New from Oregon

Welcome new members, please make your first post in this section. Say hello & tell us a little bit about you and your car. We're happy to see you here!
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Welcome new members, please make your first post in this section. Say hello & tell us a little bit about you and your car. We're happy to see you here!
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reuben2002
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 12:59 am

New from Oregon

Post by reuben2002 »

Bought my first Caprice today. It is a 2012 in silver. I bought it in Washington, and drove it home today. Noticed that no one wanted to pass me on the freeway :lol:
Car is in decent condition, some bumps and scrapes, nothing too major.
First thing I did when I got home is to remove the push bar, looks much better now.
Originally I was going to remove the spotlight for sure, but now I am undecided. It is pretty nice, and I would have to fill the holes.
Driver's seat is worn out and needs replacing, I'll start with a seat cover.
I also noticed that I need a cupholder (the ones in the door are worthless), and possibly an arm rest.

I have an automotive background (BS in Automotive Technology, and I used to be an ASE certified Master Technician), and then I changed directions to get a Mechanical Engineering degree and I've been an engineer for the last 8 years. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions for this board.

Also, I have noticed that I am typically not brand loyal, and this car is a first for me in that I have owned a Chevy before (albeit a 1948 2-ton truck). Otherwise I have owned a Honda, Willys, BMW, Pontiac, Nissan, and Scion, and the wife has had a Dodge, Jeep, and Mazda.

I've wanted a G8 for a long time, but I can't justify the cost for the condition of what's available. The Caprice is not as well known, and much more affordable relative to their condition.

Before today my daily driver was a Scion FR-S (made by Subaru), which is a super fun car, but not big enough for my two sons. The Caprice has a huge back seat! The Caprice drives way different, but it is a monster of a car, even in stock configuration. The torque is unreal.

Feel free to ask questions, I'm here to help as well as to learn.
Reuben
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elc32955
System Manager
Posts: 2718
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 10:32 am
Location: East Central Florida
Contact:

Re: New from Oregon

Post by elc32955 »

Hi Reuben!

Welcome to the system! We've got some of the most knowledgeable owners here on the Caprice, the car really is out of the public eye because of the "no retail sales" pronouncement by Chevrolet years ago. GM could have made a very successful livery (aka Taxi) version of this car IMHO by utilizing the LFX package, but Chevrolet, in their quirky ways sale restricted the car to law enforcement only. Of course, if they had attempted to logically market the Caprice they would have sold a lot more of them probably, then they may not have been able to shut the factory down as easily come 2017, yada yada. It's truthfully the square cube that tried to fit into the round hole of the GM product stable. Right now this car, bar none is the best dollar vs. horsepower deal available out there.... if people know where to turn to get one. What folks in Australia were paying $45K AUS or more for we got rather heavily discounted.

We appreciate greatly your willingness to share your knowledge with fellow owners. There are a increasing amount of professional folks on the forum that do provide good information and advice, we've been lucky here in that most of our user base are really car owners and a lot of the basic horsepower & performance mods have been covered in some depth early on in system history. Now people are exploring more radical mods using the Caprice platform, and this is where good general automotive knowledge comes in quite handy in pushing boundaries.

Again, welcome! And... you may as well get used to the "don't pass the cop!" routine, it happens... lol!

Thanks
Eric
System Manager and your tour guide for the day. 2015 Caprice w/LFX, former NC DPS staff car. Partial hybrid G8/SS/Camaro SS interior mods, SS MyLink radio upgrade, 2016 Camaro V6 rims, GMPP Malibu chrome exhaust tips, otherwise bone stock for now.
lastcall190
Posts: 604
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:17 am
Location: North Jersey

Re: New from Oregon

Post by lastcall190 »

Welcome. I too was looking at G8s, but the asking prices far surpassed what were being asked for Caprices. Sure the Caprice lived what was likely a harder life, but it's bigger, newer by at least 2 years (more in many cases), and cheaper. All for what amounts to just a newer/bigger version of the G8. Enjoy yours!

Also, the back seat is a delight when loading my daughter in the car. At 6'2 I can stand up and just bend down whilst adjusting her seat.

She can't even reach my seat if she decides to swing her legs around either :lol:

-J
2012 Caprice
2008 CVPI

Both gone but not forgotten...
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No Moa
Posts: 472
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:30 pm
Location: Maine

Re: New from Oregon

Post by No Moa »

Nice, Can you post some more pictures of the Pushbar? I'm interested to know the makers as i'm searcing for one.
2014 Caprice PPV silver
2017 Ram 3500
2002 CETA trans am
1996 Impala ss (soon to be t56)
1995 9c1
1977 Trans am SE 4spd.
1978 trans am 400 4 spd.
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Mooseman
Posts: 1075
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Location: Ottawa, ON Canada
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Re: New from Oregon

Post by Mooseman »

Welcome! Looks like it`s in pretty decent shape after police duty. Yeah, that push bar was fugly. As far as I can tell, most people seem to leave the spotlight as I would imagine finding an interior pillar molding without the hole would be difficult. I probably have one of the few anywhere without it.
2011 Caprice PPV, former RCMP test vehicle, never put into service
Build Thread: http://www.newcaprice.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2419
reuben2002
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 12:59 am

Re: New from Oregon

Post by reuben2002 »

I can't find anything identifying the pushbar. I see "DOP1300" and a serial number. I'll try to get more pictures, but I can't promise when I'll get to it. I've pulled off everything outside of the bumper, and when I pull the rest of it out I'll probably list it. It is really nice, doesn't look like it has hit or rubbed on anything, and it still has small lights on the sides.

I've noticed that now that the push bar is removed, people have no issue passing me. Still, with the rims and spotlight I see people take a second look.

Now I've got to make a list of what I want to do with this beast. First I've got to address the P0521 code (plan on cleaning the screen - I didn't have the right socket). Tires are on my short list, as is some solution for the driver's seat (repair or replace).
Then there's headers, lowering springs, bodywork/paint, etc. I was planning on jumping right in and doing the DoD delete and a cam upgrade, but I figure I would address the other issues, and get used to the power and torque of the stock setup.
reuben2002
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 12:59 am

Re: New from Oregon

Post by reuben2002 »

Oh, and I plan on converting the front grill to Holden, and blacking out the grill surround and the rear trunk spear.
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