Pickin' up a 96 GT Vert. need some help

96GTvert · Mar 22, 2008

Hey all, I'm new to the forums, but Mustangs are kind of a tradition in my family - this will be my first one. I'm from NJ and I am in the family HVAC business and today I was on a call and happened to notice a decent 96 GT Convertible in a customer's garage. So to make a long story short, after talking with him he decided to sell my his 96 GT Vert, he is original owner and it's been garage kept, no mechanical problems, no rust, 5 speed, all stock, oil changed every 5k miles, all maintenance done.. everything. It needs a new interior (seats at least and some other various interior parts but I will most likely do a full swap) and could use a fresh coat of paint since it's an ugly dark green and could probably use a new convertible top. My question is.. is the car worth it to buy seeing as though it needs some body/interior work. I've done work on all my previously owned cars and my instinct is telling me this is too good to pass up, but I also don't know too too much about the availability of mustang parts in that year. I guess all of that stuff isn't too hard to find, but what about cost for the parts I'm going to need to bring her back to original quality before I even start building it up. Any input would be much appreciated and oh.. btw he wants $1,500.00 for the car and I have heard it start, moved it around his driveway (haven't driven it yet) and motor is clean for mileage (he just drove it back and forth to work he is a middle-aged guy) and the motor doesn't leak any oil, never has. Only downfall is the whole convertible thing.. I'm not really into convertibles.

96GTvert · Mar 22, 2008

Oh and it might need a new clutch eventually.. he said if you get on it hard in 1st gear it slips a little, but I didn't feel any slipping in the clutch when I was in it for the brief moment that I was, but I will take his word for it.

96gt226410 · Mar 22, 2008

For $1,500 I'd drive back home to Jersey and buy the damn thing. Anyway, a new top would be costly unless you put it in yourself. And as for interior, just look around on Craigslist, EBay, other Mustang forums. You'll start piecing together whatever you need.

rick focks · Mar 22, 2008

ugly green? :knuppel2: :hammer: :hammer: :hammer: $1500!!!!!!!
GGGGGOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

carramrod98 · Mar 22, 2008

parts for mustangs are pretty much a dime a dozen. for 1.5k id buy it. Maybe the ugly green will grow on you, i am now a huge yellow fan lol

blackgt4.6 · Mar 22, 2008

is it high mileage you may have said but I missed it if you did. if it is high mileage and needing alot of work I would still pass on a 96. but if it has decent miles jump on it.

AUTOBAHN · Mar 23, 2008

DFG is the shizznit :thumb:.

voidfinger · Mar 23, 2008

sounds like a deal. my 98 vert is in need of some work but hey what higher milage car isn't though... top is gonna run anywhere from 800-1200 installed... i'm thinking of going with a 03/04 cobra cloth top for mine. But i was quoted like 1200 for that. but hey why not.

96GTvert · Mar 24, 2008

Hey guys, I appreciate all the feedback. Mileage is about 110K, but the guy only drove it back and forth to the train station because he works in Jersey City so he takes the train in and would leave the car parked in a parking garage. He never beat on it and never drove it hard, which is good. The engine is spotless. It's cleaner than most 30K mile engines, I couldn't believe it. He hadn't started it the day I was there doin' some work on his house and it was a pretty cold day and it started up fine, just like a brand new car. I know it needs a little work, but I don't mind doing that because I plan on building it up after I get it the way I want first. In reality the only thing it really needs is back seats, an e-brake handle and a good vaccuuming and it's good. But I really don't care for the khaki colored interior (not sure of the exact name for the interior color scheme, it's khaki and black) so I wanna' do a full black leather Cobra interior swap and paint it black and, of course, get a black rag top for it because I think it would look funny being black with a tan top. But thank you all for the feedback and hopefully I will have her home in my driveway so I can get some pictures of it up for you guys to let me know what you think?

So far my plans for it are: Paint it Black; New Black ragtop; Full Black Cobra Interior swap; Cobra bumpers/sideskirts; Cobra rims; Rear-end/Gears; Cams; Long-Tube Catless headers; Exhaust; Intake and hopefully a new clutch too.

I'm really excited to pick it up and I can't wait

blackgt4.6 · Mar 24, 2008

congrats man I am sure you will love it.

voidfinger · Mar 24, 2008

guess what ever floats your boat, but i love the saddle color interior... well if you get rid of it... what do you want for it? and are the seats in good shape.

96GTvert · Mar 25, 2008

I'm 99% sure the saddle color interior is going. The rear seats are definitely trash. The seat part of the rear seats are all stained black from something (he told me what is was from, but I can't remember) so nobody would want them. The front seats aren't in horrible condition, a little bit more than average wear, they have a lot of cracks in the leather, but I won't know until I strip the interior and give it a good cleaning and most likely a leather treating to the front seats. I'm just going to toss the rear seats. I guess I will post some pictures of the rears if someone wants to see them and are lookin' for some trashy rear seats, but I don't know why anyone would be looking for that. If the front seats clean up nice and someone wants them they can gladly take them off my hands, I won't be expecting much for them at all.

I still can't wait to pick her up, it shouldn't be long now at all. My fiancee and I are going to see it within the next few days because she is curious to see it. I am lucky enough to have a girl who knows her way around an engine. I had a worked 03 Acura RSX Type-S and when my friends would all get together to go out someplace, I would let her drive so she could smoke all their civics and celicas, haha. It was really funny to watch. She knew how to drive stick before I met her, but I taught her how to race so I could watch all my friends lose to a girl and get pissed.

DropTopPony · Mar 25, 2008

I hate those darn Ugly Dark Green 96 GT Verts :coolsmiley:

96GTvert · Mar 26, 2008

Haha, me too man. That's why I wanna' get a full black leather interior to swap out the Saddle interior and have it painted black because I can't stand the color either. I also wanna' throw a black soft top on it, too. The car is too good to pass up so I will deal with the ugly green until I can have it painted. I'm also not too fond of convertibles, I wish it was a coupe, but again, the car is too good to pass up.

96GTvert · Mar 26, 2008

Do you guys here on the forums ever get together to do Cruises?

blackgt4.6 · Mar 26, 2008

96GTvert said:
Haha, me too man. That's why I wanna' get a full black leather interior to swap out the Saddle interior and have it painted black because I can't stand the color either. I also wanna' throw a black soft top on it, too. The car is too good to pass up so I will deal with the ugly green until I can have it painted. I'm also not too fond of convertibles, I wish it was a coupe, but again, the car is too good to pass up.

I think he was kidding. He has a dark green vert. lol.

Bluesn95 · Mar 26, 2008

Go to latemodelrestoration.com The tops aren't expensive at all. Under $200 Vinyl is $170 Cloth is $330

voidfinger · Mar 26, 2008

Bluesn95 said:
Go to latemodelrestoration.com The tops aren't expensive at all. Under $200 Vinyl is $170 Cloth is $330

yea the tops are cheap... getting them on the car is around 800 dollars.

96GTvert · Mar 27, 2008

Whoops, sorry about that, DropTop.. :hammer: Yours is actually nice lookin', though. The paint is in good condition, it looks like from your sig. pic. Mine isn't in good condition, it needs to be resprayed. Maybe a good wash will clean it up though?

Thanks guys for the prices on the tops. I always like to hear good prices. I've never hard a convertible, how hard is it to install the new top myself? It can't be that hard? Man, I can't wait to bring my Stang home. It's really hard to get together with this guy to finalize whats left that needs to be finalized so I can get her home so I can start cleanin' her up and pullin' out the interior and whatnot. The guy who owns it works a lot and is frequently out of town and all that.

But it will be sooooooonnnnn....

DropTopPony · Mar 27, 2008

LOL yeah i have a DFG vert

I like the color alot but mine is well taken care of as i'm the original owner. I did put a black top on it and new interior but instead of all black i went with a black/tan 2 tone to break it up. Now it matches the 2 tone dash perfectly.