Hi,

Looks like a nice car..I bought mine off of ebay and was told car was solid with no major problems...I have been working on it since...lol...these cars are great, but they are vintage and do require some TLC. If you have a passion for C3 vettes go for it...if you don't have a passion for them develop one or pass it on by and admire them from a distance

My advice is that since you did not get that "love connection signal", let it go. I think the "connection" is really important. I agree that the idle problem may be associated with a vacuum leak. Those can be very time consuming to find. If you don"t feel this car is the "one" for you, then keep looking. You will find the one that's right for you.
Good Luck!

Scott

The Cross-fire was a one year only engine in the C3 generation and I think only a year or two in the C4 generation.  It was also used in the Camaro for a few years but I don't know if they were used in any other BowTie models or other divisions of GM.  They were (and still are) somewhat problematic but when sorted out correctly they perform quite well. Norsky2008-06-07 22:09:08

I would be leary just with the low price alone. There is a local dealer in Portland, OR that had a couple of these '82 SE's going for around 15K and they were real nice. Everyone will tell you to do your research and figure out about what years of C3's you really like the best and focus on that. Also how much money you can spend will narrow what you can get. Chrome bumpers are the highest priced C3's and newer get more reasonable in price. Take your time and good luck finding the right one. 

It looks like a pretty nice Collector's Edition, is the body, interior, & etc. in good shape? Looks good from the pictures. A "CE" is worth a lot more than $8K, even if you put a grand into the engine you would be way ahead. If it ran good, it looks like a $15K car. There is a forum called crossfire injection vault, http://www.crossfire.homeip.net/  and there are some guys on there from AZ. that know those engines inside & out. Check them out, you may be able to get some help from one of them. DaveM2008-06-08 02:49:49

Ive always admired the 82CE and was looking for one of them when I found my present 82 and that "love connection" was there.  The car you are looking at looks really nice and if not for the idle problem would be a really good buy.  How does it run other than idle?  As Norsky mentioned the crossfire can be a tempremental animal and rough idle is one of its trademarks but what you describe is really extreme. There could be so many things that could cause the problem you describe.  Vacuum leak is possible but its also possible that whoever did the engine work did not get the throttle bodies adjusted and balanced properly.  Not many mechanics understand the crossfire system and how to adjust and balance it.  It's not difficult, but just "different".  The car looks really nice though and if you could get some info from the previous owner this vette could be a really good buy.  The link that DaveM posted is a good one.  The guys at crossfire injection vault eat, sleep, and breathe crossfire engines and could possibly provide information that would help if you do buy the car.

I tend to agree with Dave M. I use a 2 out of 3 method for buying. Good interior / good exterior / Bad motor. Good motor / good exterior / bad interior, etc. Keeping in mind the bad usually will cost me $2000.00.

I would guess the problem started after the rebuild. I say this because with 125 k on the car it didn't sit around idle with problems too long.

It won't take much to find out what the culprit is that makes it idle ruff. Besides that sounds like a good leverage point for you to use as a buyer to beat at the price. Even though $8000 is about as low as it gets for a CE that looks that nice.

To me your missing a part??   Might be a factor in the idle problem.    Not a mechanic but just looking from mine to the ebays engine.    And seeing the outer body looks like it was in a reck!?

I have to agree with others here on thier opinions too.  Iron822008-06-08 15:57:31