please help1988 saleen should i buy
- Thread starter jamesjames
- Start date
Boostedpimp
20+ Year Stangneter 
My response at this would be as follows..
At first i'm like cool it's a white 88 Saleen (only 154 out of 708 of that color hatch in 88). Sounds like a great deal but then I'm like well, it's missing the cool American Racing mesh wheels and has terrible bullet wheels on it. It's missing the 80's retro Saleen ground effects decals, has wrong windshield banner decal, no airbox, strut tower brace, or fan shroud...ok.. but it also has a C4 transmission it
My mind jumps to a clone or knock off and immediately value or even interest in the car plummets
The car should have a Saleen vin plate on the inside of the driver side fender by the strut tower but I would just call Saleen and verify with them. If it turns out to be legit then I'd offer a little less and restore it back to 5 spd with the correct parts.
At first i'm like cool it's a white 88 Saleen (only 154 out of 708 of that color hatch in 88). Sounds like a great deal but then I'm like well, it's missing the cool American Racing mesh wheels and has terrible bullet wheels on it. It's missing the 80's retro Saleen ground effects decals, has wrong windshield banner decal, no airbox, strut tower brace, or fan shroud...ok.. but it also has a C4 transmission it
My mind jumps to a clone or knock off and immediately value or even interest in the car plummets
The car should have a Saleen vin plate on the inside of the driver side fender by the strut tower but I would just call Saleen and verify with them. If it turns out to be legit then I'd offer a little less and restore it back to 5 spd with the correct parts.
I actually think you could have gotten those lowe graphics deleted. Was a rare option from Saleen.
But all the other decals/emblems are correct other than the windshield banner. the "302" hood decal and "racecraft suspension" decals are present, but the windshield banner is from a 89-93 Saleen.
I do see the Saleen vin plate on the fender however, and holes from where the strut tower brace used to be.
http://scoatalk.saleenclubofamerica.com/index.php
http://www.saleenforums.soec.org/
Try these places so you can be sure all the information is right.
These guys recognize a lot of the cars.
Keep in mind the forums don't move as fast as some others, so you may not get all the answers quickly.
I looked this car up in the saleen book.
vin looks right
Appears to be originally a California car which would explain the mass air
Doesn't say stripes shipped in trunk, most that had it that way do have that listed.
You will likely need someone that knows how to read the info better to know if it was originally an auto.
I rotated the pic and saved it, i'm better with a wrench, so someone fix it for me.
http://www.saleenforums.soec.org/
Try these places so you can be sure all the information is right.
These guys recognize a lot of the cars.
Keep in mind the forums don't move as fast as some others, so you may not get all the answers quickly.
I looked this car up in the saleen book.
vin looks right
Appears to be originally a California car which would explain the mass air
Doesn't say stripes shipped in trunk, most that had it that way do have that listed.
You will likely need someone that knows how to read the info better to know if it was originally an auto.
I rotated the pic and saved it, i'm better with a wrench, so someone fix it for me.
Attachments
BTW, code 41 just means it's a hatch.
If it's an original auto car the gear would say as option 3.27 or if it says nothing they would be 2.73's.
The stereo should be a pioneer.
The speedo should be a 170mph (made of unobtanium if it's missing).
Having had a saleen vehicle, I like saleens up until the last s351 (the rest after that I couldn't care less about).
With that said, making a car whole again that's rare, while fun, isn't going to come cheap.
This car is at least going to need the wheels and tires, trans and decals.
The decal kit exists, it's like $300. (you are going to need to find the original decal color)
The wheels can be found, i'd guess $1200+ tires.
If it was a manual trans originally, I gotta believe it's going to cost $2000-$3000 between a trans, clutch, pedals, labor.
If you are truly looking for a saleen.
Use the saleenclubamerica site things like the wheel guide etc to look stuff up.
And go on ebay and buy a saleen book.
Edit: Also the hood gap doesn't look that great either.
If it's an original auto car the gear would say as option 3.27 or if it says nothing they would be 2.73's.
The stereo should be a pioneer.
The speedo should be a 170mph (made of unobtanium if it's missing).
Having had a saleen vehicle, I like saleens up until the last s351 (the rest after that I couldn't care less about).
With that said, making a car whole again that's rare, while fun, isn't going to come cheap.
This car is at least going to need the wheels and tires, trans and decals.
The decal kit exists, it's like $300. (you are going to need to find the original decal color)
The wheels can be found, i'd guess $1200+ tires.
If it was a manual trans originally, I gotta believe it's going to cost $2000-$3000 between a trans, clutch, pedals, labor.
If you are truly looking for a saleen.
Use the saleenclubamerica site things like the wheel guide etc to look stuff up.
And go on ebay and buy a saleen book.
Edit: Also the hood gap doesn't look that great either.
Last edited:
Were there AOD Saleens? I can't ever recall seeing one.
Wouldn't be the first time there was such a thing in limited numbers. I can recall the Saleen coupes, or the one-off Saleen foxbody GT.
There is a handful (at least) of autos out there.
I spent I really lot of time years ago on the saleenclubofamerica.com site.
They are a treasure trove of saleen info, it's a shame there is so little action on it now.
So many oddities and inconsistencies over the years with saleen.
Sometimes they were sent the wrong vehicles by ford dealers and just built them anyway.
At times they didn't have the right parts in stock and substituted or deleted things.
What made that site great was that a lot of the old school guys that worked at saleen were members, people that seen real situations first hand and knew the original owners of many of the cars.
For the record, if I was to buy an 88, it would be a damerow ssv(police) saleen coupe, there were only 14. When they come up they are like 20-25 grand.
Mike, you would like the book, see if you can get your hands on one. It's good reading, not to mention a great reference for the cars, because every car is listed.
Edit: Ebay has a few, cheapest is $70.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335821607&icep_item=292080457953
I spent I really lot of time years ago on the saleenclubofamerica.com site.
They are a treasure trove of saleen info, it's a shame there is so little action on it now.
So many oddities and inconsistencies over the years with saleen.
Sometimes they were sent the wrong vehicles by ford dealers and just built them anyway.
At times they didn't have the right parts in stock and substituted or deleted things.
What made that site great was that a lot of the old school guys that worked at saleen were members, people that seen real situations first hand and knew the original owners of many of the cars.
For the record, if I was to buy an 88, it would be a damerow ssv(police) saleen coupe, there were only 14. When they come up they are like 20-25 grand.
Mike, you would like the book, see if you can get your hands on one. It's good reading, not to mention a great reference for the cars, because every car is listed.
Edit: Ebay has a few, cheapest is $70.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335821607&icep_item=292080457953
No thanks! As far as going under the dash is concerned, I'll stick to fuses and clutch quadrants. I have to do enough contorting for that.
Probably has something to do with being too lazy to pull the seat out and still wanting to get up under there to see what I'm doing, lol.
Boostedpimp
20+ Year Stangneter
swapping peddles is prob one of the worse jobs you could have to do to a foxbody... I'd rather pull the whole drivetrain then do another peddle swap
- Jul 12, 2017
- 2,474
- 1,348
- 173
It’s a different pedal assembly for the third pedal. Though you can disassemble a manual and remove the clutch pedal.
I would bet it’s been swapped out.
