Asking 1100$. LG4.

Has receipts for engine and trans rebuild. Nephew had 2 DWI's lost his car because of them. Minor drivers front collision, faded paint. Interrior needs a vacuum, and is dirty, torn pass' seat but is minor. T-tops. Doesn't smell of mildew, just smells like "Hey I've been sitting a long time". Emmisions last done in 99, extended to 00.

Car starts right up, idles -very- well. It does move (put it in first let out clutch and it'll roll, reverse the same) I can't "get on it' because he convenently fenced in the car for storage.

On to the questions.

3300$ reciept for engine rebuild, on the list of items for this "rebuild" were just a bunch of tune up parts... PCV valve, oil filter, plugs fluids... ect... Last done in 93, has had 50K put on it since. The engine looks dirty as hell and the accesories look a lil beat but I guess after 9 years they're not supposed to look new. AM I CORRECT THINKING THAT?

700$ 5 speed rebuild. He loved pushing this one. He kept saying "this is a Borg Warner tranny man, if I drop this I could get 500 easy for it" He said something about buying a different one for it, how he had the last one looked at and told the guy to put the pieces in the back seat and he got a new one or some ramble BS. What can you tell me about this guys' story? DOES IT HOLD WATER?

He rigged up a manual fan switch, says I'll never need it except in summer traffic. "Thats when it heats up and I just felt that I should put it in." Air dam was in place and he said he changed the thermostat. DOES THIS SOUND FISHY?

After it warmed up I noticed a fine haze coming up off around the passengers side of the carb. Between the carb and the valve cover. I looked and didn't see anything, ANY IDEA WHAT THIS COULD BE? RED FLAG?

Is there -anything else- I can look out for and make sure my money isn't rashly spent? I can't afford to get ripped off again and this car has -every- feature I wanted in a car. Black on black, t-tops, V8 thirdgen.

Is there -ANYTHING- I can say to him that will make him feel less guilty about accepting a lower price. I'm thinking of going and ripping the car apart telling him everything that is wrong with it, and tell him I'll take it out of his yard for this, and hand him a certified check for like 800$ WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I really need your opinions on this one, I already let a 350 manual IROC slip through my fingers that I could have paid 750 for, it only had front end damage, still drove straight and ran great. The kid had receipts and everything. So I really appreciate anything you can say, be it for or against the car.

THANKS AHEAD OF TIME!

 

Be picky and wait for something else to come along. There are a ton of much better thirdgens out there that have what you're looking for. I made the same mistake when i first got my license and had a couple grand burning a whole in my pocket when all i wanted was any thirdgen as long as it had a v8. If he "rigged" up a manual fan switch, i'd take a look and see what else he "rigged" up (...hmm like during that engine rebuild). Its a big PITA to undo some of these half-assed do it yourself jobs. I know because i spent a good amount of time undoing a few "custom" wiring jobs the previous owner of my old '87 formula performed among other things. That "fine haze" rising up from the intake can be leaking coolant (ie bad headgasket or intake gasket or cracked head). Those t5 transmissions are nothing to brag about, and you really need to take it for a test drive to see how everything else is. The car has obviously been neglected. If you want a small restoration project, go ahead and keep it from going to the junkyard, but i wouldn't give him more than seven or eight hundred bucks for it. Remember all those small things add up.

 

I was afraid someone would say that.

But it's true.

I should mention however that none of the work was done by him, whenever he mentioned any work done there was always a "mechanic" involved.

I'll get the exhaust leaks fixed on my current car, put new frnt brakes on myself, hope the tranny doesn't go out and that the tires won't be bald by the time I get another car...

:sigh: why do they put cars and college so close together? There should be a waiting period where they make you work first... life would be so much easier. (no my parents won't let me take a year off...)

So any other comments?

 

Well my engine looks pretty clean, its 13 years old, well maintained. The engine isn't shining, but it doesn't look dirty or beat on. For some reason I feel they never touched (or cared for) the car (in the sense of fixing it), they just gave it to mechanics to do the work.

Yes of course parting out a car will be more beneficial for everyone. You'll get more money for each thing. But you either have to part it out yourself or have someone else do it. I highly doubt this guy will part it out, he doesn't care, and if he had enough money to have someone else part it out, why bother parting it out, ya got enough money already.

Nothing to worry about there, once again, doubt he rigged anything up... someone else did.

Sorry havent dealt with many carbs, unfortunately, but just to take a stab at it, maybe it could be blow-by and mechanical leak, but I'm guessing, no idea, could be nothing??

V8 thirdgen indeed, but without the V8 power unfortunately, its the LG4. Take it slow, don't just jump at everything.

Well, I'm guessing you saw the car already (duh), but what were your parting words? Usually I would say I'll have to get back to you on it, remember play it cool, pretend you have 10 more F-bodies to look at, its your game, not his, make it that way.

Don't let it bother you too much, hell it took me 6 months to find my car, it took a little more money, a little more effort looking in different classifieds, a little more driving distance (also btw that shows the owner that you really want his car, by traveling a good hour or so just to see it, thats what I did, cuz I wanted it bad)

Alright I'll try to give you a couple tips when looking at a car...

.Bring more then yourself to look at a car, bring a friend, a brother, a father, atleast 2 people should be there, bring someone who knows about thirdgens (if you do, then great!), and 3 is good enough, you want other opinions from your people, you don't want to intimidate the owner.. too much.
.Make sure the engine hasn't been started yet, make an appointment, and show up early.
.Don't act like this is the only car left to look at, even tho it might be, if the owner realizes that, he has you, make it like this is the first of many more cars to look at, and in much better quality.
.Make sure it doesn't blow smoke, most thirdgens do... but mine doesn't, but it took me a long time to fine such a good one.. you need patience.
.Also I can't imagine a thirdgen going lower than 1000 dollars, if you find a thirdgen and believe it worth less than 1000 dollars, well then its not worth it MOVE ON! Keep looking!
.Never buy a car unless you drove it, NEVER! Drive it nice, drive it hard, drop the gears to slow down, remember Reverse, do everything, remember you might own it!
.And if you have any thought that this car just requires too much work, or just isnt "The One", then say either, "Thank you for your time, we have a couple more cars we would like to look at, we'll get back to you" or any other type of phrase of that variation. Just trying to give ya a gist of it. Make it business like, shake hands too.

Those are just a few tips, I'd love to give out more, but I feel I've given you enough. Trust me that "One" car will come sooner or later, but only if you want it enough, it takes time, just be patient. There isn't much else I can say, besides don't go insane looking, and looking, and looking for a car, because thats what I did and its not fun, you'll start to get p!ssed about everything. But I'll tell you after I got my car, my mood changed drastically for the better, a lot better.
If ya have any questions, go ahead and PM me, glad to help.

 

Hey cool, I was right, he never did touch the car, just mechanics.

*BTW, NJ represent

 

If you want it , plan on spending some money to fix the minor things. Do you plan on modding it? If you do, I'd say skip it and find something with a better motor than the LG4 or one that doesn't have a motor at all that you can drop one in. Like said, don't rush into it. There are plenty of good cars out there. You just got to set yourself a limit on what you want to pay now.

 

Ok, I don't get it, what is so wrong with the LG4???

A cam, heads and exhaust, non-CC carb and distrib and it's just as healthy and powerful as any other 305 out there... I wanted to go carb because they are generally cheaper, your not limited in cam selection... they're easier to work on... ect...

MSS was low 14's with ported stock heads, RPM manifold, cam, exhaust and a carb... he would have been mid 13's with new gears and traction... thats pretty respectable if you ask me... BTW, his 87 Z28 now belongs to 1991t-topRS

True TPI came more powerful, but you pay bucks around here for them...

All in all, I have to admit this is -exactly- the car I have been looking for, I guess I'm just afraid to buy it now... sure I can wait for something better... and I think thats what I'm going to do...

If I don't come across something by summer I'll go back and offer him some obsurdly low amount of money for it and negotiate but keep it below 850-900... if no dice I'll still keep my eyes open but chances are I won't get another car....

Thanks again for you help.