Alright guys. Need to know by Monday. As you know, i have a 1988 Firebird 2.8 5spd. I bought it for $250 and did a ton of work to it. I put about $1100 into it so far and now needs tires and paint. And maybe clutch.

Now i went and looked at a 1991 Formula. Needs: tires, paint, and some little int. things. Has: 5.7 TPI 4 speed auto. Decent int. Decent body. He wants $3000 for the car. I got him down, he wanted before $3500. The engine has 160,000 miles, seems to much to me and for that price. Motor is stock and just had a regular tune up.

What should i do? Thanks guys

 

The price seems fair but i dont liek the fact it has 160,000 miles on it. I would either get him down to 2500 just because of the milage or keep your current ride.

 

Do you really not know the answer? Get the car man! I would mention the tires and paint but if he doesnt budge id take the car. Also every v8 turns into a 350 at sale time so check that out also.

 

 

I ment that alot of people lie and say its a 350 when its really a 305.

 

I think he means to double-check b/c some guys don't know what they're talking about.

And all that's odd. I had a friend who owned a 1991 Formula, 700r4 4-speed auto. It had a 305, and was TBI, not TPI. He also had the performance suspension (WS6) in it.

Every '91 Formula I've heard of- which granted, isn't many- has always been a 305 TBI... not a 350 TPI. Did you check out the motor? Or are you just going by what he says?

Keep in mind any f-body by know is going to have a buttload of mileage on it. Take my +200,000 ride; the motor still runs like new and doesn't show any signs of blowing out. Granted the trans is a different story... but the engine's fine.

Hm, which goes along further with what Br()bert said- if you didn't see the engine, and you're going on the guy's word that it's a 350 TPI, then the guy might not know a damn thing about the car, and he might've let maintenance go to crap.

Unless you've seen the motor and verified the car's VIN -and- engine casting # and intake... in which case, none of this applies.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/techdb.shtml


According to this site all the 91 formulas are TPI so if it is tbi something is up! Again im going by this site, take a look.

 

Yeah.. '91-92 formies were all TPI... supposedly. $3k isn't bad if it's a VIN 8 car... VIN E or VIN F, no way (8th digit).

 

I jsut dont like the fact that it ahs high miles. And as we all know V8's are abused allot more then a v6. just my .02

 

yeah and the v8;s seem to last longer also.

 

I ahve heard of only a few v8's get over 200,000 i mean that i actualty saw the car in person. I did have a friend whos dad had one of those 70's chevy vans with a 350 that had 300,000 miles on the engine never rebuilt.

 

My dads old chevy wagon had 379,000 on the 305. It still started up and ran when he junked it.We also had a van when i was younger, 200k and ran great. The hole time he owned it , he just tuned it up, i replaced the water pump one time! Original trans and everything. I NEVER see a v6 that you can say that about.

3g"s for a car with a v8 that doesnt look bad and has 150k on a 350 tpi isnt bad, You should take a look and see what these v8 cars are going for these days

 

i have 230,000 miles on my car only thing i have done to the engine was replace the valve cover gaskets and water pump. When i did the waterpump i figured i would do my timing chain whats another 2 bolts.

 

Ive seen many 2.8 and 3.1s with more than 200,000 mi. In Texas, it's VERY common. Up north, stuff just doesn't last. A 3.1 is one of the most bulletproof motors in existance. Luminas, Grand AMs, Camaros- Alot of cars got that motor. I've seen quite a few high mileage V8s as well. But then, most of the miles put on a vehicle around this area are Highway miles (Texas has LOTS of highways).

 

Bulletproof??

In the back of the shop at my work we have about 7 blown motors just lying around. 1 of them is a 350. 1 of them is a 3800. The other 5 are all 60* V6's. And if you ever walk back to the heavy line department, odds are you'll see at least one 60* V6 with either the intake or heads off.

After working on GM cars for 3 years, I'm not too fond of the 60/6 anymore.

 

Exactly! Look at all the luminas for sale dirt cheap because the motor has issues, same with grand am's

Go to any yard here and you'll notice most of the f bodies are v6's....

 

Ha, that's funny you mentioned Luminas. One of my co-workers bought a '97 Lumina w/ a blown motor (of course) for dirt cheap. Put a crate engine in it and sold it for $1000 profit.

Oh, I forgot to mention all the newer 60/6's with piston slap........problem after problem after problem with these engines.

 

Piston slap. lol, you should hear this pos in my firebird! Cant wait to pull it.


back to the subject. you seem to not really wanna spend the money so their isnt really a point to get back on subject is there? lol