Worth for parts car or no? seized?

[Winh]

Hey, so i was wondering if any of you can give me some insight on how bad this will be, and if its even worth it or not?
A guy off of craigslist owns a E30 325 5speed with a seized engine he claims, and will sell it to me for dirt cheap, as he was going to junk the vehicle if not, but he rather pass it onto an enthusiast.

This is his story on how he seized his engine. He was towing his E30, with the REAR wheels on the ground, while the car was in reverse ..:( *stupid I know)
Towed it up to speeds of 15mph/25 km/h. Realized afterwards what he has done. Also rear tires were shot, as the engine was trying to go into reverse while being towed. He said engine was seized up afterwards and he doesn't have time to fix it up, so I'm taking a look on Thursday or Friday on this car.

What damages do you guys believe was done? And is it worth saving? Or just parting out/junking.

Thanks!

[dnguyen1963]

Well, one thing for sure is that the transmission is shot. For the engine, it depends on how far he dragged the car...

[ravenlord89]

If you have the space to rip it down to the chassis and claim all of the hardware, trim, body panels, glass, switches and anything else it will be worth it. All that stuff if in functioning condition is worth its weight in gold when it fails and you have already paid for a spare, and don't have to wait on a new one to come in.

[SlamedIAm]

Could be worth it if the price is right and the shell is in good shape. I'd basically look at it as a rolling shell.

[TobyB]

Quite likely it is seized- oil pump no worky in reverse...

And trans may be equally hosed.

Beyond that, if the shell's nice, mechanical things can be repaired...

t

[jbe21]

how the hell he didn't notice that? it's like dragging a car with the handbrake on.. Was he using a semi truck to tow it or what? lol.

Engine may still be ok, maybe just the transmission is siezed, but there's no easy way to tell before unbolting everything. So yeah, if it's cheap and you have space to part it out i'd say it's worth it

[Winh]

Thanks for the options guys! I'm taking a look at it tomorrow.
And Jbe, that is exactly what I was thinking of! As I don't understand how he could be doing something like that. He states that he has a car trailer so .. i dont even know what to say.

He said he would transport it to my house, about a 60km long drive. (hopefully without doing something stupid again)

He stated $350, so I will take a few pictures tomorrow and show you guys. I contacted him and he also said the only rusty part was one rear quarter panel. So I may be swapping everything over from my current E30 as it has some rust and a front fender bender.

What do you guys think I should be ultimately checking for? Other than trying to crank it at all? Thanks!

[dnguyen1963]

For $350, parting it out will net you more than that.

[Winh]

So an update on the car:
Has 311kms on the odo, that still apparently works
condensation in trunk
interior is pretty ugly, there was somehow a breakin to take the radio and power antenna, and broken glovebox lol.
somewhat rusty underbody, which really sucks as i wanted to switch everything over form my current.
Sat for over 1 year, starting to get moldy
Everything else intact, except for no front bumper and broken fogs.





looks like its been through a lake, but hey for 350 i dont think i can complain much.