Hi.
new to the boards. I recently saw a 91 firebird v6 with 133K miles for sale. Car has bashed in fender and seller says rear is shot. Interior is below average. Wants $750.00 Has T-Tops. Also says car is having trouble getting "spark".

Anybody think this is a good price for 91 bird ? How much money would I expect to put in for mechanical work to get running. Also, anything else to look out for on '91 with that many miles.

Thank you very much for any input. Again, I am a newbie.

 

1. Welcome to the board

2. don't do it. For that price, you could even get a V8. I got mine for $150, blown motor yeah, but good interior. just got a motor for it for $210. without the turbo additons, this car should cost me around $700 to include all the little things that need fixing. Keep looking, there's always something better, especially 2 weeks after you buy what you got

 

Well, a rear axle... I just blew out my posi, so I bought a 3.42/open/drum axle for $100, and put it on. So that's $100 for the axle.

A fender... you can buy "new" from some of the restoration places for $150-$300, or, a junkyard fender for $50-$100. Avoid fenders that aren't GM, if you can... ones that are sold by places like JC Whitney will fit, but they won't have body lines in them, or they'll be shaped a bit differently... I'd put on a used GM fender over a new JC Whitney fender any day! (And I've put a few on my car over the years!)

Interior... well, assuming it's completely shot: Any bucket seats from a Cavalier, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, Buick, GrandAm, etc, will bolt in. There's two parts to a seat: The Seat itself, and the Seat Rails. The Seat Rails go between the seat and the car. The cars I mentioned above have seats that will bolt to our seat rails. Two years ago, I found "my" hard-to-find seats (found out later they were Trans Am seats) in a Pontiac 6000 Station Wagon S/E!

Berettas & GrandPrix's & similar don't have the same type of seat rail. On their seats, they have wheels. On the car, they have tracks. The seats "roll into" the tracks on the car, and lock down. But, I never took one of those seats out and flipped it over! It could very well be that once that roller mechanism is unbolted, the seat itself might have the same bolt pattern as would fit our rails! Expect about $100/pair of seats.

At the same time, two years ago, I put in brand new carpet. It cost me $110, and I got it from http://www.1aauto.com . It's ACC-brand carpet, which means it's a GM Authorized reproduction piece. Places like JC Whitney & Summit advertise carpet that isn't made by ACC... like Newark Carpet, or Ohio Auto Mat, or etc. These are NOT GM authorized reproductions!!! Now here's what nobody knows besides me and the people I tell it to:

Places like paddockparts.com, amesperformance.com, and etc, that cater to restoring f-bodies, will sell this same ACC carpet at over $200! Even ACC's website, http://www.accmats.com , will ask $160 for the carpet. Oddly enough, 1aauto.com can get it for $110, AND, when I got the carpet, it was shipped to me DIRECTLY from ACC! I got my invoice separately from 1aauto.com. Know how much the non-authorized carpet (cheap stuff) goes for? $110. So, which would you rather have?

But- pricewise. Body stuff, okay, dents happen. Interior, okay, rips happen. Engine has trouble getting spark? Rear is shot? I'd say he wants too much. See if you can knock him down to $600. The car is basically unusabale as even a parts car! You can't get an interior, can't use the whole body, etc... unless the car is perfect overall, and the guy's making it sound worse than it is (unlikely), I'd say $600 max. Hell, go for $500. See if he'll tow it to your house.

How the hell he'd blow the rear with a bad motor??

 

hell if it could be had for $500 it would make a good parts car.

 

Just be careful, I bought my bird about 5 months ago, I was (still am of course) young and anxious to get a cool car. I bought my car from a dealer knowing there was some stuff wrong with it. But I thought it was minor stuff. It needed a tune up, a water pump, front end alignment, ie, little stuff. I paid $850 from a dealer, which, after taxes, came out to be $900 even. I then had all of the afore mention stuff done to it and started driving it. A week later the tranny went out. I never got it fixed, in fact its sitting in my parking lot right now. I decided I should buy something more reliable and ended up getting a 98 Grand Am with a warranty. IMO in the condition its in the Firebird you describe just can't be trusted. Its in the shape its in because someone beat on hit hard. You may fix the stuff that is wrong with it and a week or two later the engine may blow. Of course you could get it and it could turn out to be an engine/tranny combo that lasts for 200k miles. If you don't mind taking a risk, then go for it (of course the price he is asking is too much anyway......if you do buy it, don't go any over $500 or $600), otherwise just keep searching the papers. A good, fairly nice condition thirdgen with a V6 should be able to be found for around $1500 if your willing to be patient and look around.

 

hell I paid 625 for a t top camaro that ran, and still does. but it does need a little work. in all I think I will have 1500 into it with converting to carb(From TBI) and alot of new seals and stuff...

 

Since your from PA (which is where I bout my '91 Camaro) I think a major concern should be to look for rust. Check the floor pan by pulling back the carpet or carefully looking under the car. Check the lip along all the wheel wells. If you find holes in either of these places (or holes anywhere else) then save yourself a headache and find another car. Make sure the T-tops don't leak. I'd also check the doors. If they sag just a little then you can probably just change the lower pins/bushing for cheap. If they sag real bad then it will be close to $150+ get get the doors to close properly. Also keep in mind you'll probably need to spend the cash on a new air filter, fuel filter, distributor cap, spark plugs, ignition wires, ect. Also, at 133k mi. you'll probably be changing the water pump soon and should probably change the timing chain while you're at it. Also, you'll probably need new shocks and struts (suggest KYB). The shocks are real easy to change. You may also want to replace the swaybar endlinks. Since the car was neglected, you may also need new brake pads. .... just keep all these things in mind. Third Gen's aren't exactly cheap in this part of the country. If you get the car cheap and are willing to do the work and spend some money you could have a very nice ride for not a whole lot of money. Good luck.

 

hey chd, what all did u do when converting ur engine (tbi? mpfi sounds more correct) to carb? i probably shouldve put this in a new post..

i wouldnt pay anymore than $500.. and defiently look for rust.. if any, i wouldnt even bother w/ it.. arounf here (cali central valley), there really isnt a diff in price between the v8 and v6 f-bodies.. v8 are alot harder to find for sale tho.. this area, good condition 90-92 are like $4k.. but a good condition 82-84 are like $1k..

typically my experience, if ur lookin for a fix-er-uper (which most 3rd gens are, unfortentually), look for a good body.. engine work is cheaper than body work, expecially if ur doin the work urself..

 

Haha, plus, I'd much rather do mechanical work than body work. I still have nightmares..

 

I agree you should walk away from this car. I paid $475 for my 86 2.8 4 years ago, and the biggest thing it needed was front struts. As with any used car, I had to do a tune up, replace the brakes, and clean it up a little but it ran beautiful and still does. If you look hard enough you could find a v8 that needs less work than that car.