okfoz,
Im picking on you cause i know that you are the resident formula guru, ok heres the deal. Where I live there is an 87-88 Formula with t-tops thats been sitting for a while, i believe 5-8 years but it has tags on it, that tell me it has been registerd withen 3 years,so probably moved then. anyway the front end paint is all flaked off the nose and the fenders are a little beat up rear half looks ok i dont see any rust but this is all on a drive by. It has a trans am hood(dual snorkle vent things) and the factory convex wheels. its not a 350. ok what should i look at to see if its worth trying to get cheap and fix up. i was thinking of just going by with 500 cash and seeing if i can get them to jump on it but i want to make sure i dont just **** that 500 away with something not worth fixing. engine and trans problems are easy fixes for me but body is my weak point so, what should i look for. thanks
Marc

 

Leaking T tops

 

where do they usually leak to the driver or passenger floor board or the rear floor boards? and how is easiest to check , seeing i wont be able to pull the carpet up all the way.

 

check the seats, when the t-tops leak the water usualy ends up on the seats, if they look torn up or smell a little wierd then you got urself a leaking t-top, might want to check out the headliner too, usully get real bad sagging if water gets traped under it...if you get a chance unscrew the long piece of plastic over the backseats (sit down in the backseat and look up u cant miss it) , check to see if there is rust around there, u can usually pull the headliner down a bit from there to, thats about all i can think of for now

 

I would see how bad its rusted out,if it starts/turns over at all,the interior being torn up is pretty minor though.You can easily find interior.Flaking paint is normal for those years.Does it drive,shift ok?You have to remember that you are buying a 17 year old car thats been sitting for a while.dont go in there looking for a car that you will be able to start and drive immediatly.BTW how do you know its not a 350 by driving by?

 

I know its not a 350 because it just says formula on the doors not formula 350. and i dont expect it to run someone parked it for a reason, actually i dont care if the engine is grenaded i can fix that fairly easy and is kinda what i was looking for. but i dont want to have to fix a ton of rust, i plan to paint it and fix it up then drive it for a while and sell it, and rust is what i just dont want to mess with, i mean a little surface rust or bubbling no problem, floorboards no big deal, but i dont want to fix tons of rust and not make any money after its all said and done cause i spent too much on fixing it.

 

Its not this car is it? https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=263107

It sounds like he is asking too much IMO, $500 would be fair, but I would pass since its got only TBI. TPI is so much better in my opinion.

But for $500 it could be a good resto job... Keep in mind if you were to save the money you will spend putting the car back to 100% perfect original you will be far ahead to buy one done.

John