4 years after my last 3rd gen threw a rod and became instantly not worth the money to fix it,(many other problems with it and it died hundreds of miles away from home) I bought another one today

I found this one in Dallas. It's a 89 RS, and it has the four things I wanted in a car...

1. V6
2. 5 speed
3. Manual windows
4, Starts reliably, runs and drives just fine.

it's actually in good shape for a 20 year old car, it needs a few small things, the hatch doesnt lock, the heater blows out of all the vents, not just the ones you select, and the AC doesn't work. But other than that, I feel like I got a great deal on it. $900!

here's the first pic I snapped with my cell phone right before we bought it. I'll take more tomorrow

 

Congrats, looks nice.

Welcome Back!

 

nice! how does the underbody look.

 

Good.. I'm going to jack it up tomorrow and get a better look, but from what I saw, no problems

 

by the way, it came with a $450 stereo : ... one of those fancy kinds with the animated display. http://audiovideodimension.com/panas...cca094b8f4b896
I may pull it out, put it in one of my other cars, and put a cheaper GM radio in it. We don't need the features like MP3 player inputs on a car that we aren't going to use for family trips


the vents started working normally this morning.... don't know what happened, but I'm not going to argue about it

 

more pics, the good the bad, and the ugly

 

you got a really good deal! i really like the color with the red stipes never seen that before it looks really good! all it needs is the dash cracks replaced and some work with the paint and i think it'll look really good!

 

Looks good. I just picked up one for $300. Link is in the sig, but it needs a little more work than yours does. It has a v6/t5 but Ive had some fast cars before and still have one, so I dont need anything insane, just a nice cruiser I can drive anywhere/anytime. Any ideas what color you are going to paint it? Loose the steering wheel and find a dash pad, other than that looks like an easy project!

 

hella deal! and its a texas car... low rust under? solid floors i bet. lol i would pawn the tunes but that is me. congrats.... looks like a good self x-mas...

b

 

I'm going to take the radio and put it in my big family car, I have more use for a MP3 input on that one. I have a original delco radio I'm going to put in once my new trim bezel comes in.

There was a little spot of rust on the roof I fixed yesterday, and some on the molding that goes all the way around the back hatch. nothing I can't take of pretty easy

I'm really enjoying the 5 speed!

 

Looks like a cool car for the money.

 

time to toss a 350 in there

 

Not according to the owner it isn't. Not unless they make 350 V6s.

 

ok then time to replace the V6 with a 350 V8 smartass

 

you miss the point. I like the v6. I have no use for speed, I jsut want a daily driver that gets decent MPG, and is easy to work on. If I ever do an engine swap, I'll put a 3.4 in there

 

I'm with you there!

Anyhow, nice car! I like the stripes actually... are you planning on repainting it?

 

nice ride!

 

yeah, trying to think of the best way to go about it... really have four options

1. total repaint, but I would lose the stripes. I would replace them with IROC stripes, without the IROC decal

2. Paint just the roof, hood and hatch, and try to match the Charcoal. The sides of the car are pretty good

3. Two tone it, with the Roof hood and hatch being Black. Not sure how that would look, but I wouldn't have to worry about matching the old stuff

4. Two tone it, with the new paint being silver, kind of opposite of idea #3

 

Ha, I'd love to see one of those just to see what it would look like...

And more in line with the thread, very nice shape for $900, for 150 less I got something that needs substantially more work.....going to be $3k between the car and parts by the time I have it running, and thats doing most of the work myself, though I suppose it gives me something to look forward to and work towards.

Btw, maybe its just the picture but is your windshield cracked? Looks like it is in the picture you took of the dashpad.

 

What's the mileage?

 

hard to say....I think the odometer has been replaced, but according to carfax it has a least 105K on it...

 

yeah, there's a crack that runs along the bottom, it's going to be replaced eventually, but it's not a high priority

 

Hopefully sooner than later, that thing will grow you know :P Just take a look at mine

 

i think it's been like this for a while, but we'll see

 

Good find man! Looks like it has been taken care of fairly well. other than the paint and the cracked dash I would say it's good to go with just a wash and wax.

 

Dash has been fixed and I'm been working on the paint. I'm going to take pictures of the improvements on the 31st at the TGO gathering we're having.

 

I went with #2 for now....it's not a great match, but I jsut ahve to keep reminding myself at how much BETTER it looks now

 

turbo in the future? hmmmmmm turboooooo ka-sshhhhhhhhhhh

 

I know you're probably joking, but I have no plans to hop up this car for speed....

If I want a fast car, someday I'll buy one.

 

what part of mesquite do you live at? im right off buckner and i-30

 

635 and Bruton

 

my brother and sisters live in that area, in between peachtree and hickory. i'll keep and eye out for a gray third gen

 

in the next week I'm going to posting some of the inprovements and mods that I've done to the car in the last month

I am working on shining up the paint today, but I got inspired to add a hatch release. I bought the solenoid at that junk yard I went to last month, so I've been waiting to get something I could use as a mounting plate for the switch I picked up at the same time
I DROPPED the switch while I was working on it, and cracked the corner... dang
but it works great. THis car didn't come with that feature from the factory, so it's nice to be able to add it. I actually like the switch better here than where it's supposed to be.

I didn't use a relay or anything, just hooked up a 12V power source to the switch. Where it is it's next to impossible to trip accidently, so I didn't worry about the feature about not being able to pop the hatch while the car is in gear

after looking at this pic, I think the hush panel might hit the plate the switch is mounted on. My car doesn't have that panel, so if I ever get one, I'll deal with it then

 

Wanna race a 305?

 

I really don't care how fast my car is. I driven fast enough in my life to wonder how I'm still alive. I was young and stupid once... that's enough for any lifetime

 

here's some before and after pics of the work I've done so far
here's some of the work i've done on it
before and after shots

 

Nice work!

Gives us a rundown of what you did with the exterior.

 

So far I've just touched up the outside with lacquer, a cheap and easy paint job that will do until I finish my impala project, and then I'l give it a real paint job.

I also painted the wheels black with polshed aluminum highlights
gave it black sockets...
added a bowtie grill and fog lights
Fixed a rip in the rear bumper
painted the trrim that goes around the rear hatch
fixed a couple of rust holes
took apart and cleaned the parking lights
added Grid style taillights


Yesterday I got an offer from a friend for 4 seats from a 2000 camaro in great condition for $100, and the drivers side is a power seat. These seats give me more head room, leg room, and better lower back support. I wasn't planning on spending any more money on the car any time soon, but when I deal like that comes up, you have to jump on it. (my seats had holes from being worn through)

The funny thing is, my son claimed one of the buckets I took out, and is using it as a video game chair! He's been wanting one of those, so this kills two birds with one stone lol
I also put in a new steering wheel. I hate the design of the old wheel. It's clunky, cheap looking, and the horn button is TOO BIG and kept accidently hitting it

 

by the way the new wheel is out of a 87 LT. Kind of rare, not many of those were made.

 

The car looks great. Amazing what a little TLC will do. I never saw a dash pad that far gone before. Is that normal with southern cars? Must have been parked out in the sun alot!

 

from the look of the paint on the hood and roof, it looks like it baked in the Texas sun for the last 20 years

oh well, our cars may be cooked to a crisp, but at least rust isn't a great concern down here

 

Up here in the "salt belt" the interior is perfect and the body rusts away around it. Luckly the first owner of my IROC must have had a winter beater to use in the snow because the underbody is better than most around here. That's fairly common now but 25 years ago people generally had one car and that's it.

 

58mark, Just read your link on the '58. Great story. I've always liked the 58 Impalas since my uncle showed up with his brand new blue and white one and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I was 9 years old at the time and I still remember the excitement of that trip. Cherish the time you spend with your dad.

 

thanks, I do. we've never been closer as we've gotten in the last year

 

Yeah that's how my car is..some exterior rust, but the interior is almost pristine..

 

latest pics of the changes I've made in the car... I'm pretty happpy with how the stripes turned out

 

Did you paint the stripes? It looking really good now. Also im with you on the V6, I fid it has plenty of power for what I need it for and doesnt drink too much gas. Im probably gonna run that engine till it dies then swap in a 3.4.

 

Nice steering wheel, I liked it in my vert, but wanted something different. I see you found a replacement collar, sorry I never found you one. I hope there are no hard feelings, need anything, just let me know.

 

that's my plan too... if this engine dies, I'll think about putting something else in, until then, i'm happy

yes I painted the stripes. I had an old quart can of dupont black lacquer lying around, so I put it to good use. the rest of the car was already painted in lacquer, so I could get away with it

IN a coiuple of years when I'm done with the impala, I'll give this car a good paint job with BC/CC. Until then I'm just trying to make it look decent and have a little fun

 

actually I patched the one you sent me the best I could, but I would still like the replacement so it looks better