First Pontiac: 1986 Grand Prix LE

[RDR89]

A buddy of mine is selling me his GP for a nice price. Odometer shows 47,125 but I am almost positive it has rolled over He is saying original miles but I do not know. What I do know is the darned landau roof has done its dirty deed and rusted right through the roof. Little pinholes right along the trim line across the roof. Another spot that has rust is at the top of the rear quarter panels just under the opera windows. That is it for rust. Very fixable (I always say that lol) Never have done any body work but I have read about fiberglass patches and so forth. I think I can make a go of it.
No rips or tears in the interior, no cracks on the dash either. Body is super straight so looking pretty good for a 37 year old car. It has the two tone paint and the top of the hood, top of the trunk and roof has that clear coat roach look.
The doors have that big two door sag so I need some shims. (I assume shims will fix this??) Shout out if this will work or not please. Thanks brothers.

My buddy and his gf are heavy smokers so the interior is smelling like Marlboro Country. I think a replacement of the carpet is very much in order and I will try to do a clean on the seats.

Any comments are very welcome.

Car has the Chevy 305 4-BBL
Column shift

No idea what the transmission is or the rear.

Since it is totally stock I assume that is easy to find out.

He did put air shocks on it and a transmission oil cooler.

 

[MrSony]

Yeah that's 147k. A lot for a g body. 47k g bodies don't have rust.

Don't fiberglass anything fix it right or it will bite you in the *ss at the worst time.

 

[Texas82GP]

If you can't do rust repair, you might want pass on that car, depending on what you want out of it.

 

[RDR89]

Yeah that's 147k. A lot for a g body. 47k g bodies don't have rust.

Don't fiberglass anything fix it right or it will bite you in the *ss at the worst time.

So I am hearing fiberglass is bad. The right way is always cut and weld in new metal or can I get away with rust removal with sanding and anti rust spray and filler?

 

[MrSony]

So I am hearing fiberglass is bad. The right way is always cut and weld in new metal or can I get away with rust removal with sanding and anti rust spray and filler?

Only way to get rid of rust is to get rid of it. Scraping/sanding it smooth and filling over it won't stop it. Its not a lost cause, but unless you have the time to learn and the money to buy the equipment nd the space to do it in, look for a cleaner car.

 

[565bbchevy]

As far as rust repair always weld in new metal, for the door sag they have pins kits for about $10 that will usually fix it ,if the roller is bad also I have a fix for that also using the same pin kit.

 

[1evilregal]

you have some work ahead of you, but if it's not going to be a daily driver and you can take your time, it looks like a car that's worth saving... the normal rot areas sto double check are the door bottoms, frame at/behind the rear axle, and in your case the vynil top a.k.a. the rust farm... you won't really know the true extent of it until you can remove it, and get a handle of how truly bad it could be... lots of info here, and helpful people. it may seem like some are giving you negative feedback at times, but until they get to know your skill level, they're just trying to prepare you for worst case scenarios. we love our G-bodies, but realize that some are too much work to save.

what part of VA are you in? maybe someone might be close and can give advice/ lend a hand? I'm about 30 miles south of Danville, myself...

 

[ck80]

Part of that depends on what you think "a nice price" is.

I know of a regal limited for sale at a small dealer lot in northern NC we saw. It's no prize, but, looked very solid in the usual areas. Likely would've brought it home except it was leaking oil on the manifolds and had no exhaust. Not some thing you drive 5 hours home when you're in the mustang with no tools. I'd guess 2k buys it.

Would need less body work with greater parts availability than that GP sounds like.

 

[84cutlasssupreme]

Hi,
No way that's a 47k car. If your "buddy" is telling you that's original miles, he's full of it. Based on that I wonder what else you haven't been told. I'm here in Mn. & well versed in rust as they pour the salt on the roads in the winter. We just got lucky & GM bought us replacement front fenders for our '15 Equinox LTZ under their rust through warranty. Only 68k on the car & religious washing in winter & look what I got for that.
Anyway, I don't think they salt roads there in Va. in winter so that's a lot of rust on a car for that state. So my guess it sat someplace where it was pretty damp or outdoors exposed to salt air if near the coast. I noticed an aftermarket body molding also.
You said the rust was THROUGH the roof. That right there is enough to chase me away, unless you want to spend buco bucks to strengthen the frame etc. & make a convertible out of it!
How are the bottoms of the doors, rear bumper brace behind the bumper itself, rear wheel wells & trunk? Lots of 80s cars in Mn. had the rear bumpers bungy corded to the trunk opening to keep them on the car LOL!! because the brace behind the chrome was gone.
Just some things to look at. As others said, go out & find a rust-free southern car. Classiccars.com, autotrader, or just google your car & look around.
Good luck in your endeavors.