I'll say one thing for sure... It looks a lot nicer than a lot of $500 cars I've owned!
Even if it's a little rusty underneath, it'd be a great driver.
Even if it's a little rusty underneath, it'd be a great driver.
Got a question...
- Thread starter The_Schmeed
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well i called and it is still for sale, so im going on tuesday to go and look at it, test drive it and if its a good buy, ill buy it. I'll let you guys know how it goes 😛 thanks again for all the help and advice guys and awesome little speech there 454muscle, it was well appreciated 😀 😛
I would vote NO . If this is your only car I would find something else as a first car / DD. These cars are too old and typically need more gas and repair than a young persons ( or my ) wallet can sometimes afford. I am sure a lot of us had a Gbody as a first car but from a parents point of view would you put your kid into a unknown 25 year old car with a poor/bad crash rating ?? My kid ( who is now 14 ) will be driving my wifes '03 Impala when she turns 16 because it has Airbags, a 5 star crash rating, be 1000% more reliable than the gbody will ever be, twice the mileage, and cheaper for insurance because of that 5 star rating and the fact that it was never on the the top 10 most stolen car list.
If you are going to do it anyways be aware.... the S.Ont cars are prone to rot in the floors, rockers, and rear frame rails from the salt on the S.Ontario roads esp T.O. Even my car which was supposedly never winter driven and garage kept and undercoated to the hilt ( it was sold in Whitby ) had some floor rot and seized bolts which required me to park the car for 3 weeks while repairing and working to get it drivable again which would have been a PIA if it was my DD. As well dont expect the trans or rear end to hold up to the monster torque motor you have in your head or the factory brakes to be sufficient to stop the car. I hate to sound like a downer but although it's fun driving a car you have built it's a slippery slope and expenses can easily get out of hand. Not including the price of the car it will be another $1k for a trans, $ 1k in decent brakes, $1k in rear end work, plus however much more a motor will cost.
In short a gbody is a great hobby car but only a DD if you can do all the work yourself.
Regarding the poster who asked about putting in a console from a 442 into a 4 door. It fits fine, just need to put in a brackets for the inner bucket seat mounts and for the rear bracket on the console. My Malibu 4 door ( x-cab ) had the complete buckets & console from a Grand Prix to replace the cabs vinyl interior ( even the rear seat backand carpet fit in fine with a little massage ).
If you are going to do it anyways be aware.... the S.Ont cars are prone to rot in the floors, rockers, and rear frame rails from the salt on the S.Ontario roads esp T.O. Even my car which was supposedly never winter driven and garage kept and undercoated to the hilt ( it was sold in Whitby ) had some floor rot and seized bolts which required me to park the car for 3 weeks while repairing and working to get it drivable again which would have been a PIA if it was my DD. As well dont expect the trans or rear end to hold up to the monster torque motor you have in your head or the factory brakes to be sufficient to stop the car. I hate to sound like a downer but although it's fun driving a car you have built it's a slippery slope and expenses can easily get out of hand. Not including the price of the car it will be another $1k for a trans, $ 1k in decent brakes, $1k in rear end work, plus however much more a motor will cost.
In short a gbody is a great hobby car but only a DD if you can do all the work yourself.
Regarding the poster who asked about putting in a console from a 442 into a 4 door. It fits fine, just need to put in a brackets for the inner bucket seat mounts and for the rear bracket on the console. My Malibu 4 door ( x-cab ) had the complete buckets & console from a Grand Prix to replace the cabs vinyl interior ( even the rear seat backand carpet fit in fine with a little massage ).
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Just check it out, if the rot is bad, oh well... If its descent, go for it. that's basically the same story as how I got mine down to the color and price!! lol
thnx for the info. the cutlass will be my DD and i have a child on the way. so my compromise without eliminating a G-BODY all together was to get the 4 door. and i want the feel and masculinity of a self made 442, but in 4 door form. so ill be hitting the yards looking for consoles(hoping i get lucky), but wont get my hopes up. also i have the Qaudra-Jet 740 on my 305. i want something pretty much to replace it, but dont want another QJ. any advice? and my last question is is there a kit to make the back door windows operable in these 4 door cars? i know the wing windows work, but i want the bigger ones to roll down. thnx
This won't make them operable but it will open them ...
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I don't think there is enough room with the wheel well provision in the door to get the window mechanism in there
I don't think there is enough room with the wheel well provision in the door to get the window mechanism in there
Idk, I'm 16, bought my 87 when I was 13. It was $500 and was a mess. In my case it's a project, but I would have no problems daily driving it if I had to. Simple thing is, if you don't want shyt breaking, don't beat on it. I know somethings just wear out, but for the most part, transmissions and rears get wrecked from lack of maintenance and abuse.
I see no problems buying it as long as 2 things, it's not rotted to hell/hacked up, and you know how to work on cars and can do any work needed yourself. If it's a solid good car and you can and will work on it yourself, knock yourself out with it.
My parents put it this way, I want a car, I buy it. For a daily I have a 91 acclaim that gets good mileage but I don't know about crash ratings. It was my grandma's. The insurance with me on my cutlass as the driver, btw, is cheaper than insurance with me on my mom's 95 LeSabre as the driver. Even with such bad crash ratings, and top stolen car lists... It is an older vehicle, it has no collision (they have no value for it, why bother), and the only think keeping it as expensive as it is, is the fact it's a 2 door v8 and I'm a boy. Even so, my insurance costs $800 a year for the cutlass.
I see no problems buying it as long as 2 things, it's not rotted to hell/hacked up, and you know how to work on cars and can do any work needed yourself. If it's a solid good car and you can and will work on it yourself, knock yourself out with it.
My parents put it this way, I want a car, I buy it. For a daily I have a 91 acclaim that gets good mileage but I don't know about crash ratings. It was my grandma's. The insurance with me on my cutlass as the driver, btw, is cheaper than insurance with me on my mom's 95 LeSabre as the driver. Even with such bad crash ratings, and top stolen car lists... It is an older vehicle, it has no collision (they have no value for it, why bother), and the only think keeping it as expensive as it is, is the fact it's a 2 door v8 and I'm a boy. Even so, my insurance costs $800 a year for the cutlass.
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