Need to make a decision. Need some help.

[packratbimmer]

Maybe do what I am doing and keep the parts that you need - sell the shell when you are done as a part. Don't chop any wiring or molest the integrity. There are so many people with a rust bucket who will need a body and don't mind transferring parts.

[Alaska Ted]

its value will be somewhat related to the condition of the transfer case. here is how to test it: jack up ONE of the FRONT wheels. once it is off the ground, try to spin it. if it spins pretty free, the xfer case vc is shot. if the wheel spins about 1/8 turn(accountable to driveline slop) or so and then pretty much stops or rotates with a shitload of force, the case is probably good.

the biggest problem with pricing this car is probably a function of your location. shipping a vehicle to the lower 48 that doesn't run would probably be brutal.

assuming that the xfer case is good, the body is indeed as rust free as it looks, and you find someone to buy it that doesn't need to ship it(or can do it cheaply), i would guess its worth around 2x or a bit more than you paid for it. unfortunately, as a parts car, it is probably worth 3x-4x more than your original investment. of course you would have to take the time to take it apart and there would be one less rust free manual ix coupe on the road. i don't really think my desire to see you save this car is a function of its the monetary amount. unfortunately, ix's may never see the value increase like a nice m3 or 318is. i think its more a function of its rarity than desirability. m3's and ix's cost about the same money new, but unfortunately, a nice cherry ix is realistically only worth 6-7k while an m3 is probably valued close to 40 grand these days. one day maybe the market will see the value in these cars. today....well, we just have to love them for the red headed step kids they have come to be.

honestly, i understand that pictures can lie, but the paint other than where it is damaged on the tail looks pretty damned good. it appears that you would have a pretty car if you just get the back end fixed and the rest buffed out. alpineweis II is a single stage paint so it is easy to fix. probably not necessary to do a full repaint. around here, a decent full paint job would cost 3k. if the paint on that one can be made to look nice for a grand, there is certainly value in that.

Thanks, I didn't know that you could check the T-case that way. I was only aware of the floor jack test. I'll give it a shot soon. I just rolled the head over and the #2 cylinder must have gotten hella hot. Aluminum from the piston is melted all over the valves and seats. I doubt it ran when he pulled it. I agree that the car would look good with the rear fixed and some serious buffing, but if i'm gonna put any coin into it I want it to be better than good. You are definitely spot on with shipping costs from AK. Insane! Starting to put some feelers out for another engine. I'll keep you posted.

[flyboyx]

in our "cars for sale" section, there is a guy in the northeast with a red running rust bucket. its had a lot of work done to the engine but i don't think it can sell for what he is asking. maybe you can drop a hint in his ear about parting it? might be a good place to start anyway. you should be able to find a good running ix engine for around 600.00. if it has had a lot of work done, perhaps a bit more.

i will keep my eyes open for you.

edit: there is a black one also in new york for 1200. the owner is starting to part it out.

[nando]

hang onto it for a couple more years and I'll sell you my stroker for $700. :p

[flyboyx]

f you!!!! sell me your stroker for 700.00 8)

[Alaska Ted]

hang onto it for a couple more years and i'll sell you my stroker for $700. :p

deal deal deal!!!!!

[Alaska Ted]

hang onto it for a couple more years and i'll sell you my stroker for $700. :p

not a single part on this car is or will ever be for sale.

[Alaska Ted]

its value will be somewhat related to the condition of the transfer case. here is how to test it: jack up ONE of the FRONT wheels. once it is off the ground, try to spin it. if it spins pretty free, the xfer case vc is shot. if the wheel spins about 1/8 turn(accountable to driveline slop) or so and then pretty much stops or rotates with a shitload of force, the case is probably good.

the biggest problem with pricing this car is probably a function of your location. shipping a vehicle to the lower 48 that doesn't run would probably be brutal.

assuming that the xfer case is good, the body is indeed as rust free as it looks, and you find someone to buy it that doesn't need to ship it(or can do it cheaply), i would guess its worth around 2x or a bit more than you paid for it. unfortunately, as a parts car, it is probably worth 3x-4x more than your original investment. of course you would have to take the time to take it apart and there would be one less rust free manual ix coupe on the road. i don't really think my desire to see you save this car is a function of its the monetary amount. unfortunately, ix's may never see the value increase like a nice m3 or 318is. i think its more a function of its rarity than desirability. m3's and ix's cost about the same money new, but unfortunately, a nice cherry ix is realistically only worth 6-7k while an m3 is probably valued close to 40 grand these days. one day maybe the market will see the value in these cars. today....well, we just have to love them for the red headed step kids they have come to be.

honestly, i understand that pictures can lie, but the paint other than where it is damaged on the tail looks pretty damned good. it appears that you would have a pretty car if you just get the back end fixed and the rest buffed out. alpineweis II is a single stage paint so it is easy to fix. probably not necessary to do a full repaint. around here, a decent full paint job would cost 3k. if the paint on that one can be made to look nice for a grand, there is certainly value in that.

Hey Flyboyx, I did the t-case check you had mentioned. I forgot to ask if the car should be in gear or in neutral. I'm assuming it should be in gear like the floor jack test. Anyway, I jacked up one wheel and tried to rotate the wheel. In neutral, I could rotate the wheel with a good amount of force. It felt like more resistance than just the brake pads dragging but I wouldn't consider it a shit load. Of course the shit load measurement of force is relative to who is applying it. Seeing as how you're from Texas and I'm from Alaska, your shit load is probably much less than mine. In gear, there was a small amount of play and then it completely locked up. Is my T-case good? BTW, found a 89 alpine sedan locally. Seller is asking too much right now but i think the price will come down.

[barbierij]

in our "cars for sale" section, there is a guy in the northeast with a red running rust bucket. its had a lot of work done to the engine but i don't think it can sell for what he is asking. maybe you can drop a hint in his ear about parting it? might be a good place to start anyway. you should be able to find a good running ix engine for around 600.00. if it has had a lot of work done, perhaps a bit more.

i will keep my eyes open for you.

edit: there is a black one also in new york for 1200. the owner is starting to part it out.

that red '88iX is super rusty and yeah, I dont think he will get what he is asking. Rust doesn't sell.

Someone offered me $400 for my '90iX with a blown xfer case and lots of rust but the engine is solid.


Honestly, I would be all over this and put '90iX engine in if I wasn't so far away. Good luck with it, whatever you decide to do.

[barbierij]

Hey Flyboyx, I did the t-case check you had mentioned. I forgot to ask if the car should be in gear or in neutral. I'm assuming it should be in gear like the floor jack test. Anyway, I jacked up one wheel and tried to rotate the wheel. In neutral, I could rotate the wheel with a good amount of force. It felt like more resistance than just the brake pads dragging but I wouldn't consider it a shit load. Of course the shit load measurement of force is relative to who is applying it. Seeing as how you're from Texas and I'm from Alaska, your shit load is probably much less than mine. In gear, there was a small amount of play and then it completely locked up. Is my T-case good?

Are you calling Mr. Texas a panzy? Don't mess with Texas, Mrs. Palin! J/K. When I did this "front wheel off the ground test" on my '90iX, the wheel spun very easily. I could have farted on it and it would spin. It did not spin in park though. It barely even moved. Since your wheel had a palin-sized shit load of force, I would say your Xfer case is good.

[Alaska Ted]

Are you calling Mr. Texas a panzy? Don't mess with Texas, Mrs. Palin! J/K. When I did this "front wheel off the ground test" on my '90iX, the wheel spun very easily. I could have farted on it and it would spin. It did not spin in park though. It barely even moved. Since your wheel had a palin-sized shit load of force, I would say your Xfer case is good.

I'm just breaking balls, its all in good fun. Its my way of responding to his threat of kicking me in the balls if I decide to part this car. So with a manual trans, the one wheel off the ground test should be done in gear? I'd still like to have this clarified. Thanks

[barbierij]

Glad you got my humor too. I think neutral would be the best test.

[flyboyx]

it had been a while since i discovered this test, so i had somewhat forgotten if the car was in gear or not. in thinking about it some, i remember that being in neutral was very important because the input shaft has to be free to move. this would be true with an auto trans as well. i guess we can call it the "flyboyx test" if you wish.

my 700.00 ix needed a xfer case rebuild when i got it. the vc was good but the front splines were stripped. after it was back together, i tested it out by doing some tight turns in a parking lot. i definitely remember feeling a resistance (and hearing a mild whine) while the tc was doing its thing.

ted,

for the heck of it, why don't you jack up one wheel on your other ix's to make a comparison? you may be surprised by what you find.

[Alaska Ted]

T-case test

[QUOTE=flyboyx;4427983]it had been a while since i discovered this test, so i had somewhat forgotten if the car was in gear or not. in thinking about it some, i remember that being in neutral was very important because the input shaft has to be free to move. this would be true with an auto trans as well. i guess we can call it the "flyboyx test" if you wish.

my 700.00 ix needed a xfer case rebuild when i got it. the vc was good but the front splines were stripped. after it was back together, i tested it out by doing some tight turns in a parking lot. i definitely remember feeling a resistance (and hearing a mild whine) while the tc was doing its thing.

ted,

for the heck of it, why don't you jack up one wheel on your other ix's to make a comparison? you may be surprised by what you find.[/QUOT


Good idea, I'll compare it to the other one.

[flyboyx]

in thinking about this some more, i can also say that i have done the test on a few local ix's for sale. i noticed that some cases while still being good had more resistance than others. after testing a few, you might say that the experience has led me to conclude some xfer cases are in better shape than others.

i have a known good t-case in my storage shed(sorry gents. i am hoarding it for my next ix project at some enigmatic future date). i tested it out of the car by sticking the driveshaft in the front output and twisting the front shaft while holding the rear one in place. obviously, the input shaft is free to move as it wishes.

i am going to ponder this a little bit and see if i can come up with a way to attach a torque wrench to one of the outputs and come up with a baseline value. it would be a great idea to test out a few to see the average value of a good case.


in fact, why don't you put a torque wrench on one lug nut while you have your one front wheel jacked up? obviously, it won't be centered on the wheel and this will somewhat skew a scientific result, but you will have 2 values under the same conditions to compare.