Maybe Buying An '87 Bronco 351.. Help Please...

[antolivo]

I am looking at this 87 Bronco 351 with supposedly 103,000 miles at this small used car dealership. Here's the deal.. the passenger side fender and door both need replacement. There is a valve cover leak but he is going to fix that for me in the price of the car. There is no belt to the air pump he said. But he said thats no big deal...(what do you guys think). Rust is not bad at all.. surprisingly the body is decent. While we test drive it, we threw it into 4x4 and it worked after we loosened it up a little. He's asking $700. What do you guys think? The front bumper is also lower on one side by close to a n inch. But there is no damage to the bumper... what could that be? Bent frame maybe? Thanks guys. Any hlp would be awesome...

 

[stinger]

the thing about the bumper being lower on one side could be a bent frame or just worn body bushings . ckeck the air pump and make sure it turns putting a belt on it is no big deal , but depending on where you live you might have an emissions test then it is a big deal. Offer then 500 you can always go up on your price to what you are willing to pay 700 is not bad if the drive train is in solid shape.

 

[antolivo]

how can you check for a bent frame? Isnt that basically the worst thing that could happen? If you have a bent frame your car is crap isnt it? Also, should I just throw on a belt to the air pump and if it doesnt work... how much would the pump cost and how much does the belt run? Is it bad that there is no belt on the air pump? Dont you need that lol? I dont really no about the air pumps role or necessity in the engine all that much. Thanks stinger.. keep it coming guys

 

[Desert Donk]

Howdy,

Basically it sounds like this might not be the vehicle for you. Any vehicle that runs (practically) is worth 700 bucks. Heck it could have 500 bucks worth of tires alone on it. The point is, you don't sound as if you want to by a Bronco and build it into something great. If you can't do whatever it needs yourself it could easily cost an additional $5000 dollars to keep it running for 3 years or $2000 if you do all of the repairs yourself. Parts for any vehicle are expensive.

This would be true of any $700 vehicle. You can often have a remanufactured engine stuck in for 2000 to 2500 but you have 200,000 other parts and wiring that could go haywire. Why are you looking at a Bronco? Do you want 4WD or just any vehicle to get you around?

 

[Bronco_In_Ny]

The Biggest thing here is what are you going to do with it? Use it for a daily driver, make it a trail Rig, or just have something to work on, If you want a trail rig only then don't worry about a bent frame unless its really really bent, just make sure the frame isn't cracked, If you want a daily driver look else where, you most likly will put around 2grand into it for a daily driver you can count on, Don't worry about the Valve cover leak its a cheap and easy fix and it will give you some hands on time under the hood, Make sure you check all the Fluids and see what they look like Trani, t-Case, Coolent and of course oil, Any more info on the Motor would help.