i was just wondering about how much an 89 formula 350 would cost in good condition and about how hard are they to find?

 

Honestly, they are worth more than a good condition 4th gen now. I haven't seen many good condition formulas around, especially not an original 350 car. I bought mine for 2500 in poor condition.

 

i saw one on the side of the road 2-3 months ago for sale but i only got a glimpse of it. when i came bak through there later that day it was gone.

 

almost impossible to find one that someone hasnt mucked with by adding some goofy hood or the wrong rims or messed with the motor or replaced the interior with a 4th gen one etc...

no mine isnt for sale

 

your probobly going to pay 2000 for one thats original....forget about condition lol.....there wasn't to many of them

 

There was a mint 1989 Formula 350, $5500 on my craigslist here for the last 6 months or so, I just checked and it's not there anymore. It was beautiful. Black, orange line with a gray bottom.

Edit: nvm it's an 88, it's right here http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/1557654020.html

here's an '89 http://medford.craigslist.org/cto/1557879325.html

 

i have 89 305 tbi in ok condition but idk if i want to sell it its all stock

 

I'm probably buying an 89 Formula myself actually, it has 124k miles on it and the only thing not original about it is the paintjob, which I would redo to a factory color once I got it.
The guy wants between 2400-3000, but its an original TPI 350 with power everything, red with a black cloth interior.

I was thinking about getting it and making it a Trans Am clone, but may reconsider if the body style grows on me

 

so true they are getting rare....

 

My baby is actually now in the shop and looks nothing like the pic i posted. i have neither the talent nor the tools to do real work on a car like this altho i have the money to hire someone to do it for me. so my girl is getting a new paint job during the winter weather and is currently sitting in pieces covered in primer. first three are the color she is getting. the test paint on that truck grill has not been shined or clear coated it is just raw spray and let dry...

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The next two pics are of her in pieces under primer and tape and paper.





the paint in the priginal pic was ok form a distance but it hid the imperfections rust bubbles and such close up it was a different story. the person i found to do the work for me smoothed the ripples out of all the sheet metal and made up a custom black for me. so the 1989 black is gone and will be replaced by the new custom black.

as to the OP good condition is a relative term since all of the original paint was really cheap water based paint in 1989 sprayed according to Kalifornia rules it did not weather well over time. after strippign the cheap paint and primer to metal it was covered in rust blootches that were mild to surface only and easily sanded away. over more time they would have developed into rust holes. while my car was found in good mechanical shape and good interior shape. the sheet metal was in the very earliest stages of starting to rot away. fortunately i was wise enough to find an expert classic car restoration place that jumped at the chance to work on it and knew what they were doing and i chose to go to bare metal. i think this is the case of almost all 1989 f-body that had never been repainted.

 

looking good... i take it youre gonna paint it black again.. cant wait to see the finished product. i also own a original 89 formula 350..... heres the thread i started when i found the car.... theres some pics there. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/nort...y-formula.html

 

yours is a nice one it looks pretty clean. how is the interior?? and are you keeping it original stock or modding it??

mine is currently stock and keeping it that way till the engine dies, if that happens i will decide what motor to put in it. once its all done ill make a post with all the before and after pics and try and detail out what was done to it.

but yeah the car is original black and im keeping it that way. it wont be the original crappy GM brown/black but a true black. it should be done before third gen fest and most liekly i will be driving it there.

 

I bought mine for $3200 (that was almost 2 years ago). It was and still is in great shape. Make sure you check the vin to verify you are getting an actual 350 car. It's easy to throw a sticker on the side and I have seen people do it. The 8th digit in the vin needs to be an 8 for a tpi 350. It's an F for tpi 305.

 

heres an updated pic...... man i wish my car was black :-(

 

if you ever have it repainted make sure you get em to take it to the metal. the person thats doing mine found all sorts of rust spots starting up actually rusting through the crappy GM primer and water based paint. it looked fine on the outside with the paint on but once it was starting to come off the rust was evident.

looks like you got a grey interior which goes well with black mine is black interior. white isnt my favorite colour on a car but yours looks really in really good shape.

 

you are right, the car does have a gray interior.. and when the time comes to re / do the car... i'll take your advice and have the car stripped down to the metal.. im thinking having the car done over in white and purchasing all the decals for it but not doing the gray on the bottom and ditching the red stripe.

 

if your are planning on doing an extensive paint job, why not just paint the whole car black? I ditched my two tone set up also.

campbellerman..
just find the best car you can, who cares about original. 89 formula 350 is not going to be a collector car for many, many, many years. have fun with it now. one of the funniest things I see on this board is when people leave mudflaps on the car. never and I mean never should any 3rd gen have mudflaps on the back. not even if it was a factory option.

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I hate mudflaps also.. but when you live in a small town with nothing but rock roads, you simply MUST have the ugly on them..

 

your car looks A-1..... in my case if i was to do black , i would even have to pip the headliner out so mostly everything gets painted.... so i think i'll just go with a nice white paint job and put all the logos on it.. but no more tu/tone.

 

solid colors are really the way to go. two-tone jobs just have never looked right. putting stripes and such on mustangs and camaros is fine but firebirds just scream for solid colors.

as for mudflaps... they are neccassary if you live anywhere taht has road debris and you dont want your wheel well fenders rusting out on you. all it takes is a pinprick in the paint for rust to start. but its up tot he individual. when my firebird comes out of the shop the flaps are going back on it. the price im paying for having it restored means i want to keep it looking good. i think of em more as rock guards than flaps heh.

 

Hell, when I was looking for another Formula to buy last year it seemed like most of the ones for sale were 89 cars. I owned an 87 Formula before and I really wanted a 91-92 Formula, couldn't find any nice ones in my area though. I settled on an 89 gta 350tpi with t-tops. Not my 1st choice but a pretty good 2nd option

 

im on a hunt for one too 90-92 formula hardtop or t-tops it's just everyone has 305 and i want a 350

 

half the fun is the hunt. i spent around 6 months till i found the one i wanted.

 

I spent 6 yrs looking for the right GTA... found a nice 5 speed (only 806 made) and it only has 10 less HP than 350 auto and e helluva more fun to drive
only 20K miles....

 

forgot the pic..

 

Hey nice car! I've got one of the other 806 88 5 speed GTAs. Does yours have black leather interior?

 

I assume I was lucky, my friend had a firebird formula 1989 305 tbi, original owner 69000 original miles, parked for 10 years and gave it to me last summer, now the car is running strong. Still original.

 

whether you got a 305 or a 350 how can you not love the F-Body firebird!!

 

theres one by me for sale. a 305 5 speed. i forgot how many miles it has, and it just needs a paintjob. they're asking 1,400

 

88gta_hiflyer:

Hey nice car! I've got one of the other 806 88 5 speed GTAs. Does yours have black leather interior?



Nope.. its gold.. not happy about that.. but it was a find.

 

Nice. My previous owner drove it 3000 miles since 90.

 

The "theme" I found was that the 305tbi cars are a dime a dozen.

 

well poor to rare or modded condition where some kid has put in ridicuolously large speaker boxes made out of plywood and leftover milk cartons with 7 different kinds of non working speakers and low rider tires with wooden spoilers lag bolted on... those are common. rare is un-messed with firebirds in good condition to like new condition without any mods.

 

actually...only those with 305 AUTO are a dime a dozen.. not 5 speeds...

 

that would be correct

 

Just curious, are you dead set on an 89? Or is that just the one you saw and liked the Style?

87-90 is the same bodywise, with only a few minor differences.

87's had the Covex wheels, Instead of the 88-92 Concaves.

89's got Rear Shoulder belts.

90's have a whole different dash and door panels (which are the same as all 90-92's), as it was redesigned to due to the government mandated Air Bag.

I paid $4,000.00 13 years ago for mine, Was in Great Shape.

 

I bought mine for 2000. All original black on black WS6 package with the 4 disc brake options (not 1LE ) I might be putting it up for sale soon too, i ono im still thinking.

 

Mine is for sale if the price is right

 

Ive got an 89 formula 350 ws6 79k miles for sale, been in my family for its entire life, maui blue yall can text for pictures if someone is interested, im located in benbrook texas, im looking for a nice 4x4 jeep or truck, shes all original, ill even give you the cassette player.
I need her gone soon

8176150502

 

really? Love to see some pics! I have the gold interior. I wish it had black leather