Looked at 86 GT today...advice?

Today I went to look at an 86 GT that I found on Craigslist for $2000. It has a motor out of a 91 that was installed nicely, no hack jobs, and it pulls hard. Car is really tight, no rattles, drives and stops straight and smooth. Decent set of Pony wheels, needs tires. Interior is so-so, carpet is stained, few cracks in the dash, tear on drivers seat and a small piece of plastic cracked and missing from directly below the radio. It has an awful spray bomb paint job, there is some sort of screwed on plate over the drivers door lock and there is a small bend in the bumper cover under the passenger fog light. The car is very clean and straight, no rust at all. Not even under the hatch or on the bottoms of the doors.

Overall not bad for $2000 it seems. What actually scares me a little is that in both front fender aprons are some small splits near the top edge where the fenders mount. Sort of as if maybe the car was lightly hit at some time. I also noticed that the factory sunroof sits high at the left front and low at the right rear. The car sits level so I didn't suspect a bent frame.

What do you guys make of the overall package? He is very firm at $2000.

Pick it apart as much as you want...I am considering it because it runs and drives SO well, figuring I can work with the interior and paint and also modify as I go.

ANY and ALL advice, thoughts, nitpicking, etc is welcome and appreciated!!

85_SS_302_Coupe said:

Look at the bottom of the doors VERY closely. Those doors are prone to rust and even the slightest bubble is bad news. My doors had tiny light surface rust spots when i got it...3 years later i had holes in my doors. It's getting hard to find '79-86 rust free doors.

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I hear ya on that...these doors are in great shape, I couldn't see anything starting to form. That fact along with the way it runs are reasons why I have such interest in the car. Any thoughts on the engine bay apron cracks or misalignment of the sunroof?

yeah i can def tell the difference between a factory and aftermarket sunroof, this is def a factory unit. It runs good and has no rust so I may go ahead with it and actually have a car I can drive again.

The ad is useless for any insight...but here it is...

1986 Mustang GT

Blake I never thought to bring my camera until I was most of the way there. Think of a black GT hatch with ponys that has no shine to it, but a bit of texture haha