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update: 1985 GTS barn find restore and pics

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:18 pm
by lddeckert
Hi all,

first time on the boards, i just got my first GTS and its 100% original/stock except radiator, water pump and shocks. I had to pull the engine for low compression on several cylinders. I'm wondering if i should put the original engine back or try and soup up a 20v or something for it.

soo,, better to keep stock or play with it some?

Thanks,

ld

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Re: 100% original barn find GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:30 pm
by hachirokufan
Too clean to mod heavily in my opinion. Hachis are soon going to be like FJ40s. It'll be hard to find one like that

Re: 100% original barn find GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:59 pm
by morgan
yeah, if it's nearly bone stock=restoration time. fix whats needed, replace stuff with oem parts, contact TORPARTS on here or at www.torparts.com for all your discounted dealer needs.

...or sell it to me cheap

Re: 100% original barn find GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:00 pm
by carbd7age
My SR5 was a lot like that; super clean and original. But I modded the crap out of it cuz it's just an SR5 lol. GTS needs to stay stock and clean. Daily drive that thing man.

Re: 100% original barn find GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 2:59 pm
by Tora
I say keep it as stock as possible. Tasteful upgrades only. If you find yourself lusting after flashier wheels, swap those hubcaps for Supra/Celica caps like so: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=7206

Re: 100% original barn find GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:21 pm
by Red
Looks incredibly clean. These cars have just been recognized as collectibles in the last year, first time concourse in Cali, so having the original engine block with all matching numbers should increase the value of the car in coming years. You can certainly pull the engine, rebuild it, cc it, port the head, add a little compression, and get some extra kick out of it while keeping everything stock. "Blueprinting" an engine never hurt it.

And full stock, with an engine brought back above stock power, it should still be a lot of fun.

Re: 100% original barn find GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:53 pm
by Autonerd
the red paint is thick. cut/buff it, restore, and keep it out of the sun. OR. fix it up and beat the **** out of it!

Re: 100% original barn find GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:43 am
by lddeckert
Thanks for the feed back guys, i'm gonna just do a little to the engine and put it all back together. I'll put up some more pics as i get done,

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:50 am
by rw29
sounds like a good plan..make it pristine. don't hack it up is my 2 cents

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 2:12 pm
by SidekickChuck
Red said it all. If you do anything, make it tasteful and easily reverted back to stock if desired. It will hold value much better. And having an un-molested GTS will be very hard to come by in the future. Clean stock interiors will be the rarest of them all.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 2:20 pm
by oldeskewltoy
I'll be more than happy to offer my porting services.... viewtopic.php?f=22&t=300

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 3:44 pm
by AZNWOKZ
This is also a good time to start a portfolio of the restoration and keep recipes! You can also make a build log and get some good feed back.
I would personal would love to do a restoration job on that AE86 for sure!

The main thing you be concern with is keeping the Chassis in the best condition as you can!!!! The Chassis is the biggest concern. Ether thing else can be easily be replaced.
Take the time to detail the car. Be concern of mold, mildew, fecal matter, dust, and anything that can be a health hazard to you.

check the /Drive channel on youtube and check /Clean videos.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:48 pm
by yoshimitsuspeed
I would keep everything on the chassis original and restored. I would keep the stock motor but would not be afraid to mess with it a bit. 4AGEs are a dime a dozen and reverting it to stock would be easy enough.
You could do some cams and compression or a low boost turbo that would make the car a hoot while retaining it's basic desired characteristics.
For me 112 hp just isn't enough in any platform so I would need to spice it up at least a little bit.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 4:02 pm
by Autonerd
Interior shots pls??

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:30 am
by ae86xy
Yup interior pixxxxx

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 7:29 pm
by krammit the frog
Above all, I would refrain from daily driving it and just park it as much as you can.

Dailying it will just lead to another car that looks like 95% of the others around. If you want a collectible, need to cover and store that thing, driving it only on special occasions.

I normally refrain from this activity, but I'm also not trying to restore and maintain a piece of history, I'm into it for the driving fun.

Nice find btw, how much did you get it for, if you don't mind me asking?

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:15 am
by Cpaschal
I believe a car is meant to be driven. no matter how rare it is. I vote on tasteful mods but enhancing the driving experience. drive it. I recently got a super clean hatch for 1800 and I drive it every chance I get, even in the snow. my 2 cents

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:48 am
by SolidSTI
If you want a moddable car, restore this one a bit, all stock. Sell it, then purchase one that isn't stock. You should come out ahead if this one is in great shape and in stock form.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:43 pm
by idreamofdrifting
SolidSTI wrote:If you want a moddable car, restore this one a bit, all stock. Sell it, then purchase one that isn't stock. You should come out ahead if this one is in great shape and in stock form.


+1

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 11:42 am
by -zenki-
I would restore it a bit and do some small tastefull mods. That way if you ever want to sell it you can easily turn it back to stock form. No point in making it a garagequeen, cars are meant to be driven.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 3:52 pm
by lddeckert
Seems i cant do PM's yet? thanks for the feed back. I'll get some more pics, but in the mean time i do have a video that shows it, youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAnBND7Y ... 6CaItXcBSw

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:19 pm
by ae86xy
Where in washington did you fine it.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:44 am
by lddeckert
Out on a back road while out cycle rd, near hwy 12 south of chehalis

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:45 am
by geezer.nelson
That was quite a find. Do you know why the original owner parked it?

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 3:04 pm
by lddeckert
He is an old dude, bought it new, him n wife used it to haul ceramics for their small business. When it broke down she decided she wanted an automatic.... Cool peeps

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 6:31 pm
by LongGrain
I disagree with pretty much everyone in here. Do with the car what YOU want. If you want a car to build up and go have a blast out on the track, a clean, stock car like the one you have is the BEST starting point you could ask for. If I were you, I would not hesitate to build that car into something awesome.

Maybe i'm not old enough to see the appeal in having a car like that, and wasting time restoring a stock car to stock, and having zero fun. Terms like Restoration and Resale value are for people who are too old to have any fun, and just want to remember the "good ole days"

I cant wrap my head around the idea of a car being "too clean" or "too original" to build/track. Personally, i would never consider building/tracking a car that wasnt clean and original to start with.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 8:07 pm
by lddeckert
Well longrain. This I why I ask, it's hard to tell early on when some rides are better to keep origanal, this ride is all but radiator, 100% off the show room floor original. I can have fun driving it either way :) glad some shelby owners didn't :)

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 4:20 pm
by FUNKMACH1NE
That thang is nice man. Keep all stock, limit upgrades to a nice drop and some wheels and stop there.

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 5:21 pm
by Mazota TE51
I would say make the car your own, build it in a way that if you wanted it completely stock it would be easily reversible. A stock GTS hatchback will pull a premium. What a great find..... :shock:

Re: 100% original barn find 85 GTS, upgrade or keep?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:34 pm
by lddeckert
Thanks, I've got the engine in for a mild rebuild/upgrade, little over bore n cam. Gonna keep original wheels around but put a little better in for looks n fun :)