I am slowly (very slowly) restoring my 87 gta "Factory Striper Car". The car has not seen the road since my dad got his 92 T/A convertible... So as you would imagine every thing from shocks to calipers to fuel pump will need to be replaced. The worst part for me is the structure (rust floor pan etc.) Water was coming from the left window seal to the floor and it did lots of damage. I do have a new left floor pan already.


Now on the right side the floor is OK but on the vertical part of the kick panel and junction to the floor pan its rusted thru.



Is my restoration project worth doing (in your opinion).
I am having second guest.

 

Lets see some pictures of the exterior... How many miles on it? Interior condition? From the looks of it, it looks worth fixing.

 

Milage about 90000 mils (148000kms)

 

I would say it is worth it. Don't see too many LB9 T5 GTA cars around.

 

yea i would agree that one is worth fixin, looks great otherwise

 

Yeah don't look too bad otherwise, some small rust holes in both quarters.
Is there another area should I check (weakest) for rust?

I was thinking putting about 20,000 cdn$ in for full resto and upgrades..Do you think IL be short of $$$

 

Definitely worth it, my 90 formy is way worse and I'm sticking with it (I'm crazy though). With 20k you'll have a beautiful, wicked fast GTA.
Good luck
Alex

 

Personally, you may be far a head to buy one done...

There are three aspects to a project like this. The first aspect, as you have already mentioned is the dollar value. Unfortunately the ultimate cost of the project may be more than what the project will be worth. The second aspect is the emotional value of the project, and the third aspect is the learning aspect. You have to balance all of those out to really find out if it is worth it to you to actually invest your time and money into something

Ultimately it is up to you. Obviously you are teetering on the cuspid of whether or not the car is worth trying to save. Looking at the car, you could get just about any GTA you want for $20K Why bury your money into something that at the end of your project it will be worth $5K. However, you will get a bunch of satisfaction from the restoration project.

John

 

Sorry, I lol'd.

Personally, unless there was an emotional attachment, I'd dump it. Far too many rust free cars out there to bother with the expense this one will need.

 

I know, its just that I got it for free (from my dad) he got it new in 87 and to him its still is a nice car. The only reason he gave it to me is because since I was 7yrs old I always wanted that car but we both were surprise when we got a look under the carpet. So to me it as some emotional value and a good learning experience but I am still debating on getting a 20K newer muscle car or starting spending money for it...The Only thing that a bought is a left floor pan for now so..

Here is a pic from when my dad got it new..with me in front , I was 4 lol

 

You've known the car since it was new and not many people can say that. That's personal value. If I were you I'd keep it, it's family heirloom if you think about it. Either way, good luck
Alex

 

Yeah, that's a keeper. It would be bad@ss to give to your son someday.

 

After looking at the photo I say you have to keep it, fix it and drive it. If my son (age 2) or daugher (age 5) wanted my TTA and I gave it to them when they were odler and they restored it, it would bring so much joy to me.

Restore it and do it for dad!

 

I agree, restore it.

 

Floor pans are definetly fixable, with it being somewhat rare, and being that it has sentimental value i would definetly restore and keep it in the family. You could proly do a good resto for less than 20,000 if you do most of the work your self, IDK what your skills are but i thinks its absolutely doable on a that budget.

 

I can tell you from experience that these cars have ways of hiding rust very well. If you have a car that is starting to show visible rust then you are going to have your hands full. When I bought my Z I looked in all the normal places that I thought I would find rust and my car had none of them. The bottoms of the doors, quarter lips, floor pans,...etc nothing visible. But when you start to take it apart you will find more. My car was nowhere near as bad as yours and I fixed my fair share of rust. These cars have so many layers of metal over lapping its ridiculous. That with the factory crappy primer and paint, a little water and salt, makes a bad combination. If you look at my build thread you will see every place I found rust. I am also figuring out where the water came from in the first place and fixing it so that it never comes back.

The places I found rust are

• Behind the lower rear part of the fender, on the body itself. Water from the cowl is drained into this area, and water from the the front wheels is slung in this area as well. It gets worse when the car has been sitting under a tree and leaves get washed down there and sit.
• Area above the dummy petal on the floor pan, this rusted threw to the engine compartment area, mine rusted because the under coating pulled loose and cracked in the wheel well. Water and road grime sits in there and rusts it out. The factory seam seal also drys out and cracks allowing water to sit in this area.
• Inside the cowl the seam seal drys out and rusts out the fire wall. Mine just had some surface rust here, but was not bad. I am scraping out all the old seam seal then painting in here with Chassis Saver then re seam seal.
• The rocker panels in front of both rear wheels. If you were to take the lower control arm off the car you can actually stick your hand in the cavity behind it. Water is slung in here and can go straight into the rocker. I am making sheet metal plates to block it off.
• Inside the rear wheel wells. Where the inner wheel well is spot welded to the car. Mine had some pretty serious rust in here on the passenger side. The seam seal the used in here is real hard an brittle. It just cracks away and does nothing to seal this area up.
• Spare tire area on the passenger side. A lot of layered metal for water to get between.

All my rust is fixed now and I considered it a lot of work, mainly because after you fix it you have to fix how it got that way in the first place. If I were you I would find a rust free shell, swap vin plates and put all your stuff on. It will be the same car.

I took pictures of all the places I found rust. You can look at my build thread.

 

After looking at the pictures, i say restore it. I wish that my father had the interest in cars that i do and something like that to share together once it's done is priceless. Yes having a half way hard to get car like a T5/LB9 car is a rarity, and for being in canada, may limit finding another a little harder, but all in all, i would keep it. When i did my rebuild on my bird, it was time consuming and a headache, and sometimes i just had to sit back and remind myself why i was doing a restoration i was so frustrated. But the first time i got behind the wheel of the newly transformed car, it was like owning a new car, and honestly, it felt like nothing i've felt before. I've owned new cars before, they are exciting, but spending two years and countless $$$, the first time you fire it up, put it in gear, and tear a$$ down the road. It will put the biggest smile on your face, and to have that ride with your father will be something to remember him by forever.

 

Fix it. It looks good otherwise. It'll be a great learning experience, and the sentimental value speaks for itself.

Plus, up in the great north country, cars get eaten pretty quickly. I'd imagine you would have trouble finding a rust free car.

 

Lots of great options on that car J65 brakes FE2 suspension WS6. That things pretty much loaded.

If you can weld and do body work I definitely say restore it. It will be pricy if you have someone else do it. I can tell you that I would love to have my 82 Z, Blue/w silver gfx. I have pics of me sitting on the hood at like age 5. It was wrecked, but if it was still around I'd fix it anyway. It was his my dad's first camaro and I would have love for it to have been my first.

 

hell no sell it to me, just kidding. As a father myself I can tell you the sentimental value is priceless. I have always been interested in 3rd gens but when I finally talked my wife into getting one I was excited but when my 4 year old got into it I was ecstatic we haven't actually picked it up yet but it is a project and also needs bodywork (but the floors are still good) the current owner sent me a video of it and my son knows it word for word I can not wait to start working on it with him and he can't either as he shows everyone just what we have to fix.

It sounds like your father is helping you with this which is awesome this could be some good bonding time which I know sounds kind of gay but when you are older you will always remember that. You have always loved this car and think how much more it will mean to you when you can say you and your dad rebuilt it. This is a cool car to begin and somewhat rare (first year GTA, 5 speed and what not) which will also make it more valuable in the future .

Also on switching everything over to another car keep in mind these cars are at least 17 years old and lots of them have been owned by teenagers and no disrespect to teenagers but we all know how we drove when we were teenagers it sounds like this car has been well taken care of and you know everything about it.

Also, please don't swap vin tags it is illegal and this car is fixable so just stick with your original plan

 

Actually, quite the opposite. Notice it has no factory A/C, no power windows, no locks. Such features were standard on a GTA (atleast after 1987). This car is very stripped. Of course the 1987 was the first year of the GTA and it could be ordered that way.

 

Not disagreeing with you or anything, but one thing I noticed lately on auctions like Barret Jackson and the rest is the base model "stripped" versions of the classic cars...especially ones that normally came loaded that you would have to request the options not be there, make the cars worth more in the long run. For example, a Trans-Am that normally came with power options and A/C lets say brings more at an auction like that due to the rarity of that base of a model. Not saying that's why he should restore it or anything...I think the family/sentimental value is by far enough and more than enough for me to keep it. I just thought I would throw that little bit of opinion/info. out there. :-p

 

Fix it and keep it for your kids as others said .

 

please excuse my oversight.

I only commited some of the peformance RPO codes to memory and I didn't happen to have an RPO decoder at my disposal at the tme of that post.

 

this seems like a cool project and I'm interested in seeing your progress. subscribing.

 

That's a cool picture.I'd restore it,sometimes it's great to have good memories while you toolin down the road.

 

Considering that it does not have AC makes it pretty rare indeed...

GM reported 88,623 Firebirds in 1987, One source I have state that of those cars, 86,534 had C60 AC that leaves 2,098 without AC...

This would be the first GTA that I have seen without AC to my recollection. I was looking at a yellow 1987 Formula 350 without AC a few weeks back... That was another conversation altogether and very interesting car.

 

My 1st car was my 1990 Firebird I bought with my dad. My car is by no means as desireable as yours. However, I have recently spent over $5000 fixing it up. I have redone my floor pan, bought new GM weatherstripping, etc. I have thought about selling/junking it, but I can't bring myself to do so, even knowing a base Firebird will never be worth much. I even just bought a 01 Corvette convertible as my daily driver but would let that go before my Firebird. Maybe I'm just crazy...but it would be too hard to let it go. Now, the hard part has been convincing my wife the money I am putting into this Firebird is worth it...

 

If it only has rust on the floor boards, fix it. It is easy. That is nothing to bitch about, if anyone sais otherwise, they just dont know jack about fixing pannels and floor pans. That is the easiest fix there is honestly.

NOW, if there is cancer along the bottom everywhere and it is simply a rust bucket, then it is not worth it, but that is with any car.

 

Thanks to all off you guys! Great responses (rare on a automotive board)

There is some other small rust spots at quarter panels, under the rare on the rear quarter etc. Etc.

I still don't know what to do yet. If I restore it I still don't know if it is worth it to bring it back to "brand new OEM" condition or just build it to my taste..
I know that the car is particular in a way and maybe some day will be worth a couple bucks...well That's why my father never got around to sell it. He ordered it pure cause him and I like it like that.

If I put a bunch off money in that project it will not be to "please" my dad but to do it for the fun off it. I don't want to build something and work my *** off and in the back off my head not liking it.

Me and my dad don't have a great relationship so I don't think he will be working on the car that much, but I know that I would be happy to see it coming back to life. But I still remember that when I received money at my birthdays and etc. from family I gave it to my dad saying it was a deposit on the GTA i was like 7 lol

Anyway thanks for reading this it clears out my head to rite about it so here you go!!!!

 

It's good to hear from you I thought you got sick of reading all of these replies. This is a somewhat rare car but it's YOUR car, so restore it how you would like it to be. If you decide to scrap the car or get rid of it you will regret it I promise. But if you do want to get rid of the car my brother in law is looking for a trans am with a 5 speed, but even though he or I would take this car in a heartbeat for your sake I think you should try to fix it.

I'm sorry to hear that you don't have a great relationship with your dad but maybe this would help, but that's a subject for another board. I say have fun with it. But let us know what you want to do like I said if you want to get rid of it I could probably help with that but please don't scrap it

 

Off course i wont scrap it, for two reasons: The only condition that my dad gave it to me was that i could NOT scrap it. Leave it there for another 15yrs if you want but dont scrap it he said lolol.
And i dont think its worth nothing..maybe not 20000$ but not 500$

Second reason it has a place in my heart. It is deffnatly not a Lotus Elise or either a Dodge Viper (eather one of both i was plannig on getting). Its a project. I always liked working on my cars and learning out off them, not buying a fully hardcore pre-made car..

Here is a video off my previous cars many off wich you will probobly not like . Dont laugh I was once a ***** lol. If you look at 0:50 and 1:17 you will see my gta and my fathers 1992 T/a Vert..also one off his Triumphs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i9iAojBxBg

 

Well with that GTA, you've redeemed yourself.
But in all seriousness, that's a very special ride you've got there. A GTA with a 5-speed, 305 TPI, and AC delete is a nice car. I just have a couple of questions... was that thing painted before (I noticed that the black trim on the headlights is white), and did it come factory without the rear spoiler?

 

No the car had a spoiler, but my dad got the trims and grill painted with the first week he got it (donno why..its ugly)i got the picture out off the painters...I am trying to srtip it back to black but its hope less i will need to change the parkings and headlights trims

 

Hey also just want to let you know whether this matters to you or not but due to the lack of options (and I know others may disagree) I think this makes this a very valuable/rare car.

I believe the 88-92 GTAs came completely loaded up with options but in '87 you could get certain options if you wanted them. I had a buddy that had a '87 Trans Am GTA that had everything except leather and the steering wheel controls (which I am not even sure that was an option then). My point is #1 probably most GTAs in '87 were loaded with options as they were the most expensive trans am you could buy. #2 a 5 speed is rare in a GTA in any year. #3 I bet if you knew how many cars were made just like yours (color, transmission, color, no A/C, no power windows and a canadian car to boot) you would be amazed at how rare this car, is my guess would be 1 of somewhere in the teens.

However this is your car and I'm sure (at least I hope and if you do PM me) you don't plan on selling it. So do what you want if you want power windows and A/C put it in if you don't like the color, change it,it's your car have fun with it, and also remember a car is only worth what someone will pay (my point is just have fun with it). Also if you are considering a color change please consider this, an orange pearl like this one http://www.paintwithpearl.com/ (the go kart body is what I'm talking about) I think a GTA would look awesome with this color.

 

I think the monochrome look was a late 80's early 90's thing. My white IROC had white rear window louvers and white mudflaps on it when I bought it last year. The previous owner said it was like that when he bought it back in the 90's.

 

As the owner of an original TA (special ordered from my hometown dealer) I would keep it and restore it. When it's all said and done it's worth more to you and your dad, than the open market. So spend what you need to put it back on the road. You'll be proud driving a family hand-me-down!



btw, I've seen cars brought back from the dead that looked much worse than that one guys.