Whats it worth ?

[Louie L.]

I need some help figuring out on what to offer for a 104k Orig owner TTA. The car has issues mostly appearing to be cosmetic.

The car has been outside all of its life.The owner ...in his 60s is looking to get rid of it.It was driven by his wife for quite some time. Ive been working the area where the car is for 10 yrs and they have had it the whole time.The lady got tired of it and her bad back was not helping either.

here are the issues.....

-The car has sun faded paint to the point that the hood has surface rust. The front of the hood is rusted past the surface and is bubbled up.
-All the rubber is dried up(winshield,T tops ect)
- The wing is cracked and peeling.
-Nose is spider webbed bad.
-The wheels and emblems are all there and in rather nice shape.
-The front seats are torn up pretty bad.
-The carpet is faded really bad.
-DS armrest is shot
-The car runs but hasnt been driven in several years.
-small dent in left side rear quater. About 4 in long
-heater core is bad
-AC dont work
-The winshield pillar is starting to get rust from the inside out !


The car looks rough but im almost certain that the 104 k miles were mostly very easy miles.

The car has potential but his 6k asking price seems high to me.

Im I wrong ? I really wanna save this car, just not for 6k

Now for the technical part. What other issues should i be looking for ? Are things like seat covers, rear hatch wing and hood still available ?This is all new to me.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dan lephart]

what is it worth...

What is it worth after you spend the $8,000 to $12,000 for a total restoration? I do not know the value of a resto with 104k miles. I do know from your description and having experience doing a restoration that could be close to the money to do the project... Do the math. What does it sound like to others reading this?

 

[72firebird]

I'll try to figure out as much as I can with approximate prices. Most of these besides for the paint would be assuming you do the work.

-The car has sun faded paint to the point that the hood has surface rust. The front of the hood is rusted past the surface and is bubbled up. - Hood would be about $300 since it came on the GTAs too. Paint will be about $2,000 for a cheap job but includes them doing all prep work.

-All the rubber is dried up(winshield,T tops ect) - seals will run you about $800 for everything on the car like hood, trunk, T-top, door, etc

- The wing is cracked and peeling. - the wing cracking is normal. you could probably have that fixed in the prep work for the paint and the peeling would be included in the paint.

-Nose is spider webbed bad. - again paint unless the actual plastic is broke then a new nose would be pretty cheap you could get it form a junk yard from a GTA and move the emblem over and repint.

-The wheels and emblems are all there and in rather nice shape. - that's good emblems are pretty expensive

-The front seats are torn up pretty bad. - new seat covers run around $1300 I think and you can get them from carmotorsports.com

-The carpet is faded really bad. - carpet looks to be aorund $200-300 on carmotorsports again

-DS armrest is shot - I have no clue what armrests run for

-The car runs but hasnt been driven in several years. - you'll probably need to invest in about $300 in maintenance stuff like oil, rear end fluid, tranny fluid, and etc.

-small dent in left side rear quater. About 4 in long - take it to a paintless dent removal place. depends if the dent is creased at all and where it's at for how much.

-heater core is bad - dunno how much a heater core runs

-AC dont work - well you're gunna have to change to 134 which will cost like $100
-The winshield pillar is starting to get rust from the inside out - all dpeends on how much rust and the damage that is really done.

Hopefully this iwll help you a little bit. I might have some of the prices a little high or low they were just estimates form what I can think of.

 

[Louie L.]

Thanks for the help guys. Im fully aware that I am going to have to spend a fair amount of money on this car just to make it presentable. I did it with my GN and have started with my T Type. I just didnt know about the TTAs and what the parts run for them. Engine and tranny stuff is no problem.

 

[gn4u2c]

a word to the wise it's going to cost alot of money to make it right. I would say thats a $3,500 car to make into a daily driver. not a show car. just my opinion. If you want to spend 12k and get a real nice car well then you can call me

 

[Lee_Burough]

Re: what is it worth...

Originally posted by dan lephart
What is it worth after you spend the $8,000 to $12,000 for a total restoration?.... Do the math. What does it sound like to others reading this?

I think dan is right....Sorry to say it, but, that car is good for parts, and that is it. By the time you fix the basic things to make it presentable, you'll easily have another $4k in it and still have rust everywhere. Better to buy a good one to start with and end up spending $4-8,000 less overall.

 

[1987 GN]

Car sounds like it needs some work but is definitely not a parts car. That would be a good driver for someone to enjoy a turbo car and fix/play with it as they enjoy it. $4k-$5k is fair money for that car as long as mechanically it just needs a tune-up and some maintenance items. The cosmetic stuff can wait, and be done in stages to make this a good entry-level driver TTA.

 

[Lee_Burough]

Buy a nice 89 GTA for $3k and switch the drivetrain....Time and money ahead.

I still think its a parts car, your description sounds like its a rust bucket

 

[19TTA89]

Originally posted by Louie L.
I

here are the issues.....

-
-The winshield pillar is starting to get rust from the inside out !

B]

This Part worries me the most.....

I would take a good look under the T-Tops....Take them off,And get a good look around,Under the Weatherstripping,They tend to rust badly up there(Starting in the Center of the Tops)...And can be a major job....You really cant see it all until you start fixing it...This may be the cause of your Pillar rust.....Running down under the tops...And Down the A-Pillar on the Inside...

Good Luck...

But In my opinion.....Definately not a 6K Car...Probably more like a 3K car....

 

[Louie L.]

Thats exactly what im thinking ,thats a $3k car, no more. But i did want to check with you guys before i stuck my foot in me mouth. Now i could buy it and part it out but lets face it , none of us would like to see that. Im going to offer the guy 3k for it and see if he goes for it.

 

[1badTTA]

Originally posted by Louie L.
Thats exactly what im thinking ,thats a $3k car, no more. But i did want to check with you guys before i stuck my foot in me mouth. Now i could buy it and part it out but lets face it , none of us would like to see that. Im going to offer the guy 3k for it and see if he goes for it.

Definately not a parts car, but would make a killer driver or stage II car. $3,000-$3,500 sounds fair.

BTW, a fiberglass rear spoiler is $450 shipped.

 

[Razor]

Ac dont work.. great pull it out.

Seats torn.. great pull them out..

Weather stripping is way over rated..

Glass spoiler, 10 point cage, new set of coil springs, pull the motor out of the Buick install into trans am, gut the interior..

Bam.. 9 second TTA. You know that white cars are faster than black cars

3500-4000 bucks, sell of the collectible junk on the car, turn it into a warrior ... you'll do pretty good. All the memorabilia junk it has will pay for the cage..

Easy ..hehe

 

[tta1401]

I say but it and make it into a racer! Yea, you could get a GTA just as cheap and alot nicer and do a 3.8 swap but there are not many of these cars and it would be nice to have a real TTA as a racer. Just my .02 cents.

 

[Louie L.]

Originally posted by Razor
Ac dont work.. great pull it out.

Seats torn.. great pull them out..

Weather stripping is way over rated..

Glass spoiler, 10 point cage, new set of coil springs, pull the motor out of the Buick install into trans am, gut the interior..

Bam.. 9 second TTA. You know that white cars are faster than black cars

3500-4000 bucks, sell of the collectible junk on the car, turn it into a warrior ... you'll do pretty good. All the memorabilia junk it has will pay for the cage..

Easy ..hehe

These are just plain dirty thoughts ! **** my motor in a TTA probably got 9.50s even tired as it sits.

I guess ill stop by tommorow and see if he will even accept 3k. If he doesnt that will save me all the all this mental aggravation im going through!

 

[Razor]

Paint the Buick White, add some decals.. a wing.. BAM.. your there.. 9.50's..

Just dont know why more Buick guys dont catch on to this.

 

[0to60n4.5]

Lets lop the whole top off it while we are gutting it. Remove the deck lid also and don't drive in the rain. ( this will save money on the not needed spoiler. ) Who needs a hood anyway , they get in the way.

 

[Louie L.]

Resurecting this back from the dead. Took a drive by this guys house and the TTA is still there. 2 years later exactly.He was outside and walked up to me. Gave me a price of 3k. We walked over to it. Put the key in it and it started right up. Sitting outside since new..hadnt been started for about 1 year. It actually has 90 k, one owner.....


It would never be a show car but it could be a nice daily driver....Man im being tortured here.!!!!

 

[JRNYMNDAVID]

Resurecting this back from the dead. Took a drive by this guys house and the TTA is still there. 2 years later exactly.He was outside and walked up to me. Gave me a price of 3k. We walked over to it. Put the key in it and it started right up. Sitting outside since new..hadnt been started for about 1 year. It actually has 90 k, one owner.....


It would never be a show car but it could be a nice daily driver....Man im being tortured here.!!!!

BUY IT FOR 3K!!
GRAFT TO A NICE GTA.
LOT OF WORK,BUT,SMALL$$$

 

[72firebird]

Resurecting this back from the dead. Took a drive by this guys house and the TTA is still there. 2 years later exactly.He was outside and walked up to me. Gave me a price of 3k. We walked over to it. Put the key in it and it started right up. Sitting outside since new..hadnt been started for about 1 year. It actually has 90 k, one owner.....


It would never be a show car but it could be a nice daily driver....Man im being tortured here.!!!!

if you're not gunna buy it can you get me some pictures and send them to mengele62@yahoo.com I'm really interested in the car.

 

[DaJoker]

I'll be 2nd in line, buy it or I would love to site unseen!!!!