I'm looking in to getting a 5 speed car in addition to my current one.

This is the car I'm looking at ATM.

I like the color, it has A/C, and it's carbed which will be easy to work on. Only down side is that it's got 120k and it's an 86, but it looks like it's been very well maintained.

What do you guys think?

 

the carbed v8 is the slowest one they ever put in thirdgens... There's a chance it's the L69 but not a big one. The L69 is decent, but if it's an LG4... ugh. If you dont mind it being slow, go for it. Im pretty sure all the L69 (the legendary "305 HO" which everyone thinks they have, but very few actually do) models got the dual snorkel intake, and that looks like a very stock single snorkel so its 99 percent likely the 165 horsepower LG4.

BTW the carbs on those are still computer controlled... not really any easier to work on than EFI in my opinion.

Is it worth 3k? It seems like a nice car... clean... medium mileage. Probably. I would aim to $2500 but if I owned it I'd probably ask $3k too. But it's just a slow car - that may or may not matter to you. Also silver is an amazing color on thirdgens, in total agreement there.

 

I dont think the price is unreasonable, but come on.... its an 86! I would wait out, not only because im biased against the 86 models, but for the money you could do a lot better. If it was an 85 that would be a different story, but if you honestly dont care what t5 yr third gen, i would hold out for something else to come along. BTW just because it list AC, doesn't mean it works though. My car was listed with working AC when i read the ad but the guy just put in enough freon without me knowing before the test drive to so show it had working ac, when it didn't last anymore than a week.

 

That's a well maintained 86,I would jump on it for the price.It would cost twice + to restore one.

 

Looks to me like it's a really clean car for the money, not to mention there weren't many silver cars compared to the other color choices. An LG4 isn't going to be very powerful no matter what year it was made.

 

I'm going to highly, highly doubt it's an original L69. They only made 26 of them that year, and it has the single snorkle air cleaner, which is a giveaway it's an LG4.

Need more info to say whether it's worth it. It looks original and unmodified, and 3k is not a ton of money. Run an Autocheck on it to see if there's any accidents in its history.

 

I agree that it's more likely originally an LG4 than a L69 based on the year and also things like the air cleaner. It has the H.O stickers and I think that's incorrect for this car. I see a pair of vice grips (holding the hinges?!) and possibly a disconnected smog pump belt? Not sure if that heater hose plug is correct.

The outside and interior look pretty good for the age and mileage, based on the few and mid-sized pictures.

 

Thanks for the quick replies.

I'm definitely not hinging my decision on whether it has an L69. It looks like an LG4, so it probably is. If not, well, it would be an extremely pleasant surprise.

Honestly, it being slow does not bother me.

The vice grips could possibly be there to hold up the hood. The hood/hatch struts are usually worn out on these cars. As far as the smog pump belt and the heater hose, it doesn't seem like a big deal. It is a V-belt set-up, so it would be easy to replace the belt.


If you look around on CL in my area, you'll realize anything that isn't a complete shitbox is usually over 5k. Here is a very good example. It's only 200 less.

I'm not really worried about a situation such as that. I have the means to find and fix a Freon leak.

 

the ad is not up anymore.... i assume the car is already sold? I found a nice 87 GTA close to your area for $1200 more. IDK what the deal is with the standard firebird spoiler being on it, but other than that it looks solid

 

Yup, I've been around these cars for a while and had to replace a hatch/hood set or two before. The smog pump could be a locked pump or a belt issue, or it could be there and was just a bad picture.

Really, was pointing out a few issues that were spotted, despite they're relatively minor, as they can add up and/or set the stage for what the car may actually be as there could be other issues hiding. Since it has H.O. stickers and it's most likely an LG4, that indicates there was some sort of body/paint work performed and thus there could be issues hiding there.

However, the overall condition of the exterior and interior looked to be pretty good for the mileage and year.

Good luck

 

I went to look at the car today.

The motor had a dead miss. The cap and wires were just replaced as well, so it's probably a larger issue.

The car was twisted. It was definitely in an accident. The entire car was repainted in single stage. The passenger door barely opens, and the hinges were replaced on it (poorly might I add). The gap between the quarter and the door is HUGE. It really stands out. The drivers door has scraped the paint off the GFX, and there is no play up/down in the hinge, so it's more than just sagging.

The gap between the center of the nose and the hood is large to the point where you can fit your hand in it, but where the nose meets the fenders is perfectly lined up, suggesting the nose or the hood was replaced.

The only thing nice about the car was how it shifted.

JT, I appreciate your comments on this one. The euphoria of possibly getting another car clouded my judgement. The devil really was in the details on this one.

 

Sounds like a good looking POS,walk away,theirs a lot of better ones out their.

 

I thought you bought it as the post has been removed. Doesn't sound like its worth the money.

 

Ugh. Sounds like a run-don't-walk situation. Moral -- Do not buy a car long distance without getting it inspected, particularly an old performance car like a Camaro or Firebird!

 

Yep sounds like a photo fake out-looks great in pix, but POS in person.