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Hello all, It saddens me to say that my '90 stage 3+ TT has suffered a serious mechanical problem, and after much debate over whether to fix it, buy a low-mileage Z and transfer all the upgraded parts from my wounded Z to the newer Z, or just sell it for what it's worth and move on... i reluctantly decided to move on with a new car - my first non-Z in about 17 years. The decision wasn't easy, as this is my third Z, and i've been heavily "invested" in Z's in terms of hundreds of hours spent reading about how to maintain and upgrade them, and hundreds more doing the actual work. But, i've already got the new car, and now i need to decide what to do with my Z. The details: The car is a 1990 ZTT with about 115K miles, in pretty good mechanical shape except that it developed a pretty severe coolant leak. After visiting a couple of shops, the diagnosis is that one of the metal coolant pipes at the back of the engine is leaking, with an estimated repair cost of about $2K - almost entirely labor. Apparently the upper and lower intake plenums need to be removed, and if i remember correctly, the transmission may need to be dropped for access to the faulty pipe. I'm guessing that if it weren't for the coolant leak, i could get about $3500 - $4000 for the car. To be honest, the interior is in great shape, but the paint is pretty faded, and there are a number of dings, scratches, and minor dents. So given the $2K cost to fix it, the question is whether i could get more or less than $1500-$2000 for it WITH the leak, and if so, what's the best way to sell a car that can't be driven more than a couple of miles without risking overheating? Would it really be worth it to fix it, then try to sell it? Other issues: i'm pretty sure my best bet is to return some of the stock parts to the car and sell them separately; but perhaps in other cases i'd be better off leaving the aftermarket parts on the car? - a sweet set of 18x10" (rear) and 18x8.5" (front) SSR GT-10 wheels, with only a couple thousand miles on them and their Sumitomo HTR Z II tires. I can replace the stock wheels, with Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires (which are EXCELLENT, by the way!). Not that anyone in SoCal will be thrilled by the Blizzaks, but at least the car will roll, and the value of the wheels separately is surely much more than the amount by which they'd increase the value of the car. - JWT Stage III ECU chip and boost jets - i figure i might as well re-install the stock chip and sell the JWT chip and boost jets separately. Then again, for the chip and jets to have value to anyone, the buyer would have to have a socketed ECU, so maybe i'd do just as well to leave the chip in the car? I don't have the stock intake or exhaust, so the Stillen intake and SS exhaust will go with the car. - Really nice sounding component speakers and crossovers installed in the stock Bose enclosures, with tweeters hidden in the door a/c vents. I threw out the stock Bose junk after replacing it multiple times, and i probably couldn't sell the car without any speakers at all, so there's probably no way to let someone else enjoy the nice setup i put in, unfortunately. - Non-installed stuff, like ConZult cable and software, a car cover, etc., i suppose i'll just put on eBay. Well, sorry for the long rambling and un-focused post. I've been struggling with what to do with everything for a while now, and now after several months i haven't done anything... so i'm just looking for any advice or experience anyone else might have dealing with a situation like this. I would love for my car, or at least all of the good parts, to end up in the hands of an enthusiast. I'm in southern Orange County, California, so if any fellow enthusiasts on the board would be interested in the car or any of the parts, feel free to drop me a line. Thanks for any input! ...dave
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