[joey0480]

Hey guys,
I have been on here occassionally, reading and what not. Been wanting to buy a mustang for years but the marriage, baby, house, you know.........

Anyways, I found one that I am going to look at and wanted to know advice on it.....like is what has been done good? what would be a reasonable price to offer, etc...

I really want to get a mustang into the 12's and have it as a strip car with the occassional one day a week driver. I found this one local and the guy seems to want to negotiate. I plan on going to look at it this tonight.

First, the description.......

It is a 1988 mustang GT.
The engine has been bored over to be a 308 with new pistons that has not been driven yet. It is a 5 speed with new clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, throw out bearing.
It has a new paint job.
It has trickflow heads, ARP head studs, Scorpion Roller Rockers, 24lb injectors, and GT 40 upper and lower.
Also has new BBK equal length shorty headers, catless X-pipe, subframe connectors, new water pump, power steering pump, alternator, power steering brackets, walboro 255 fuel pump, 31 spline strange axles, eaton posi, and 4:11s.

Now he told me that it needs the coolant hoses put on as well as the timing needs to be adjusted. I wasn't too keen on that...meaning the hoses...because why would they not be there and they are not expensive. Also, when inquiring about a test drive he told me it is not registered and insured so he was not too keen on that. Maybe a block if I am lucky.....hmmm.

Asking price is 5500 or best offer....thoughts?

[95tbirdv8]

it has all that stuff and its not timed? their is something wrong. coolant hoses are the easiest thing to do

[joey0480]

Originally Posted by 95tbirdv8 it has all that stuff and its not timed? their is something wrong. coolant hoses are the easiest thing to do

yeah, that was really a concern of mine. I mean why don't you have the hoses on it. And being rebuilt like that, it definitely should have been timed. A buddy of mine said it is simple if you have the right tool.

[95tbirdv8]

yea, i just learned how to do it, its soo easy. all you need is the timing gun, a socket and ratchet. but yea i think that guy is trying to rip someone off. they kind of got me like that. on the last car i bought, the guy says we can test drive it down my street cause it doesnt have tags or insurance. so we did, and i bought it. on the way home on the freeway the transmission would shift into 3rd and come back to second for no reason. but i was like screw it, i got a alright deal anyway. but now i gota fix the transmission

[joey0480]

hey thanks. I mean maybe I can chew him down considerably on the price to accomodate for what "could be wrong" but I have to go in there and decide on a price that I can offer him.

Plus he is saying he "needs to sell it" so he is flexible on pricing at this point, whether he wants to be or not.

[ReverendDexter]

Yeah, I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole.

[joey0480]

Alright, I really appreciate the honesty guys. At least clears my head. If this guy is willing to drop the price considerably, would it be worth a pickup? I mean he is saying 5500 but very negotiable.

Otherwise I have seen so many out there I could just pass on it.

[Phoenixx]

Originally Posted by joey0480 Alright, I really appreciate the honesty guys. At least clears my head. If this guy is willing to drop the price considerably, would it be worth a pickup? I mean he is saying 5500 but very negotiable. Otherwise I have seen so many out there I could just pass on it.

If you tear the car apart and the body is show room clean and you could get the price down to around 3, than yeah it's worth it even if there are some big issues with the engine. But it sounds like you'd end up putting way more money into the car, and at that point, might as well start off with a better base.

[joey0480]

well i saw it tonight. I would give the body and interior a 9/10. No rust, interior is immaculate considering the age.
It has no wipers, needs coolant hoses, vacuum hoses, tune up, and welding of a new trans cross member, timing adjustment, and harmonizer.
Guy would come down on price a bit he said.

[PhillyGT]

WTF? Pass on that shit!.Too many inconsistencies.He does all that engine work and doesnt put the hoses on?Or time it?He probably took them off so no one can test drive it.And im being serious.It probably doesnt run or it threw a rod or something and hes trying to find a sucker.Would you buy a car that you cant hear run or even test drive?I didnt think so.Pimp slap that bitch!

[joey0480]

Originally Posted by PhillyGT WTF? Pass on that shit!.Too many inconsistencies.He does all that engine work and doesnt put the hoses on?Or time it?He probably took them off so no one can test drive it.And im being serious.It probably doesnt run or it threw a rod or something and hes trying to find a sucker.Would you buy a car that you cant hear run or even test drive?I didnt think so.Pimp slap that bitch!

I totally understand. I told him yesterday that I am very deterred since I can't drive it and he just came back with make an offer...I need to sell. I want to drive it, I want to feel the shifts, hear the engine, etc...

This is one of those cases where I almost feel like going in at 2500 and tell him that I can't drive it and it is a pretty big gamble and see what he says. Even at that, if he took 2500, I got a great body and interior to start with, and there is at least an engine.

But in the same aspect, I can go on craigslist and find quite a few foxbodys ranging from 2 - 5K

[PhillyGT]

I would just pass anyway,no matter how much he comes down in price.He sounds shady as shit.Get away from this fraud asap!.Do you have a link to the ad?I just wanna see it

[joey0480]

I dont see the add offhand but I do have what it said.

Painted recently
Fresh 308 with zero miles
5 speed
Brand new clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, throw out bearing
Trickflow heads
ARP head studs
Scorpion Roller Rockers
24lb injectors
Gt 40 upper and lower
Brand new BBK equal length shorty headers
Subframe connectors
New water pump and power steering pump
March alternator and power steering brackets
Walboro 255 fuel pump
31 spline strange axels
Eaton posi
4:11s

[PhillyGT]

Dont forget,"oh yeah it doesnt run and you cant drive it"lol.Pay up sucka

[joey0480]

LoL. Exactly. I had a buddy of mine who is a mechanic give a brief go over and says it will cost at high end 1K to get on the road, but there is so much question here. I can't check the cam and internals. It has straight dumps on it though from the X-pipe....and there were some nice mickey thompson drag radials on the rear with the bicycle tires in the front lol. I just need the guy to take a low low price, because if this requires work (which I know it does) it is not worth 5, let alone 4, or heck, in my opinion, even 3.

[PONYMAN]

Best thing to do is pass up on that car , it is a money pit.
Find you a stang that is already running & in decent shape.
Just keep looking , better deals are out there.

[joey0480]

PASSED ON IT.
so I came upon two more. This one would be more of a track car and maybe once a week driver.........
1990 notchback mustang, 306 with worked gt iron heads, edelbrock intake, 700 cfm holley four barrel carb. Claims there is 10K on the bottom of the motor and 3K on the heads since rebuild. 33 spline axels with 410 gears and strange spool. msd ignition, roll cage, corbeau seats, 6 inch cowl (ouch that is big), and bunch of gauges. Claims to have run 11.7 at the track. 4K

Second is a 1993 that was bored to a 306. All bearings replaced in the bottom end, ported and decked e7 heads with new comp cams, valve springs, and retainers. ford racing head gaskets, ported upper and lower intake and TB. new distributor cap, wires, plugs, 2.5 exhaust with cherry bombs, 4.30 gears 3K

More money pits? The track one sounds interesting as a 2nd car but I heard the spools are a complete bitch on the road.

[ryanw]

I dont like the fact that its a 308, which means its been bored 40 over....standard is 30 over.....I think the block is getting thin at 40 over.

The test drive is vary important. Driving it down the block wouldnt tell you to much.
It needs to be able to idel,drive at normal cruzing speeds, intown and on freeway, with the car at normal operating temp. you need to be able to drive it for 20-30 min...

It is abnormal it put the time and money into a new engine but use old coolant hoses and not time it....not to mention he hasnt put any miles on it. If he wasnt going to register it and get the tags, why did you put a new engine in it......unless it was a project that took a few years to build, it doesnt make any sence. So unless you get one hell of a deal, i would pass on it. But if you do buy it, have a few thousand put away, cuz your going to need it. And make sure that you confirm that it has the parts on it that he says it does...such as the trick flow heads....lets see some receipts, dont just take his word for it