97 eclipse gs-t spyder

[tyler g]

hi i found a 97 gs-t spyder of a little over 3,000. there are oil spots under it, the passenger side door window is almost hitting the small rear window, the top is not all the way flush with the window(it sticks up a bit), front bumper is broke on bottom, passenger side door skirt is gone, needs tires, drivers side fender is messed up a little. so i was wanting to know if something bad happend to make this car's top not fit right or if this is how the car shuld be...i want this car real bad and i dont want to buy a junker so please help me i am new to the dsm world and would love to own this car if its not a hard fix
thanks for your time,
tyler

 

[Niteninja01]

Well how many miles are on the car? What maintanece was done to it? Did you look under the car to see where the oil was coming from? Did you look inside the car and try to pull the top down? Get a carfax report to see if it was in a accident

 

[tyler g]

118,000. its at a lot and they were closed. i am going down tomarow to have a better look so ware shuld i look for oil besides the head? i will try pulling the top wile i am there and the inside didnt look to bad besides the seats were ripped. its a 5 speed and everything elce looked clean. it will need paint but i can do that myself since i want it black. anything elce i shuld look for let me know
thanks

 

[xtr3me]

IMO, i would say try to find a nicer black one. Its not clean enough to be 3000+.

 

[ArticNemesis]

I'm not quite sure what you meant by the window was almost hitting the rear 1/4 glass. It looks normal in that picture. Maybe take a better picture of it?

The top looks to be the right shape for the windshield. It might be something as simple as having to tighten down the hooks that hold the top in place up front.

 

[97gst_spyder]

Be careful of top issues with spyders... Mine has issues like that, door window not lining up, etc. Its a bi*** to adj and fix. Not to scare you away from them, just make sure to check and double check it before you buy it. If possible have them spray water on the center of the roof to see if it leaks.

 

[tyler g]

well the top half of the door glass is about hitting the 1/4 glass.

this is the best car i have found, i also have a friend in town that has two talons and one eclipse but non of them run or anything.

i will check and see if i can tighten the hooks and pull down the top( the lot isnt taking care of the car at all)

what parts do you have to do to adjust the top? if i buy it i have changed lots of doors, hoods ect on other cars. would it be close to doing something like that?

 

[ArticNemesis]

To tighten up the hooks, it's just a small allen screw in the back of the hook that has to be removed so you can screw the hook in farther. (There's a screw hook on each side).

I'm still not seeing the window issue. It looks like the front glass is resting against the rubber strip of the rear 1/4 like it should.

You should also put the top half way down, and see if the floating rib is bent, and/or the links that attach to it. (That's something else you'd need to replace.)


Whether it's worth 3k to you, is up to you. Sounds like a decent bit of work. If the top lines up like it should after adjustment, and you can track down the oil leak to something not major, you are still going to spend an easy 400 in tires after it's all said and done.

 

[tyler g]

oh ya i know the tires are gunna be spendy but ill see what i can do with the top and see if any of the ribs are bent.

ill pop the hood and look around and see if i can find ware it is dripping.

if the window looks good to you it most likely is but ill take a close look at it.

i dont plan on spending the 3,000 for it up front, im going to talk the dealer down since it has a lot of little problems and a possable trade in on another car i have.

i have done more with old cars and i want to try the new stuff so i figured this one is not the best so if i break it most dsm drivers wont hate me too much...i hope haha

 

[Niteninja01]

Also read up on the whole crank walk issue, like when u turn left and the clutch drops to the floor. Use the search button on this site, if it has any of the signs walk away from the car asap, or try and get a warrenty with the car

 

[tyler g]

comes as is and i have been doing alot of crank walk reaserch i just dont know what exactly to look for besides a ticking sound. can you tell me spasific things to look for?

 

[pelco]

I wouldn't worry to much about anything other than the top, sticking up like that will cause problems when you are driving in the rain. If it's not sealed up tight water will get underneath it and drip in your lap when you are driving I've had it happen with both convertibles i've owned with good tops. You should have them retract it a little bit and look to see what's keeping it from going down. Could be something pinched somewhere else in the top. Oh yeah and crankwalk too.

 

[spyderturbo007]

Crankwalk is over rated and blown out of proportion. If it's something you are worried about, then measure the end play on the crank before you but the car.

 

[tyler g]

alright well someone is already trying to buy that car so im back to the three my friends dad has. one is an eclipse and two are talons and they have been sitting in a barn for a few years. he wants me to check them out sometime so what shuld i look for in a couple dead cars to try and get them running agen? he said out of the three i could have one nice one and another that will most likely need a radiator