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I picked up an '87 GTA over the summer for a good price but I am wondering whether or not I should use the car for parts for my other thirdgen projects or save/sell the car to rebuild it. The car is flame red with red cloth interior, hard top with a 350. The original engine appears to have been replaced with another 350 engine. I am on the fence because the floors and body will definitely need work throughout. The interior is not in horrible shape but the driver seat does have a large tear. I would appreciate getting some other thoughts on what to do with it and what would be a ball park figure if I go to sell it. It would be running and driving to sell. Thanks
If you didn't pay too much for it, and it's too rusted, and you already have another Firebird, use it as a parts car to make your current car a step up.
Or you can fix the rust and replace floor pans if you want to get that involved with it to restore it. It really should be your own call.
Got any pics of the car? That would help with the determination.
If your into saving the car to make money, clean it up and flip it now. Fixing it up might be a loosing proposition financially.
For what it's worth, I have the same car but as a roller listed at $350 for a month. There has been zero interest so far
From: Michigan [Bodacious Member with the Bodacious TA'TAs (Trans Ams)]
Car: 91 Formula - Authentic and REAL
Engine: 5.0 Liter
Transmission: 700R4
Re: Should I save this GTA?
Originally Posted by MY87LT
From these pics it looks like it can be saved.
Agreed. That pass. side looks pretty darn good. Looks like there may be bondo/primer behind the dr. rear tire. Needs new dash pad , interior throughout. Damn shame people park cars out to rust in a pasture. Noticed that 2nd gen right behind it also.
I have run into this before and ended up flipping the car. However I happened to have a horde of extra parts at the time so it made it a lot easier. Basically I took all of the good parts and used them on my car and then put the more "used" looking parts on the other car. Took me about a month working on it a few hours a day and I made a little money.
I appreciate all the input so far guys. I have considered flipping the car just to pass it on to someone that would appreciate restoring it as a GTA I just do not know if there would be much interest in a car that needs body work like the floors or not.
Oh wow that looks better than I pictured. That ds quarter look a little scary. If you can weld, fix the floors and flip the car after a real good cleaning. Desirability does drop with rust, even for easy fixes
These cars are not worth fixing because you can buy a really nice one for the price of a body & paint job. Look at that bondo, this car has had it. Sell as is or part it out.
If you part it out that horn cap is worth about $40 all by itself.
These cars are not worth fixing because you can buy a really nice one for the price of a body & paint job. Look at that bondo, this car has had it. Sell as is or part it out.
If you part it out that horn cap is worth about $40 all by itself.
Their value isn't a lot currently, but that will change in the near future. The second car I ever owned was a '79 trans am that I paid $1700 for in 1994. That car was in okay shape, but if I still had it today it would be worth $6000 easily. Look at what really crappy first and second gens are bringing today. They're all over TV for stupid money! Our car will be there in a few short years.
It's a nice looking car with a little love it could be a really nice looking car. I'd vote to save it or find it a home with someone who is looking to restore and not part out. Good luck.
Probably around 1000-1200 maybe 1500 at the absolute most if someone has to have it. Fixing that ugly quarter and the floors would go a long way with ease of selling
I say don't put a lot of money into it. But it needs quarters and floors and guaranteed a lot more which costs a lot. Interior and engine compartment are a long ways from being able to command a price that will recover your body expense.
If it were me I would try to let it go as is and let the next owner decide where to go with it. If you bought it right you can still make money on it.
I've parted a lot of cars but don't have the energy for it any more. For those that would fault you for parting it, they always have the opportunity to "save" it if they want - they just have to put up the cash.
This is all that's left of my 69 RA IV GTO - yes I parted the complete car when nobody else wanted to "save" it!
It would be a good parts car for someone. A lil far gone to restore, it would just cost too much IMO. In saying that there are a lot of good parts there. I love those seats,I want to get some of those style later on for mine.
It would be a good parts car for someone. A lil far gone to restore, it would just cost too much IMO. In saying that there are a lot of good parts there. I love those seats,I want to get some of those style later on for mine.
I like the style of the seats but not sure how I feel about the red color
Yeah I don't like red interior either or I probably never would have sold my 91 z28. Someone could re-upholster em black and they would have some nice comfortable seats. I like the way the headrests adjust.
If you want opinions, then everybody will be different. It depends on the overall outcome of the car as to what I would do with it.
If you wanted to flip the car, and had absolutely no interest to put any time/money into it, I would strip it and sell for parts. That motor, if it's still good, along with a lot of the interior parts, and if the rear end isn't messed up, you have about $1000 right there, at least here in AZ I would say.
If you want to keep it for yourself, but unsure of the work, then I would say if you can afford to but lack the knowledge, or are willing to be in it for the long haul so that you can afford/learn, then it will be worth it when you see it finished. My 88 camaro looked way worse than that one with a tree growing out of the engine bay, and the one you are talking about looks way better than mine did as well. I have no idea how to weld, but honestly, if I had that car, I'd fix it, as long as the floor wasn't 100% rusted, and take the time to learn.
I am personally a fan of the red interior, but only when it is flawless. It seems to be quite a popular color for interior, and most look like garbage because it has faded and gets dirty quickly. But when it's clean, it looks great I think.
first things first I would try and get her to run and drive. then I'd pull the carpet and seats out to get a good understanding at the floor work. The quarters don't scare me that much, I'd take that bondo off and get a good idea of how bad it really is. If it isn't that bad I'd straighten the metal out some more and then skim it over again.
any info on the motor and trans? does it turn over? start?
I have gotten the car to turn over and try to start. The previous owner tried to fix it with some hack job repairs so I am trying to straighten those out. The main issue is the pump does not run when the key is turned. I can run the pump with direct power but the car won't start yet. The relay was replaced and rewired by the PO but it makes a loud clicking when you turn the key on
When you say the key is turned the pump won't run, do you mean to the 1st position and without cranking or even when cranking? If it won't run at the first position, this could be the computer. It's pretty common on thirdgens for the computers fuel management circuit to fail and thus the car starts by running off of the oil pressure sending unit. To know for sure you'd have to probe the green wire to the fuel relay while the car is running to see if it has power and if it doesn't then you'd want to make sure that green wire is not broken along the way to the computer. There can be other issues such as the orange wire (i believe) which receives power from the battery or the black ground, or even with wires to the pump, but probing the wires at the fuel pump relay with a multimeter would be good. Before you even get there though you would want to at least get some cranking going or a start up. When you say you turn the key and there is a clicking noise, before doing anything, I'd recommend making sure the battery is good and the battery terminals are clean, scrub the battery wire connectors down with a wire brush so there is good metal to metal contact. It's a cheap and easy thing to do before chasing down bigger more expensive ignition issues. Just this past week after running fine, my firebird, in a parking lot appeared completely dead, no internal light no power, nothing. There simply was just enough build up of grime on the battery cables so that no power could make it across from the terminals to the cables. I removed the cables and scraped them clean and got power back. I actually used a screw driver to scrape them in the parking lot and then a wire brush to really do the job the next day.
On the topic of getting the car running, I am now getting fuel to the rail but the rail is leaking all over the intake so I hope to have it running as soon as I can pull the plenum and runners to replace the o-rings.
Still on the fence with the car, if I do keep it I may turn it into a more custom build and set up for some time at the track if I fix all the rust and tighten up the body.
There are better deals out there, cars with less work needed that you can buy cheaply.
Let it go now, either as a whole or part it out. From what I've read here, you know what you are doing under the hood so find a car where somebody doesn't. Find a car somebody else can't fix, buy it cheap & get it running.
I've never been a fan of holding cars long term to make "big bucks". If you have $1000 in your pocket, you can turn that several times in the course of a year and end up with $10,000 in your pocket - no amount of appreciation on these cars will get you there in a year!
Last year I bought an 85 Trans Am, an 89 Firebird and an 87 IROC, worked on, improved & sold all three of them. Then with the money I made off them & none of the money I started out with, bought my 91 1LE. It's not rocket science.
Last edited by PurelyPMD; Dec 31, 2015 at 06:05 AM.
For any of those interested, I fixed my fuel rail (for the most part, see my thread in the tpi section) and got the car to run (kinda) its running really rough and rich. I found out the injectors are 24 lb so I am not sure if they need changed or not. Hoping to take it for a drive soon to see if everything is good mechanically to aid in my decisions on what to do with the car.
During my "spring" break from school I had the car out and actually got it running pretty well now. I adjusted the base timing and fixed some fuses and took it on the street.
Yea I may list it for sale and see if anyone is interested close to me. If someone is interested at a reasonable price then that will make the decision simple lol.
If there is no interest I have looked at the idea of making it my more custom car since it will never have original value with the body work it needs. I can fix the body to make it functional and solid instead of worrying about it being perfectly correct.
