OK. Here's my situation:

Last April I bought my 92 T/A vert. The car has 118k on it (305 TPI) and is in overall very good condition for its age. Here's a rundown of the condition:

Interior - Back seat is cracked along the top from sun damage. Driver's seat is worn on the door side. Carpet has a few stains but is in overall good condition. Dash, console door panels and all other interior parts are in excellent condition.

Body - A few dings here and there nothing to really speak of. Paint on the plastic parts doesn't quite match paint on the metal due to fading. There are two spots on the trunk lid where the clear coat is eaten away from bird crap. Clear coat is cracking a little on the spoiler.

Top - Some tattered and discolored spots in the top. Headliner is falling down in front.

Engine - Looks very good due to the fact that is was steam cleaned by the used car dealership when I bought it. Runs great. No complaints with the motor other than I wish it had more power.

Undercarriage - Very dirty just like you would expect a 14-year-old car with 118k to be.

Wheels - A few scuff marks on the GTA wheels but overall good condition.

I enjoy driving this car. I always want to keep it on the road. But it is a fair-weather car that probably will never see rain again (unless I get caught ).

But I want this to be nicer than it is. Where should I start? Should I try to do a little at a time, or should I drive it until it breaks then do a total restoration? And when I fix things, should I feel bad if I don't go back totally original? I am eventually thinking 383 with the Mazda RX-8 Metallic Red paint. I eventually want this to be a car that I can feel proud to take to any car show. Thanks for any input!!

 

get all your mechanical work done first. engine swap, upgrades, whatever you're gonna do. get it out of the way. then go for cosmetics. you don't want to be putting in an engine or doing major upgrades hanging over freshly painted fenders and scratching up the paint.

 

Which ever one makes you happy is the one you should do.

My only hating is when someone does a car ghetto style or it looks like it was magnetized and drove thru JCWhitney's lol

Long as you dont do that, have some fun. If your that worried about modding, dont do it or keep all the stock stuff for down the road.

later
Jeremy

 

The decision to mod is always a tough one on an all original car. Ultimately you should always do what makes you happy. It is after all your car. Keep in mind though that if you plan to resell down the road you may be better off keeping it as close to stock as possible. Years down the road it's the stock survivors that will command the most money, not someone's modded special.

 

I say do the 383 and leave the original 305 on a stand in storage so when these cars are worth 80,000 bux like the gen 1's are you can have a numbers matching car.

 

Damn a 425hp ZZ383 sounds fun, don't it!!!

 

I have almost always started with the engine on my cars...

From watching TV IE Overhaulin' etc they almost always start by pulling the engine rebuild the body and then the engine comes in last.

One thing to consider if you are just doing a scuff and repaint then, and you need engine work anyways then do the engine. BUT if your going through the car, going to paint the engine compartment etc then pull the engine, Wires & all the stuff under the hood and then do the body and put the engine back with fresh paint under the hood too. Nothing worse than being in my position where I have a great looking car, you open the hood and the paint is the same as it rolled off the line, you can see through to the primer... it kind of sucks at car shows but its all original under there. I really want to repaint the inner fenders, and firewall, BUT to do that I have to pull at least the wire harness, Brake booster, Cruise Control actuator, Water bottles, AC & Heater box etc.... it would have been easier if I did it right the first time. Fortunately for me I have another car thats identical so when re-assembling the car all I have to do is use that car as a reference.

You can take a lot of pix as you go so you can remember how things go back on too...

It all depends on if your going to drive the car while working on it too...

John

 

Normally I'd say start with the body work, since it's by far the most expensive problem to deal with on a thirdgen. But if your only problem is some light fading on the trunk lid, a touchup shouldn't be that expensive. Don't worry about the plastic not matching the sheet metal, it never did, even when the cars were new.

The interior shouldn't be too bad, except it can be challenging to find the correct fabric. All of the reproduction seat covers I've seen advertised state they come close but aren't an exact match to original equipment.

As far as modifications, customization, etc. A 92 T/A convertible will be worth a premium price as a collector vehical. The GTA wasn't available as a convertible, so essentially you've got as much as you could get with a convertible. If it works, I wouldn't change it.

If you do change it I'd keep the modifications small and as invisible as possible. Save any original parts so it can be converted back to OEM. Avoid drilling holes, welding on the body/frame, etc.