What's this 1986 WH1 T-Type worth?

Tom Tom Turbo

Turbo Goes Woo Woo
Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Guys, I am really struggling with this decision. I have a hardtop 1986 WH1 T-Type with 106K on the chassis. My father bought the car new, I've had it since 2000 and its been my off and on project since then. I got some quotes to repair the rust/repaint the car but I just don't know that I can justify the cost when I can probably go buy what I want for the same money or less. I'll list the good and bad, but I'm just trying to get an idea of what this car might be worth, either whole or minus engine and trans.

Interior: 7/10. The seats have no rips or tears in them, very clean but the seat foam is weak. Carpet is slightly faded but all there and not torn. Newer headliner, dash pad is cracked but I have a near mint dash to go with it. Digital dash works, but fuel level is occasionally off. Pioneer CD player, all speakers replaced with Infinity or Rockford Fosgate units. Wired for amp and subwoofer as well. Full list of AutometerUltra-Lite gauges (boost, FP, temp, oil, volts) Innovate wide band 02, Scanmaster 2.1. A/C has been retrofitted, reman'd compressor, new heater core as well.

Exterior: 5.5/10. Here's the problem....car sat outside from 2000-2006. All the bumper fillers are shot, driver side rocker is crumbling, both rear quarters have blistering, trunk lid is rotting in the corners and underneath. Doors are 95% rust free, just some minor surface stuff on the inside lower lip. Fenders and hood are good, header panel is nice, for the most part the body is straight (minus a few little dings)

Engine: less than 1,000 miles on new SG1 block. Stock bottom end, ARP bolts, HV oil pump and front cover, 206/206 billet roller cam, heads have been ported, polished, larger valves and o-ringed. Ported upper and lower intake, EGR removed, 50 lb injectors, 1.55 T&D roller rockers and pushrods, PowerPlate, 4" inlet pipe, brand new PTE stock location IC, brand new PTE 6262 SP turbo, new Razor's alky kit, new 3" GN1 external gate downpipe, 3" ATR exhaust, TurboTweak SD chip with powerlogger. Hasn't seen more than 15 PSI since built, but still pulls hard.

Trans: Jimmy's level 2 rebuild less than 4,000 miles ago. Precision 3200 multi-disk lock-up converter, big cooler, shift-kit, Kirban D/S loop etc. B&M Pro-Stick shifter in factory console.

Rear: less than 8,000 miles on rebuilt 10 bolt with Auburn Pro locker, Moser 28 spline chrome moly axles, Moser girdle, stock 3.42 gears. Stock brakes with aluminum drums.

Suspension: Bilstein shocks, rear airbags, ATR rear swaybar, Kirban springs. SLP 17x8 hyperblack ZR1 wheels (tires are dry cracked and have about 20K miles on them but are 9 years old)















 
forgot to mention, Powermaster is probably on its last leg, but I do have all the Hydroboost conversion parts new in the box.
 
Can't put a price on that it was your dads car
X2 I'm a sentimental kinda guy so I'd fix it and drive it. You know the history and the drivetrain Is good to go. Or just drive it like it is.

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Yea,I'm with the pops part.but you won't find another WH-1.there in high demand.

TRY ME!!
 
That's what I'm afraid of. I really want to keep and fix it, but when I see guys selling built, proven 10 second cars with 50k miles on them for $18-20k it makes me seriously scared to tell my wife that I'm going to drop $10k on a paint job.


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Id fix it.or ill trade you a W11 T type.an let me fix an sell it for a bunch of money.

TRY ME!!
 
I would fix all that rust with fiberglass. Cheap and easy and it would last a long time on a garage kept car. Being a WH1 it has a convenient break point between black / grey where you can make a clean break in the paint.


I had a Trans Am that I never fixed because I wanted to do it "right" with new sheet metal (super expensive). But then along came a different car, and I had to let the old Trans Am go so it needed to be fixed up without breaking the bank. My buddy and I glassed up the car and it looked fantastic. I wished that I had done that years earlier I could've really enjoyed the car a lot more. New owner has that car garage kept and it still looks great several years after.
 
Not really comfortable with trying to use fiberglass on the rear quarters and rockers, especially if my daughter would ever ride/drive this car. I think I may be able to just patch the quarters and paint the lower black portion for now, throw new fillers and fiberglass trunk. Then maybe paint it right down the road.


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this is the car. the bottoms of the fenders, the bottoms of the doors, and the bottoms of the quarters are all repaired with fiberglass on both sides of the car. I really wished I had done it sooner, the car looked so nice after being fixed. The total repair bill was only around 1700 bucks and it was quick too.



 
Not really comfortable with trying to use fiberglass on the rear quarters and rockers, especially if my daughter would ever ride/drive this car. I think I may be able to just patch the quarters and paint the lower black portion for now, throw new fillers and fiberglass trunk. Then maybe paint it right down the road.


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Yes if it's structurally compromised then that's another story. But if it's just holes in the corners then it's no big deal. Maybe good to replace the rockers if they are really bad.
 
Probably do better off either parting it out, or swapping your stuff into a clean roller if you can find one.
 
I'm gonna add my .02 here. The car isn't that bad, believe me. Mine had the R-83 option of vented rear quarters.:eek: I did a ton of reading on how to repair them and welded new rear quarters on myself. The drivers side isn't perfect but I doubt when I get it painted you'll be able to tell the passenger side was ever replaced unless you open the trunk, and it's all metal. What you have is a good solid car that needs some work, and if you take the time to learn how to do it, you can do it yourself which will make the car even more special than it is right now.;) Mine's not done yet but I still keep plugging away at it. If you've got kids it would also be a good "family" project which would help them to understand how a car's put together and how to work on it.

You don't have to put a $10K paint job on it either. You can do a large portion of the work yourself to prep the body and find a local shop that will let you buy the paint. Paint isn't cheap but you could cut the cost by at least 1/2 if you feel like doing it your self. Here's a link to mine and you really only need to read the first few pages to get an idea of what to do. I've run into more headaches with mine as I got into it but it was in much worse condition.:(

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/threads/finally-got-some-time.322115/
 
I'd get the work done and keep Dad's car. This is what I started with on the wife's car.
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Hey Peteraq1, I've been to your shop before.:D It's Charlie from the Smyrna AZ.;) Talk about a small world.:D
 
Thanks guys, I feel a little better about keeping it and trying to fix it a little at a time. I've just spent so much time and money on it already, it would be nice to enjoy it for once.


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I don't think it's in that bad of shape either. The rockers look like the worst part, but fortunately they are the easiest pieces to replace. I'm sure the floors have some problems but that's also easy. The quarters don't look too awfully bad and patching with steel or fiberglass is definitely possible there.

I am one of those guys that has spent thousands of dollars on body work before and you have to "keep it real", if you have a solid and/or rare car to start with then it's worth some more expensive body work because it will be worth more when finished. Try not to let the sentimental attachment trap you into spending a ton of money (that may never happen). Get it fixed up in a sensible and economical manner. You can still enjoy it and have some fun with it without going broke and making it 100% perfect 100% steel, 99% of people can't tell the difference anyways especially at car shows.
 
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