$6k-$7k to spend on a car, what should I get?

[Vital Velocity]

Ls fbody for sure

[Hard AttacK]

Originally Posted by 94ATXVR2

Best 5500 you can spend http://www.3si.org/forum/f10/1993-do...g-gone-544062/

all day and all night

[jfdr6911]

I'd get a whacky waving inflatable flailing arm tube man and wire it to pop out of my lexan hatch at red lights. May save a bit of weight so it's free to be used at the track too.

[kipfrod]

thanks for the replies, I have looked at some fox body's, one in my area has a vortec supercharger, but has water in the oil. My friend who is a mechanic said it would be an easy fix...but im not a huge fan of the looks of a fox body. Also lt1, or ls1's are legit, I have seem some decent ones in my area.

[tensecs2fame]

Pop on zilvia and look for a rb25/26 240sx. They're cheap, fast, reliable, and have tons of aftermarket backing

[kelvinTurbo]

I saw a 1998 firebird formula with 89k miles for 7k just this evening near my house... those things sure can be sweet and maintenance is a snap with all the available cheap domestic parts for chevy/gm cars

[2FAST4U]

I may be a little biased, but bang for the buck, an f-body is hard to beat

[Richter12x2]

I'm not particularly a fan of Mustangs myself because there are so many, but parts are incredibly cheap ($300 for a 5.0L engine? Yes please!) and aftermarket is deep. My wife loves hers, but I've replaced all the suspension now. Coilover conversion, tubular a-arms, k member, camber plates and trailing arms all for less than $1k. And a solid rear axle is a LOT of fun.
It's not a bad car, just kinda... common. But for the price and cost/ease to repair, it's hard to beat. For example, here are some things we bought (not necessarily because we had to) - locking rear diff with 3.27's - $300. 3.73 gearset - $100. Catted x-pipe, $300. 4 piston aluminum calipers for front, larger rotors all around, $250. 3 row aluminum radiator, $225. Increased duration cam - $100. The prices are just insanely low.

Food for thought, I picked up my 1985 Porsche 928 in the price range you're talking about and love it, but the cost to replace my alternator is more than the cost to replace everything in the Mustangs enginebay. My rear turn signals cost more than her engine did. Not to mention if I have to break down and pay someone else to do it.

[Stealth TT 92]

american: 90's camaro/firebird, 90's mustang gt, early 90's c4 vette with a 5spd manual or auto

japanese: 240sx, 300zx n/a, 3/s n/a, late 80's rx7 if your willing to own a rotory(no bad, rebuild takes a day), mk3 supra

euro: i highly recommend a porsche 944 8v. not fast, but when maintained are very reliable, great handling, timeless looks(i used to get asked what year all the time, and most people love them), timing belt takes all of 2 hours to do. also, e36(i would not recommend an e46, it'll be junk for 7g), mercedes e190 amg...good luck finding one, but a ton of fun to drive.


and no to the 928, trust me, you want something reliable, for 5g a 928 is anything but reliable. 15g for a 928 would get you a later model with the 32V v8 pushing over 300hp, similar in handling to the vr4, being that the 928 had a full active rear suspension and axle that acted like rear wheel steering. great cars and they're fans of being supercharged(early models are easier to s/c)

[Richter12x2]

Originally Posted by Stealth TT 92

and no to the 928, trust me, you want something reliable, for 5g a 928 is anything but reliable. 15g for a 928 would get you a later model with the 32V v8 pushing over 300hp, similar in handling to the vr4, being that the 928 had a full active rear suspension and axle that acted like rear wheel steering. great cars and they're fans of being supercharged(early models are easier to s/c)

Well, mine's an '85, which has the 5.0L all aluminum DOHC V8 (the engine you're talking about) that they continued up to the GTS (you can get one used for about $40k), but with the earlier, lighter body, and I picked mine up for $3200, but it was a non-runner. The good news it took only about $50 to get it running like the German beast that it is, but it took quite a bit of time. The engines reportedly last 300k miles and longer if you take care of them, but other pieces on the car are odd as far as price goes. For example, if you need a new MAF Sensor, it'll run you about $1000, almost as much as a rebuilt auto transmission.
As far as handling like a VR4... I'd wager the 928 is a little better - the car was the equivalent of 120k when it came out, and was designed to replaced the 911. The handling is beautiful, the only thing scary is thinking you're cruising down the highway at 80-90 and realizing you've crept up to 120mph, in a car that was built 25 years ago (happened during my first test drive.)

More realistically, you can get a nice one that needs nothing for sub $10k, sub $7k if you get the earlier one with 240hp. The early ones are still plenty of fun, and less to go wrong electronically. It's a car that can be rewarding if you're a fearless do it yourselfer, the 288hp 5.0L in my car, dynod 245hp at the wheels when I got it, but after a few bolt ons mods, now dynos over 300hp at the wheels.

But if you're going to pay someone else to do the work, I can't recommend it. But for the same reason I can't recommend a BMW, Audi, or 944 to anyone either. They see the marque on the hood and starting adding money in their heads. Dropping the transmission on a 928 is easier than replacing the Transmission on a '94 Mustang, even though it's in the back. But see what estimates you get on each one. Doing my own work, I still don't have 7k in mine including the price of the car, and most of that was paint and body. The most expensive thing? 87+ year model turn signal lights for the updated front bumper cover at $300 per side.