Bought a 84 z28 and all I can say is that its a lemon, the body is mostly rust and bondo with a nice teal pain job, some clean coat is peeling and stuff, t tops don't leak though, engine likes to sputter allot but its a high output. It was "Rebuilt" Which I don't even believe. The tranny is suppose to be brand new but when I got home to my surprise it had no tranny fluid in it, and it was smoking. I was wondering why it was holding gears.. And the interior isn't very impressive at all. All I can say is that atleast the heater works great.. What do you guys think? Should I sell it? Or try and make something out of this rusty mess.

 

did you look at it before buying it?

 

Without seeing it...it sounds like a parts car. There are too many of these cars still in good shape out there to warrant fixing a rusted out one. Unless its got some rare options and nice colors i wouldnt waste my time.

 

from the way your describing it, something wrong with everything, you may want to part it or sell it

 

I think i'll keep it and maybe change the motor, or find a 82 - 02 firebird or t/a shell in good condition with good reg and swap all the parts over.

 

Sounds like it's a heap. Sure we all miss stuff from time to time when looking at a car and things pop up after buying them, How did you miss all the rust? Well if you want to keep it then do it or try to get some money back.

 

its easy to miss rust if its covered right when i buaght my car i missed alot of rust. my car looked in great condition except for 2 dents. it ended up needing a floor, lower quarters and doors. and you cant really try to get your money back the law is on the sellers side unless it has a written warrenty you cant do anything

 

The car needs everything.

Dump it and move on unless you want to spend 5-10 yrs replacing everything.
Tons of these cars out there still.

You dont know whats under the paint wirigin or anything else

next time bring someone with you to inspect the car that can spot these things so you dont get stung again.

most these old cars are hammered i wouldnt even look at one unless it was 100% bone stock original gives you a better idea of what youre getting even if the orig paint is beat.

 

Doesn't sound like you are likely to gain ground on its value vs. what it will cost to bring it up to snuff.

Now, if you LIKE doing that sort of thing, and you can afford to do that sort of thing, kudos to you for rescuing one.

If its not fun, you don't have to do it.

 

if your interested, my buddy has a 91 camaro RS roller he was talking about selling, there's no rust on it and I think the interior is in good shape, I can ask him if you want

 

I am trying to sell it or trade it off for a newer style Grand Prix. I've had enough firebirds and camaros right now and every one of them had issues.. I might get one in the future when I have my own shop to work on them but for now I am steering clear from them.

 

Hey I know the feeling, I missed some stuff on my RS when I bought it. Yeah the 3rd gens seem to have alot of issues, but really any old car is going to be like that-don't care what brand it is.

 

i say fix it, drive it, make it a racecar, anything but killing it by parting it, i am partial to 84 z28s after all

 

I am driving it as a daily driver currently. She just needs some attention, a carb, ball joints, paint and some beautification work.

 

good

 

I think I must say though I do miss my 1986 Trans Am allot and I discovered today it was stripped and crushed. That car had tons of potential. No rust anywhere and a great engine and trans combo. I sold it since it had issues I couldn't repair at the time.

 

Sometimes getting from point A to point B is good enough for the time being. Wait till the cold weather breaks.

 

thats whats been happening alot with the rust free thirdgens it needs a little work and someone ends up parting because its easier then repairing. and the rusted out ones get rebuilt.

 

Pisses me off since I really liked that car. It was allot faster then anything i've owned.

 

I'm partial to '84s also. I'm always asked "what kind of body kit is that?" Because most people are familiar with the '85 and later nose, GFX and hoods.

 

yeah you might want to get a shell. my first camaro was also similar to this. the previous owners had a bondo fetish and were caking it on everything. the floors were rusted through same with the fenders, wheel wells, strut towers, and quarter panels. it was all hidden with bondo. having said that after a load of work its very close to being rust free at the moment
but if you want to save yourself some time and work, just get a new shell. by the way when I was buying my car the Guy also said the engine and tranny were rebuilt. maybe.. if rebuilt for him means buying a junkyard engine. rofl