Thinking of getting back in the car game again

2

2QuickZ's

Club Member
Well, it's been a while since I've had a fun car to play around with and wrench on and the thought has really been calling me lately. My son is 12 now and even though I was never really a hardcore wrench, it might be nice to have some small project for him to help me with and use to teach him. I think I am waxing nostalgic because third gen F-bodies have really,really been calling me now that GMC Syclones have moved out of my price range. I'm particularly hung up on '87-'90 Firebird Formulas though 3rd gen prices are climbing now too for a nice one.

Not that any of these will still be for sale when I am ready to buy in a couple of months but from this sampling, what would you lean toward if you were me?

A) 1988 Formula LB9 TPI 305, 5-speed. Super clean, all original and 40k miles for $13k. Hard top. Plus: original and super clean, rear disc brakes. Minus: original and super clean. I'm sure I would want to mod it but might be hesitant to do so.

B) 1989 Formula 305, auto. Very clean, original w/ 50k miles but with 430 rwhp 383 stroker for $11k. T-Top. Plus: Very clean and already has a stroker motor. Minus: Rear drum brakes. Needs to be imported from Canada.

C) 1990 Formula L03 TBI 305, auto. Clean inside and out w/ 105k miles and L03 switched to carb for $9k. T-Top. Plus: cheaper and not original so candidate for LS swap. Minus: Rear drum brakes. Not as clean as the other Formulas on this list.

D) 1987 Firebird Formula L03 TBI 305, auto. Very clean, original w/ 55k miles for $11k. Hard top. Plus: Very clean and original. Minus: Very clean and original. Rear drum brakes. Would be buying sight unseen and having shipped.

E) 1986 Camaro. Clean but not spotless w/ 280k on body for $12k. 2 owner car, current owner has had it since 1996. LQ9 (100k miles) swap w/ LS1 intake, hot cam and TKO-600 5 speed. Hard top. Plus: clean but not original, already LS swapped. Appears to have used high end swap parts. Minus: Probably buying sight unseen and having shipped. That or taking a flight to check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=9eSEC-BeK4w

For the Formulas, A-C are red, D is black. Even though I really want a formula, I am a bit fascinated by the Camaro since it is already LS swapped. The guy did it all himself and seemed to do a nice job and used a lot of high LS conversion parts, though the engine itself is a high mileage junkyard motor. I am leaning towards A or B if they are still available when I am ready. At the end of the day, availability may help me decide. I am still a couple of months away from being ready to buy so who knows what of these will be sold or what else comes on the market. I guess the question isn't so much about these specific cars but more about original vs. modded to various levels because whatever I buy is going to be clean and hopefully rust free.

What do you think?

Edit 1: Forgot to mention: A and D are from reputable classic car dealers. C is from a used car dealership. B and E are from private sellers.
Edit 2: Added asking price of car E.
 
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Well just keep in mind that any t top car will need the floors inspected as most have leaks and rust issues, any car with a 305 will be a huge turd so you will end up engine swapping at some point. Tune port cars were fun for what they are but again there problematic and hard to find parts for now days. Either way something to work on with the little one will always be a good experience.
 
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Scott!!! I wouldn't mess with 80's fuel injection at all. I WOULD take any of those cars and put a short carburetor intake on it and run a fitech fuel injection system for ~$1000. I think this would kick up the reliability factor into modern numbers and it's tuneable.

What kind of garage space do you have going on? What about building a cyclone or typhoon clone? I'm not even sure where I would start with that other than a clean no rust Jimmy or S10. You could put a turbo ecotec in it...or an LS...

The possibilities of losing money are endless!! I'm so excited for you!
 
I don't know how set you are on a 3rd gen, but at those prices, your already looking at getting a nice 4th gen LS1 car, and being farther ahead of the money pit. And you could still wrench on the 4th gen to have fun. Their are plenty of them out there that are still relatively stock for a good price, or ones that are already modded for fair prices. LS1Tech has a few possibilities currently in the FS section that are promising.
 
I agree with AutoRoc that it would be pretty easy to swap an LS into a Blazer if that’s what you really want....wouldn’t really be cheap, and you’d need some decent wrenching skills though.

As for the question, I don’t see a price for E, but if it’s under $10 k I’d probably get the Camaro, already has the LS swap and is a hardtop.
I guess it depends what you really want, these cars won’t be worth a whole helluva lot of money down the road, so to me originality isn’t that important. I would never own a slow turd because it might be worth money someday, and performance parts/engine swaps aren’t cheap at all.
 
Not sure how set you are on the 80s cars but for that price point you can find a newer Ls car with more easily available parts along with better reliability, fast too. Just my opinion though
 
If you are wanting something 80's or early 90's I have a few for sale.

95 Corvette ZO7 6spd 53k miles Asking $12,500

88 Mustang GT 5 speed 87k miles Will be Asking $9500

93 Yellow Feature mustang Vert 5 speed 73k miles Asking $12,500

Problem is they are all in Arizona Text or call me if interested. I can send any pics you want. 480-450-9728
 
Thanks for all the replies, guys!

Denny - I had been talking to my brother-in-law about doing an engine swap and he sent me a link to a car he saw on engineswapdepot.com. Just coincidentally it was your car! I told him, I know that guy! :D Your car is awesome. I like the oddballs like that. I would love to do something like find a clean Vega and dump a LNF and 5 speed into it. Not sure how hard it would be to switch it from DI to low pressure.

Anyway, that brings me to replying to everyone else's questions comments:

The asking price for car E is $12k. I edited my first post to reflect that.

I've had two fourth gen F-bodies already, one LT1 convertible and one LS1 hard top. They are kind of a been there, done that thing for me now. I would consider a 3rd Gen F-body a hard lean more than a sure thing. My mind is still open to other possibilities. I don't have time, patience or equipment to do my own engine swap but am not against paying someone else to do it. Bolt-ons, heads/cam, etc are not a problem for me to tackle, though. I don't need or want a race car as anything I buy would only occasionally be driven to (and hopefully from) the track. Something in the 12 second range would be perfectly acceptable as I also don't want to put a roll bar in anything.

I don't want or need a show car as I don't want to feel guilty putting a few thousand miles on the thing each year. That is what makes car A so tough. It's a beautiful car that is too good of shape that I would almost feel bad about modding or driving but is waaaay to slow for me in its present state. I'm also not worried about anything I get being a future collectible as I mostly want to enjoy it and not worry about it. I do want a clean, rust free car with no body work required, though. It just doesn't have to be spotless.

I don't want to do a Syclone or Typhoon clone, I would want the real thing and Syclones I was looking at 2 years ago for around $20k are going for $35-40k now which is too rich for my blood.

For newer LS1 cars, I would consider a GTO, G8 or CTS-V. Would love a CTS-V wagon but they are also still too rich for my blood. A Saab 9-7X Aero might be considered as well but probably not interested in its Trailblazer SS brother. Once upon a time I thought I might want a Corvette but I have been leaning away from that route towards 4 seaters w/ the exception of the previously mentioned Syclone.

That said, riche's Corvette does pique my curiosity, though. Please send me a PM with some details though as I mentioned in my initial post, I probably won't be in the market for a couple more months (just in time to put it away for the winter)!

The Grand National would be awesome. I've always loved them and I talked my Dad into buying a used one in the early 90's but if it is clean, I would guess it will also be more than I would want to spend. I have not really set a budget yet, though. My purchase would be the result of cashing out an investment and my wife and I still need to decide how we want to divide up the profit.
 
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Scott - you could always find a nice 78-87 Regal and build a Grand National clone. You could probably find a nice clean Regal down south or out west, and there is enough aftermarket to do a "From Scratch" GN build pretty cheap - and there are probably many million 3.8 blocks in the junkyard if you want to go that route. Just a thought. In fact, I have a huge pile of GN parts in my garage you could check out if you are in the market...

-Geoff
 
So buy both. Get a better deal on shipping. Had the vette out this afternoon. 110 degrees and nice ice cold a/c
 
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That yellow vet is awesome... Lots of mod potential if somehow you wanted more grunt or a nice cam lope.

Pack a bag and make a road trip home!
 
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