Hi! I'm new to the forum... as this is my first post ha. But I have been reading up for a couple weeks now. This place is really a great resource for anybody with a jbody.
Anyway in high school I drove a 97 sunfire convertible. I hated it. Haha everybody gave me crap, I heard on several occasions that it was a "chick car" and I hated it for that. The sunfire was my 3rd car, I got it when i was 17 (I sold the other two, didn't wreck those). It was a solid car, never had many problems. The top eventually ripped around the back window and produced a nice little leak. Both window motors failed, I replaced my alternator, coil packs, and fuel pump at about 100,000 miles. Overall I couldn't have asked for anything more reliable.
One night after a good night with the (now ex) girl at about 2:30 am I was on my way home doing a cool 80 mph when out of nowhere a doe thought it would be a great time to die. I was looking at the radio, looked up, the airbags hit me in the face and I saw bambi about 15 feet in the air overhead. The top was down it was a really cool effect! Anyway as you could guess the sunflower didn't make it.
A month later I was in my 03 civic. I liked it and the mileage it made was awesome, but I never I knew that I would miss that car that I hated so bad. As it turns out I actually loved my little "chick car".
2 years later an icy road and a tree made the civic history. So I drove one of my parents and wasn't too concerned with finding a car anytime soon. I just graduated from college and I've got a ton of debt, the parents didn't mind me driving theirs, so I was alright. But a former acquaintance mentioned that he was trying to sell his car and having some trouble doing so, he sold it to someone on contract but couldn't get payments from the guy. He said he gave it to him for 2,000. I asked him what it was and he said it was a 1996 chick car! needless to say another chance with a sunfire convertible was one that I wanted to take. He was really frustrated with the whole deal so I offered him 1,000 for it and he said he would talk to the guy and let me know. So a week later I get a call, he says that something happened to the car, it doesn't run but he'll find out and let me know. Another week and he tells me that it's a fuel pump (sounds like mine!). I was like no problem. So we negotiated a new price, I got it for $775. Here it is:
Just over 100,000 miles.
The mirrors were both a little rough. After I found out how much new ones were I just fixed this one, the other is beyond repair.
this top failed also. but the crappy glue job just put extra stress on the staples in the top and it eventually failed as well, it still leaks...
The glue job.
Believe it or not the water had actually gone down about 3 inches at this point. Thats how I found the trunk, mine flooded out too I just had enough sense to drain it.
I ripped out all of the interior trunk carpet or whatever. They were/are water logged and IDK if I'm even going to put them back in...
It was dirty.
So thats it. I'm naming it 2.0.
I only paid $775 for it but it needs some things.
Fixed:
Fuel Pump $350
Mirror Free
Needs:
Window Motors (Drivers side unusable, passengers side slowing)
Passenger side mirror
Wants:
Alot but to start:
Tint.
Wheels/tires
Sound
Top.
There's still alot to do. I want to eventually swap out the engine, and make some horses with it but the money situation isn't allowing that right now. So there's alot to do now, and alot to look forward to. But for $1,125 (so far) I'm really happy with what I got.
Anyway I'm going to get the plates right now, I really cant wait. Good times.
Not a bad pickup at all, just get real friendly and acquainted with your local junkyards
Yes junkyards are awesome. As long as you know what your looking for, you can find alot of "upgrades" for either other j-bodies or a few other cars.
John W(Ranger1316) wrote:Not a bad pickup at all, just get real friendly and acquainted with your local junkyards
haha my local junkyard isn't cheap at all! I've got to drive about 50 miles to get to anything good, which means I'll be making a few trips and buying alot of stuff at once.
Wow my local yard is cheap. He they give me parts for free sometimes. LOL
PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
Really nice! only thing that would have made it perfect in my eyes would have it by a MT.
really great find and glad to see that it was relatively cheap to fix.
"No matter the size, big or small, any obstacle can easily be overcome with large amounts of High Explosive"
welcome to the convertible club
check the third gen forum and search for posts by me. ive put up a ton of info on the verts.
then search for razzmatazz's posts in the maintenance forum on how to fix the DS windows so they seal properly
then check out
this thread to see if Biggs has anything else for sale (such as window or top motors) from his vert part out.
have fun and post up some more pics!
Things I've fixed since then:
Drivers window motor: $90 (parts and instillation)
Honestly I'm not sure what piece was replaced, I was over a thousand miles away from her when it happened. All I know is I had a $140 bill when I got back, and it no longer leaks coolant.
Brakes and rotors: $150
So
Window: $90
Mysterious part: $140
B&R: $150
the new grand total: $1505
I think that the coil packs are starting to go. the engine is running really funny at certin RPM's. So thats probably next.
Check the spark plugs first. They are alot cheaper than new coil packs.
prob just needs plugs and wires, a simple tune up
Did I mention I drive a 2000 Lumina now?-----wigm-tuners.org member
Definitely a good deal for that price!
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Where I work:
HP
What I take for Memory and Focus:
Focus Fast
