Hello all,

I need your help vert owners, lend me your knowledge.....

Im going to look at a 89 vert this week (89K miles) and i need to know what to look for in the way of problems, if im not mistaken the motor is a TBI which i am not accustomed to, being as how i had a TPI in my other camaro. I guess if you could give me a list of thigs i should check when i go to see it........ I need more advice still from what i read in the article the car sat for two years in a garage, (id pull up the page but autotrader seems to be down) i dont know if the car was started periodically or not, In the article he says he's replaced the battery, starter but it also states that it needs a fuel pump.... seems pretty vaugue to me, so i sent him an e-mail, but no response yet, (probbably because the site is down) So the motor concerns me, wheather it will start or even run good after sitting for two years. and what i should be looking for in a vert, he only wants 1300 it might be a desperation sell as the ad list it must be sold by july 15th..... sorry this is so long but thanks for your help guys.

EDIT: the site just came up:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...or=&cardist=21

For $1300, and a vertible with less that 100,000 miles, who cares if it runs, buy it if you have a place to store it. , just kidding. Look under the car to see if it's been hit/repaired. If the fuel pump is bad, and you have any meck. ability, you can replace it in a weekend. I would expect that the car will not run with a bad fuel pump. Just be careful lifting the car off the ground, so you don't bend it. Look at the hoses and belts, are they in good/bad shape? With the mileage you stated, the engine should not be in to bad of shape. I would be concerned about the transmission, smell the tranny flid, does it smell bad? Compare it to your existing tranny smell it you need something to compare it to. Pull the spark plugs(#7 &8) and look at them, are they oily? Or do they have a tan coating? Again, look at you car for what you need to compare to (That assumes that your car is in good running condition). Look at the tires, do they show signs of abnormal wear patterns? Condition of the top? Interior? Body? As I am sure you know, it's buyer beware. Do you have the money to fix what ever goes wrong ( and it will ). Any way you look at it, it will be a labor of love.

Good Luck, ED

I can replace the pump, oh by the way since i pulled the stock pump from my 91 will it fit the 89 305, i was pretty sure it would but not positive, can somone shed some light? Anyway im pretty crazy about this car and i havent even seen it yet, but i just didnt want to rush into anything too soon without some of you vert guys opinions, anybody else wanna chime in ?

I don't know if the fuel pump from a 91 TPI will work on a TBI. The fuel pressures/pumping rates might be different. I would assume that they are not compatible. A fuel pump isn't all that expensive, plus you will need a new in-tank Filter(sock).

Later ED

marinenengineer is correct. The TPI comes out at a much higher flow than the TBI. I say switch over to TPI, but that's just me.

Alrighty Boys here's the deal,

I went and looked at the car, it's in pretty bad shape, and when i talked to her she said somone was already comming to buy it, soooo i said to hell with it, however, i figured id try one more thing before i said forget it. I sent her an e-mail and offered her 950 $ (orig. 1300) if she didnt sell it before her jul 15th deadline. Today she said she'd take that offer if i got it out of her driveway this weekend, it needs at least new carpet door panels, seats, and probbably some other stuff. I didnt look at the vert mech. to see how well it moved, nonetheless do you think i should pick it up, the only other problem is the clear seems to be flaking, what should i do about that, the damn thing was probbably painted at van nyus in cali.......

Thats seems like a good price. Figure even if you have to replace major items you'll still be in good shape.

Just out of curiosity does anybody know how much new carpet is, the kind thats pretty puch tailer fit for our cars ?

Depending on the quality your looking at $150-250 at Year One.

Here is a link to their "Next Generation" parts line for 3rd and 4th Gen F-Cars.

Year One, Next Generation Parts

Take Care,
John

I ended up buying the car, man it needs work, it looks like hell, the owner didnt even have the door key....... does the slide button in the center console supposed to pop the trunk like it does on he hatch, and is the top electric or self drop ? I dont have the key yet so im not really sure what the trunk looks like or how to drop the top.....

i own an 89 'vert so here's your answers . the carpet in a coupe or vert is the same . the tpi fuel pump won't work , much higher fuel pressure , the console switch pops the the fiberglass area with the tonneau cover , but the actual top is not electric , the rear panels and all panels above the doors(windshield area) are specific to the convertible . these cars started life as coupes but were converted by a company called ASC in the 89 model year, and i will have a whole buncha stuff to sell off my convertible , the tbi stuff , because there 's a 99 LS1 , 6 speed manual tranny in my garage waiting to go in . i have the correct fuel pump, gas tank , 305 tbi engine , pcm , shoot i even have a good auto tranny . not a lot of those cars out there, under 7,000 RS and IROCS convertibles made , so not particularly rare, either . it would be a great platform for a LT1 conversion or something nifty like that , though. plus they look pretty damn cool too

After extensive work to the car it's starting to come around, its definatly going to need new carpet, and new arm rests, the motor and tranny seem to be in good shape the thing started right up after the fuel pump install. The paint on the other hand is pretty much shot, clear is peeling off all over the place so into the booth it'll have to go. BadJUJU will you have to get subframes and such if you put in that LS1 ?

P.S. the 305 has no ***** : (

yup , i'm getting MAC subframes , BMR K-member so the a/c stuff will fit , the rear crossmember from Hawk's for the tranny, and Lakewood LCA"S plus the adjustable panhard bar. i also have an IROC-Z rear disc brake posi w/new 3.73 gears to put in it . I'm a member of Middle Tennessee F-Body Association ( www.mtfba.org ) we have a member that's already done the conversion in a '92 RS coupe. i have the only thirdgen 'vert in the club and probably will have the only LS1 /T56 equipped 'vert in middle Tennessee. should be a sweet little ride after it's all done. yeah you're right ,other than decent gas mileage the 305 has no stones. i'd recommend getting the subframes anyway because the cars flex so much and the subframe connectors used by ASC are paper thin. they help somewhat but not much.

Hey, in reply to the questions about the fuel pump. You can definitely use a TPI pump in a TBI car. Many guys do that after they upgrade some things and need a more reliable pump. Your fuel pressure regulator will keep the pressure at whatever you want it and send what's left back to the tank through the return line. People use high pressure Walbro 255's in TBI setups, so it can regulate a stock tpi pump easy.

Yea i thought so too, but instead of using my old TPI pump i decided just to buy a new TBI pump just because the old pump had 100K on it im sure it was bound to fail anyway. But there is alot of debate among the crowds about using a TPI pump on a TBI setup.......

Congrats on the VERT! Send us some pics!

Speedy

Yea i have some before pics, let me get some after pics tomorrow after i finish waxing

good idea , 91Z , sounds like you'd be changing it before long and it is a real PIA to do . do yourself a favor though and get a GM pump if you can still get one . i made the mistake of buying a borg warner pump for my old 88 chev pickup and had to replace it three time in very short order before i figured that one out

or get a walbro pump.

never dealt with a walboro but it does seem to be a popular choice .i'm gonna reuse the stock pump that came with the LS1 stuff i bought , it was pretty low mileage , still should have plenty of life left in it . if not , the tank will be easier to get out ,definite improvement over thirdgen design.