Bought Cheap, money to spend

I just bought a 1989 Gt with 127,000 miles, 5 Sp.and some centerline rims for $350. It's a pretty good deal all it needs is some new shocks, two tires (not rims), and alot of body work and TLC. My question is this, since i spent very little on the initial investment of the car where would you guys start? Body work, engine overhaul, genral stuff? What are some things i should look out for? I don't want to head into this project going in the wrong direction and end up doing something stupid. Yes, this is my first 5.0, but i am not an idiot with motors, i have a good working knowledge with them.

well i say best idea deal with rust try to get motor running relibibley *if not* and then get body nice and motor nice

It really depends on how long you can have it down for. If it were me w/ a project like that, I'd strip the whole thing down and do it all at once. But if time and money is an issue, then definitely get the drivtrain done first so it can be driven safely and reliably. Then go from there. I personally like to do body work last for two reasons. 1.) If it looks like crap but has a nice engine, you got yourself one hell of a sleeper. 2.) Body work can get very time consuming if you wanna do it right. You might wanna wait till its down for a while to start the body work. IMO. Good luck and keep us updated! :bigthumb:

I am not sure of what your locations are, but if any could point me in the direction of good machine shop in the north Detroit suberbs (i live about an hour north of detroit...Lapeer..) it would really help alot because i am getting mixed answears about all the shops around here.
Thanks

A friend of mine lives about an hour north of Detroit too. I'll give him a call tomorrow and see what he says.

I would do bodywork first cause it is usually the most expensive and one you usually can't do well as a DIY-er. Plus it's nice to have a nice looking car to drive around. This is assuming everything else is mechanically safe.

I have had a fast Stang with a bad body and I was always bugged by it. So I always do body work first. Plus if you get tired or bored and want to sell it.... a good body and a nice paintjob is worth a lot more than a fast car with a shitty body.

Thanks guys for all that has been posted, you have helped alot. I talked to the guy i bought it form today and he said he has the fascia and it's support, and both front fenders still in the boxes. He told me he wants $300 for everything, does that sound like a fair price?

hey fella im in detriot to. their is a ram chargers on 12 mile rd near john r road. they can help you. there is a few around. there is also mayfair auto on van born about 2 miles east of telegraph

I'd definately do the engine first. As GTStang said, body work is expensive - It would suck to have the motor all apart and run out of money! But then again, I suppose you could sit in your nice shiny car in the driveway and pretend to drive it. But seriously... Even if the $$ isnt an issue, I'd never do the bodywork first. I can't tell you how many times I've dropped a wrench or whatnot on my fender... If I cared about the paint on my car, I'd be pretty pissed. But its sh*t anyways. Paint is absolutely the last thing on my list... so its probably never going to get done :)
To me, it doesn't matter what the car looks like... As long as all the guy next to u sees is taillights.

I'd definately do the engine first. As GTStang said, body work is expensive - It would suck to have the motor all apart and run out of money! But then again, I suppose you could sit in your nice shiny car in the driveway and pretend to drive it. But seriously... Even if the $$ isnt an issue, I'd never do the bodywork first. I can't tell you how many times I've dropped a wrench or whatnot on my fender... If I cared about the paint on my car, I'd be pretty pissed. But its sh*t anyways. Paint is absolutely the last thing on my list... so its probably never going to get done :)


I concur.