Another what-would-you-do thread

[turbojimmy]

I didn't want to step all over bishir's thread, but my brother has a similar dilemma.

He has this car:
http://www.turbojimmy.com/87t.html

It's an '87 Turbo T with 114k miles on the body; 60k miles on the rebuilt engine. Runs rough, but nothing major wrong with it. Body is rough. Rotted through on the LH 1/4, lots of little repairs to make overall. Inside can be cleaned up decently.

It's 100% original with the window sticker and all repair history since it was new. He picked up for basically nothing. It has a salvage title (because it was abandoned).

Would you re-body it? I'm inclined to say fix what you have so you wind up with a nice numbers-matching example of a Turbo-T but the easiest (read cheapest) thing to do would be to find a nice Regal (or other "G" body) to swap the drivetrain into. I think a 3.8L turbo "442" would be really cool, too.

Jim

[TTA1543]

I'd rebody it. Some cars reach a point where unless there is some extreme sentimental value to it you're better to move on. If it were VERY rare it would be worth considering, but a 114,000 mile car restored to a nearly new state would not in our lifetimes ever see a break even point vs. the amount of money spent. I really hate to see a TR die, but at least rebodied the soul would still live on and be enjoyed. And isn't that what these cars are all about? JMO :rock:

[CT87GN]

Hmmm.....Salvage title will follow this car for the rest of its life, NO MATTER how nice it could be when restored. I'd part this one out myself, but thats just me. Thats my story and i'm sticking to it!!!

KTB

[WH1]

If I had it and could find a suitable canidate, I'd swap everything over. Use everythin you can and sell the rest.

[turbojimmy]

Thanks for the suggestions. Not sure if he's going to look for a plain Regal body or a "T" but he wants to keep it Buick.

Jim

[SuperSix]

I didn't want to step all over bishir's thread, but my brother has a similar dilemma.

He has this car:
http://www.turbojimmy.com/87t.html

It's an '87 Turbo T with 114k miles on the body; 60k miles on the rebuilt engine. Runs rough, but nothing major wrong with it. Body is rough. Rotted through on the LH 1/4, lots of little repairs to make overall. Inside can be cleaned up decently.

It's 100% original with the window sticker and all repair history since it was new. He picked up for basically nothing. It has a salvage title (because it was abandoned).

Would you re-body it? I'm inclined to say fix what you have so you wind up with a nice numbers-matching example of a Turbo-T but the easiest (read cheapest) thing to do would be to find a nice Regal (or other "G" body) to swap the drivetrain into. I think a 3.8L turbo "442" would be really cool, too.

Jim

I think rebodying it would be much more work than getting it back together, and much more of a hassle.. Unless he want to hit the show-car circuit, just fix what you have.

[bishir]

I'd buy the motorless GN in the for sale section of this forum and swap the drivetrain.