commercial.
LOL! You pretty much summed it up there!
Jerseyfred, I’d enjoy the chance to meet someday. My wife always laughs at me when I see an LT1 B-body estate lumber down the highway and I point and shout “dream car!” I’ve even got my kids doing it now.
My grandmother had a pristine 1994 LT1 powered Caprice sedan with the towing and heavy duty packages. As with most who have come of age in the depression and WWII, she kept it for over 20 years and took excellent care of it. She was about 4’9″ and sat on a cushion to get enough height, but was also secretly was a lead foot who got pulled more than a few times on the interstate, once with me in the car for going about 85 in a 65 zone (silver hair, a husband with parkinsons, and a very pleasant disposition are kryptonite to the nice men and women of the Michigan state police).
When I got my license, she would frequently come up with reasons to let me drive it. The sound of an LT1 at full tilt was and still is intoxicating. She passed away 2 years ago and the car went to an uncle who is keeping it in good shape as a weekend cruiser, so it should be kicking for many years to come.
Not an LT-1, but this guy’s got a clean, clean Pacific Northwest ’92 for sale that’s awful tempting (devoted/meticulous owner):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Caprice-Base-Wagon-4-Door-Caprice-Camper-Station-Wagon-Conversion-with-Extras-Roadtrip-/321648255409?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4ae3bae1b1&item=321648255409&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
I was disappointed that this version of the Chevy Caprice and Caprice Classic was discontinued. I found this version to be more attractive than what’s being sold today.
I did not know there were only 846 1A2s made so that explains their rarity and some were lost on 9-11 so that only makes them more rare. My 87 Caprice Estate had a kill switch by the crotch vent that would act up so I would press that panel with my knees and then start the Caprice after figuring which position the switch needed to be in. There is always light at the end of the tunnel so glad you got a reliable vehicle eventually.
I was reading these posts and enjoying them. I have a 1994 1A2 that was a Maine state trooper car. Not a chase car, it says ” commercial vehicle enforcement” ghosted in the original paint. So not rusty as it sat a lot waiting for overloaded trucks. Love the thing. Rubber floors, buckets, windup Windows, really a stripper
The fuel settings have been ” adjusted” and it’s got a 3.73 posi. The thing will rock even with the gear. Nail it from a dead stop , it spins the tires a bit then flat
Hooks it’s burps the tires going into second and you’re in triple digits in no time. ” Rumor ” from the former owner had it at 135 and still puling with the 2.56 gear.
I haven’t wrung it out other than running it up to triple digits cause I love the thing . Nobody gets it cause I have other cool stuff. But, I don’t care. Thanks for the interesting reading!!
I can actually see myself driving such a car if it had simulated woodgrain on it. But I would have to have a relative in the oil business to put gas in it. I hate to even ask what kind of mileage it gets. Probably similar to a Suburban?
Mileage varied from a low of 16 to a high of 25. Usually got between 20-23.
Surprisingly if you drove it the normal speed limit the car returned excellent gas mileage for the size.
Back when my my 1995 Caprice wagon was still stock with 2.56 gears, I was able to get 27.4 MPG on interstate driving.
This was done on a round trip from San Jose, CA to Bakersfield, CA, driving the posted speed limits on the highways (US101, SR46, SR99), with cruise whenever possible. A total of 500+ miles with a couple gallons left in the 22 gallon tank.
An LT1 B-Body wagon is EPA rated about the same as a new 2015 Suburban 1500 2WD. Both are a whole lot better than a 1995 Suburban 1500 2WD: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=12134&id=34964&id=29550
A transmission guy once told me that the 5.7 LT1’s were a bit too powerful for the 4L60E transmission and failure could occur anywhere from 60-100K miles on average depending on if you towed or really beat on the car. Service is also crucial.
Knock on wood neither me or my best friend (who are B-body junkies) have had a 4L60 go south on us in our 4.3 L99 cars to date. I also had a 1996 Caprice with the Lt1 and it went up to 90K without a problem. My current 1996 L99 maroon Caprice did have the ignition key issue taken car of with the resistor trick and the Opti-spark cap and rotor were replaced. No other issues with her to date and my buddies 96 silver Caprice is still humming away with 170K on the clock.
Great export parts gm did for these 91-96 caprice impala ss bbodies. Export t84 europe headlamps, 91-92 export tails with amber inserts, export kmh 96 ss clusters, caprice ss side scripts, and caprice ss center dash plate. I myself have a export cluster and looks great!
I agree. I like the instrument gauges on this gen Caprice. Better (IMHO) than the warning lights used for the temperature gauge of the previous generation.
It’s an unforgivable shame that Chevrolet discontinued this style for the Caprice, Caprice Classic, and the Impala SS. I remember when the car came out, I thought “it’s about time Chevy updated its styling. What took them so damn long?”