"going rate" for a 1986-87 Gran National??

[brett slater]

Wow, I didn't realize I hadn't posted here in almost 3 years...

There's a GN that's been sitting for 10 years about 5 miles from me.

NO t-tops and could use a paint job...or a REALLY good inside/outside detail job...otherwise complete.

Not sure about the mechanics or if it even runs..odometer had 21K on it which I'm sure is 121K.

I'm thinking of maybe picking it up (hopefully) very cheap, tuning it up, detailing it and either keeping it as a cruiser or turning it over...

Anyone have any idea what a good price for one of these is these days?

 

[Boost231]

its hard to say but depending on the owner i would say you could get it for about 5k if it runs.

 

[dgoodhue]

I don't know this is the same car, but their was a GN in your area (I forget what town, but I did see the car) that was sitting in the side of the yard under a tree. 2 of my friends were trying to get in in the mid 90's and it had already been sitting for a while. The story on it was, it was part of bitter divorce settlement. My friend talk to the owner of the car, the wife owned the car, but her husband conviently couldn't find the title and keys or something like that. I guess they were always battling over it. She wanted to get rid of it, but you had to talk to her ex-husband. Anyways, it had low miles odometer probably never flipped, but had been sitting since around 1990. At the time the exterior was beat.

I would try to get something like that as cheap as I could, it going to need a lot of TLC sitting for 10 years or more.

 

[brett slater]

I just got off the phone with the owner who seemed hesitant to name an asking price and almost insisted that I tell him how much I'd be willing to pay.

I'm going by there this week to take a better look at the car and hopefully hear it run. He claims it will need a fuel filter and a battery. I'm kind of reluctant to try to get it running only because it's been sitting for so long and I'm afraid of all that bad gas running through the fuel system.

Any suggestions?

Anyway, at the conclusion of the phone call, I told him that with all things considered, I would probably be willing to pay between 4 & 5K if I could drive it out of there without it dying on the ride home.

 

[brett slater]

Almost forgot...

It's an 87 and he's the second owner.

:smile:

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

Any suggestions?

Anyway, at the conclusion of the phone call, I told him that with all things considered, I would probably be willing to pay between 4 & 5K if I could drive it out of there without it dying on the ride home.

4 & 5K is too much for a car that needs to be fully restored and has been sitting for 10 years.

If the car has ZERO rust, i would consider buying it if it was a hardtop, but just think of how much money your going to spend on that 5K car to make it as nice as a comparible lower mileage car.

If you dont plan to restore it, then buy it for 3K and drive it.

BW

 

[Blazer406]

I agree with Bryan... 4k-5k is too high for a car that has sat for 10+years. If it was 0 rust... and it was only 21k miles..... it would be tempting... but I don't think this is the case....

A motor/tranny/rear and wiring harness is maybe worth 3k if it will drop into someones car and fire right up... and has no issues. I would not give more than 3k ... and that would have to have cranked and at least driven around the block to get that.

Oh.... this may sound stupid... but I assume this is an intercooled car... since you original inquiry was for '86-'87

I brought an '87 hardtop GN back from the dead.... drug it out of a barn.... with no interior... but running engine and tranny.... needed paint, bodywork, and a complete GN interior.... I offered and got it for what I thought I could part (the major pieces) it for... no more... Mine was a southern car it's hole life.... absolutely 0 rust....

 

[brett slater]

Thanks for the input.

I don't plan on paying any more than 3K for this car, regardless of what I said earlier. I've thought about it all day and it really doesn't make sense to pay more than that...

It is intercooled....

 

[Blazer406]

If you want to look at my project car... here is my outdated page.....

My old @ss outdated webpage

 

[brett slater]

Talk about night and day!

Nice story...are those last couple pics recent?

Here's the deal: I don't want another project. My 72 Buick GS Stage 1 4-speed is project enough.

I figure if I could pick this up for a song and put just a little time and money into it, I'd have a cool cruiser that I could unload before the weather breaks next year...

Of course, on paper, this sounds like a great idea.....

 

[Blazer406]

The last pic is the most recent. Shortly after that (shame on me for not changing it out before that)... the timing chain took out about half the teeth on the cam gear... and it jumped time... I pulled the front of the motor down and put a replacement timing set on.... with a 204/214 HFT cam.... then 100 miles later... it got some metal in the oil... took out the stock 159k mile turbo... and spun #3 main bearing too..... It has been down since. I have amassed a fairly healthy pile of performance parts..... engine block (junkyard N/A 109) is currently on it's last leg of machine work.... should come back with the new billet center caps and a fresh line bore/hone and should be ready for assembly in the next week or so..... goal is to have it back in the car in a few weeks.... hopefully by the end of the month...