Chris's "new parts car" $150 '92 Lumina

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[Chris]

I'm not sure if I should strip it or fix it yet...



The good:

Only 125k on the old-man owned & driven car
Runs good, shifts good (although the TCC is a little "loose")
3-speed auto, direct replacement for the Euro's 245k transmission
Working A/C
Electric windows
New downpipe-back exhaust
ABS?

The bad:

Needs rear brakeline
Needs evap return line to fuel tank
Needs strut mount (mount shattered, strut went through the trunk!)
Car has been neglected, missing some interior pieces
Front window motors burnt (I have replacements somewhere)
Exhaust leak
Has some rot in the front fenders

The CL ad:

im selling my 1992 chevy lumina for 500 obo i took it to the garage the other day and found out it need $1200 worth of repairs but it runs fine it has a V6 3.1L and had 125k on it. when i heard that i was devstated cuase this was my grandfathers car and such. so im sad to see it go but i need the money so i can get a newer car so i can get to school and work if you have any questions call me at ~Snip~ or email me at ~Snip~ if you call ask for cody

So I called the kid and went to check out the car. He said he was sick of looking at it and only wanted $150. He got it from his grandfather, registered it (Plates have 4/10 stickers), took it to get inspected - and it failed. Car needed brakelines, fuel lines and the rear strut mount. I looked at the car and it's not too bad, although I'd love to get it on a lift and really check it out. I went there and took it for a test drive and it drove well (other than the strut slamming against the trunk latch), but had no brakes at all. I looked and the master cyl was completely dry. I didn't have any tools but he had a wrench which was just the right size to bleed the ABS unit. I picked up brake fluid and handed the kid $150. He had a party to go to and took off, I crimped the bad brake line to the RR wheel and my girlfriend and I bled the ABS unit and I drove it home. It stopped better than my '92 with all new brakes - even though I was unable to really bleed the brakes, and had one line crimped off.


I was going to strip the car and sell the shell for scrap. Keep the doors, most of the wiring, interior, drop the subframe and keep the engine/transmission/steering rack, pull the trunk and hood, shocks, struts, gas tank, filler neck, wheels & tires etc... But it might be worth throwing on a new strut mount (have), replacing the brake line, bleeding the brakes, vacuuming the interior, and putting it up for sale. It even has the original owners manual with uncut emergency keys.

I'll take batter pics of it when time permits.

[crazy k]

not a bad deal.    

so... here's the question.  will there be more profit to parting it than fixing it???  If you fix it will you keep it or sell it? I've found the hard way that you CAN have too many cars.

[Chris]

not a bad deal.    

so... here's the question.  will there be more profit to parting it than fixing it???  If you fix it will you keep it or sell it? I've found the hard way that you CAN have too many cars.

I already know I have too many cars! I'm not sure either way, I guess it really depends on what the unibody looks like underneath. If I fix it, I'll probably sell it. I'm not paying to register another car. I already DD the '92 and the '91, and I didn't want the '91 to begin with. There's a bunch of parts that I could instantly use on my '91 and '92 from this one (which is why I bought it) - but It's a good running/driving car. I won't be able to part it out for a few months (other than taking the wheels/tires for the euro) so I'll have some time to decide.