1987 Monte Carlo SS

[andrewb70]

What do you guys think this is worth? It is all original, 140K miles, very solid, zero rust, been owned by the same dude for the last 12 years. He says he only put 3K miles on it since he has had it. Lives in a nice garage. Mint interior. Drove nice. Had a surging brake pedal when braking hard. Was a little wobbly around corners and after looking at the pictures, I understand why...See if anyone spots the problem...It is kind of weird to see this car and it is 30 years old. When I bought my GTO in 1985 it was only 15 years old and it was in worse shape.

What would you pay for it?

Andrew

[SSLance]

That's probably about a $7500 car or so. Is that some sort of radio antenna coming off the left rear quarter or is that something behind the car. Any mods at all? Looks like still has cat converter. How is the driver seat wear?

Mine was in about the same shape when I bought is 9 years ago and I paid $5700 for it. Nice car...

Those sway bar bushings though... :D

[SSLance]

Look carefully at the bottoms of the doors and the bottom inside of the trunk lid where it is close to the bumper for rust...other area of concern is the frame and body above the #2 body mount on passenger side (where AC condensation collects).

[andrewb70]

There is an ugly antenna in the driver's side rear quarter panel. I gather that's not stock? The driver's seat is worn pretty badly. The foam is shot and it seemed to rock some...

I actually have some more pictures that I'll post a little later.

Thanks for the help on this. And good eye :-)

Andrew

[andrewb70]

Here are some more pictures. The bottom of the doors seem to have some surface rust, but nothing series. I need some experience g-body guys to see stuff I don't notice...LOL

The last pictures shows odd damage by the passenger mirror. I think a new piece of molding would hide most that of that pretty well.

[SSLance]

Man, that's a nice car...look at that dash! Something has smacked that door at some time, that's a strange bit of repair looking bit by the door hinge and that's the same door with the damage behind mirror. Still nice shape for a car that age.

So, have you bought it yet?

The seat belt clips on the headrest are always bent like that, headliner looks good, rag joint on the steering column is shot but you'll replace that with a Jeep Cherokee shaft anyway so no big deal. I'm sure the shocks are toast as well...whole suspension probably squeaks and rattles a bit, bushings probably dry rotted away. Car looks like it hasn't been touched at all. What's up with all the dust? Did it live on a gravel road for a while? Look for G80 on the trim tag on trunk lid, that's posi-trac.

[SSLance]

There is an ugly antenna in the driver's side rear quarter panel. I gather that's not stock?

Andrew

That car might have come with an antenna in the windshield and if it was replaced...they didn't want to pony up for another one so they added the aftermarket antenna on rear fender. Stock one would be on the top of passenger front fender about 10" forward from door\fender gap.

Check out the body bushings under the radiator support, they are easiest to see. Also look very closely at the rear frame rails and body bushings #6 and #7. Frames tend to get a little soft around #6 right behind rear tires.

How does it run? The CCC carb and ECM setup can be a fickle bitch at times...if it's not right. If it's right though they run pretty good. I raced with one on my 383 for years...

[andrewb70]

Lance,

Thanks for all the very helpful information!!! I have not bought it yet. He wants $6500 and I think that might be a little high...I am thinking more like $5500...

It ran well. Didn't do anything weird as far as engine goes. Started right up, little puff of blue smoke on start-up. Trans shifted smooth and firm.

No idea where the dust came from. The guy lives on a paved street and had a gorgeous concrete driveway to the house. He is out in the country, but I have no idea...

The goal is to eventually do a LS swap, but in the short term the plan is to just drive it! The purchase will depends on whether I get this job that I interviewed for. Should hear next week. This might be my commuter. The job is 120 miles from where I live and I would drive home on the weekends.

Andrew

[SSLance]

You aren't too far off track value wise. It's a nice solid car that you just don't see that many of anymore, but it'll never be more than a $10,000 car in near perfect restored condition...and it would need a bunch of work and parts to get there. It's a steal at $5500 and with any effort at all it would be gone, IMO $6000 is more than fair for it.

If you've watched my thread at all you know there is a ton of aftermarket support for that car and they can be made to be pretty sporty without a whole lot of effort. You'll hate that driver seat for sure, they sucked even in perfect condition. Look for a set of late model GTO front seats to swap into it, you'll thank me later. Other than that, it's a great cruiser\commuter platform.

[DualQuadDave]

If you are trying to build a budget beater, I would pass. I have worked on several GN's near me lately and the amount the owners have spent on them is ridiculous considering it's 80's crap. If you love the car, it's one thing, but there is nothing budget about an LS swap into a G body that runs decent and is built right. You'll have 15-20k in that car fast, trust me. If budget permits, I would a used modern LS3 Camaro, TBSS(love mine more than words), modern GTO/G8. Even a rat pickup w/ LS Swap done or anything 50's for the $$$. Sorry, not trying to rain on the parade, but to invest big into and 80's project isnt worth it in my eyes. You would probably be better off with a cheap 70's Lemans, you probably have enough spares to build a second car... just a thought. The cheapo LS king is a pickup. I have a 2005 SS Silverado near me for 10k, one owner. Tough to beat. Comfy, fast, handles, cheap.

[andrewb70]

Just to close the loop on this, my buddy from Chicago ended up buying the car. Flew down to Alabama and drove the car home. He paid $5k for it. He has had two of these cars back in the day and wanted another one to build again.

Andrew

[SSLance]

Thanks for the update Andrew... If your buddy ever has any G-Body specific questions about the build, feel free to ask away.

[andrewb70]

Thanks for the update Andrew... If your buddy ever has any G-Body specific questions about the build, feel free to ask away.

Thanks Lance. He isn't going to build any sort of incredible handling machine. He had a burly 1st gen SBC in his Mustang race car. This is a 406ci engine with 18 degree heads...blah..blah...blah...He has already taken it to the engine builder that built it the first time around and they have installed 9:1 boost pistons, a streetable boost friendly cam, and valve springs that don't look like car coil springs (which is what it used to have...). The plan is to have a turbo engine making a reliable 1200-1400HP. This should be doable with the hardware he already has, plus twin turbo, Holley Dominator ECU, 4L80e...blah...blah...blah..etc...etc...

I am steering him towards something simple, like the ridetech street grip that will offer real improvements to suspension geometry with a modest drop and good ride quality.

Any input is always welcome and appreciated.

Andrew