Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Alright guys there is no general board here so I will go ahead and post but if it gets moved or deleted I will understand.

Went to look at an 89 Iroc 305 today (checked vin to verify it is an iroc)
Pictures will be included below
Its been sitting for at least three years.

The Bad:
Owner tells me it needs a fuel pump which is why it was parked
Windshield is cracked all over from hail damage.
Hail damage on pillars and hood including louvers (sp?)
Front bumper cover is cracked near headlight (very slight- looks like easy fix)
Clear coat is peeled all over. Needs painted bad
Clearly needs tires
No radio (easy fix - I have a cd player sitting on a shelf)
Dash pad toasty (duh...)
Probably more but why spend all day?
Hand crank windows
Drum rear brakes

The good:
Body looks good no dents anywhere other than some light hail damage on pillars and hood.
No major damage to bumper covers
Interior is all there without damage i.e. no rip in drivers seat, no cracks in dash (except dash pad of course)
Already has headers - unknown brand
Unknown aftermarket injectors
Supposedly has aftermarket cam of some sort.
No rust (pretty clean actually) under doors but I couldn't see under body since the tires are sinking into the rock driveway
Hasnt been leaking water in so no mildew smell (mouse piss smell of course)
Rims not pitted liked I expected - should be relatively easy clean-up
Has some sort of custom (read:home) made speaker box with kicker 12s in it (unknown if mouse chewed or whatever)

I offered 500 and he came down to 600 from 1000 - I said I would talk to the wife (read: I would talk to you guys then ask the wife to go look with me)

What I am looking for:
A project for home - I want a driver.
I would probably paint this in my detached garage.
Maybe try to flip it - but then again maybe not I might love owning a third gen again since I haven't had one in 16 years (when I was 16) my last was an 85 Z

So what do you guys think?
Pics are below!

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Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I would be very concerned about floor board/frame rot under the car as it looks like it has been there a long time since it is sunk into the ground so bad.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

:yup:

That looks like more than 3 years worth of sinking especially sitting on rocks, I read a thread on here where mice got into a car and chewed the entire under dash harness up !

I'd be doing a lot more checking on that one both inside and underneath.......

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Sad to see her sitting in a hole like that...I'm just thinking how gorgeous she once was! I think the 500$ offer is max, dont go any higher than that. It's a risky gamble your taking as is. I can see this car easily becoming a money pit just to get her running properly. Who lets a car sit for three years over a fuel pump??? Good luck dude.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I think you guys are right - but seems like alot of the parts are worth way more than 500.
I dunno, it sucks cuz something about seeing a car like this makes me want to do something about it.

Oh and I have heard the guy had a stroke or something and it "changed the guy"
This was when he began to let things go to hell around the house - or so they say...

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Wow, looks and sounds “allot” like mine when I pulled it out of some guys back yard for $500.00. If that truly is all that's wrong with it I say buy it for $500.00, especially with the fuel pump out.
(Sorry but I have to ask, who puts wheel weights on the outside of the wheel anymore ?)

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I tried to look without moving the car and it looked like the frame is not on the ground. but I couldnt get my head under it to see from the bottom

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Looks like a nice project. Is it a stick? More pics of under hood interior? The more original the better. How many miles does it show?

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Wow.
I never checked the miles. I'm an idiot! Guess I was too busy wondering if I wanted it at all - no matter what the miles!
Not a 5-speed car - wish it was.

Has a non-factory stall speed. Unknown...
I dont have more pics.
Underhood is dirty but..... Clean. If ya know what I mean.
Not a rats nest of garbage but definitely looks like it has been sitting for a day or so.

Interior looks dirty but driver seat is worn with no tears.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I wouldnt go any higher than 500 bucks either. Just dont know what you're getting in to. Even if you didnt fix it, you could easily get your money back just parting it out, which would suck to do. I'd say atleast 2 or 3 hundred just for the wheels. The frame doesnt have to be sitting on the ground to rust out the undercarriage. Just the moisture from the ground rising up will rust out the undercarriage. I see it alot from people parking there cars on gravel lots.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

If it is pretty much complete and you don't have to hunt down a bunch of parts, I would think an 89 Iroc would be worth $600. The real question is if you want to mess with it. Good deal....most probably...worth your time...can't answer. To me I have always liked the F-bodies and they are always cheap, so I have always been a sucker for them. Good luck with it either way.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Wow thanks for the opinions guys - I do appreciate it.
Car is very complete. Only thing missing is a radio.
Wherever non factory parts have been installed the factory part comes with.

Thanks for the input on the frame and rust and such.
I think I will have another look before I agree to buy it.

Oh and according to my wife I have a problem with follow-through so I guess I need to prove that I can finish this project.... Or something....

I think if I don't do something about this car it will sit and rot for at least another year.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Of course the parts are worth more than $500.

Provided that you remove them without damaging them, and you photograph them extensively, and you store them until you find a suitable buyer, and you pack them meticulously, and you deliver them to a shipper, and you monitor the shipment, and you communicate with the buyers until they receive the parts, and verify that the parts are satisfactory.

Yeah, after about twenty or thirty transactions, you could definitely get more than $500 out of that car.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I hear ya.
And I wasn't saying that I'm ready to start selling parts - I'm sure its a pita.

I really was just using that as a figure of speech saying that, for example, If I bought a $500 roller I'd spend more than what I had in said roller just trying to buy a TPI to put in it.

Thanks for your input though, it is appreciated and affirms my suspicions that I dont want to get into the thirdgen parting business.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

From the pics, it doesn't really look that bad. For $500 -$600, if the floors are solid, go for it. Hope you can save it!

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

i would buy this car simply for replacement even if its rotted i would part it out with good parts on it and keep what i needed you would make you 500 back get parts for futrue projects and probably help alot of fellow members

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

The other day I got a bug up my butt, and went to look at a 1973 Bronco. It had been sitting in someone's backyard for years. It didn't run, almost every body panel was rusted through, the interior was trashed. Oh...and NO TITLE. The guy wanted 2 grand for it.

This IROC, is literally a garage queen in comparison.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Well.....................did you buy it?

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

When a car looks like that and the seller says it has a big cam and a stall it usually means the car idles rough cause it needs a tune up and the trans is slipping.

Did you buy it? I'd pay $500 but no more.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Those early broncos get stupid money, even the junk ones, dude will probably get 2k.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I'd rather have a factory set-up with a bad trans and bad tune, than have to undo someone's hillbilly cam and TC choices.

True, but this one was so junky it was ridiculous. And no title, which can sometimes turn into a big headache in this state.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I am holding off for the week.
Maybe wait the guy out and get the prrrice down...
Not sure I want this big of a project.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

if i was you. id jack that bch up and take a good look at the frame and the body before buying her. if its been 2, 3 years. then that's nuthin. brotha my iroc. sat for 11 years. took some time but she is good as gold now.. [and my problem ( was my fuel tank and fuel pump.. it was rusty and had varnish/bad gas..)] so be aware u probly gona have to change that sht.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

The body looks arrow straight in the pics. But, I'm well aware that pics can be decieving. Anyway, if the floor looks clean, and there are no other surprises, I'd give him the $600 he wants for it.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I'd go for it. It looks like a great project. I would say that if you're at $500 and he wants $600, ask him to split the difference and pay $550. Just be careful pulling it out of the ground so that you don't wreck anything.
Good luck with the project.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I was thinking the same thing. The tow truck guy had better be careful. An inattentive one might rip the nose right off of it.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I agree also. Does look to have been sitting more than a few years and I would worry about the floors, but at the same time they might not be too bad. I see an easy $500 in parts just from the pix. Now the thing that bothers me about the car is all the rodant stuff you are talking about, half or more of the car might have to be rewired. Sounds to me if you could get the car for $550.00 and then seen you are in over your head, you might be able to get a wrecked car and use the cars off this one and still have parts to sell if need be. I sure hope you or someone can save it.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Note the raccoon footprints on the hood...

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Two words..... WALK AWAY!!!!!! Sitting way too long. Will need EVERYTHING. Hell, I parked one of my cars for 1 year and occasionally drove it. Several problems arose just from that.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Buy it! Fill the tires up with air, pop it in neutral and push!!! My car sat for 2 years and functions perfectly as my daily driver. I know how to work on these cars though.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Where in Illinois are you from?

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I would not buy that car, unless it was getting cut up for a race car

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Get a good look underneath. It may not be all that bad, as long as it wasn't driven much in the salt/sand winter mix.

For $500, it's worth it as a parts car!

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

I'm near Peoria. I bought an Iroc in bad condition for $1200 in Washington,IL. Banged up hood, 30 footer paint, broken speedometer and gauges, no cats and a single rusted tailpipe, rotted tires, some surface rust, sagging doors, and a bent panhard bar. The car ran like a champ after a tune up, installed full exhaust, replaced the tires, installed a new panhard bar. I invested about $2500 into it, so in total I paid $3700. Still needs a lot more things but I got about 40,000 miles out the car so far for with that money spent.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

Glad you were able to save it.

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

If you are willing to part it out if you get in over your head, sure its perfectly fine idea to buy it. Would also make a good race car. Look forward to washing to mud off the bottom, worrying and maybe patching rust, replacing wheel cylinders (they tend to start leaking when they sit), new pads (if they get brake fluid on them), new tires (mud is not kind to them), new filters, new ignition parts, new shocks/struts, new interior (as you said, mice), new wiring (mice), Fuel system cleaning and a new fuel pump, probably engine and trans work as mentioned above.

And the implication is that I do not? Hah!

Re: Can you guys tell me if you think I should buy this car?
 

It depends on what your intentions are. Looking back I would of just found a fixed, decent camaro for $5000, but I would be just maintaining it instead of fixing it, which is nice. I kinda have a passion for fixing, so I guess it all worked out. I was able to add some nice aftermarket touches like lower suspension, performance shocks, full magnaflow exhaust, an HSR, 1.6 roller rockers. On a nicer Camaro, I would be too scared to mess up all that stuff because resale value and I would be messing with things that worked fine.

I am hesitating on this one.
I happen to have enough other projects im not just dieing to start this one.
I do have a feeling though if I get the itch to tackle this car it will still be sitting there waiting for me.

thanks for all the input fellas.
helps me to think through what I could be killing myself with.
been looking at fourth gens some...
For the same money as a third gen I can get a faster car... hmmm


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