89 build

Differs from a lot of peoples builds. May sell the car, not sure. But as long as its in my name ill be modifying like I always do.

STOCK 89 reatta

Process of de-trimming the body

Be taking out the cassette player today or tomorrow.

Payed 600 for the thing, has 145k miles and its in alright condition.

Really, the plan is to make it look more sporty, update it a little (radio) and possibly learn a thing or two.

Anyone needs parts hit me up.

You did well; just spent way more on an '88, but it has new tires/batt/brakes, and extra CRT...

If you shave it pls post picks; 80s rub strips are gnarly:cool:

I will post pics, looks a lot like Ravers but white, and has full interior.

sold it

that was quick!:confused:

Got a good deal, **** happens lol.

I have the car back. I'm going a completely different direction as a lot of people, may catch a lot of hate for my style. Ill post pics as they come. Almost all the interior/electronics are for sale. So are the rims.

looking forward to pics!

it's your car, your $$$. the only one that has to like it is you.

for what you initially paid for her, folks should be happy she's not going to the crusher!!!

Thanks bud, much appreciated!

Curious what your plan is for gauges, climate control, radio, etc. if you are gutting the electronics. This would be tough on a 90/91 model and even harder still in an 88/89 due to the level of integration with the CRT. Gauges would be easiest to go aftermarket, and an standard head unit added for the radio but climate control and functional warning telltales will be a big challenge. Are you retaining the BCM? Stripping it out will render almost all lighting (inside and out) and things like the trunk and fuel release inoperative without direct wiring them all.

If you have a plan for this that's great, just be aware of the difficulty you will be facing to make it a fully functional car again without the stock electronics present. Others have tried this sort of mod before and been left with an unusuable sbell of a Reatta after realizing it wasn't so easy to do.

KDirk

As mentioned, be VERY carefull what you remove. The car is TIED to its electronics; even the radio (in the trunk). A FSM IS required to do anything.

Well I sold it again to a guy wanting to restore and sell it for a profit. Sorry guys! I might try to find another Reatta in worse condition.

Well, he may or may not get his desired result. There is a long road still to being able to profit from a restored Reatta as the market prices aren't yet at the level needed to do so in most cases. Add to that the fact that good trim parts are getting slim now after 25 years and the cost of parts is edging upward noticeably from what they were 7 years ago when I started collecting.

We are still at the stage where restorations are done as a labor of love, not as a profit venture. Some have found that out the hard way. Maybe he will be lucky, but I wouldn't bank on it based on what I am seeing. Ah, the lure of easy money.

My advice to anyone who wants a nice Reatta is to get one now, and buy as nice an example as you can find. Some primo cars have come to market in the last year and prices are not unreasonable for someone with a halfway decent chunk of change to commit to a collectible car.

If you have $2000, you will not get one of these low mile decently maintained examples. But, if you have 3-4 times that, presently, you can get a truly nice - even excellent - coupe or a slightly better than driver condition 90 (maybe 91) convertible in the right circumstances. And really, $6000-8000 is not a lot of coin for a rare, unusual car in nice condition. How many contemporary but boring used cars can be bought for less than $10,000? Yeah. That's what I thought.

The prices look to have stabilized in the past year and it seems - tentatively - that they may be inching upwards, albeit very slowly. This may be a result of the greater scarcity resulting from a large drop in registered cars (i.e. scrapped) or there may be some real interest starting to form in the Reatta as a worthy collectible. Hard for me to say, just my perceptions.

I just don't see much market for restored cars (not sold at a loss anyway) for some time yet. That day will come, but it is going to be a while.

KDirk