91 rt tt opinion on buying

[philly_blunt]

I think this will be my first post so hello all. I came accross a local deal on a 91 stealth rt tt. The body is in good condition no rust, but the engine and trans are both out of the car but he says they are in good condition. The engine is said to have 90k on it and 98k on the body. The trans is supposedly rebuilt (he bought from ebay.) his reason for getting rid of it is because he has too many projects going. Anyway, I'm just seeing if this is worth it or not. He wants 1800 for everything. I am looking at it today so I will post pics later. Also, would i get somewhat accurate compression readings by hooking a battery up to the starter for a compression test?

[Lord Warlock]

welcome to the board. 1800 is cheap for a tt, but buying one with engine and tranny out of the car is risky. People rarely pull a good motor out of these cars, they pull broke ones out and replace them with something else. Also, if you've never worked on our cars before, i wouldn't take on a project where you had to install a motor and tranny on your first one...too many things to miss or forget that could be a problem later. It isn't a simple drop the motor in, hook it up and go type car, it is a fairly complicated auto with lots of stuff to complicate things.

While i'd wholeheartedly recommend buying a stealth turbo, I wouldn't recommend buying it until you can hear the motor run inside the car. "Project" TT's and VR4s can turn into very expensive situations that only rarely turn out good in the end. I'd recommend finding one that is all together and getting it first, then moving on to project such as this one sounds like.

[philly_blunt]

Well heres the thing, i have owned a 92 tt before but never did any extensive work on it but ive read ALOT about repairs and how toos. I have had 4 dsms and pulled the engine on all of them. The reason the engine for the stealth is out of the car is because he took it from a wrecked tt. I really appriciate the post, that is the type of info i'm looking for.

[Lord Warlock]

If you've pulled 4 engines in dsm's doing a tt engine shouldnt be that bad. I'd still pull the crank to verify bearings and journals are in good shape and if not, at least replace the bearings since they'll usually go first.

For reference purposes, i had pulled motors on 3 cars before my TT and i still decided to pay someone else to do it for me. Too much to worry about without having specific knowledge about the platform... even though i had driven the car for 9 years before the engine went south. Our cars really arent that much harder to work on than any other import so its really up to the individual to determine if its a "do-able" job.

There are plenty of folks here that have done it and can help out, or you could just spend a couple weeks reading and searching old threads. The best reference is stealth316.com.

[philly_blunt]

Yea I'm worried about working on the stealths engine just because I don't know it like i know dsms. I definately need to educate myself further before I make any decisions. I just figured it seemed like a good deal ya know? And if worse comes to worse I could part it out and make some money back. The body looks great and ZERO rust! Florida car. I have pics and I will post them up tomorrow at work. once again, thanks for your insight.

[philly_blunt]

Here is some pics..... It will need some new wheels, and a couple interior pieces, but other than that, the body is pretty nice.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/stealth4.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/stealth3.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/stealth2.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/stealth1.jpg

[philly_blunt]

BTW that stealth 316 site is awesome, tons of great reading and pics. I am really thinking about getting this car...... since I still have my ion redline, I can give myself some time to get the whole build done right.

[Lord Warlock]

Just to let you know, getting all the parts to our cars necessary in a rebuild can get fairly expensive, likely quite a bit more than a dsm. I'd start pricing out the stuff you'll need and then consider whether its worth the investment, building one to have fun with is one thing, building one to make a profit on is another, it is very easy to exceed the value you can sell one for in the cost of the rebuild.

[philly_blunt]

Yea i was planning on building it to keep it, but I guess if I could keep the building costs somewhat low, I could try to make a profit. But like you said, these parts are definately pricey. I spoke with the guy again today and brought up the fact of how expensive it could be. He said he has extras for just about every part (he has 3 stealths, one engine being built right now). So I might be able to save a little bit of money by getting some parts off of him. I wonder if he will let me tear into the engine at his machine shop (thats where everything is right now). Well, wish me luck and hopefully I can get a decent car out of the deal.

[Street_Chally73]

Given the price and the overall condition of the body, it doesn't sound like too bad of a deal for a project. As Alan has stated, parts for these cars are definitely relatively expensive, so ensuring you have all the required parts is essential so it doesn't end up as a non-running money pit. Good luck with your decision.