900 Spg Ftw

 

x2, or any other c900 for that matter

 

Stay away from the 3100 series motors in Chevys and the 4100 motors usually found in late 80s Caddy Sevilles. Luminas are okay cars, not big, we used to use them as taxis when I was driving, and more than 2 people to the airport was a tight squeeze with luggage, but if he just wants a reliable car they should be fine. Parts I bet are plentiful, and we had one with close to 150k on the clock. Has he looked at JDM Cavaliers? :lol:

 

He doesn't want a c900 or any saab. Besides, finding one in GA in good condition is next to impossible. If this were the Northeast, then that's a different story.

The reason he wants a something similar to a Corsica is that his old Corsica could withstand any abuse thrown at it. Why not just get another Corsica you might ask? They are getting too hard to find now in the area.

 

My uncle had one of those late 80s regal FWD coupes, with the digital dash, and I gotta say it was rather respectable speed wise for a Buick...

 

Buick century or an olds cutlass ciera are the best bet, probably one of the most reliable cars GM has ever made, or any car company for that matter. Beretta / corsica is also a good bet, be sure any of them are a V6. for good performance, a J-body with a V6 and a 5 speed is best (cavalier or sunbird). Z-24 cavaliers are nice, accelerate well and handle just as good as an NG-900.

new or rebuilt Parts are very very cheap, and the usual parts that go bad can be gotten in the junk yards for nearly free. a set of NEW brake rotors for a J-body are $11 each. If you wanted a car you could buy for less than $1000, and then have to spend more than $300 on per year keeping the thing opperational, an early 90's J, A, or L-body will do it.

 

Larger Buicks and Olds, have that 3.8, right?

 

well the ciera or century have the 3.1 (60 degree) or 3300 (90 degree) up to 1994, the later ones have either the 3100 or 3800. 3800 is a much better engine, but the 3100's main issue is with the intake manifold gaskets and it pretty easily corrected.

 

Id pick up an old audi quattro, even though theyre notorious for problems. I still like them.

 

Just get an Accord and be done with it.....

 

+1

 

Something you might wanna check if you look at another Corsica or a Beretta is where the rack and pinion mounts to the car. It actually mounts to the firewall. My ex had one and the rack had rusted off so bad, you could turn the steering wheel almost one turn all the way around before the car itself would turn.
Or..... you could by my car.I'm selling a early 80's Ford 4-door because I just bought a truck to tow my Saab race car with. I'll sell the car real cheap, plus I got a bunch of spare parts for it.

 

The 3.1 / 3100's are still a good engine. Personally, I don't find it THAT much of an issue if you have to replace an intake manifold gasket every 100K or so. at least it can be done in an hour, and everything's good again. I mean it is a silly failure no doubt about that, why in the hell would an intake manifold gasket leak?? but yeah they do, but only on the 3100's not the 3.1. the 3.1 in my Pontiac is well past 200,000 miles, and I have never done anything to that engine except change the distributor plug O-ring due to a leak. stuff like the CPS, ignition module, and headgasket, which are all typical failure items on saab engines are all original on that 3.1. Not a good engine?

The Buick Century / Cutlass Ciera seems to be the taxi of choice in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, you see more of those on the roads here than any other car as peoples personal cars too. If I did not care about anything but a cheap initial purchase price, parts cost, and reliability, the A-body would be what I'd get... But I care about performance, and the A-body has not got any of that. I'd put an A-body head to head against a similar year honda for reliability. when you compare them, the A-body actually scores better then Honda / Toyota in many areas -

http://www.edmunds.com/used/1994/buick/century/413/ratings_jdpower.html
Vs the Honda
http://www.edmunds.com/used/1994/honda/accord/4119/ratings.html

hmm...

 

of anyone i know 9000thomas would be the one that knows a shit ton about those berretta's. he gets boners for them still even tho he has the 91.

personally i think those old burritos and luminas were pretty darn good cars since if the motor did blow up you can buy a used motor AND tranny for like $150 from a salvage yard up here.

 

I had a pontiac with the 3800. It wound out real nice.



It was reliable too.

 

dude, 94 Corsica was my first car. It kicked ass, 3.1 L. Very reliable.

 

I'd say get a c900 but I'm just a saab nut what do i know ;-).

 

I really like the 3.1 engine. It was incredibly tq-y and still had decent gas mileage. I saw dyno or two of them with just an exhaust and underdrive pulley putting down 185w-tq.

My automatic went through over 200 runs down the 1/4 strip and 150k miles before it started showing signs of not being happy.

I prefer the L body to the J. I had a Z24 and a Beretta GT. The Z24 rusted and felt cheaper than my GT. My 5spd swapped GT weighted 2550lbs, and 2650lbs with the auto, which is within a stones throw of the Z24 I had.

My car is still running strong with its new owner at over 190k miles. There are also some cool swaps for them. These days people buy a 3400 for $250 and do the swap in an afternoon and run mid 14's with a 5spd.

They can be made to handle well too. My car had far less body roll than my Vig did, it was sad at first. It took a koni sport kit and swaybars before the Vig caught up.

 

I don't know Jameson, that thing is hot, I would have kept it

 

I had a complete TGP T25 turbo setup and 9000 intercooler ready to go on it...9lbs daily and upto 12lbs if needed.

But I had my 9000, the GT and my 300zx.....too many cars. I found the Vig which was good enough to be my one car and simplify.

 

and I have noticed that the L-bods do seem to rust slightly less than J-bodies, however I think it's basically because the J-cars have shit drains in the rocker panels, plus they skimped on the rust proofing (the J was a cheaper car) My sunbirds rockers are basically 30% rusted out on the driver side and about 10% on the pass. side. Not structural, just cosmetic. I need to spot-weld some sheet metal down there sometime in the near future before they are all gone :lol: I also plan on doing the 3400 swap some afternoon when I am free, it already has the 5 speed and all. I may megasquirt it too for shits and giggles. The problem is I have not been able to bring myself to do it yet cause there is simply nothing at all wrong with the 3.1, at over 200K miles… not even an oil leak. Maybe I should just stop changing the oil?

watch out viggens, the 14 second shitbox sunbird may be out and about just don't catch it on the highway after 120 or so :x I am pretty sure with the gearing it has, maximim speed will be around 135