A guy at work has an '86 to sell----It's a 2.8, 5-speed, with t-tops; interior is nice, no dents, no rust, paint is pretty good. Other than the heater core leaking, the only thing I've noticed is that when it's started, it puts out a very minor puff of blue. I recall hearing that means either valve seals or guides. He only wants $800. Can a bit of blue smoke when starting cold be more than that, or should I go for it?

 

go for it, u can always get another motor if worse comes to worse but blue smoke isnt anything major

 

My car has puffed blue smoke on startup since I've owned it...still running strong today two years later. If you plan on replacing the motor down the line at some point, go for it. I have heard that the heater core in our cars is a disaster, while others have said it wasn't that bad...never done it myself though.

 

For $800 what more could you ask for?

 

that he lived near me so i could pick it up before tommycat could! sounds like a steal! valve seals are easy to fix too...well...for me anyway...

 

That's pretty much what I thought. It also has new tires, fairly new clutch---brakes are getting along, but that's no problem. What's even better is that he's happy with $400 now, and the rest "later"-----"later" not being specified. What ticks me off is that the t-tops in the 3rd gen have a bigger opening than those in my '97 Z28, which cost me over 10 times that much. And I suspect that 2.8 will have better gas mileage. Oh well.