Purchasing a Grand National soon, need to pick between two.

[desertsoldier22]

The thread title says it all, I am torn between two cars. Both are '86 GN's, both are mechanically excellent but they have different features and attributes.

Car #1
150 miles away

50,000miles
-Built Engine and Transmission (10,000 miles on both)
-TE-53 Turbo and upgraded intercooler and fueling system...essentially a 450hp+ car
-Excellent interior aside from a minor headliner sag
-GNX Dash, GNX Wheels, Line lock, Trans Lock
-Minor rust Bubble on rear pillar (Easy fix), minor dents and some sun damage on the hood (all fixable without new paint job) a couple weekends of elbow grease for the shows.
$11,000

Car#2
750 miles away

36,000 miles
-Original owner
-The Car is in mint condition 100% stock
-T-tops
-electronic climate control
-Original paint
-All documents

$15,500

 

[pisano]

if its for cruising and enjoying the car id get number 2 if you trying to just buy/have a fast car then number 1.

if you ever want t tops they will never magically appear and you can make the t top car fast and the touch climate control is just player stuff

 

[mearly65]

It all depends on what your final desire will be with the car. If you like them all original and never intend on modding it then go for #2. A car is only original once. I personally don't think I could take an original car and start upgrading parts but that's me. If you want to have fun with the car without worrying about its originality go for #1. It looks like a fair amount of common upgrades have already been done to car #1 so that's a positive in my eyes. However, if I were looking into car #1, I would do some investigative reporting with the owner to try and find out how bad he beat on it. Ask simple questions like, "how fast is it?" and then shut up. Let him talk. If he says "one day I burned the tires right off it!", that means its been flogged on pretty bad. If he says " I don't know, I've never really wound it up", then he probably really cares for the car and didn't want to beat it to death. Just feel out his respect (or lack thereof) for the car.The last thing you want to do is purchase someone else's problems. If you'll never really have faith in what's been done to the car before you bought it then spend the extra money for #2 and you'll know exactly what's been upgraded while in your possession and the quality of the upgrade. As far as the mileage away from your home. I wouldn't even let that be a factor. If you find the exact car you want, go get it. No matter how far away it is. Good luck with your decision.

 

[desertsoldier22]

It all depends on what your final desire will be with the car. If you like them all original and never intend on modding it then go for #2. A car is only original once. I personally don't think I could take an original car and start upgrading parts but that's me. If you want to have fun with the car without worrying about its originality go for #1. It looks like a fair amount of common upgrades have already been done to car #1 so that's a positive in my eyes. However, if I were looking into car #1, I would do some investigative reporting with the owner to try and find out how bad he beat on it. Ask simple questions like, "how fast is it?" and then shut up. Let him talk. If he says "one day I burned the tires right off it!", that means its been flogged on pretty bad. If he says " I don't know, I've never really wound it up", then he probably really cares for the car and didn't want to beat it to death. Just feel out his respect (or lack thereof) for the car.The last thing you want to do is purchase someone else's problems. If you'll never really have faith in what's been done to the car before you bought it then spend the extra money for #2 and you'll know exactly what's been upgraded while in your possession and the quality of the upgrade. As far as the mileage away from your home. I wouldn't even let that be a factor. If you find the exact car you want, go get it. No matter how far away it is. Good luck with your decision.

Well as far as car #1 was concerned it appears to me from talking to him that he never got a chance to give it a run. It looks like somebody was in the midst of building a dream grand national and was not able to continue and sold it to this guy. The underside of the car looks like you could eat off of it, no rubber in the wells, brand new parts everywhere. He basically did all of the mechanical s and left the body alone. When asked how fast it was he said he had no idea, except that it was very powerful and it probably could destroy a lot of cars in the 1/4 mile. I have no idea what is managing all of this chaos, I would assume some kind of modified fuel management is in the brain box. I would need an experienced GN enthusiast to take a look at this thing to tell me what I got. I would have to pour over these forums to get aquainted with the modding paths for this particular vehicle. This is not my first foray into Turbo cars, but this is the oldest one I have dealt with and everything I have owned was OBD2 and could be reflashed. It definitely looks like it runs good (no smoke) and the engine sounds fine (no misfires or knock under boost all 25 psi of it.).

 

[mearly65]

Did you take pics of either car that you can post on here?

 

[daves87gn]

I personally like low mileage/owner cars, not a lot of mystery to a one owner car with low miles, you will know exactly what your getting and can then mod as you see fit and still have original parts to put back to stock if the need or desire should come up.

cars with multiple owners you have limited knowledge of what has been truly done, on a car that has mods not all what has been told is makes it from the first owner to the last.

my first 87 GN was a one own car that live two blocks from me, car had 120K miles, bought from original owner bone stock with all documentation including every oil change and tires, no mystery there and no surprises.

second 87 got from original owner 48K miles and just about every item ATR sold, owner had all mods done so i knew exactly what i was getting again no mystery.


just from what i read, car number 1 has motor and trans rebuilt but only 50K miles? and you said it might have been someone project that he finished, and never really ran, lots of mystery for me it would be a no brainer

 

[GetOwnedVette]

If you dont plan on touching the car and driving it like a grandpa #2. If you wanna make a few people cry here and there and dont wanna spend 8 grand building a motor #1

 

[desertsoldier22]

Did you take pics of either car that you can post on here?

I have pictures...but I don't want somebody buying me out...lol

 

[desertsoldier22]

This is car #1

 

[Spooln1]

Car 1 for sure. All those motor upgrades and GNX dash/rims. Engine bay looks awesome. Doesnt look like a hack job at all. When I was looking earlier this year I was advised to stay away from the T-top cars unless I was 100% certain there was no water/rust issues with it. It will be a nightmare down the road if there is.

 

[coach]

If faced with this dilemma, I'd buy both. Its just $$$.

I bought a T-top car...14k miles and all original in 2007. I have modded almost everything on it, but bagged and tagged every nut, bolt, and washer I removed. Most important, I never drilled a hole in it nor cut it anywhere. (Oops...I lied, it has 2 holes for a HR sway bar in the frame, but no one would know if I put it back to stock.) I also welded in a GNX rear seat brace, because it really helps with the squeeking and noise from a T-top car. It makes it really stiff. I asked on here if anyone thought it would decrease the value in time, and people like Dennis Kirban said no way. It helps too much. If I would have drilled and bolted it in, it would have looked like shit and been a big eye sore. I dont think you will go wrong with either, but I would always take the more original car. It saves from finding parts down the road.

 

[PLAINWHITE T]

I like #1...put the $4,500 difference into paint/body work (although you'll wind up spending more than that, I garauntee it).

 

[TheGovernment]

I bought my 86 T bone stock. by the time I've upgraded everything, I've spent well over 10K in just parts. lol. They are super fun cars when they are running properly and you have the right parts on them. I hate to think how much you "might" have to invest on parts just to make it reliable for a long time.

I'd go with #1

 

[desertsoldier22]

I am a pretty accomplished detailer and paint and body guy. I can tell from the other pictures he gave me that the paint damage can be fixed more than likely by wet sanding and polishing. The dents I can fix with a can of air and a heat gun...lol. The rust can be fixed with a wire brush, some sandpaper of multiple grits, touch up paint and some rubbing and polishing compounds. Enamel paint (as long as its not metallic) is pretty easy to repair compared to the new multistage acrylic paints used now. The paint damage never bothered me. These car came out of the factory with crap paint jobs.

 

[mearly65]

I'd go with #1. Not only does the car look tidy but so does the guy's lawn and garage. There's something to be said about a person that takes care of all of their belongings. You can tell just by those few pictures that the car wasn't some noob's experiment or a kid's whipping post.

 

[williamsGN]

Keep in mind a good paint job for these cars starts at 4K and goes up to 7-8K unless you are doing it yourself. Black is a very unforgiving color, which you probably already know.

I know a few who say they wished they kept them more stock. My first, no problems with 100k stock miles, this one with mods below is starting to feel like a take apart car. Pretty much guarantee you that you'll be over the 15k mark real quick with the #1 car.

 

[3-5.0]

Car 1 in the pics...the underside looks nice but! is that undercoating? I hate undercoating it covers up to much. I've undercoated cars before but only did things like edges and seams and Rustmorted/primed/painted before the rubbery undercoat.

 

[rjg1987gn]

This is car #1

A few months ago, I purchased an '87 that appears to be close to 100% origional. I have been to shows etc and have taken pics of '87's that were advertised as 100% orig. I am trying to determine what is not origional on my '87. Do you have pics of the #2 car and if so could you post them? Thanks

 

[jlat]

hello; I like #1 but I'm not a drag race guy and the line lock shows to me he wanted to race or maybe just burn the tires down. Who knows . I'm not a fan of T-tops and that's another thing why I'd go for #1.
good luck and tell us what you did.
IBBY

 

[desertsoldier22]

Well...looks like car #1 sold..

But I found a stock hardtop for $15K a few miles away with 32K miles.
Now I need to decide between a heavily optioned up '86 T-top car with 38K and a '87 Hard top car with base options with 32K for the same price.