My first car is a completly stock 1985 305TPI WS6 Trans am. It has all its paint but it is dull not too bad but still not a show car. The interior is near mint. It has 4 wheel disc and an automatic tranny. It runs great. The body has no major dents. With a quick paint job, it would be mint.

The second car which I just got for free (a different story) Is a 1991 with 2 colors of paint, It has a 84 front bumper, 84 taillights, 84 hood with the scoop to the side. The 84 parts are black and the 1991 parts are red so it look like a$$. Now heres the good part, It has a freshly rebuilt 350 with a 5 speed conversion. New Edlebrock intake and carb. It also drives good. It needs a water pump and an alternator. As well as the center plate for the 5 speed. it also needs a relay in the hatch pull down motor. The headlights dont go down, he told me it was because of the motors, I believe him. This body also has no dents. The interior is pretty good too.

Now heres the problem, I am 16 but I love cars. I can only keep one of the cars. I live at home with my mom and she isnt happy when I bring home another car. I need to sell or get rid of one of them. I have the know how to do any work except for the body. I would have to pay someone to do that. what do you guys think. I have some things to think about but would like your opinion first.

MODS I wasnt sure where to put this but this seemed like the most approprate spot.
Thanks.
Dennis

Pics will be on its way, once I get the second car home.

 

No question, keep the 85. Sounds like someone did a cheap and crappy hack job to the 91. Has different year bumpers and someone put a carb engine in it. You probably will not even know how bad they hacked the harness before it's too late. Invest the money that you will get for the 91 in a decent paint job for the 85.

 

ask a friend if you can keep a car there till you decide what you want to do its a tuff choice but id keep the car with the best body and put the 350 in it, i hope this helps.

 

I agree with Soulbounder there, at least with a stock TA you know what you are dealing instead of worrying about "interesting" modifications done to the 91.

 

A bone stock 85 WS6 TA that came with four wheel disc brakes? That sounds somewhat rare, and therefore more valuable. I would sell the 91. Not just becuase it may not be as valuable, but because someone before you obviously did a lot of modifications, and that isn't always a good thing...

 

I forgot to mention that both cars are T Top cars and both dont leak.
I aslo forgot that the AC in the 91 isnt hooked up but in the 85 it works great, I dont really care about ac b/c i only drive around town with the tops off and the windows down.

I dont think my car is rare at all. I always thought that all the WS6 cars came with 4 wheel disc.
88TATBI5.7 I would love to put the 350 in my car but i would only really want it if I could also put the 5 speed in, It is a tough choice b/c one is a 350 5 speed and one is a 305 auto. I would love to have the 350 5 speed, it is almost my ideal drivetrain. My ideal one is 350 TPI 5 speed.
The bodys them selves are the same, They both dont have dents. It is just that as of now the one has different color parts. Which wast done that bad to be honest. I dont think that it was done crappy IMO even though I did like the 1991 bumper better.
I cant ask him to keep it there b/c the deal is, if i can get the car and all the extra parts to my house I can keep it, he needs to get rid of it all. He has 3 sets of firebird rims with all good tires, extra t tops extra ground effects, extra taillights which were off the 1991. The only original part that he doesnt have off the 91 is the front bumper.
I dont know what I am doing yet, I have to really make a decision. THanks for all of your help.
Dennis

 

Keep the 85, definitely. You can always find 350s and 5 or 6-speed transmissions in the future.

 

thats sad, keep the 85

 

i agree keep the 85 the t-5 are week the 2nd gear syncros normly go 350 are cheep but if it freashly rebult the guy who is giving it to you should beable to change the moter over in a weekend, but you would get more for the car with the 350 and t-5 even if the body is hacked just sell it to a kid in high school ofter you put a $200 paint job you should beable to get at least 1500 for it. anyway good luck with whatever you decide

 

why not keep the 85 but swap the trannies before u get rid of the 91? I would definetely say get rid of the 91 since it technically isnt a 91 anymore.

 

swap the 350 and t-5 into the 85 and put the 305 and auto in the 91 and sell the 91. or you could put the tpi set up on the 350. just some thoughts.

 

id say use both cars to build one sweet car. but stick with the 85 body

 

Yes, sell the 91, or part it out, with the 305 in it.

 

If you're 16, my guess is that you're not real experienced with repairs, modifications, and overall mechanical work. That being the case, don't make any headaches for yourself with that 91. Ditch it and keep the reliable stock 85. The 91 sounds like it's not worth much, so you can learn a little bit about mechanics by parting it out. Keep the engine and transmission parts, and sell the rest of the parts. As you learn more, you can swap the 350 and 5 speed into your 85.

 

based on what you've said, I'm tempted to say keep the '91 because of the better drivetrain and equal body condition aside from paint. The only thing that makes me worry is not knowing the story behind why the current owner is willing to give it up for free. There must be more problems with it than you know about. Also, no 85 T/A is particularly valuable due to being rare.

 

I am 16, During high school i took several years of automotive technology, I was in that class more then I was in anyother. This year I will be a senior and am coming back to help the teacher out and be a mentor, I have the ability to do all of the work, I just dont have the time. (or money) I have the tools.
I bought my 1985 with it not running at all, I bought it because it was a good price, with a little help from you guys on TGO I got it running PERFECT.
I parted out a car once before. I did learn alot from the last time I parted out a car, it was a 90 firebird. I re did my whole interior, and took the 700r4 I took a few other things but those are the main ones.
I was thinking about what someone said and putting the 350 and 5 speed into my car but with the TPI. That would be good but Look how much time it would take me. IDK
THanks for all of your ideas and opinions.
Dennis
PS That is the only thing that worries me Jeremy I dont know how this guy did his work. I know when I do something I do it right.

 

Jim made many points that I believe are quite valid..

on top of this, you basically don't want a car that's gonna give you a lot of headaches.. no matter how good you are at wrenching. The 91 sounds like it could be a potential problem in the future for many reasons.. the most notable to me being electrical problems from the modified harness or the t5 going out because it's behind a 350 (do you have any way of knowing whether the transmission is a world class t5, how long its been in there, and how much abuse its taken?). The 85 sounds pretty unmolested... I say stick with that car, get it a paint job, and have a nice ride.

The talk about swapping the 350/t5 into the 85 sounds like something that you don't really need right now. You said yourself that you've got the car running perfect, so why tear it down and not enjoy it? Swaps take a while, you'll have both cars down, and there will more likely than not be little bugs keeping you from finishing up. Oh, and the 85 tpi computer is supposedly the worst one you can get.. I'm pretty sure you'd have a hard time getting it running right with the 85 tpi ontop of the 350 unless you swap to a later style (7730) computer and do any other necessary modifications to make that work. Whatever you decide, best of luck. I'm sure I speak for others when I say I'd love to see pics!

 

I think i figured out how I am going to decide. I am going to figure out how much I can sell each car for. Then I am going to figure out how much it would cost to make the other car perfect. Then I will figure out which would be worth more if they were both in perfect condtion. I am still going to take into account what you guys said, TGO has not failed me yet
Thanks
Dennis

 

I'd keep the 85...both cars might take a little work to get where you want them, the 85 on the performance front and the 91 on the looks/operational front, but fixing up the 91 to look like a 91 + the headlight problems and other stuff is going to be a lot more work than swapping in a 350 and a T5 will be. Or if you dont want to do all that, all you need to do is wake up that 305 with headers, a catback, and maybe a mild cam and it will be as quick as the carb'd 350 in the 91 if not quicker...