How much are rusty Grand Am's worth

[81cutlass]

Cruising the local CL and found this. 78 Grand Am with a chev 350/th350. Its advertised that its got a GN rear end but its not like I need a grand am. Only thing Id have any use for is the rear. I know the rear is a $750 ish part but spending $600 plus driving and sitting on a rough grand am doesnt make much sense with 2 project cars already.

http://fargo.craigslist.org/cto/1804709716.html

 

[Blake442]

$600 is worth it for the GN rear alone. Doesn't matter if you scrap the car, you're still ahead...

Buy it, swap rear ends with your Cutlass, and re-sell it.

 

[84cutlassjuggalo]

forgive my lack of knowladge but why are gn rear ends worth so much ?

 

[patmckinneyracing]

I think that car is easily worth that much. I'm partial to it myself because it is basically pontiac's version of a malibu. As for it actually have a GN rear end, you'd have to inspect that yourself. If all you want is the rear end out of the thing, then I would say pass it up. It would definately make a good beginner car for someone young and coming into the hot rod game.

As for why grand national rear ends are worth so much is because the GN's, t-type regals, and 442's were the only g-bodies that came with the 8.5 rear end. This has left a very limited number of cars that were equipped with it. I don't agree with how much these rear ends are getting, even when they have been sitting around and are used, and probably more abused, than their 7.5 counterparts Only reason for the 7.5 always having a bad rep is cause the damn things are everywhere in the late 70's and 80's. Of course your going to have more issues when there is 1000x more of them than the number of 8.5's that were produced.

IMO by the time your done purchasing the rear end, rebuilding it with all new seals and other necessary parts, you might as well have just bought a fully built ford 9 inch, where you can swap out gear sets in 20 minutes, for right around the same price.

 

[Longroof79]

I'd grab it for the rear end and parts. Well worth it IMO.
It probably also has bucket seats and console.

 

[Peter]

easily worth that for the rear end, if it didn't workout you could make your money back easy

 

[malibuSSwagon]

If it did turn out to be the 8.5 posi rear, heck yea its worth it, you'd get it free if you swapped your rear to the car and resold it

 

[81cutlass]

Funny thing is i never really saw Grand ams and in the last 2 weeks Ive seen 3. Theres a nice looking 83 bonneville 4 dr for sale too thats kinda close to me. Problem is IMO bonnevilles are ugly. It would make a nice winter car though. If it had a lemans nose and some pontiac ralleys would make it look nice, but those bonnevile noses are just so wierd.

http://fargo.craigslist.org/cto/1830736241.html

 

[Bonnewagon]

I totally agree. My Bonneville looks like the 93 year old guy I bought it from. That's why I just swapped a LeMans nose on and am looking for a hood. That Grand Am would make a nice project for someone. I NEVER see them around.

 

[79loserbluebu]

The Grand Am's do seem to be hard to find I'm really not sure why either. I also think that buying that car is worth the rear end alone. If the cars rotted pretty bad then at least part it out and keep it in storage.