I am debating what to do with a 1987 Camaro LT, 5 speed manual transmission with a 2.8L MPI injected 6 cylinder. It has rusted quarters, rusted doors, good interior and less than 50,000 miles on it. I am debating on parting it out, restoring it or just selling as is. Any input would be appreciated. I will post pics tomorrow

 

the imput...if you sell the car as is, in it's current condition you will not make much money on the car, unless someone just really wants a good interior from the 1980's.....if you restore the car, you won't be getting the money out of it that you put in, granted however you can drive the car, and have yourself a "perfect" 1987 camaro, just don't plan on selling it....you could also part the car out, but you won't be expecting much money there either, as the engine may be in good running condition, but it's not particularlly desireable, the t-5 might be desireable however, long as people can pickup a different bellhousing themselves for their application and i'm sure people on the board would take it...and seats, carpet, door panels, etc from thirdgens don't sell all that well either cause they're things that are often being "upgraded", check out ebay for interior pieces, third gen stuff is dirt cheap, 4th gen stuff a tad expensive. good luck w/ ur choice, don't know what i'd do in the same situation.

 

Drive it. Long as you keep it tuned up it will last 200,000+ miles and then sell it for $300.

 

yeh gumby, i kinda agree w/ ya...but the prob is that there is a sense of pride that goes along in driving around a car....crappy or not...there's a guy downthe street from me, has a 2.8L powered Citation? early 80's car, probably carbed rwd pos...but it's clean as hell, dentless, etc.....the man drives the car every single day, then in his garage he has a 81 corvette pace car, 01' camaro SS, and his harley davidson....and although in citation is a crappy car, it's in perfect shape, and probalby runs like a champ....driving a car that looks like hell, and runs ok, or even runs good, kinda doens't make a person feel good about themself....how's this sound, if you want to drive it, restore best you can yourself (learn how to cut and weld, buy some repo-quarters, get a junk yard door, have the car painted to look nice, and drive it for another 150,000 miles. You'll dump in say 3k, but in the end, you've got a car that would have lasted much longer than a car you bought and drove around for 3,000. And you'd have gotten your money out of it once it blows up. that's just imo.

 

carbed FWD pos, btw.... first production vehicle to recieve the 2.8. My best friend still misses his Citation... first car syndrome. If you talk to that guy I bet you'll discover that the Citation (or at least *a* Citation) was his first car too. Subsequent cars don't seem to carry the intrensic value unless they're closely related to the first car, in my experience... no idea how to call it if you hated your first car, tho.

Anyway, your best bet on the investment would be to drive it till the wheels fall off... but since you didn't mention that as an option, depending on how many immaculate parts you have, parting her our is likely to be the best way to turn a profit. Thirdgens don't sell high unless they're completely immaculate.. V6 thirdgens have to be show quality to get more than a couple grand.

 

Take it to a body shop and ask them for a quote. Car will be worth a bit soon (5-10 yrs?). Funny, 3rdgen V6 cars are worth more than early 4thgen V6 cars. I'd fix it and drive it. Or fix it and garage it....50,000 miles is LOW in Texas.

 

gues you can say that they're worth somethign...but the prob is it's not going to be as desireable in the long run... just as a cherry mint 69' camaro w/ a straight six in her will be worht money, but it's not going to be the same as a 69' RS/SS with a 302. and given the engine options for these cars, it'll be very difficult to see the true high dollar ones...i'd say TPI convertiables, TTA's , actually any convertable, possibly some of the old CFI cars as long as they still are good looking ,adn well running....don't see much more than that.

 

uhh in the respect catagory, a camaro, rusted and hurting will always look better than a citation unless it has been converted to rwd and has 454 under the hood. i would restore it because it is a stick and because camaros are no longer produced. what is a 1968 straight six camaro worth today. more obviously than what we are talking about but still, time tells all. hey, could a 454 even fit in a citation? i'll take a1979 monza and consider half the work done!

 

If gas prices keep going up as they are, people will be pounding on our doors offering thousands for our V6s.

 

You guys must think we guys who drive V8 thirdgen's in the UK are mad! Considering the price of gas over here!

FbodTrek:- Regarding the good 3rdgen V6 cars being worth more than early 4thgen V6 cars. The same is true in the UK funnily enough.

Kaylyn831:- Fix her up and drive her! Restore and modify as you go along when you can afford it. I look forwards to seeing the pictures.

 

well, i know this much...here in the city, a rusted out camaro, with a real bad 350 v8, it's *** jacked up by 8inches will be the butt of all jokes....the clean v6 camaro, much much more respected, the perfect 92 clean 350 car, awesome.....a ciation in perfect shape (no ding, no dent, nothin) won't draw any respect, but hey, you're not being laughed at....just the way it is in the midwest, i think the big prob as was stated b4 in a different post, a rusted out camaro (or bird) wouldn't give moer then 500 bux for it, now in modern culture, can you be bling blingin' for 500 bux?