so i havent been on the forum since 2012 because i had to sell my 15th anniversary trans am when i joined the military. Anyways ive been really trying to get another firebird. Well i found a firebird locally that the guy is willing to trade. Its an 1989 Firebird t-top, 305 TBI t-5 5 speed. has 175xxx miles on it. Pretty much the hole bottom of the passenger rear floor is rusted out from the t top leaking. It will also need new carpet, center console, and drivers door panel. Car does run and drive though just recently made a 4 hour trip. Any thoughts? what should i look for when looking at the car, how hard would it be to either cut out the rust and weld in a piece of metal, or replace the entire floor pan

 

here is a pic of the car and the hole in rear floor

 

To me this has $400 parts car written all over it
however if you are intentionally looking for an intense project to fill your days
and you can do the welding and other work yourself than this could be that car,
still though only if it's cheep

as for how hard it would be to do the rust repair depends on how far the rust got in the rocker panel and torque boxes, availability of a clean donor car, and of course your skill as a fabricator/ welder.

I'm sure that you would be chasing rust to every corner on this car

 

I can't imagine having time being in the military. It would take forever to fix with the schedule. Oh wait....unless you have a "sham shield." Maybe, wait around until you find something nicer with smaller repairs needed?

There is another guy on here with a camaro that has been chasing a water leak forever now. I think he has had the windshield out and back in and to the body shop a couple of times.

Ton of miles and rotten floors. To the crusher! lol

 

man kinda not what i wanted to hear, kinda hoping it would be a hey thats a semi easy fix. No i dont have a sham shield, but still have some decent time to work on things. how hard are these cars to even find in a v8 5 speed t top configuration

 

They are getting to be a little harder to find now and still in decent condition, but you should be able to get one. Maybe, ebay, craigslist and the classifieds here....that should answer the question directly. Hope you find one. Thanks for your service.

 

question is, if thats the only serious rust spot on the car, is it still viable to save. guy says car runs and drives really well

 

pics are not working...so hard to tell really. You would really need to check it out very well. Spare tire compartment, entire under carriage, rot around t-top plate, etc....

 

im going tomorrow to look the car over, im getting it for practically nothing so i have to weigh that in too.

 

Here is that thread where W.E.G. has been chasing a water leak for some time: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...er-88-a-5.html

 

the guy said that the water leak is from the t top seals leaking, just a little info. I really want another third gen firebird and this one meets everything i was looking for except a huge hole in the floor

 

I'd say keep shopping ... wet and smelly/rusty = other problems, load on 175K miles and rusty floor pan. Many cars out there.

Spend more and buy a low mileage cream puff. Hunting them is the fun part.

 

You can still get a cheap high mileage car that would be worth having, just not that one! you don't need to go that rusty. In PA, your search is a bit more difficult, but not impossible. I would suggest shopping for one in your neighbor state of MD, they tend to be less rusty there, esp around the DC area. You prob will have to spend a little more, but not crazy money. You can prob find one with a better body for $1500 or so.

 

Im actually stationed in fort hood texas, so no point in looking on east coast

 

Well, of course, but that means there's even less reason to be looking at one that rusty. In the NE it's pretty hard to find non rust buckets, but should be a lot more selection there.

 

We'll guy didn't want to part with the car, but I found an 87 trans am black, t top, 5.7 auto that I might go buy

 

Ok so talked to this dude, car has 60,000 original miles but passenger quarter has a hole and I think he said drivers shock mount has a hole