Is This Worth Buying?

[Scott K]

A friend contacted me tonight to inform me that a relative of his has a Fox body for sale. The information on it is limited at this point. I was told it's either an '85 or '86 hatchback, I think it's a GT, it's charcoal gray and has T-tops, one of which was apparently broken by a tree branch. I don't think the car has been on the road for several years and I have no idea when it had last been run or started. The woman said she'd take $500 for it. I can't afford to restore another car at this point. I have my '80 and my '68 to work on and I'm too deep into both of them to bail out. So, if I bought the car, I'd either have to just clean it up, try to get it running, probably replace the broken T-top and sell it as a project or, if it's too far gone to save, part it out although I don't think it's to that point yet. I would think that in either scenario, if I can get it for $500 I could make some money on it. My friend tried to text me pics, but they wouldn't load, so I haven't even seen the car yet. I need another car like I need a hole in the head, but I'm curious to at least see what it looks like. Just looking for opinions as to whether or not I should bother with it. If I can get pics of it, I'll post them.

[vintageracer]

IF it's complete and not a total rust bucket YES it's worth purchasing.

The motor, transmission and rear-end will bring more than $500 and the scrap will bring $200. Easily a $1000 part out with all that's left IF that's necessary.

Definitely go look and don't forget to "Bring Your Trailer"!

[Scott K]

I went and looked at the car this morning. It's an '85 GT with a 5 speed. The T-tops were both intact, so if one did get broken, it was replaced. The problem is that the passenger window was left partially down (bad motor?) and the weather has gotten to the interior big time. It's a mess. It was partially covered up and I didn't bother to uncover it, but from what I could see, the doors, fenders and hatch all have rust. The driver's fender was rotted out at the bottom. I didn't look underneath it, but the front shock towers appeared to be good. The odometer shows 77,091 miles. I would imagine that this is correct and has not turned over. It's really a shame, because it has just sat neglected for years. Perhaps someone could do something with it, but I'm not interested. I took some pics and they aren't great, but at least it gives some idea as to the car's condition. It would need an extensive restoration, but perhaps it could be saved.

[kfxmatt]

I’d buy that in a second for 500

[dtmilsap]

Looks to have lots of salvageable parts. T top glass. T top specific door glass ect.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[vintageracer]

I thought you said the car was BAD?????

Looks like a BARGAIN to me!

[AldeanFan]

I’d be all over that for $500.

Where is it?

There was an ‘89 in similar condition with 250,000km on Kijiji for $2,500 last week.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wraithracing]

WOW! Looks like a well optioned GT to say the least! Definitely worthy of a restoration if not a complete rust out. Too bad about the interior as it appeared to be in pretty decent shape at one point. Actually looks to be in much better shape then my 82 RS that I am restoring. The charcoal grey is an awesome color on the 85/86 GT's and the only better color IMHO is Silver!

[Scott K]

The car is in Woodlawn, OH (southwestern part of the state, north of Cincinnati). If anyone is interested, send me a PM and I'll see if I can get a phone number.

[Scott K]

I forgot to mention that the car is a one owner.

[Scott K]

So...here's the latest on the GT. My friend, who told me about it, decided he wanted the car so he went to get it this morning. In the process of towing it home, both rear tires went flat. He was able to pull into a gas station and trade one wheel out for the spare which was still good, but he still needed another one. So I had to take the spare out of my '80 and drive to where he was so he could get this thing mobile and get it home. Once it was home, we had to jack it up to get it off the tow dolly as the front tires had gone flat. All of them are rotten, which is no surprise considering the car has been sitting for over 22 years. We got a good look at the undercarriage and it's rotten. After looking the car over more, we decided it's not worth saving. He hasn't actually given the owner cash for it yet and doesn't have the title yet. He was going to talk to her and tell her what's wrong, that he doesn't want it and decide what to do with it.

We're trying to make a determination as to whether or not there's enough good parts on it to make it worth buying to part out or if he should just take it back and be done with it. My thoughts were that the wheels, t-tops, fog lights, front bumper/grill assembly, rear spoiler and possible the glass are worth saving. We aren't sure about the condition of the engine yet although we were told that the last time it was started, white smoke was coming out of the exhaust (bad head gasket?) so it may need a lot of work. Even if the engine is no good, I would think some of the parts may have value. If anyone has any thoughts about what some of these parts would be worth, please let me know. I took more pics, but they haven't shown up to my Google photos yet. Once it updates, I'll try to add them.

[Broncojunkie]

Not a lot of value in the drivetrain, other than odds and ends. 7.5 rear and non-wc trans iirc? Bellhousing, air cleaner, front bumper, t-top swap parts, pedal assembly, hood... all parts that might bring a few bucks.

[wraithracing]

The 85 T5 is a WC transmission. Not the strongest, but still a WC.

Depending on how rotten the underside is will determine if it's worth saving. A full floor pan is available for @ $500, but obviously needs to be installed.

[Scott K]

Here are more pics.

[Squirrel]

I am in Milford, that car was only 30 minutes from me.

[homer302]

Doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to see $500 worth of parts here. I also have to say I have never heard of anyone towing a car home and then bringing it back and saying no thanks, LOL. Please let us know how that conversation goes.

[meezy2]

If the car is rotted out on the underside you're looking at about $1500 easy in parts that could be sold if you just pull them from the car. If the roof isn't rusty you're looking at all the stuff someone would need to convert to a t-top car. Looks like the car has good interior plastics, engine, and trans. All of which people are out there looking for and would pay to ship. With the engine, trans, misc parts, and t-top specific items you're looking at a good amount of parts that will add up well past $500. The only deal breaker is literally breaking the car, not everyone wants half a car at their house or to deal with selling parts. I only advise this if the car is well past saving though. If it can be saved you may be able to find someone who wants to take the task on.

[erratic50]

Last I checked the parts to do a T Top — by themselves — is $1200.00

Start pricing out the bolts and brackets and air cleaner, etc.

Also - what’s worth saving depends upon who is doing the saving. You would throw up a bit if you saw my 1/2 million mile 86GT. Still it’s going to get saved.

Odds are even at 170K miles that 5.0 doesn’t need much more than a rering kit which includes new gaskets too so there’s that to think about. Or lord knows stock parts are dime a dozen if the block is ok.

And the car is all original it appears.


If a person wants a car like that — there’s a great chance.

You would not believe how much it costs to get everything back under the hood of an 85 again once it’s gone. I’ve easily got another $500 worth of stuff to go on my build. If the logistics worked better for me, there would be one less car being worried about what to do with.....

Unless that interior has been like that a long time it’s very likely that full disassembly and cleaning will make it presentable again. It’s only when the material rots out that it’s more than that.... but even then upholstery kits are available and most of the other stuff cleans up easily.

[Scott K]

Doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to see $500 worth of parts here. I also have to say I have never heard of anyone towing a car home and then bringing it back and saying no thanks, LOL. Please let us know how that conversation goes.

The thing is, the woman who owns the car is related to my friend, so I guess technically, he could take it back. It's not as if he's getting it from a total stranger. I'm really not sure what he plans to do at this point. Neither is he.

[Scott K]

I appreciate all of the information you guys have passed along. I'll let him know what you said. Perhaps this will change his mind.

[Scott K]

Just had another conversation about the car with my friend. He's still on the fence about what to do with it. The big question is, finished and done, what's a nice '85 GT hatchback worth? We've been looking on the Internet and the prices seem to be all over the place. I've seen them on Craigslist around $5K and on eBay for close to $20K. Granted, most of those are very low mileage cars. If he stood a chance of the car being worth a decent amount of money, say low to mid teens, he'd probably save it. If it's only worth $6K or so done, then it's not worth it. The good thing is that he has the capability to do a lot of the work himself, so that definitely helps keep the cost of restoration down. We also have a friend who is an FEP member that lives in the area. He has had several Fox bodies, so he knows a good deal about them. When he's available, I think he's going to have a look at it and give his opinion. Stay tuned...

[Broncojunkie]

You'll never make a profit fixing that car up. Hate to sound like a pessimist, but you can buy a nice one for a lot less than it would cost to fix it. Anything is fixable, but I'm just saying that you're not going to earn a profit on this one... so restoring it would be for reasons other than profit. Hasn't stopped most of us from spending money on them, though. I'm one of the worst, myself. I have about $5k just in paint and body work on my 88gt. Way more than that in the rest of the car and I did 95% of the work. I just priced it to a buddy yesterday for $4500. We car guys aren't always gifted with common sense!

[wraithracing]

As stated already, you will not make money on this project even doing the work yourself. Well, I guess you could if you don't count your labor at all.

I am in the same boat with my 82 RS. I will never recoup nor make $$ on the restoration of that car, but I couldn't let it get crushed, so here I am.

Unfortunately for most of these cars, rust repairs, paint, and body work are some of the biggest costs in a restoration. You will spend a minimum of $5K just on a good paint job for any Fox out there if paying a shop to do the work. If you want a great paint job then you are easily approaching $10K with all the work that involves. Then you add any major rust repair or body work and at this point you can be $15K-$20K. Then you still have all the mechanical, electrical, and interior work that needs to be addressed.

Without seeing more pictures, the car looks save-able, but then again I am not right in the head when it comes to Four Eyes! If the repairs are too much and the car is too far gone, then the parts and pieces alone are worth the asking price at this time. If the car has a title you will have no issues scrapping what is left once you remove all that can be saved. If it doesn't have a title there are still ways to scrap it legally without too much trouble.

Hope this one gets saved, but unfortunately if the entire underside is truly rotted out, it might be too far gone at this point. Good Luck!

[mmb617]

[QUOTE=Scott K;1898109]Here are more pics.

This pic is enough that I would never even think about trying to save that car, let alone think I could actually come out ahead moneywise if I did. I was dismayed to find more rust than I thought I would on my car and that one looks a lot worse. Whatever rust you can see gets much worse as soon as you hit it with a grinder. Couple that with it being completely rusted underneath and it's just a huge money suck to try and fix.

There might be some money to be made by parting it out but IMO that's a lot of work for a minimal return.

But then what do I know? I poured stupid amounts of money into my car and probably couldn't sell it for 25% of what I have in it. Since I don't intend to ever sell it that part doesn't bother me too much.

[AldeanFan]

I agree with what’s been said so far, you can’t make money on that car restoring it but there is money to be made parting it out for someone who’s willing to do that work.

That said, I’d hate to see a car go to the crusher with any desirable parts.

Many would have scrapped my 83 Convertible but it got me in to the hobby at a price point I could afford at the time. I’ve probably spent $10g on this car over the 16 years I’ve owned it and it’s appraised at $7500. But that wasn’t the point and when I bought my car I didn’t have $7500 anyway.

To the right person this car has value, so please don’t just crush it because it’s not the car for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk