well ... i bought a 1987 gta 5.7 tpi several weeks back from craigs list. the p.o. i got it from had it for over 2 years and never heard it run. turns out the guy he got it from had it for about 3 years, but after the first year someone stole the radio out of it. it just so happens that the night it was stolen, the starter went out on it and he thought it was a wiring problem from the theft ... so he let it sit for over 2 years as well. i bought it for $600 (had to be worth that in parts alone) . all it took me was a few hours and a test light to find out the starter was bad, so in went a new one. i put a large bottle of 91% alcohol and 2 bottles of injector cleaner in less than a 1/4 tank of over 4 year old gas, gave her a shot of starting fluid, and she was alive again ... then i found a bolt broken in the intake that held down the thermostat housing ... ordered some stuff to fix that and got that done ... then got a fan switch with a relay and wired that up my next day off ... well today i just could not stand it any longer and had to try to get her out on the road ... so off to the dmv i went ... plates and title transferred and some insurance on her and i was going to give her a try ... i must say, she did damn good for sitting for over 4 years ... think she may have a shift kit the way she chirps into second happy so far with my first bird

 

Glad to hear you were able to save it/bring it back to life!

 

thank you ... and btw, she seems to be free of rust ... took her over to the po's house today and let him take her for a drive ... think he was a bit sorry he gave up on her ... but i m glad he did

 

Hard to beat rust free.

Sounds like the PO has plenty of other projects.

 

 

Very cool story. Sounds similar to mine. Mine had very minor front end damage on the right corner to the bumper and fender. Friend bought the car and stripped it down to repaint, but never got around to it. So it sat in his garage and ten years later I get my hands on it. New fuel pump, cleaned injectors and fuel system. Car runs perfect now. Just gotta finish putting it back together and mine will be road ready. I was told my transmission has a shift kit and a modified valve body, but have not determined for myself. Lets see some pictures

 

Is the picture of the car in your avatar the GTA? I remember seeing it on craigslist

 

you are right, if it is not raining tomorrow ill get some pics ... not the best looking, but she rund good

 

Nice work..

 

yes it is, it is even the pic from craigs list at po's house ... wanted $1800 for it ... offered them $900 before i looked at it ... then saw some wires under the hood cut and walked away ... they got back with me a day or two later and shot me a price of $600 and i went back to get her ... got into looking at the wires and noticed the cut wires were to an aftermarket fan relay, so i just bought another one and rewired it in (with a manual override) and it is working fine ... she started right up today and is doing fine so far ... to bad she was spray bombed flat black, the white would have looked good with the blacked out windows ... now she needs some tunes and wiper blades

 

oh, she is also missing one of the fans ... not sure where i am going to get one of those ... or when i will even have the money to look for one ... so someone can feel free to bring me one for free, lmao

 

this is what she looks like ... i dont think i did to bad for the price

 

Looks like you did good, congrats!

 

Good score!

 

Great work - what did you do to get the snapped bolt out of the thermostat housing? I'm looking at a car that has a similar issue & has some jury rigged clamp down deal on it now.

 

Congrats!

 

i took the top of the intake off, drilled it out, tapped it and put a coill in it that took it back to factory size ... got the coil kit off ebay for under $25 ... came with drill bit, tap, coil and tool to put it in

 

get some center caps and a spoiler and she is good to go.

nice!

 

if you take a closer look, you will see it has the caps ... all 4 even, with birds on them ... as for a spoiler, i dont know where i am going to find one of those ... dont have money for a new one, and all the ones i see on here are to far away

 

I have a 82-4 T/A or 85-92 base bird spoiler (green) if you want jus a little something till you get the correct stuff.
I'm 1.5 hrs from you? 75 bux.