Hello, Thanks for the forum. Let me first start by stating, there may have been "cold snacks" involved with me being here. While I have never been a member of this forum, I was once an owner some 30+ years ago of a 1986 Cavalier RS 2.0 coupe. It was high school... I loved that car... Indestructible... The year was 1990 and I was surprised with the car as a gift from my generous parents. The car was a light blue. I loved the z24 blue of the era and after about a year of ownership, and after my then girlfriend borrowed it and rear-ended an unsuspecting motorist, put a new front end on it and had the local dealership paint it the more appealing blue (pretty much every car I bought since has been red). Lots of good Memories. About the same time, my middle brother bought a 87 Cavalier Coupe 2.0 with a4 speed. He beat the living hell out of that car, he loved it but it was taken out by a large W.PA Buck.

Fast forward 30+ years and the brother and I were hanging out living the glory days. I told him a story of a 88 Z24 convertible on CL that I had been toying with purchasing for a couple months. I told him that the reason I had not jumped on it was that it just wasn't my preferred Gen1 square light set up. We started searching around and he found a Gen 1 86 RS Convertible on FB marketplace (red) that was with a few hours drive... 30 min little airplane flight, he was asking $900. We texted the guy and hopped in the plane the next morning for a brief adventure. Ok. the car was rough... understatement. It had been sitting outside unloved for a least 7 years. It last ran in 2014 according to the seller. His dad picked up the car 10 or more years ago in an estate junk sale and towed it behind a motorhome. He didn't have a title as his dad had a dealer license and just ran it with a dealer plate for a few years... and then it sat. Holes in the top, letting water in. All that aside my brother and I were shocked at the lack of rust on this car. Our 4 and 5 year old PA models each had their fare share of rust. Mine was addressed at the paint job, which included some patch welds in the doors as well as welds on the bottom of the doors. The FB car had none of it. What it did have was moss. Moss on the outside on the "northside" of the car, and moss in the driver and rear seats and carpets. Other than the "green" additions, the car was otherwise unmolested and all there.. oh and it was the high school coveted V6... I actually had no idea. Seller made a brief attempt at starting it using Carb cleaner and a borrowed battery. I heard it turn over and already knew I was buying it. I offered the guy $700 and a handshake and he agreed. We did the 6 hour round trip drive with a borrowed flatbed trailer to fetch it the next day. Had it back by 2PM and tore the entire interior out. I figured I could get it running but was just unsure about the science project growing inside.

Well, long story longer, a few days have gone by since my foolish purchase and I am even more excited about it. After a through vinegar and simple green scrubbing, followed by a high pressure rinse Interior came up decent. I will try to attach some pics. Even better, after some new gas, some plug fiddling, a new battery and a fresh gallon of Mobile 1, the car is running for the first time in at least 7 years. These are just the first few experiences. There is an increasing list of stuff to address... got the power seat working so I could remove the interior. Original stereo pops when powered on but shows no display of tunes nothing. AC equipped but not working. Fan squeeks like there are mice still living in it. Brakes... we sorta. All that aside, I feel like we saved a cool car from its next stop at the junkyard.

Things to immediately address. It is currently wearing at least 3 different size tires. Only one appears to be the correct 195/70/13. It appears that no one makes this tire size anymore, so I am not sure what I am going to do. To reference my original 86, I had the steelies painted black during the paint job and added new chrome rings and the original 7 inch caps. I got a set of 4 original black caps with this car and would like to recreate that look... maybe with some new 14" black steelies. Gotta figure out what will fit

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xvpe177Ah6rXHJ3D6

Making Memories
--mick

Attachments

IMG_20220319_175001724.jpg (91k)
IMG_20220320_123229646.jpg (76k)
IMG_20220319_203259.jpg (111k)
IMG_20220319_143342322_HDR.jpg (134k)
IMG_20220316_191704336.jpg (193k)

Hi and welcome to JBO.
Old car looks to be in great shape, nice find.