86' GT I'm considering buying

[jikelly]

86' GT I'm considering buying need opinon and help

I went to look at an 86' GT tonight. The interior and exterior looked okay, but it had a few problems. I would like to know what you guys think.
A little background on the car.
It has an automatic tranny.
He said the car sat over the winter.


Problems:
1. It had a rough idle and when I pulled over to let my friend drive it the idle started surging and then the car died. It started right up afterwards, but when you stop the idle started surging again. I saw the sticky on idle problems and think this problem could probably be solved. It doesn't bother me a lot.

2. The transmission shifted in a funny way. When mashing on the gas from about 15 mph it would engage slowly then jerk a little when it went into gear. This bothers me. However, I would like to know if this could be caused by a vaccum leak.

He said he talked to someone about the idle and they told him it was likely a vaccum leak. Makes sense as it acts like my buick did when it had a leak, but the buick didn't have a vaccum actuated tranny so I don't know what to think about the tranny.

 

[olymaster]

take it to a garage before you buy and make sure

 

[90mustangGT]

1. Something that can be fixed easily usually and is a good bargaining tool to get the price down.
2. That's the Ford automatic tranny, typical.
3. May be a leak or such but why hasn't he fixed it?

Your looking at an '86 car, that's almost a 20 year old car. It's had a long life and there is going to be issues. Keep that in mind.

 

[jikelly]

I know it's old and there will be issues, I just sold my 87 Buick GN a few months back to buy my 05 GT. I worked on it a lot. I'm just wondering if the tranny shifting is really the tranny or if it's something else that can be easily fixed?

I'm also looking at a 96 LT1 Caprice for the same price it is in a little better shape, but has almost 200,000 miles on it. Just trying to make the best choice.

 

[bryanrevans]

Give these guys some more info.Miles,any mods,t-tops,ect and someone on here will give you a pretty straight opinion on worth,tech ideas.

 

[BaXTeR3221]

This is the important part....does it have t-tops?

Na, but seriously, it sounds like easy fixes and stuff you could bargain with like said above. I personally would swap to a manual anyway, but auto tranny are cheap used, especially the AODs.

 

[86bluecobra]

oh i wish my 86 had t-tops. sounds like i would buy it. after all i would mod it and the tranny would have to be beefed up so tranny issues wouldnt worry me much. fyi the 86 stang has different heads then the 87-93. they flow worse. car was rated at 200hp i believe. the pistons have no valve reliefs cut in them which makes it a pain for aftermarket heads. people say they bolt aftermarket heads on them without piston valve clearence issues but the aftermarket companies all say the pistons need reliefs cut in them if you are going to use there heads so just a heads up.

 

[Deleted member 87397]

Ahhhh I love the t-tops on my 86

 

[jikelly]

The car has 115,000 miles on it. It's completely stock (unmodified). I'm hoping at the very least that the tv cable can be adjusted so that the tranny will last for about 6 months, then I'll rebuild it or swap to a manual. Does anyone know tightening the tv cable will help?

No it doesn't have t-tops, but I've always been a hardtop guy myself so it doesn't bother me. I'm aware of some of the differences in the 86's speed density, crappy heads, higher compression, and flat top pistons, but it has always been my favorite year model fox. The first with the fuel injected 5.0, but still without the ground effects on the GT's. Plus I've always liked the fog lights on the 86's.

 

[BaXTeR3221]

I personally wouldn't by a 4-eye car that didn't have t-tops. But since that doesn't matter to you, i would go for it.

 

[bryanrevans]

ok jakk a ss es I meant t-top just saying a 86 insnt much info