Retiring the 89?

[cramez]

Warning - long post ahead, need to vent a bit. ÂÂÂ

For those that don't know, it's a plain jane 89 Gt 2.8 auto, 290k on the clock and still running well.

Just jacked up my car to fix an exhaust hanger, and the jack goes right through one of the strongest points in the unibody.  This comes on top of the last few weeks - put the front end up on jackstands and the doors won't open, the windshield cracked because of expanding rust, and the crack actually grows when you take a sharp turn (BAD chassis flex).  The poor old car has finally hit a point where it's just not safe to drive anymore, I don't even want to think about how it would fare in a wreck right now.  For anyone saying, "so what, just junk it and get another one," understand, I love this car.  I don't know why, I just do.  Too much time, too many good memories, too many road trips that I miss taking.  It's old, slow, auto, rusty, barely a shadow of what it used to be, and the thought of getting rid of it seriously depresses me. ÂÂÂ

I got the car in April of 2000, totalled, driver's side cleaned off of it.  Fixed it just for a daily driver while I restored my Malibu.  2002, the car was hit head on by a Blazer, pushed the motor into the firewall hard enough that it cracked the heater box.  Fixed it just because nobody thought I could.  The whole front half of the car, welds halfway up the doors forward, is an 88 GT.  There isn't one VIN that I know of left on the car that matches the one on the title.  Forward to 2008, The Malibu is long gone, 15 or 20 other cars have come and gone, and I just can't bring myself to let this one go.  Nine years it's left me on the side of the road once.  This car has been more faithful to me than any human being in my life. ÂÂÂ

I guess I just don't know what to do with it. ÂÂÂ I need to find some property around here to store it for a couple years till I get around to it. ÂÂÂ It'd be less work to just redo another car, but I'd seriously rather cut the frame sections out of another car and weld them into this one. ÂÂÂ I should probably just part the poor old thing out and be done with it, but I don't think I could. ÂÂÂ Like I said, other cars have come and gone, other Berettas included.  I have a 91 Gt that's definitely "better," black on black, 5-speed, less than half the miles, mint black interior, and I'd sell it in a heartbeat.  I just can't shake the 89.  

Any ideas that don't involve junking it or trashing it in some way are more than welcome.

End rant, thanks for listening...
~Brian

[spacecadetz26]

i think you should just keep driving it. Its not the same without you and the ole' 89 GT.

[wicked-irocz]

well, I have a very fond affection for my own and my truck and the camaro but only the truck can be even close to considered high miles.  I know what I would do if I ran into that situation.  I would strip what I wanted and drive it through the woods until I felt I did a good enough job then sell it for scrap.  Sorry to say but a unibody car takes alot of work to save.

[Bloop]

I get it. I have a '93 Cavalier coupe that I bought new. Nothing special either: 4-banger VL model. The 5-speed made her fun. But she's the best car I've ever owned. NEVER let me down, not ever. 126,000 miles ... I know, not a lot compared to some, but all that without so much as the alternator going bad. Replaced shocks, struts, springs because I wanted to, not because I had to. Sure, the rear defrost stopped working. Oh, and I guess a front stabilizer bar mount gave way some 40,000 miles ago. $100 fix. But the A/C even still works! Never so much as a recharge. But it's the RUST. I had to live in Minnesota for eight years (f******** ex-wife). So every weekend, religiously, I would drive to the car wash ... with ramps and a creeper in the trunk ... get underneath her and flush her to within an inch of her life. Didn't matter. Rockers are gone, rear wheel wells are crustier than the ex-wife's private parts. (Strangely enough: the muffler is ORIGINAL. Probably because I never drove short trips.) Anyway ... I'm keeping her for winter driving duty. When she dies ... I guess I'll let her go somehow. It's the circle of life. Nothing lasts forever. Don't know what to tell you, bro, except that I get it and I feel for ya. Hang in there.

[Wanako]

I know just how you feel man... My '88 GT has 240K on it and she's running like a champ. I also love mine. I practically grew up in it. When I came into the country in '92, it was the first car I saw here. I was 6 years old, and was small enough to fall asleep in the back seat using the middle armrest as a pillow. I've wanted ever since. Finally got it in '04 when my dad got a new Tacoma. 16 years since I arrived, here I am driving that same car. I wouldn't be able to see myself letting it go either.   Every time I sit down inside it, I feel like it's a second home, like I have some sort of connection with her. I know how you feel.

[1988GTU]

Spend a few $$$$ in structure parts and piece it back to 100% health.  Parting it out will not get you much.  It's not like it's a Z or GTU where you could make $ off the body kit.  Hardly anyone wants a 2.8/3.2 anymore.  
Best option is to try and fill the pit