North American Turbocoupe Organization



good deal? pt2
Noname
Unregistered
#1
ive looked at 4 or 5 TCs in the last month and every one of them either has a serious problem or is too expensive...this is the latest and greatest candidate....

1987 Turbocoupe - white with grey leather interior, 5-speed, 165k miles, every single option (except auto tranny), viper alarm, original owner.

first, the good...the car runs really well, better than any TC ive seen actually. the engine idles at one speed and starts up smooth, theres no oil burning or leaking and the owner says hes used synthetic in it since day 1. the turbo spools up all the way to 18psi when the buzzer comes on. all of the power accessories work except the door lock button on the drivers door (loose connection?) and the cruise control. the a/c was just serviced and blows ice cold, the car also recently had its clutch, steering rack, heater core and brakes replaced.

now, the bad....the body has seen better days, big rust hole in the front passanger side fender, other smaller spots throughout. the car also has a disgusting bra and spoiler on it which make it look worse in addition to some custom airbrush work the owner had done with his and his wifes names. the leather is pretty beat as you might imagine after 165k miles, and the original shift knob has been replaced with a ghetto rigged hurst t-handle. the guy selling it tells me he "only uses the clutch to get into first" and shifts without it through all the other gears, does this mean there arent going to be syncros left in the transmission? when i drove in it it felt fine to me. the ABS is also completely disconnected.

the guy wants $1200 for it, although i think i can get him down to $800 or so. it would need MANDATORY body work (im not driving around with "EDDIE" stenciled on the drivers side door!) and a little work to the interior as well but the mechanicals seem flawless....the only real thing im concerned about is the transmission, if somebody could tell me a little about that id appreciate it.

thanks
-sean
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Noname
Unregistered
#2
With any STD car it is possible to shift the car without using the clutch, Its done by matching the RPM to engine speed, If done correctly it wont destroy the trans, just wear it alittle quicker but make the clutch last longer. Since a trans is would only run around 150-250 $ in decent shape i dont think it should be a deal breaker.

One concern no stock car boosts to 18psi find out why it is, Does he have a bleeder or gillis ??

not a bad deal...
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#3
Unless you can do all/most of the body and paint work yourself, you are talking about BIG $$ to have the rust repaired, etc. Personally, when I look for a project car (BTW, ALL TCs are project cars!!), a half way decent body / interior is more important to me than a sound drive train. Sure, engine / tranny / turbo / ABS parts arent cheap, but generally, the cost of mechanical parts / repairs is much less than the cost of major rust and interior repair. Also, from my point of view, rebuilding a motor is a lot more fun than repairing rust holes and block sanding.

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Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 20 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 00 Windstar (wifes vehicle)
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#4
I'm with Jeff on this one. I'd rather deal with mechanicals. You can fix a hell of a lot of mechanicals for the price of a GOOD paint job, let alone the cost of the body work and prep before that paint job. Good body and paint work is like an art form to me and I'm among the artistically challenged (lol)

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88 TC X 2, 86 SVO, Main TC with K&N, 3"DP to 2.5"duals through Dynamax, Ric valve at 17+ and disconnected KS.
Elite Bodega 16" chrome wheels. Autometer pod w/ A/F and Vac/boost gauges. New engine shortly, ported head and
manifolds, polished and cc'd chambers, A-230 cam, Race Engineering Adj Cam Sprocket, Crowlers, ARP head studs, Walbro 190 pump and T-3 for starters. KB subs
and jack rails.
Pete Dunham


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Noname
Unregistered
#5
icefire - thats what i said, but he claims the car has gone to 18psi since he bought it new in '87. i checked out the vacuum hoses going to and from the BCS and none of them seemed to be cracked or disconnected...maybe the BCS came defective from the factory and is stuck fully open all the time now?

about the body work....i agree, id rather be pulling an engine apart than patching up rust holes but that would require me keeping the car sidelined for awhile. at least with the body work i can drive it while im working on it.....and i definitely need a car to drive, cant keep my honda racecar plus a tbird on insurance!
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#6
Sean,
My daily driver will set off the overboost buzzer fairly often and it is stock except for a K&N. Supposedly the buzzer is set for 17.5 psi +/- 0.5. I would speculate the buzzer is probably more accurate than the boost gauge at the high end of the scale. I have seen them be off by up to 3 psi.

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88 TC X 2, 86 SVO, Main TC with K&N, 3"DP to 2.5"duals through Dynamax, Ric valve at 17+ and disconnected KS.
Elite Bodega 16" chrome wheels. Autometer pod w/ A/F and Vac/boost gauges. New engine shortly, ported head and
manifolds, polished and cc'd chambers, A-230 cam, Race Engineering Adj Cam Sprocket, Crowlers, ARP head studs, Walbro 190 pump and T-3 for starters. KB subs
and jack rails.
Pete Dunham


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1987tc Offline
Senior Member
#7
Unless you want it as a parts car I would pass on this one.
When rust gets as bad as you describe it it is usually terminal. It is tough to get it all and unless you get it stopped completely you are wasting your time and money on this car.
There are good cars out there to be found. Just takes some looking. Be pataint and you will find the right car.

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1987 TC:
Hurst compition plus shifter,K&N cone,roller cam,custom single exhaust,Gillis valve,H&R springs,KYB shocks,struts and quads.
3.73 rear.
Tubular rear control arms and Kenny Brown trac kit brackets.Mac rear differntial cover and girdle. soon to come, Installation of Caster camber plates and a custom built roll cage.
Wes Arnett
Linton Indiana
Sold my Turbocoupe. It went to a good home.
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Hawk Offline
Senior Member
#8
Turn around a run, don't look back. If the car has one hole through it, there's a good chance you will have much more hiding throughout the body/chassis. A rusty car is a parts car, nothing more.
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Noname
Unregistered
#9
Check the underbody, i would not dismiss this car because of a hole. In canada every car has some degree of rust on it. Its not that hard to fix Especially if the underbody is ok, If the underbody is bad, Walk away.

Best of luck,
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Noname
Unregistered
#10
the rust isnt *that* bad, its just real bad in that one spot on the fender, which i believe can be pulled off entirely and replaced, correct? the rest of the rust i would probably just sand down a little and throw bondo over. im not really looking to get a showroom perfect car here i just need something that i like and is a step up from a really rusty '82 accord =)

in a couple months i plan on buying either an obscure french car or a bling blinged out acura or something anyway =)
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