Project "Daily Driver"

[Jordan]

I've been on the search for a c900 daily driver replacement. Something decent body wise, preferably black (have black SPG parts car) and not too much immediate work to distract me from my 99 project.

Behold! 1987 900 Turbo

Its got a couple of soft spots (the floor is missing) but exterior body wise it's in pretty good shape. The car runs/shifts great except for a bad wheel bearing. Needs lots of TLC but all-in-all I'm pretty happy with it.

If there are children in the room, shield their eyes.

[SwedeSport]

Not too shabby,

How much did that set you back? As long as the mechanicals are sound, should make a good daily beater.

How bad is that steering wheel? Is the leather ripped or is the color just worn off? As long as they are not worn thru, you can sand the dry spots smooth and paint them. I have done a few dry EMS steering wheels that way.

I just got finished doing rust repair on the floors of my ride. Not fun, but at least its in a spot that isnt visible.

[Jordan]

The steering wheel is just worn, still feels pretty good, I could try spray dying it. I paid $600 for it. It only has 160k on it , but it is the dirtiest car I have ever seen (inside). Plus I saw a Vermont Sticker on it so its got some floor pan rust issues. It's actually worse than I hoped (always the case) but I'll make it work. Other than the floor pan, structurally it's pretty sound and engine/trans seem nice and it has a lot of new parts. It will probably be a week or two before I start driving it, plus I'm still working on my 9-3 to get that ready to sell and have to work on Leanne's car (my girlfriend's 900S) and oh yeah, my 99.

I would like to make it fairly nice.. I don't know how many winters it will last through, but I'll give it a fighting chance.

[Luke]

While I was doing some floor rust repair I pulled my carpets out and shampoo'd them and then pressure washed them and they look almost brand new. I too will hopefully be making the switch back to a C900 within the next few weeks. The 9-5 is not a bad car altogether, but the only thing I will miss is the stereo and the working AC.

[SwedeSport]

For less than 1000 bucks Ill bet if you dont get too particular about it, you could get 3-5 years out of it. even if you have to throw some parts at it and patch up some rusty spots, it should still go for a while. And cheap too, I built a replacement engine, and did brakes all around, and rebuilt the CVs for what it would have cost to keep my 9-5 aero for a month. Do you have emissions and inspections up there? My tan 900 started out as a 200.00 car. I have had that since 98-99. Of course I got carried away, and spent too much money building the car.

[Jordan]

It needs some extensive rust repair because when it needed just a little rust repair (drivers side floor) someone patched the hole by RIVETING A PEICE OF METAL OVER THE RUST AND filled in the cavity with expanding foam . Now practically the whole floor needs replacing. Also I'm noticing from underneath the trunk was also rivet patched here and there and not sure what I want to do about that yet. I won't post the horror show until I finish fixing it though.

[Luke]

ahh crap!

[SwedeSport]

Bigger patches, or duct tape. Should I refer you back to the when in doubt use plywood line I read earlier ?

[Jordan]

I forgot to mention there was a tiny ant colony living in the rust and also what I think were a couple of termites.

I'm going to cut out the floors (and most everything else) of the SPG and send it to its final resting place....

I guess I know how to pick them!

[DeLorean]

Sounds like you went the wrong direction getting this one... You can get a rust free C-900 still, you need to go to the other side of the mason-dixon line, and run a carfax on it before you pick it up to make sure it actually is a "southern" car.

My 86 900-S "notchback" which I think you saw is a Georgia car through & through, and you will not find ANY rust on it. $200 car... They are still out there, but if you see a "registration event- VT, MN, NH, NY, MI MA...etc.." on a carfax report, forget it. It IS rusty.

[Jordan]

Yeah, I know. There are some garage queen c900s in CT, but I did not see the old VT reg sticker, which is a sure sign of bad things. This car was pretty cheap, the right color, the right year and 30 minutes away. I'm not really complaining.

Leanne's red 900S is a Virginia car and was pretty rust free except fora couple of spots that sprouted, probably since she has owned it. Still a really solid car. We keep it that way by letting it develop a nice oil coating mixture of power steering fluid and engine oil.

[Luke]

Sounds like you went the wrong direction getting this one... You can get a rust free C-900 still, you need to go to the other side of the mason-dixon line, and run a carfax on it before you pick it up to make sure it actually is a "southern" car.

My 86 900-S "notchback" which I think you saw is a Georgia car through & through, and you will not find ANY rust on it. $200 car... They are still out there, but if you see a "registration event- VT, MN, NH, NY, MI MA...etc.." on a carfax report, forget it. It IS rusty.

Yeah, there are still some less rusty ones out there, but its important to remember rust is not really the end of the world either... Jordan isnt looking to do a concours restoration here, he just wanted a decent driver that he wont be afraid to drive year round, but is still practical, reliable and fun to drive. He's got a parts car with decent floors with some collision damage, hes got a welder and with a little time and sweat he can turn that 87 into something that will fit his needs well for the next few years.


I bought this car about 6 years ago - $400. Almost completely rust free at the time, 180K.
Its now got 285K on it and after a few winters the floors needed replacing, mostly due to a bad heat cat heat shield, but it still runs great, looks decent, and I always enjoy driving it, so I figured why not.

[Luke]

The parts car:

A base model 900 that hit a deer and was also pretty mechanically neglected.

The floor removed:

The repair completed

And sealed up:

[Jordan]

Yeah that car shined up nice. A nice interior makes a huge difference, those seats are great. I took the morning off to do another section of the floor so I'll post some pics later. Also I think this cars issues came more from owner neglect than anything else. It should last me some years, and then maybe I'll save up for up for one of those garage queens or something when I'm wealthy. Max just spent almost double the cost of this car on a new steering rack for his Mini. All things considered it's not really a big deal.

Luke, watch out for DEER!

[DeLorean]

Nice looking 900, one of these days I need to get my 88 SPG going again... It's been sitting in my garage for the past 3 years now with a blown trans. I loved using that thing as a daily driver, but alass, a C-900 with 260HP&300lb/ft torque that I would use frequently did not prove to be the most reliable contraption! If I had a little more restraint it probably would have been OK, but I could not help stepping on it in 3rd coming off an off-ramp and lighting up the tires Megasquirt really opens those cars potential.