I'm looking at a 1989 Formula with a "new" trany (auto).

It's got about 153,000 miles on the engine and has a exhaust leak somewhere (haven't gotten it on a lift yet)

The windshield has a huge crack along the bottom of it and needs replacing.

Rear tires are brand new but front are spent.

Front brakes supposedly need replacing back brakes condition unknown at the moment.

The paint has some chips and visable wear in areas.

Haven't seent he car start yet (dead battery) supposedly on start up car has been known to die unless warmed up for about 5 mins (in need of drastic tune up)

Interior is alright except for the smokey smell.

Air intake piping is in need of replacing. I plan on switching it out with a K&N one.

Power door switch or power window switch is broken.

I offered $800 because it is pretty much a project car that barely runs. If there is some people out there that can tell me if Im lowballing it right now or am I justfiable. Also I need to know what am I to expect to pay for the repairs. I already know that the window is an automatic $225.

 

that sounds about right..windshield will be 100-200 roughly...tires and another 200ish...that car sounds like it needs a lot of work and maybe has some hidden problems...800 sounds right.

 

You should charge him to get that piece of **** off of his lawn. Look a little harder, they are plenty of clean 3rd gens for great prices that run fine. By the time you fix this one you will have a lot more money wrapped into it than you average clean 3rd gen

 

seriously find a nicer one that doesnt need all the stuff... Im sure they are a dime a dozen.

 

hardly... Clean third gens some times grab more money than clean lt1's. I say grab it, and put some time in it, deal shopping, make it NICE, then you will have something YOU built, that YOU can be proud of, and it will only increase in value

 

Thats the same outlook I had when I saw it. It might be built by GM but by the time I would be finished with it (Never) it would be a totally different animal.

The only problem with finding a better one up here is.........rust....and a lot of it

New England doesn't seem to be the ideal place that all the auto industry believes a car should be in.

This one supposedly has none, but like I said I haven't gotten it on a lift.

From what the owner has said to me that car has had 2 owners total including himself.

The first owner drove it only 5,000 miles from the time he bought it (1989) till the time he sold it (1998) so theres about a 9 year gap of undriven mileage. I don't know what the guy did with the car or what but 5,000 seems so low that I had to double check that. So from 1998 till present the car has seen about 148,000miles and are mainly highway miles...

the only thing that worries me is how well do these engines hold up over the years? Should I plan on replacing engine internals relativly soon??

 

It took me 5 months to find my car, and my car is an 02! take your time, you will know the perfect one when you see it.

 

FWIW it's a SBC, the thing should run damn near forever, as for rust, as a former New Englander I feel your pain, and for those that have never been there, well lets just say that rust is the #1 killer of cars up there (even fairly recent models will usually have quite a bit)
800 sounds like a good offer given your description

 

My 90 formula had some problems with 178k but well taken care of and about 1300 invested right before I bought it for 2500. Before long I had too much money and mods and repairs to get anything back from it. Then I had it all taken away in an accident (not my fault) I was mad and happy to see it go. Just think about my story and really examine your options it took a year to find one I like. I found a non rusted 305tpi 91 GTA with 76k for 3500 for my friend right before mine was crashed. Really eaxamine how deep you want to get into this project and just remember how cheap thirdgens were built from the factory as well. Sometimes if you spend a little more for a solid base can save a lot of future headaches and mysteries.

 

If you're in the Mass north shore area, I might know a couple of places that have some decent condition 3rd gens

 

My plan at the moment is to get a older car and do near enough a complete tear down of it over the next few years but not right off the bat. The mileage does scare me a bit but its mainly highway so it's not as bad as to be expected. The whole point of the project isn't just for a fast car but also get some knowledge of it aswell. I'm going to school for automotive right now and it's a lot of fun and all and an enjoyable career choice but I want something that I can be proud of a tough job done right and be able to take it home with me.

The cars worth of $800 does play a roll because of the fact im a college student. I got about $1400 to play with right now. So there really isn't much to offer me that isn't a junk that runs. Summers nearly here aswell so hopefully I will have close to $3000 by the end (excluding expenses).

 

wish i would have seen this earler, i have a 98 formula "pace car" in need of a good wet sand and new clear coat. thats it.

 

Im asking about a 89 formula not a 98 formula

 

If you think you want an 89, grab that one for around 800-ish. Is it a 305 TPI or 305 TBI or a 350 TPI? Finding a 3rd gen even in rough shape is getting harder and harder. While it's hard finding a car, the replacement/restoration parts are "a dime a dozen". You'll have a good project car on your hands. I like 89 Formulas. Good luck.

 

Its a 350 tpi. So far the spare parts haven't been that hard to locate especially with eBay on my side.

 

Make sure its a 350TPI, with the 8th digit of the VIN = 8
Any other (F, E, or S) denotes 305 TPI, 305 TBI or 2.8 V6 respectively.

 

so far every engine that I have seen that has a 305 in it has the air intake on the right hand side (looking from the front of the car). Every 350 I've seen has the intake coming from the front over to the left (looking from the same angle).

 

Don't rely on that, some one could've swapped over an intake from a 350.
A quick look at the VIN will tell you if it originally came w/ a 350 or not. If it doesn't have that "8" in the 8th position of the VIN, then its a strong possibility that its not a 350.

 

[QUOTE=FBDYLVR]Don't rely on that, some one could've swapped over an intake from a 350.
QUOTE]

Yup, definitley check the vin.

Yes it is hard to find a good condition 80's F-body nowadays. Either there beaten to hell or they need major body/paint work. But, there are some decent ones out there. My Dad recently bought a 91 Camaro RS with the 305 in excellent condition and 90K miles for $2,000.... there are a few of em'. Keep looking IMO.