Poll
Question: Buy it?
OK, here's the promised pics of the 85 30th Anniversary TBird. He wants $1100 for it, firm. 5.0 V8, AOD (all gears there), quad-shocks, 10-holes, keyless (with blue buttons), etc.
Pros:
Runs, drives, stops. (Daily driver for the last 3 years)
New front rotors and pads.
New tires (215/60 F, 225/60 R)
New exhaust (True dual, only 2 cats, about 3 years old, from cat-back is all new, h-pipe, 2.5" aluminized, quiet, correct tailpipes with turn downs)
New stereo (some fancy CD player with a remote and some speakers)
EVERYTHING works (heater, all power accessories, the "Star Wars" dash)
3 Owners (And still has the original keys and 30th Anny floormats)
Never been hit, not even a door ding.
Nice interior (no dash cracks, perfect seats and headliner)
Cons:
Needs paintwork around the windows on the doors.
Has the typical rust right below the rear window.
163xxx miles.
Auto on the column with consolette.
Some drill holes in the passenger bottom of dash, needs a glovebox door, door panels need help.
R134 A/C, non-functional.
All the window trim needs to be repainted.
So, what do you think? I'm kind of torn. I want a nicer one to start with, but they only made what, 5,000 of these? The interior is 75% there as far as "show quality" goes (needs door panel help, something done on the passenger bottom of the dash, a glovebox, and some other minor items). Paint needs some help, but it might be salvageable with some blending. Runs like a champ, but for how long?
Please help! :birdsmily:
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dude, get it.
Offer $900
*edit*
just caught Firm...
ehh I dunno I still like it but 1,100 is kinda a stretch.
Screw it! Get it anyway.
For some reason that rear bumper looks like its been replaced. Do you see the color difference between the side trim and the bumper?
What does this car look like from the underside?
I would say if the floorpans are reasonably clean, go for it.
re-painting trim and such isnt that hard. the rust around the windows has me concerned though. Also, the rusty look of the engine looks a little rough too. I'm betting the car sat for a time outside. Besides all that and the carpet, its a nice bired at a decent price for what it is. if it were me, i'd base buying it on how clean the inderside is. make sure you check around the touque boxes and the frame around there, as well as the normal rot-spots these cars tend it have.
that being said.......I vote Buy....... if its clean underneath. :)
What it needs is minor. What it represents is major.
Besides...it's a Regatta Blue interior. The more that time goes by, the more I just fall in love with that color. It's the perfect blend of blue and grey. And you'll get used to the column shifter. A consolette car has much fewer squeaks. ;)
Looks like a good long term project.
Id offer 500.00 for it thats what i see local cars in similar shape go for.
You gotta start somewhere. Looks better than the cougar I bought so I say go for it.
Brian
He had it priced at $1800 just 2 weeks ago and it's advertised for $1400. He told me he'd take $1100 based on the fact that I'm going to keep it/work on it instead of stripping it.
It has no rust anywhere else. The sway bars are a little greasy, but otherwise it's clean under there. I saw it in the rain and it didn't leave the rainbow water so it's not "dripping". The sub-framerails looked nice, no wacks or jack dents. All 4 wheelwells were clean and perfect wheel lips. Underside of the trunk is clean, bottoms of the doors are clean.
The only rust I can find is 3 bubbles under the rear window, and the stuff around the side windows (surface only). The driver's shock tower looked great, I couldn't get a good look at the passenger's.
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OK, Last 3. These are all the pics I have.
I would get it, it looks to be in better shape than my cougar when I bought it (still does). Don't sweat the small stuff.
It a "rare" vehicle and customizing it should be fun.
Just my 2cents
i would get it just for what eric says, it represents. Who else here has a 30th?
They are as rare as 20th's i suspect. what does the buck tag say?
Buy it.You know deep down you want it,or you wouldn't have devoted this much time and effort trying to get us to vote,and showing all the pics.Buy it and get to work.
I knew I could count on Vinnie ;)
There's only 1 30th here, and 5 20th's. I suspect the 30th might actually be rarer/harder to find. Then again a LOT more people hold onto "rare" Cougars then Thunderbirds...
If you don't buy it,you'll kick yourself later.A thousand dollars in cash,he'll take it for the car.Green talks.
BUY IT! Pull the motor and build up the roller block from your Sport. Then stuff that in there:burnout:
pullin this and that and modifications here and there defeat my opinion on why you should buy the car. thats just my opinion. Same reasons i got the 20th, keep a good example around to enjoy when the style of installation and assembly are not easy to come by here in a few more years,,, if that.
Its a responsiblity to own one of those. To strip it of its original stance / plant / looks would make it nothing more than just another bird.
YES.
I couldnt have said it better. i would say this should be preserved. keep it stock, restore it. You have the sport to modify and play with. i think you would be happier. BUY IT!!!
I'd drop a grand on that car in a heartbeat. For a grand you could either buy a nice 30th anniversary T-Bird that only needs minor things or an old Cavalier. Sounds like an obvious choice to me...
As for originality: I say as long as you keep the main things that make a 30th a 30th intact (color, interior) and don't do anything that can't easily be undone, mod the thing to your heart's content. We're not talking about a Hemi Cuda here, we're talking about an 80's Thunderbird that was "special" only because of its paint. The fact that you can buy one for a grand shows it ain't a gold mine. Maybe in 20 years, but even then that car's got 160k on it now so it'll never be a low-mileage all-original car.
I say buy it, yank the powertrain to keep "just in case", and drop a built-to-your-taste 5.0 HO and TC rear in. Upgrade the suspension as you desire. Then have fun with the frickin' thing...
Well said thunderjet and Carm!
It's not ever going to be "original" as it needs paint. I'd love to just drive it around while fixing all of the cosmetic stuff and building the roller 5.0 from my Sport. I'd really love a 5-Speed conversion too, but the Star Wars gauges and comfy seats make it kind of a sleeper.
I'll be talking it over with the boss tonight. We were hoping for a "cleaner" one, but this car is really just paint work and a good weekend scrubbing from car-showable.
I'll keep y'all updated.
Looks like it was maintaiined, yet parked under a tree on a regular basis. $900 aint bad. $700 would, of course, be better......
I say go for it.
I have the digital guages, column shifter, and comfy seats as well. Makes the car a sleeper. Looking at the car you can't tell it's been modded (unless I pop the hood or you hear it idle:hick: ). The sleeper look is fun.
If you buy it and keep the column shift let me know if you have problems putting in headers and a H-pipe. I did it with mine so I know what needs to be modded/bent to make it fit:hick:
Sounds like you know the answer already man... I say try and go a bit lower though~800-$900 was clicking in my head as i was looking over the pictures.
And i doubt he would turn down $1000 cash waved in front of his face. :hick:
It's got the weirdest defects, But they are indeed very minor and give you something to work on. :burnout:
I can tell you straight up the rear clips for the window trim are screwed and will need to be replaced, Thats exactly how mine look.
I say do whatever you want with it, It's no fun if you have to be worried about what you do with your car.
I'm just another voice in your head saying...... DO IT!!!!
Looks like the dash badge is missing (same as the one on the trunk but smaller) but that's a nice one. The keyless entry is very rare, I've only seen one (in Reno) that had keyless and a moonroof.
- Does it have the Member's only Jacket? Another thing you see on eBay occasionally.
- Fix the rust, repaint the flat black trim, that's a nice car.
- Yes, they all have mismatched grey trim on the bumpers/sides.
- If you need any more info, I can help you. But that's a nice fixer-uper 30th from what I see of it.
Maybe you guys know how I felt when I saw our 29k mile one for sale. Its not perfect, but man, it drive me nuts just lookin at it. :)