Okay, finally got the car delivered today. Here is the scoop on it and what put it in the condition it is in.:
Serial #1496 out of 1500. Currently 128,000 miles.My mother bought this car new in 1998. The dealership had just got it in and the service guy new my mom liked specials cars.....especially blue ones. When he told her this color was " Gulf Ocean Blue " and was a Pace Car edition.....she said " Hold it.....I am coming to buy it. "
My mother and I take extremely good care of our vehicles. It is probably overkill to most, but, to us, cars are an extension of who we are. A car person understands this. After the first 2 oil changes, it was all synthetic from there on out. Maintanance was always done ahead of time and no money was spared.
My mother had this car and then bought a 2005 GTP in orange and this one sat in the garage for a short while. Eventually my father adopted the car. This was the beginning of neglect for it. My mother and father ended up getting divorced due to my father's pill addictions. This was the turning point for my father as he went into hardcore drug use. The car was parked because it quit running a couple days before he died back in 2007. It sat parked on the street for a month before it was towed to my sister's house. It has sat motionless for 6 years on top of a gravel driveway. Dad always said if anything happened to him, he wanted my sister to have the car.
Eventually, my sister decided to sell it to me as she knew I could take it and make it run again. Plus I was looking for a good horsepowered car that rode nice and still got 30 MPG.....and this fit the bill. Upon initial inspection, the battery was missing and it was in overall poor shape. I put jumper cables on it and could not get it to turn over. It would bump, but, that was it. I was afraid the motor was locked up due to dad not taking care of it and ran it out of oil. There was oil in it, but, it was about a quart low. As a last ditch effort, I cut the drive belts off and realized the belts were seized on the pulleys and the AC compressor was totally seized up. I put the jumper back on it and it turned over. I knew that was half the battle. The gas gauge was on "E". My hope was that this is why it was parked. Could I be that lucky?
I went ahead and bought it off my sister with still many unknowns regarding the engine. There was also quit a bit of rust on all the nuts and bolts around the car from sitting outside so long. I know there is going to be a lot of work needed to make it right, but, I think it will come out to about the same if I bought a GTP around the same year that ran.
As soon as we got it off the trailer today, I grabbed a gas can and headed off to get gas and a battery. Grabbed 5 gallons of 94 octane at Sunoco and a bottle of Sea Foam. I poured half the bottle of Sea Foam into the 5 gallons of gas and shook it a little. I pulled the oil filler tube off to look into the valve train area. It was actually really clean. No gunk or buildup. Probably from all the synthetic my mother ran through it.
I poured the gas in the tank and installed the battery. No belts since the AC is locked up. I cycled the key a few times to get the fuel pushed around. I turned it over and it started right away. No knocks or unusual noises. I let it run for about 2 minutes as the oil is no good at this point. All seems good so far. However, I have a long list of "knowns " that needs to be done as well as some " unknowns ".
Known issues: Brakes, rotors, calipers, brake hoses, struts, coolant drain and fill, AC compressor, belts, hoses, tune up, drivers side window regulator, oil change, super charger fluid change, LIM gasket change, valve cover gasket change, oil pan gasket and probably more that is slipping my mind right now.
Unknown: How are the main seals? Trans seals? CV joints? Transmission?
Body: Dents and deep scratches. Paint needs polished and buffed. Front bumper and hold have a minor spot I am not sure that can be fixed or repaired.
Interior: Needs CLEANED badly. Dad had shady people in this car doing shady things. Anyway, here are some pics of what I have to work with. It is a shame he never took care of it.
