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Hi, I'm Tyler, I live in central Ohio. I just bought an 1979 SA Limited, a total barn-find that was sitting in a garage for the last twenty five years. My search and decision to buy it was made a lot easier with information I got from this form.
For now, I just hope to get it running reliably. Maybe do a more involved restoration later on (or when something catastrophic needs replacing anyway...) I'll add some pictures later. It has original everything (including dry-rotted seats...) runs strong and has zero rust, but the paint and interior are both definitely showing their age.
In the case of my car, I think it was fed sunlight. There's a couple spots on it where the paint is almost completely faded away, but a few inches away it's pristine. Must have been some windows or holes in the roof of that garage/barn.
A picture from the rather-more-solid garage it currently sits in:
I'll second the miles question. I picked up a low-mileage SA a couple weeks ago myself. I can't say I see black SA's very often. I'm not familiar with the "Limited" trim. Is that like a GS with more options (e.g. sunroof)? Also curious if yours has the factory A/C option.
The engine is original and runs strong, so that alone probably rules out the possibility of it having done 176k and rolled over the odometer. The condition of the interior that hasn't rotted away and paint that wasn't exposed to the sun seems to confirm that as well.
Literally every day since I bought this it's been either raining or I've been out of town, but I'll get some more pics up sometime this week.
I also was lucky to pick up a glass sunroof last weekend to replace the one I got with this car (it had no clearcoat and almost no paint at all left on it).
A few more pictures, got it out and washed it today (haven't registered it yet, it'll be sitting for at least another week)
The exterior looks waaay better right after washing. Can hardly tell there's about five three or four inch square spots where it's almost down to bare metal.
Engine compartment seriously needs cleaned. But it runs pretty well.
The interior is actually pretty good minus the cracked dash and ruined seats.
Turns out the spare still has the original tire on it. As a bonus, there's zero rust in the spare well and the paint there is perfect.
Looks good! That engine bay looks completely original and it looks yours isn't covered with that black, tar-like insulation crap. I have that all over mine and it's ugly. Mine also has the same A/C system except I don't have the little bracket holding the line above the clutch lines. My understanding is these units were installed at the dealerships after the cars came stateside. I'm envious of the digital clock. My analog one works ~50% of the time.
New member from Ohio
