tuckerabbott

I purchased an 85 gt convertible. It was owned by the proverbial 70 women. It is showroom clean. Really. 5 speed and red. I really would like to keep it that way, but I don't know if I should. It has 30k on it, and really could pass for a new car. Should I leave it bone stock? I was thinking exhaust perhaps, off road , get rid of the cats, 18" cobra rims, and possibly doing something to the suspension like changing springs for better handeling. I don't plan on racing, just very little pleasure cruising. Help me oput here. I don't know if value may someday increase, since, this find is truly something you don't see everyday. I appreciate all of your input!

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BraMas

Nice car! I would loose the exhaust when I bought my 85 I could barly here it run so I went headers and no cats and new flowmasters. It's your car do what ever you want. Do whats gonna make you smile everytime you look at it. If I may what did you pay for that gem?

tuckerabbott

Thanks for the reply. I gave $8600.00 for it. It is really showroom condition. So the headers are necessary with no cats? Flowmaster have all that? I will probably have done at a custom exhaust place. The guy there is really good. What do you think about changing the value though? I want to keep it very low mileage in hopes someday maybe worth a little more. I looked far and wide for one of this caliber. Was what I wanted as a 16 year old and couldn't afford in 85. Thanks again for the reply.

crazyhorse

put the best performance parts on & always keep the stock parts so you could put them back on if you need to. keep in mind what your plans are for this car. they don't make these cars any more .

madd_hatter_1979

i would definitely keep stocker parts, if money isnt much of an option get a spare motor and build the sh*t out of it and leave the stock one alone, sawp and have fun definitely get rid of those hideous rims had the same ones on my 88 gt, those got swapped to a pair of the 16 inch "pony" wheels i had in the garage.

vfast

8600?..well granny got ya...........it is a nice car..I can't ever say I saw a strawbeery red '86 from the factory..nice

soccerm_d

Naw dude keep the car stock as possible, it is so gorgeouus to **** up!

tuckerabbott

It is an 85 and is the factory color. I looked at 50 of them before i bought. She should be the one that feels cheated. I feel 8600 was a very fair price considering that it really truly is showroom condition. Usually when you see them there is rust all over or interior is shabby. This is showroom. Not all beat up by some cowboy.

Fishhawk

I'm the original owner of my 85 GT and kept it stock with all original parts for 19 years. The value never increased and still hasn't so I decided to modify. I have kept all the original stock parts just in case. In my opinion the first thing you should look into is gears, and swapping the 7.5 rear end for a 8.8. 3.55 or 3.73 gears really wake these cars up. Also subframe connectors. Especially with a convertable. The exhaust is very restrictive so that should be something to address. When your looking for exhaust parts you can order anything that would fit an 86 just as long as you replace the transmission double hump cross member to clear the dual pipes.

firefox

I think you did pretty well on that purchase man. Keeping it stock is a great question. I think the truth is there are some upgrades that you can do to the car that will not hurt its value in the long run. Its kinda something that you need to balance out. I would keep the original rims, even if you buy new ones for your own pleasure. I wouldn’t change the interior at all. Exhaust, airfilter and gears and probably even subframe connectors is something that you could get away with. What it really comes down to, is any car is only worth as much as what someone is willing to pay for it. A completely original car will always bring more money but will need to be bought buy a very serious collector. And yes, Keep it in really good condition and low miles on it. It will be worth quit a bit of $$ oneday.