I am going to look at a dino gt tomorrow and if it looks good set up for a PPI. Any advice on specifics to look for in a dino? How would you approach the inspection? What to look for when driving the car? Where are the best areas to check for rust? etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Other members will be more qualified to give you advice regarding the rust issue. It can be serious, of course. I would look first of all for correctness (as originally made/supplied). Too many Dinos have been redone many times over, with incorrect front ends, wrong steering wheels, wrong this, wrong that. Many of those modifications are expensive to correct, and the original parts hard to find. Mechanically, I think I would pay special attention to the transmission. My impression is that the engine in the Dino is pretty much bullet-proof. If it runs well, sounds right and does not smoke too much, it will be fine. Transmission is a little more touchy. Make sure it engages all the gears smoothly and positively (once warmed up) and that it does not pop out of gear. Transmission rebuilds are quite expensive. But any mechanical issue should not prevent you from buying a car which you otherwise like. Just reserve another $15,000 or so to fix whatever is wrong with it. Instead, I would suggest to make things easy for yourself: Follow your heart! I you don't fall in love with it, don't buy it. If you do, buy it. When the right car comes along, you will know it!
Here is a starting point. Save this as a favorite for your research. http://www.dinoregister.com/production.php Lars has a good point about the gearbox. I don't even want to say how much I spent in 1988 to rebuild mine. Good luck and post us the numbers that you have. Again, this site is incredible to get help. We can help you figure out fact from fiction.
