Found a car, In need of some help and desicion making...

[Iron Indian]

Well, I know of a 1985 Buick T-Type I could purchase. Its been sitting for over 10 years. The Pros and cons...

Pros:
-Its supposedly a legit T-type car, used to be blue/silver
-Its a T-Top car
-Floor shift car w/ buckets
-Still got the hood and a few badges

Cons:
-No motor or tranny
-Needs paint and body work, never been wrecked and I don't believe it has any rust.
-Pretty much needs a resto. I need to check out the dash and stuff, but the interior is complete minus the radio. Probably will need to be freshed up. It was covered for awhile.

The story. I've known of this car for many years, since I met my friend Jack back in 2000. Its his brothers car, its been sitting since i've known them. Its moved around some in the yard (they live on 5 acres), otherwise it sat there pretty much as is. I saw the car again a few weeks ago, its always interested me. A little over 10 years ago his brother bought the car off some ol boy for a grand or two. It had a 455 BB in it and a Turbo 400. It needed the tranny refreshed I think. Anyway, he fixed it up and drove it for 6 months. He took it to the track once and it ran a 13.8 as it set. In a matter of weeks the motor spun a rod bearing and it was parked. The motor and tranny were eventully yanked out and thats really it....

Price for the car as is, $800! And supposedly it has a clear title too. I have the vin number, can anyone here show me a carfax or better yet, pull up an option sheet to make sure the car is legit?

The car has always been there and has interested me. I've always wanted a T-type or GN, they have always been my dream cars. What I kinda like about this car, since its not original, numbers matching or anything like that, I can pretty much do it my way and not worry about ruining a classic, its not all there anyway (as far as the original Turbo parts go). As for the motor, I donno what to do there although i'd prefer to go back to the Turbo 6 again. I believe the car as it sits is worth way more than $800, I donno

Whats killing me now is storing it to rebuild, time to rebuild it, and cost. I'd have to do this for a bit of a budget. BUT I wanna do it right too. I'm wondering if i'm sinking into something I shouldn't. I'm pretty much done with my GTP project car and I love the 3800 motors, because of these cars is some of the reason I got my car, its a great alternative.

Anyway, i figured i'd post this up to get some thoughts from you guys. What do you think? I'm not too worried about the body more or less get it running on a budget and be right too. I'm location in Oklahoma City, any GN/T-type guys out here?

Thanks!
Shawn

 

[Grumpy]

sounds like a bottomless money pit to me.. you WILL take a bath on the car. as far as the car goin for $800... the original 8.5 posi rear end is worth that.. oh.. check the bottoms of the doors and rear quarters for rust ... 1 last thing. "BUDGET" doesn't go with these cars at all. sorry for not encouraging you to get your first Buick.. :redface:

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

Dont buy it to fix up,

Like Dan said way to much $$$$$...

Buy it part it out and save the money towards a little nicer ride if you want to....

 

[yamla_jatt806]

I second the above opinions. I say this from experience, my first GN had a lot of rust that I planned to get fixed, but once I found out it would take $5-7k to fix it up, I sold it.

 

[INEEDAGN]

Truthfully it sounds like a good parts car. If it sat outside, t-tops are not a "pro". VERY likely that the t top area is rusted out.

 

[Rivical]

I'd GO FOR IT !!!!!
Not as a resto project, but as a starter! My first T was a similar car. Brick in the windshield and all. Polished it up and drove the H-E-double toothpicks out of it!!!! Since it's worth $300 as scrap and not doing anybody any good where it's decomposing offer $500 take-it-or-leave-it. Find a donor car for carbed V-8 powertrain and skip ALL the computer hassles. Two to HEI, one ground/plug n play! Then you have a daily play toy that's a parts supply for eventually finding a better ride! I loved my first T more than anything much since. Crazy stuff like cracking the windshield in a tops out top-speed race from having rusty A-pillars..... to when the turbo motor got wobbly and my replacement from a 68 Olds Vistacruiser turned out to be a 69 W-31 motor with a 2bbl intake on it! Memories that can't be replaced by any Nice car!

 

[kh440]

Easiest tell-tale is the vin: a legit turbo car will have a "9" engine code (8th character in the vin from left to right) If the RPO label is still on the rear decklid that will tell you everything about the car.

As a potential investment it is not a good idea. The only way I know of for a hot-air car to bring anywhere close to the same money as the intercooled models (even in a good market) is if it is all numbers matching with almost zero miles on it and looks like it just rolled out of the showroom. Since the original drivetrain is presumably gone with the wind that's a drawback right there. This would definitely be one of those projects you do with your heart and not your head. Factoring in all the potential body work, the costs for a new engine, trans, all the 86/87 conversion pieces, suspension, etc etc etc you will have arguably 12 grand tied up in it, along with a lot of blood and sweat equity that you will never come close to recouping should you sell it down the road. However you would have the satisfaction of knowing you built your car, as opposed to just buying it. Presuming the t-tops are not in fact rotted out, it could be a fun long term project. If I were in your situation: if I had the time and facilities I would probably buy it and put another 455 in it.

 

[regal-nut]

GO FOR IT! I bought 2 of them na regals and only spent $300.00 for both. 1 has a salvage title, but it gives me to opertunity to build one the way that i want it. 1 was an 82 limited v6, the other an 86 Regal with a olds 307 and the t-type interior I am on a limited budget but i am building it. Ya it takes time but it sounds like you could just put an engine and trany and drive it have fun. and when you find what you want you can then have a doner car for parts. God i look at the prices and freek out. I remember when you could buy a bushel basket of parts for dirt cheep and now d*mn!!! Some one on this board probly has the stuff you need and for a fraction of the price of new and i dont feel no one here would want to sc*ew you. Heck i did just some basic horse trading(you got i got we swap) just open up and say HAY I NEED THIS!! So GO FOR IT! Maybe in a few years someone might buy it from you and that will give you the money for your gn that you want. I want a GN so bad that i tast it!! This way i get to have one built that i like and then down the I can get the GN. This project car will help cool the wants of having what you want.:smile: here are picks that i have done to mine http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/show-car-restoration-body-repair/246241-here-some-picks.html

 

[artrenee10]

Go for it. With some wheeling and dealing you would be surprised how cost effective you can be...use your imagination more and your wallet less...

 

[turbo39151]

Since you're looking or opinions...

I think it depends on your ultimate goal. If you want a nice Turbo Regal skip this car. I'd only buy a clean title car with original (matching numbers engine and trans) -Mileage is not that much of a biggie. BTW, Paint and body is NOT CHEAP...

If you want a parts car- go for it because there's probably way more than $800 in parts available on this car.

If you simply want a project to mess around with, then go for it if you think you can source a drivetrain relatively cheap.

 

[usetaboost]

Ok, I'll put it like this, whatever you think will legitimately cost to just restore the car times that by 3 and you will have your answer. See the "we4" rusty sh!tbox in my sig, I bought it for 2k thinking it was cheap and wouldn't cost much to fix up. Motor was a paperweight-no biggie get another. Get motor started-bad maf, take car out for first ride-bad PM motor. Car runs and drives but not well. Interior is completely trashed and the only good thing on the car is the deck lid and front fenders. Decide to start doing some cosmetic work. Tore out the seats and carpet, more rust holes, start sanding, more holes/bondo, Spend MONTHS tearing the car apart-find 8 rust HOLES all together, not including the rear wells that are half rotted, 4 body mount holes that are rusted out in the frame, rear frame rail shot, ETC.ETC. I couldn't tell you how many hours I have into this car and how much money I've spent (probably about 6500 as of now and the body still isn't on the frame yet). I can guarantee you if I would've known I could have afforded a GOOD one a year later I would have bought it, used it for a conversion car then crushed it to save the hassle because NOTHING was good on the car, then bought a GN. THere I said it

GRUMPY......I don't blame ya for what you say about the rusty ones. Some days I wish I would've made my blue limited a clone

IronIndian....You would have to sell your GTP and maybe even then some to get that car fixed up if it's as bad as mine, which it probably is.

On the brighter side, it's starting to come together! Someday I'll take some more pics and update my progress thread