Mom’s GT

[jeepdad]

My mom is considering whether to restore her 1986 GT that she has had since new. It still runs/drives but rarely gets out of the barn these days. Needs new paint, interior (seats and carpet), the heat/air doesn’t work, and the engine is completely untouched and stock. It was quite the car back in its day and got lots of attention. Question: how much $$ would it take to have a nice-looking, reliable driver? She is torn between selling it or investing the money to make it nice again. I have my own hands full with my 66 coupe.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Paint is the big ticket item. A good paint job is probsbly $8-10k. You could probsbly get an ok paint job for $4-6k.

all the other stuff can be fixed, and it looks to be in fairly decent shape under the hood. I guess the question is how attached is she to the car? Maybe $1-2k in the right place might make it a reliable driver (minus paint)

 

[General karthief]

That's a hard decision to make.
It's just as hard to find a reputable shop that does quality work in a reasonable time frame.
I'd get the running gear in good shape then enjoy the ride but that's me.

 

[nickyb]

I'd say give her a new hobby and a couple of parts catalogs. Let her watch some videos and start replacing little things.Have her read a lot and join a mustang car club near her.She is the original owner so she should keep her gt.

 

[limp]

If she is going to have to pay to have all of it done, my opinion is she is better off selling it and buying a new car...

I looked into doing a 70 Z28 a while back and I could buy a few year old 911 for what the cost was going to be....

 

[90sickfox]

The biggest issue would be rodent damage. You'd be surprised what can be done to save old paint. That car doesn't look bad at all in the pictures. If it was my car I'd keep it regardless. She's had it this long and the value just keeps going up on original unmolested cars. The big money would be the paint. The interior would be next in expense. Dirty things can be cleaned though...and plastics can be painted.

I mention rodents because I had a barn find car that was beautiful after a good cleaning and a buff job. The problem was that they got into the wiring under the hood, behind the dash, and even in the trunk. They caused a constant chase of electrical problems. Mice will chew on the weirdest stuff. They caused more damage and caused me more headache than it was worth. That car was a 84 SAAB 900 Turbo and didn't hold much value from the start.

That car is a GT convertible and will have lots of value. A situation like this depends on what she wants. To make it a reliable driver could be cheap... to make it like new ( new is not show quality) will take 15 to 25k going through the engine parts, transmission service, interior, suspension, electrical, top, and mid grade paint...or paint correction. For a show quality car it would be north of 25k....money would have to be a non concern. It looks like a great candidate for restoration or making a good driver.

 

[Monkeybutt2000]

I'd just drive it. Do the mechanicals and go. New paint is over rated anyway. Seriously.

 

[95BlueStallion]

She is the original owner? You have to keep it then, hands down. If it’s never been molested, it should be pretty straight forward to get all the mechanical aspects functioning properly again. It’s all there and just needs tested and fixed. Do little by little, set small goals at a time, and it will be fixed up before you know it.

 

[Neuron]

Come on its your Mom, multitask and get going on fixing that for her, a lot less painful for you than she had bringing you into this world.

 

[Gravydog]

I agree with the others, get the car mechanically sound, then find a good detailer, that car looks like it would clean up pretty good, maybe just have to get the trunk lid and hood repainted.