weneversleep

(First time poster here, new member, but I've been lurking as a guest for a while...)

Probably a silly question given this board, but this is a real dilemma that I'm facing right now. First of all, I've never owned a third gen, nor any F-body. I've always loved them, though. I currently drive a C5 Z06 and an Evo X.

Anyway, my father-in-law has a 1982 Trans Am, black/black, with the LU5 crossfire 305 V8, automatic (no manual for the LU5, as you know).

It has 18K miles. Owned since new. It's been sitting in a garage in Colorado for years. Unfortunately he's stacked "stuff" on it, so the paint is scratched, but no dents or bodywork, and interior is perfect. Engine hasn't turned over in years; fuel filter is clogged, and who knows what else mechanically needs to be done. I guess you could call it a "barn find", more of a "garage find".

He just wants it out of the garage, and will give it to me for free. However, I'm in Texas, and would have to go through the hassle of getting it down here. Hiring a transport would be more (much more?) than the car is actually worth, so obviously I wouldn't be doing it for the value of the car.

What would you do?

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

I would find a 3rd gen guy in Colorado to help your father inlaw get rid of it... I might know someone Seriously sounds like one of those "too good to be true" situations, and I'm sure that making a family trip to CO to put it on a trailer and get it home would be worth it. If not PM me. I'll find some barn space for it, and go through it like I'm doing with my Z03

weneversleep

Naah, it's not too good to be true. It's been sitting there for years; at least as long as I've known my wife (13 years). I see it in the garage every time we visit. And, yes, he'll give it to me for free. Problem is, free in this case doesn't exactly mean "free", given the work that it would need to get it driveable.

Unfortunately, I've used up my allotment of buying-a-car-road-trips for the time being... a few months ago, I flew to AZ to buy my Z06 and drove it back home.

I'm just trying to decide if the expense of getting it home is worth it. I have a garage, but it would mean kicking out (yet another) car, meaning my Evo, and my wife isn't happy about her car getting kicked out of the garage when I bought my Vette.

It's really too bad about the paint; it's always been garaged, but for the past few years it's had junk stacked on top of it, and it's a little scratched up. Also, who knows what shape it is in mechanically. I would just put it on eBay or bringatrailer, but something keeps gnawing at me, telling me it would be a fun project...

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

I'm sure it would be a fun project! Where is the car? I'm near Fort Collins. I'd try and take a peek at it to get an idea what it would take to get it going enough for a road trip. I would figure most of the fuel system would be shot, might be able to clean up the throttle bodies, and tires at a minimum. I run a shop in FOCO, but I'm sure paying us to get it all up and going would cut into "is it worth it" budget. If its too much sell it to me and I'll get to it later

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

If you're not a hands-on guy that fixes your own stuff (I'm assuming you arent based on your current 2 car choices) this car is not a gift or blessing to you. It will need everything to be drivable again, and you're either prepared for that or you're not. If you're not prepared to have a 30yr old car to work on and fix, I'd sell it to someone on here who wants one and can fix it.

I'm being very blunt I know, but I've seen this happen before and cars get taken apart and never finished. This car is worth saving, but it needs to go to someone who can fix it and is willing to invest the time and money to do it. If I lived closer I'd buy it and start on it now, but I'm quite far away.

navy02ws6

I wouldn't worry about the paint...I've seen plenty of original paint jobs on low mileage 1982 Corvettes, and I've yet to see one that I would say is nice, neglected or not. And being Black, you're going to see more flaws than any other color. Bottom line is, you'd want to have it repainted regardless of whether or not they stacked stuff on top of it.

Honestly I would be more worried about the car having sat for so long, especially being a CFI car...I know there are some guys on here that know all the ins and outs of the CFI system, but your average mechanic is going to have no idea how to get it running right. Not to mention potential problems with parts availability.

weneversleep

Oh, I realize what I would be getting into. I can turn wrenches, but I'm by no means a professional mechanic. I certainly haven't done any paint or body work.

However, I do have to do work on my cars; I'm a driving instructor, so there's always something that needs to be maintained, fixed, or improved for track work, and I try to do as much as I can myself.

I've just always wanted to restore a car, to have something that I can spend time on without worrying about when it's going to be driveable soon. OTOH, it would be a lot of time, money, and giving up garage space.

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Paying the shipping handling fees is a pretty cheap buy in for a low mileage car. Most restorations start with someone having to purchase a vehicle, then get it home, figure out the space to work on it, then begin the repairs... You got the benefit of not having to purchase the car.

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

It sounds like a great deal to me. If the paint scratches aren't too deep, chances are you can just buff them out and bring the factory paint back to life for little or no cost. Chances are, your biggest costs will be in getting the motor & trans back to a fully functional state, but even that will probably take more time than money. Other than a good going-thru, carb rebuild, gasket, hose & fluid replacement, chances are you won't have any major expenses if you're capable of doing the work yourself. To me this sounds like a dream come true. Even if you wind up sinking some money into it, I doubt you'll be anywhere near what the value of the car will be once it's back to a pristine state.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Take it!

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

It's a CFI car. The TBs are going to need work, he'll have vacuum leaks to fix, etc.

seafire

I had my firebird shipped 1590 miles and it only cost about 600$ im sure it will be much less for you. Plus whats the worse that could happen? you get home and sell it and boom, money in your poket!

lonestar7

iTrader: (1)

When I was shopping for my 3Gen, I was always looking at shipping cost down to Austin, TX. As recently as this spring, you could get one shipped from Denver (running or roller) to Austin for around $600. So depending on exactly where you are in TX and where the car is in CO, it could be a little more or less. It will cost more if the car can't be rolled or winched on to the carrier. It will need tires that will hold air for the trip. I would think the car would be worth at least that much.

8t2 z-chev

there are 3 things that typically occur with a crossfire that has sat
unused for years:
-fuel pump ruined if gas went rancid in tank-if just stale pump may be ok.
-foam rubber coupler hose at fuel pump can turn to goo-pump runs but
no fuel pressure.
-the injectors stick shut-can be unstuck easily or may unstick by
themselves once exposed to fresh gas for a while.
Often,long dormant cars come back to life quite easily
An '82 trans am with 18,000 miles in good shape could be worth $7500
or more-way worth the trouble of fetching it from states away

SweetRevelation

I would.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Garage space problem? No problem, get rid of the tacky, gaudy, boyracer Mitsubishi.

An 18k mile original for free that you know the history of and you aren't sure if you should take it? Is this a troll post?

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I'd be all over that...
Have it shipped. It would be money well spent. It's not a Z06, but with that mileage it sure is a find.
BTW - the car is definitely worth more then the price to transport it. A member here just paid quite a bit more then that for a 22K mile original 82 TA.

weneversleep

Oooh, that's harsh. I'm no boyracer; the Evo is really quite an incredible car. However, I know this isn't the board to discuss that.

Anyway, nope, this is not a troll post. It's dead nuts serious, and I appreciate all of the advice that I've gotten from members of this board. Last night, I even bought the "Original Firebird and Trans Am" e-book on Google (hardcover is $324 on Amazon) and the "Standard Catalog of Firebird" (Grinnell), and am in the process of reading them both cover to cover. I'm an engineer, and I love reading the minute details of what I'm getting into.

Finally, I've asked my FIL to clean the stuff off of the car and take some pictures of the interior, exterior, and engine, and find the original window sticker and other paperwork. Now that I'm armed with some knowledge, I want to make sure that the car is exactly what I think it is.

weneversleep

Another question for those of you saying that shipping from Denver to Houston would be ~$600:

I got a quote yesterday from Reliable, and it was $1100. (Extra $100 because it's a non-runner) And, that was for non-covered shipping.

What transport companies have you guys used before, and which would you recommend?

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Well.....if you're buying books......then it's pretty much a done deal.

weneversleep

That's because I'm a major car book geek, and if there's a car that I'm even remotely interested in, I have to read everything that I can about it.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, I know what you mean. Me too.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I had my car transported from Iowa by the dealer I bought the car from. I shopped around and found out that most of the transporters advertising on the net are just agents trying to book the trip with somebody. The dealer had a connection with a local transporter that shipped me the car enclosed for about 800 bucks to NY.
A friend of mine contracted with an agent recently to pick up a car in Georgia and the truck just never showed up after promising him for 2 weeks that they were going to get the car.
The moral of the story is stick with the big names who have their own trucks. Find out if they own the trucks or are contracting someone else to get it. I lucked out because the dealer had a trusted shipper he used.
Reliable is a big name so I don't think you should have any issues.

lonestar7

iTrader: (1)

You need to look around on line. Some sites will give you a direct quote on line, some you'll have to submit the info and they will email a quote later. Reliable is a real good company, but they are probably the most expensive among the car transporters. They cater mainly to high dollar collector car owners.

Jason E

Reliable is well known but asininely expensive. When I sold my 91 last Spring, the buyer got it shipped from Western MA to Jacksonville FL for $700 ENCLOSED from Orlando Exotic Car Transport. Obviously, they aren't the place for you...but shop around...

With respect to the Mitsubishi comment, remember the board you're on This is a die-hard domestic car crew here. EVOs are great cars, but they won't find a lotta love around here

Make sure you share pics of it, and for the love of god, go get that car! In 100% condition, the car is easily worth $10,000 or so...so if its free, don't worry about getting backwards in it! Who knows...you may even like it!

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

You can also search the business name online for reviews. Plenty of horror stories out there. Like I said - just make sure you are dealing with the company that owns the truck, whether it is a big or small outfit. The agents will tell you anything.

LHernandezJr

To answer your question, Would you take a 1982 Trans Am with 18K miles for free?

Yes I would!

midnightfirews6

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a lot of the stuff I had to do to mine to get it up and running, though mine is carb as opposed to CFI. Expect to replace all of the fluids, filters, engine driven accessories, battery, seals and gaskets might need attention, a good polishing and waxing at minimum, maybe steering linkages, shocks and struts, ball joints and bushings, and anything else that cracked, rotted or rusted while it sat. Apart from fuel issues and just getting it to run smoothly, everything else is just pretty much standard preventative maintenance and normal care and feeding for an old car. Mine sat off and on for almost 20 years, but some steering work, tires, and carb work later I was able to daily drive it for two years and I was never left stranded once, though I did continue to work on it a lot to keep it tip top.

Matter of fact, my "indestructible" Toyota pickup is down right now for cooling issues, guess what I drove to uni today?

But anyway, they look amazing, they're fun to drive, easy to work on, and that one is worth a good chunk of change.
So definitely go for it!

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

When you get pics, post them up here and we can assess the condition of the paint, most likely as has been said if it's just been sitting with stuff on it, it's probably easily restorable.

Good to see a fellow engineer here.

Jason E

Speaking of, why the hell is your Mustang not in your sig??

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Ha, I traded that beaut' in for the wife's new redesigned Beetle. I was planning on just buying the wife the Beetle and keeping the Mustang, but as much as I loved it, for no particular reason I got really bored with it really fast, and while it ran excellent overall, it was giving me early warning signs of some potentially expensive issues and general other maintenance issues I didn't want to sink money into as I passed the 90k mile mark. I also got kind of tired of downtown traffic with a clutch day in, day out. Never really got to wind it out since I also live in another dense part of Minneapolis.

So when we went to buy the Beetle, just for the hell of it I thought I'd just see what they'd give me on trade since it was the peak of summer and a great time to sell a GT, since I'm also sick of selling cheap old cars privately because you either get a bunch of riff-raff or a bunch of *******s who beat on your car on a test drive and don't buy it. The car drove great and checked out solid since it's got all the original VIN tags, etc., so they ended up offering me more than clean trade on it.

So I thought for a minute and figured well, aside from the coincidence that I just happened to dig out the title and bring both sets of keys, I can get out of it for about the price I expected to get for it with no effort of selling it, before sinking any more into it, I'm bored with it already somewhat, and the best part is I can get into something new myself down the road, so I decided it would be a wise move to trade it.

My wife was about to start work and getting a car for her was an imminent necessity and I just said I'm putting you in something brand new with a warranty so you can go do your stuff without worrying, and since I work downtown it's really easy for me to to just take the bus to work each day while I comb over the possibilities of what I'll buy next...I'll either pick something up late late fall or I'll just wait until spring when the salt is gone.

At some point in life you just say "Hell with old high mile cars, I'm done with this crap, time to get something brand new with a warranty that'll still be worth good coin when it's paid off to trade up with," and that's the point I'm at now as far as DDs go. Just time to get something new, nice, with a payment that is easy to budget, and that needs absolutely nothing. So we did that for the wife, and hopefully soon I can get something too, depending on how much bacon the Mrs. brings home. I've got a pretty short list of cars I'm looking at, heh heh.

'twas a beauty, hope she went to a good home (second pic was before putting in OEM Cobra headlights):





EDIT: Forgot to add, when I bought the Mustang it was never intended to be a car I'd keep for more than a couple years; I bought it sight unseen while still living in Japan so that I'd have something cheap and reliable (since my wife and I were both to be unemployed) to get us around right from day 1 so I could find work and get established. It did exactly that, and now that my wife and I are both working, it was time to let it go. It was basically a bridge car to help get us through the transition of coming from Japan to getting established here, and it never left me stranded. Good car overall, fond memories.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

But on topic OP, we want to see pics...we as a group can assess the car's cosmetic condition and what it will take to get it back in shape.

No reason it can't be a $10k+ car.

2007xl50

I know what's it's like to have a lack of space and yeah it's sucks to pay for shipping, but if the car is what you say it is then why not? I mean cars like this are hard to find and like was said you know the history on it. It's going to be a project, but it's not like it has to be done overnight. Yeah I really want to see pix of this car as well. Why did your FIL stop driving the car?

FormerL69

iTrader: (2)

I used Parker Trucking to get my '82 Pace Car from FL to CO. That trip was $800 via open carrier. I'm not sure if they have a route between CO and TX, but I would definitely contact them. My experience with them was flawless.

http://parkertrucking.com/index.htm

For more information than you ever wanted:

http://www.transportreviews.com

monte0185

I love a good road trip!!! Have trailer will travel is my motto!! LOL Seriously though for gas and food money Id be willing to trailer it From colorado to texas. Have family all along the way thats been bugging me to visit and im due for a road trip.

2007xl50

Put a Posting on U-ship and maybe Roy, marc or Chris and Robbie will haul it for you LOL!

Mishimoto

I'd take it! Would be a fun one to restore, and it sounds like it wouldn't be a battle of man vs rust

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I would take it myself and I already have three project cars here. I have the trailer too. I set the truck up to be able to use the same winch as the trailer. Give me the address and I would be on my way and back with another project to work on. lol
I think the general consensus is to get the car.

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

So what are you doing with it?

THowie

Very fun! I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Chad85T/A

iTrader: (1)

I'd sure take it!

florida_gators

iTrader: (2)

For what it's worth...I have a 01 Corvette convertible that gets much less care and attention than my 90 Firebird I'm restoring. If I had to sell one of the two, it would be the Corvette. Sounds crazy, but the Corvette is replaceable, while my Firebird (my 1st car) isn't. My wife often jokes that the Vette is jealous that my Firebird is always getting new parts and attention while the Vette sits undriven. (I have had the Corvette seats pulled for months fixing the "rocking seat" issue. One is fixed...one to go.) A Corvette / Firebird combo in the garage is a nice combination. It sounds like you have a chance to own a low mileage TA that you will be hard pressed to find again. Think hard about that before passing it up.

marineengineer

Gentlemen, you are all looking at this wrong. This Fine Chap needs to list this car on the thirdgen.org web sight for $1100.00 (cost of shipping) and let someone buy the car off of his FIL. That way, he doesn't need to get the car shipped, his FIL gets his garage back, he doesn't have another 'Project" on his hands, and he makes points with his FIL. (And one of us gets a STEAL - I payed $1300.00 for an "original 1987 Z-28 Convertible )

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

If someone offered me an 18K original TA, even one that has not run in years, I would be all over that like stink on poop! That would be the perfect car to build into what ever you want it to be... I just bought a 24K original 82WS7 LG4 car that is in running condition, and have a small fortune invested in that car. A solid rust free body with 18K miles!!! Have it repainted, install a ZZ4 GM crate engine, Turbo 350C, and a 9 bolt posi, and you will have one cool ride!

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

So what happened?

weneversleep

Yeah, I've been meaning to follow up.

I actually said no thanks. I was seriously considering it, and ended up getting ~$700 shipping quotes from uShip. However, my wife (his daughter) said no way, and as much as I hate to admit it, she's probably right. I just don't have a place to keep a project car right now.

My FIL had someone come look at the car, and they made him a very reasonable offer. Some young man with access to a body and mechanical shop wanted it for a project, and he seemed really excited about it. Hopefully it's going to a good new home; my FIL thinks so.

I appreciate all of the help and advice from this board.

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Man that sucks! I honestly was hoping that maybe if your FIL was gonna put it up for sale that you might hook a brother up! I would have loved to play with another one, and document it here. Oh well I'm sure I'll see it on craigslist someday

weneversleep

I would have, had I known he was going to actually pursue selling it after all of these years. Apparently he had a friend of a friend of a friend (something like that) come over to look at it and buy it.

If I had known he was serious about selling it, I would have advertised it on this forum.

neeb_usmc

iTrader: (2)

I wish my car was all scratched up, Id park it wherever I wanted instead of the garage where it sits 100% of the time

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Ah its ok. I would be in the dog house for sure for bringing home another car. I need to get rid of my Z03 before I can get into another project. Where was the car located at again? Maybe I know the shop? I run a shop in Fort Collins.