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We recently purchased a 2001 Trans Am for $500 that needs a LOT of detailing, figured id share our progress thus far. The story of how we got the car: I used to drive by the car all the time, parked in front of an apartment complex rotting away. After a few months of seeing it like this we couldn't take it anymore, so we decided to leave a note on his apartment door back in November of 2014. We waiting for a call back for months, and nothing.
Fast forward to March 23, 2015. I get a call at 9 AM, he finally called us back. Come to find out he had medical issues and was staying with his sister. This poor car is/was trashed on the inside. The car had sat for about a year because Firestone diagnosed it as having a blown headgasked. He jumped the battery and it fired right up and the temperature skyrocketed in a matter of minutes. So we shut it off immediately when it starts getting hot. I offered him 500 bucks and he took it. So he leaves and we check the coolant, as any rational person would with an overheating engine. It was practically empty. So we run down the street to the store and grab 2 gallons of antifreeze. We filled the car up and drove it 4 miles home with 0 Issues. Here are some pictures of the car when we bought it and our progress so far. Be warned, he trashed the interior and the drivers side window did NOT roll up we found some nasty stuff, mold included.
Notice the window, and the door do not close.
With the carpet pulled, zero rust. New carpet will be here the first week of april!
Thanks man, I found a few really cool thing. In one picture with the glovebox you can see some green tags. Those are the original keychain things that they keys came on when it was bought brand new. I found the original window sicker as well. He was the original owner, seats will get done soon hopefully! You can see my black camaro in the background, can kind of see the custom seats in it. Not sure what i'm going to do yet.
wow , 500 bucks , you stole that , how many miles on it . Looks bone stock too . I cant believe the price you got on that . i keep this thread updated with pics , i cant wait to see it all cleaned up .
Do you have a porter cable 7424xp? if you dont you should pay someone to detail it or get some detailing supplies .
What a steal! Did it actually have a bad head gasket or not? Can't wait to see what she looks like when you get the grime off and see what shape she is in.
Congrats and glad to see someone give that car some TLC
total steal, hell the intake manifold and fuel rails are nearly worth that much, not to mention the other salvageable parts or just gutting the interior and selling it as a roller had the motor been truly jacked up, any which way it was a safe bet on your side.
be sure to find the coolant leak that allowed it to run that low before you put to much money into the rest of it.
What a steal! Did it actually have a bad head gasket or not? Can't wait to see what she looks like when you get the grime off and see what shape she is in.
Congrats and glad to see someone give that car some TLC
It does not have a blown head gasket, was just low on coolant. The leak has already been found, and it's getting a bath later today. It has 190k miles on the original motor and trans. Has tons of service records in the center console too. Close to $7000 in the past 4 years. He seemed to take good care of it prior to his accident.
Ok, so we got the oil changed, resolved the coolant leak, and washed it up. It definitely needs a pro to detail it. Once we get it licensed we will do that. Here are some pics of it cleaned up.
Ran it around the block, no dash lights. Which is surprising.
I actually just put the bra on, the previous owner hit a deer or something and the hood/fender is messed up. He took it upon himself to try and bondo it, so it looks like **** under the bra unfortunately. I'm pretty excited to get this thing cleaned up and back on the road.
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Fixing up the $500 2001 Trans Am 
