After a search through many a junkyard and CL ad I finally found a winner! I picked up a 1996 caprice 9c1 for a thousand bucks. I liked the fact that it was a 96 for the vented optispark, obd2 and the owner claimed that the engine was recently rebuilt. So with the deal sealed, the caprice came home to live with me having no idea the horrible fate that awaited it. *insert sinister laugh here*
Unfortunately I live in a condo, so all the work had to be done at my in-laws place. Thankfully my pop is mechanically inclined and still tolerates my projects.
So over the next 3 or so days, my new aquisition turned from this:
into this:
and finally into this:
From all the carnage emerged an iron head LT1 engine, 4L60E trans, PCM and every scrap of wiring from stem to stern. I was also able to sell a bunch of parts from the shell and with the cash I got from the scrap, my net cost was about $500 for the powertrain.