i have an 88 2.8. it has minor rust and a really nice body no dents. not convertible or t-top.
i can't get it running and have all flat tires, had vacant rats nests, was sitting under a tree for years and old owner was trying to bypass everything leaving me with a lot of things to try to sort out.

i am trying to buy a 91 3.1. problem with this one is that it has a dent on the back left. in front of the tire, behind (and part of) the door. hard top (i was wrong it was not a t-top, that was a different car i was looking at)

what would be my options to get the car looking nice, would it be better to swap the motor and transmission (and guts) to my old car or deal with the dent on the new one.

is there a way to try to fix the dent with my old car. it doesn't seem like i can remove the back panel at all. unless i am blind and missing something obvious.

any advise would be helpful, thank you... also i have not looked at this new car and it has some plasti-dip "paint job" done on it so i am not sure if it is hiding something.


this is the dent i was talking about

 

When you said, "is there a way to try to fix the dent with my old car", do you mean the grey firebird you pictured or the 88 2.8 one you have? If both of the cars have dents then I think we should see what the other dent is like before.



If the grey one is the only one with dents, then I think you should look at the main difference between the two. Do you want t-tops or does that not matter to you?

If you don't care much for t-tops, I would say it would be much easier to deal with swapping the internals (engine tranny etc) from the 91 to the 88 instead of trying to fix the 91. The rear quarter panel (where the 91 is dented) is NOT removable. You would either have to cut out the dented sections and weld in new sheet metal, or cut out the portion of that panel and weld in an identical portion that was cut out from a donor car. Not only that, but you would have to inspect the car for rust etc.

Swapping motors isn't really all too difficult, especially if you have access to the entire wiring harness and accessories. It's not going to be a super quick job by any means, but takes a lot less skill (and I would say time as well) then trying to cut out sections of the car and re weld them.


I'm not familiar with the v6s on these cars, so I don't know the wiring differences between the 2.8 and the 3.1. Taking out the motor though is pretty straight forward if you have a shop crane (which harbor freight sells for like $150), which would be the biggest hurdle (in my opinion) in the swap. Obviously the wiring will have to be looked at, and potentially even swapped over, but once you have the engine out, it will be much easier to access all the harness and work with taking them out.

 

Like was said before with the time and money that will have to go into fixing the rear quarter panel, you could put a v8 and tranny in the other one.

 

do you think i would be able to try to bang out the dent from the back side relatively easily? or would welding a new piece be the best thing? i am kinda stuck with no car so i am also trying to get a daily driver out of this, but i do want it to look nice.

 

i was meaning fix this new grey car that has the dent with parts of my old car that does not have dents.

 

No, that is not a dent that will pound out from the backside "relatively easy".
Fixing that dent is either going to take some master body work to fix the existing panel, or it is going to need a replacement panel welded in.

 

use whichever car has the straight rust free body

 

Rust will be difficult to tell as it sometimes works its way in-between the seems and come out from underneath. Especially one that been sitting on top of grass or what have you. Get it jacked up so you can see underneath it.

The area around the wheel well is double walled and not easy to access for working on it. As mentioned probably easier to remove and replace.
You should be able to open the door and remove the vent with a phillips head screwdriver and take a look inside with a flash light.
Then too the interior plastics in the back as well.
That said, plasti-dipped is most likely covering something up so I would walk unless they are willing to remove it.

 

so my best bet would be to skip this car then?

or would it be just a car i should buy for the daily drive until i get my old one up and running then sell off?

it is being sold for $1300, and has all new tires.

 

In your situation, I would look at that car as one to pass on, or to buy simply to drive, if it is already in a condition to be licensed and put on the road without any further money outlay on your part other than the fees for registering(meaning it doesn't need anything else to be roadworthy).

I know prices vary from region to region, but being a V6 car with crappy paint and body damage is a 500-600 dollar car at best. In my mind, tires don't add value to a vehicle. They are a necessity, not an upgrade. Yes, it saves you having to buy them, but I wouldn't factor them in on the overall value.

 

supposedly it is ready to drive. he was getting rid of it because his father is giving him a car and won't let him keep both. i am in FL and not much out there for under $1000 unless it has blown head gasket or transmission trouble and if it is younger than 15 years old it is still over $1000.

the guy isn't getting back to me, so i don't know what is going on, i am hoping i can find another car for decent. i know my current car i can't seem to get power off the distributor (despite replacing nearly everything in the ignition system) and the prior owner was removing things frivolously. so i can only assume what i am missing with my hanes manual. i had a thread about it years ago...
i have not worked on it for over a year since i have no free money, but i'll be getting some soon, and hopefully a good job.