Alright, so I am in Canada. I have been unsuccessfully looking for a fun project mobile to tinker with and hopefully drive. Looking for something that "sounds fast" but it doesn't actually need to be fast. If she can light the tires up, all the better. In my recent searching, I have looking at an early 80s regal with a swap motor, an early 80's regal "with a v8", an 80's Grand Prix with more rust than metal but a 350sbc and an 85 Monte with a v6 with a body held together with spit and prayers.
Yesterday, I went and looking at a 78 Grand Prix SJ model. The car is red/silver and has not ran for over a year. To nobodies surprise in Canada, it has rust. Rust aroudnt he rear driver wheel well, some (hopefully) surface rust in the floor pans which made the padding under the carpet damp (or the shot weather seals are letting water in) and you can see some sunlight through a spot in the corner of the trunk. It has dings, chips and scratches that show some rust but it looks pretty solid. The frame seems good, the tank looks good and the chrome is decent. As a plus, all the glass is free of major chips/cracks, but the sunroof is taped up.
Here is where things go pear shaped. The tires are flat on the passenger side but hold air (new winters in 2019 with only 1 season), there is what appears to be trans fluid leaking quite quickly under the car, the interior has seen more cigarettes than kilometers, the odometer says 47k, but that was rolled at least once and someone put in and then removed an aftermarket stereo with dozens of random wires running all over. The headliner is sagging, trim is damaged or poorly installed, the vinyl top is pretty decent but cracking etc. I opened the trunk and it had a spare, but it also had a jug of ATF, Coolant, washer fluid, battery and a snapped belt. The current owner said it was safetied 2019, then he picked it up, "swapped" the brakes, installed a new battery and had his mechanic friend check it out who said the frame is solid.
Again, it appears the bones are solid enough, some patching, some bondo, some paint and it will probably freshen up decent. I was told the owner before the previous owner swapped the motor in it with a 307 Olds of some sort and that he removed all the heat circulating stuff? I don't know. I brought minimal tools a breaker bar, forgot my ramps and a can of ether. My plan was to see if it spun freely then try and get a spark of life from it with the Ether/gas I brought then make a decision. Turns out the last guy to look at it, about a month ago, snapped the hood latch release cable. Climbing under a Grand Prix with 2 flats on the same side to try and free the hood/unbolt the latch/remove the grill wasn't in the cards last night.
As with most abandoned projects, the current owner has a story attached to the car, wants to move, cant afford to fix it and doesn't want to move it. He wants $2000, but it has both a for sale sign saying that and the advertisement has been up for a while. Lots of g-bodies pop up, many of them running, most of them more rusty. I was told the owner drove it, reliably and happily the winter of 2019/2020, then spring 2020 on a smoke run, she got about 1km from home and start to sputter and run extremely poor until it just cut out. He could crank it and he got it started, but basically needed to keep the hammer down to get it to limp back home and it barely got there. he tried starting it a few times but nothing. The gas in the tank didn't smell fully varnished, but unless I could get into the engine bay and pull a fuel line I wasn't going to be able to start diagnosing the issue. Obviously the hood latch is easily fixed, but it would take time, effort and money to do so.
What would you do? Show up and try to pop open the hood and check out the engine, knowing it stopped working mid drive and still limped home, then pay closer to asking? Or do I super low ball the guy and tell him it is basically an as is sale, then pop open the hood and accept whatever may happen...
Yesterday, I went and looking at a 78 Grand Prix SJ model. The car is red/silver and has not ran for over a year. To nobodies surprise in Canada, it has rust. Rust aroudnt he rear driver wheel well, some (hopefully) surface rust in the floor pans which made the padding under the carpet damp (or the shot weather seals are letting water in) and you can see some sunlight through a spot in the corner of the trunk. It has dings, chips and scratches that show some rust but it looks pretty solid. The frame seems good, the tank looks good and the chrome is decent. As a plus, all the glass is free of major chips/cracks, but the sunroof is taped up.
Here is where things go pear shaped. The tires are flat on the passenger side but hold air (new winters in 2019 with only 1 season), there is what appears to be trans fluid leaking quite quickly under the car, the interior has seen more cigarettes than kilometers, the odometer says 47k, but that was rolled at least once and someone put in and then removed an aftermarket stereo with dozens of random wires running all over. The headliner is sagging, trim is damaged or poorly installed, the vinyl top is pretty decent but cracking etc. I opened the trunk and it had a spare, but it also had a jug of ATF, Coolant, washer fluid, battery and a snapped belt. The current owner said it was safetied 2019, then he picked it up, "swapped" the brakes, installed a new battery and had his mechanic friend check it out who said the frame is solid.
Again, it appears the bones are solid enough, some patching, some bondo, some paint and it will probably freshen up decent. I was told the owner before the previous owner swapped the motor in it with a 307 Olds of some sort and that he removed all the heat circulating stuff? I don't know. I brought minimal tools a breaker bar, forgot my ramps and a can of ether. My plan was to see if it spun freely then try and get a spark of life from it with the Ether/gas I brought then make a decision. Turns out the last guy to look at it, about a month ago, snapped the hood latch release cable. Climbing under a Grand Prix with 2 flats on the same side to try and free the hood/unbolt the latch/remove the grill wasn't in the cards last night.
As with most abandoned projects, the current owner has a story attached to the car, wants to move, cant afford to fix it and doesn't want to move it. He wants $2000, but it has both a for sale sign saying that and the advertisement has been up for a while. Lots of g-bodies pop up, many of them running, most of them more rusty. I was told the owner drove it, reliably and happily the winter of 2019/2020, then spring 2020 on a smoke run, she got about 1km from home and start to sputter and run extremely poor until it just cut out. He could crank it and he got it started, but basically needed to keep the hammer down to get it to limp back home and it barely got there. he tried starting it a few times but nothing. The gas in the tank didn't smell fully varnished, but unless I could get into the engine bay and pull a fuel line I wasn't going to be able to start diagnosing the issue. Obviously the hood latch is easily fixed, but it would take time, effort and money to do so.
What would you do? Show up and try to pop open the hood and check out the engine, knowing it stopped working mid drive and still limped home, then pay closer to asking? Or do I super low ball the guy and tell him it is basically an as is sale, then pop open the hood and accept whatever may happen...