Bought 2 89 Formulas at once...which do I keep and why won't one start?

[enginecry]

Thanks in advance for any help. My last 3rd gen was an 89 IROC I bought new. I bid on two cars on Ebay and...ended up winning them both. Not wanting to ruin my feedback rating, $5000 later and I have two very different 89 Formula 350's.

Car one has factory dual exhausts and aluminum driveshaft (came with original window sticker) SLP headers, SLP runners, 58mm throttle body, ACCEL injectors, Hotchkiss arms, Edelbrock Panhard bar, frame is tied, roller cam and lifters, GTA ground effects kit, fiberglass hood, 2000 rpm stall blah, blah, blah. Very fast, but for some reason boring.

Car two is basically a stock Formula 350 with flowmasters. For some reason however, it only will start with a squirt of starting fluid in the TB. It idles real rough. It doesn't throw any error codes. It starts when it's hot. When it runs it drives like a 60's / 70's musclecar and has a nice feel to it. It has an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and is getting 50 PSI at the schrader valve. I've replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump relay. I've read about the cold start injector but supposedly, 89 was the year that was eliminated.

So.......any ideas on why car two won't start?

And, I know it's my decision but, which car would you keep and while I'm at it, what do you think car one is worth?

Thanks - Doug

[kammi10]

umm id keep the first one


ohh and the first one deff didn;t come with factory dual exhaust is came with factory dual cats, they never made a factory dual exhaust

[LiveFastDieFun]

first one sounds like a really nice car and a nice base but if you like doin all the work yourself 2nd would be your option.

[thursday12889]

try doing a fuel pump run time test

[00firebird]

drive the shit out of both of em an get rid of whichever starts giving you more problems

[thursday12889]

so are you trying to get rid of one or something? I might be interested in one if the price is right

[MyBadZ28]

yes in 89 was the last year for the cold start. Look and see if there is a 9th injector to make sure no one swapped intakes out. But the 89's just add a little more extra fuel to each cylinder for the cold start.

[96mikez28]

Welcome to Mifbody, i'd keep the first one

[93formulalt1]

I'd keep the first one, it just sounds like it would be a better starting point for mods and customizing. . .

[WMCCjames]

Depends, sounds like the first one is a better car but what colors are they?

As for your starting problem....could be a number of things....you say no "check engine" light comes on....is said light functional? Do you see it come on when you turn the key on?

[meissen]

Welcome to the site, and I'm sure some of the guys on here can help ya out with getting ya going.

[phoenix_rising]

I personally would go for option 1 but it sounds like you have a feel for car 2. Sell Car 1 (to Me) and use the cash to fix car 2.

[enginecry]

Here's some pics. And yes...one of them will be for sale. Soon (I have 8 cars and a boat and my wife is only so much of an angel)

[enginecry]

Depends, sounds like the first one is a better car but what colors are they?

As for your starting problem....could be a number of things....you say no "check engine" light comes on....is said light functional? Do you see it come on when you turn the key on?

Sorry if I wasn't clear, what I meant to say was no error codes came up when I did a diagnostic test.

[enginecry]

I personally would go for option 1 but it sounds like you have a feel for car 2. Sell Car 1 (to Me) and use the cash to fix car 2.

You're right. I like car two better and you can't argue with your gut. BUT, Car one is very quick doesn't leak any fluids, engine and trans are rebuilt, has a black interior with no rips instead of light gray like car two...so there lies my problem, too many variables. One of them has to go....