Skip to main content
Topic: found a turbo coupe. is it worth it? (Read 2065 times) previous topic - next topic

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

hey guys, i have been searching for a thunderbird to trade my car for and i think i may have found it. this guy wants to trade but i dont know if it would be worth what he wants for it. its exactly the car i want but i just need oppinions if its worth the $1500. its a 200 mile drive for me and he said he cant meet me half way because the allignment is way out and it wont make it that far. do you think its even worth my time? oh yeah, i'd be trading a 1997 eagle talon non turbo, same as mitsubisi eclipse which is blue booked at around $1700
http://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/1448541673.html
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #1
$1500 with that rust? No. Now for $400-500 maybe;)
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #2
Looks like an aftermarket sunroof, too.
2003 Marauder 300B
1996-97 Cobra wheel straight but weathered (For Sale)
84 TC manual shifter handle no  (For Sale)

BTW, I had a 1988 T-Bird Sport way back when. I found out that it was totalled shortly after trading it in. It still has the ignition switch recall to date.

Special thanx to EricCoolCats for showing me to this site.:bowdown:

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #3
yeah thats what i was afraid of. lol thats how i ended up with the talon in the first place was because i jumped on the first car i saw that was in my price range that was cool and then i ended up doing alot of work when the clutch went out and the front suspension wasnt up to par. this time i figured i'd do some more research. the car is exactly what i want, tc with all the options and a five speed. it just looks like it wasnt taken care of so i'm gonna have to turn it down i think
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #4
Agreed pass on that one.:burnout:
John

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #5
Not sure where in Ohio you are but there is one near me that has been for sale for quite awhile that is many times better than that one, except its dark blue.

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #6
My question would be, why can't he get the car aligned so that it's drivable?  IMO, that visible rust is probably the least of the issues.
__________________
Twin '85 TCs
White/ Grey 2-tone
#1 (left): undergoing top-to-bottom rebuild     
#2 (right): DD, power everything (sorta)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #7
 that thing is a rust bucket!!
'88 'bird, 10.9:1 306 w/TFS top end, forged rods/pistons, T-5 swap & bunch of other stuff, 1-family owned, had it since ‘98, 5.0tbrd88 on Instagram and YouTube

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #8
If it's rusting that bad right there, Imagine the places you cant see...
If you look closely at the lower sides on the 3rd pick, You can see steady off-color areas along the bottom edge.
The exhaust tip is rusted out also.
I wouldn't be surprised if the alignment is out of whack because of rusted out areas.
~Project ThunderStorm = '84 Charcoal Thunderbird - First Car - Long Time Work in Progress~
~Project (No Name Yet) = 1970 Plymouth GTX/RR "Clone"~

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #9
Not so much to do with the car (i'd pass on it, myself..) but WHEN are people gonna learn it's Tremec, not tremmec, and Borg-Warner made the T5 anyway lol :punchballs:

Spend a little more for the car you'll still want 5, 10, or 15 years later, instead of settling for one you'll regret in 6 months. Personal experience there....:D
'98 Explorer 5.0
'20 Malibu (I know, Chevy, but, 35MPG. Let's go brandon, eh)

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #10
Ohhh but its *SOOO* rare! :P
93 Festiva L, 193k miles, BP+T/G25MR swap, T3 50trim .48/.42, SRT FMIC, Capri electronics/Rocketchip, 2.5" exhaust
bests: ET 12.86, MPH 110.25, 1.92 short
02 Subaru Impreza WRX, 129k miles
97 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, 236k miles

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #11
Quote from: bhazard;297699
Ohhh but its *SOOO* rare! :P

yeah, like Hell... :rollin: That's a parts car, assuming a good drive train, $400-$500 tops...

Only reason the '87-'88 TC are getting rare, is people don't want to mess with replacing a turbo or building the engine once they croak...

Figured it's is a good time to throw in a post I made over on NATO...

Now when someone has a fit saying I ruined a rare car(my '88), I invite them to crunch a few numbers... In '88 there were 139,411 Tbirds built with 35,271 being TCs(unfortunately Ford claims only to have seperate numbers for the TCs) ... At first glance seems like a three to one ratio, right??? Well you have to consider there were THREE other Tbird models built in '88, the Base, LX & Sport... So if you Assume equal production, 3 divided into 104,140(Birds that were not TCs), you come up with 34,713 which is LESS for each model than the TCs... Now assuming again that the Base and LX did out sell the TC by say 5000 units each(80542 subtracted from 104,140) leaves the Sport model as the rarest mode at almost 23,600 for '88(I doubt they built that many)... I know when I was regularly sifting through the junk yards, I would see far fewer of the Sports than any other model... They aren't sacred to me either, as I junked a '87 Sport to build my 5.0 TC(the Sport Ford should have built)...

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #12
FordTruckFreeek, around 98 Tremec bought the T5 line from BorgWarner, so any T5's made after that are actually Tremec T5's. Anyone unfamiliar with T5's before the buyout would probably refer to them as a Tremec T5.
88 TC 5speed, 168000+ miles, stock 2.3T long block, ported RFE6 exhaust, Evergreen T3 running 15#'s.
Up next: FMIC, fresh air intake, ported intakes, ported big valve head.

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #13
Pass.

Quote from: FordTruckFreeek;297696
Spend a little more for the car you'll still want 5, 10, or 15 years later, instead of settling for one you'll regret in 6 months. Personal experience there....:D

x2 :punchballs::punchballs:
My car is a gravity hybrid.  The gasoline engine gets me up the hills, and gravity gets me down.

found a turbo coupe. is it worth it?

Reply #14
If you can't see rust on a northern car, you just assume there's some behind the scene.  But if you can SEE rust, there's probably a ton behind the scene.

Its a parts car, worth about 4-500.  BTW, I waited a guy out wanting $1500 for my parts Cougar and he finally caved and took $400 a few months later.