Candidates

[Camino LS6]

Not the most excitng T/A, but it would be a good buy.

[A Horse With No Name]

The Ebay T/A is indeed a good buy and about eleventy billion times better a car for you than the redbird POS.

That being said...I'm not sure that you yourself know what you want, knight. Do you want a second, third, or fourth gen?

What motor do you want? 403, 400 Pontiac, 305 Original, 350, LT1, LS1?

What Color do you want?

What Options are important to you?

What are you willing to compromise on?

Where are you going to garage this thing?

How are you going to insure it? You are going to get full coverage, right?

Are you going to modify it or keep it all stock original?

What are you missing/not thinking about/going to regret when you get whatever car you want?

Just good food for thought.

Chris

[Blake Noble]

The Ebay T/A is indeed a good buy and about eleventy billion times better a car for you than the redbird POS.

Indeed it is. It's already black, it's cheap, and would serve as a nice base for a third-gen "SE."

That being said...I'm not sure that you yourself know what you want, knight. Do you want a second, third, or fourth gen?

While I prefer a second-gen, I like the third-gen and fourth-gen models well enough to settle on one, if it's the right car.

What motor do you want? 403, 400 Pontiac, 305 Original, 350, LT1, LS1?

Second-gen: either a 301, 400, or 403. While I'd prefer a 400-powered T/A, I'm not terribly picky here as all three engines had their advantages and disadvantages. Pontiac 400-powered T/As are also more expensive as they are the more desirable engine, which is why I am willing to settle on the 403 or the 301. The later 301s weren't bad, though. It didn't make gobs of torque like the 403 did, but the 301 made almost as much as horsepower as the 403 in "H.O." trim.

Third-gen: I'd prefer the 305TPI. However, I like the appearance of the thicker, earlier '82 T/A front fascias, so your run-of-the-mill 305 would be acceptable, so long as it isn't leaking oil. I don't want any Iron Duke or six-cylinder cars, obviously. If I went with an early '80s third-gen T/A with a basic 305 (this also holds slightly true of the 305TPI as well), I'd wind up yanking the engine in favor of a crate motor sometime in the distant future.

Fourth-gen: both the LT1 and LS1 were great engines in their own right. I have no preference here.

What Color do you want?

Black, of course. I'm expecting to have the car painted in the future, so it doesn't really matter.

What Options are important to you?

There aren't any. I can deal with crank windows. I can deal without A/C. Most factory T/As had both power windows and A/C though, so I'm getting them regardless.

What are you willing to compromise on?

Just about everything if it means I can get the right car at the right price ... well, except the part about six-cylinder cars.

Where are you going to garage this thing?

My driveway. If it's a bit rusty, I'll keep it covered up to keep rain from doing more damage until I patch whatever needs patched (the Cutlass already hogs the family garage ... well that and a bunch of junk my parents have packed away). Depending on the condition of the car, I'll probably be driving it every other day or driving it during summer months.

How are you going to insure it? You are going to get full coverage, right?

It will be full-coverage, but I have to determine how I'm going to drive the car first. If I know it's a project in need of a lot of TLC, I won't insure it for a while until I have it in order. That's the approach I used for the Cutlass when I decided I didn't want to drive it around with $h!ty paint and walnut shells in the glovebox. That was also one small factor that helped in paying for its restoration, because I wasn't paying insurance on a car that was going to be in a paint booth and who knows where else for who knows how long. I have classic car insurance on it right now because of how infrequently I drive it. I don't intend for this car to wind up the same way, though. (In fact, I've been thinking about working out a deal with my dad about the car, but I don't know.)

Are you going to modify it or keep it all stock original?

If it's a second-gen, I'll keep it mostly stock with maybe a very mild mod here and there. Other generations ... it depends.

What are you missing/not thinking about/going to regret when you get whatever car you want?

Nothing to be honest. The Cutlass is just about all there, the Buick should have its 307 soon and it needs a few interior pieces but nothing big. I can pay to finish these cars up with what I don't save out of my paycheck, that's how little they really need now. I'm going to have the Cutlass repainted, but at the moment I'm expecting to do that years from now, not tomorrow.

Edited November 19, 2009 by whiteknight

[Blake Noble]

The FrankenOldsmoBuick lives again!

Next up ... well, you know what's next.