need advice on '81 80 or '87 80

["Chris" <ckor1@student.monash.edu.au>]

Recently I was down at the wreckers and saw an '87 80 CC sitting there which
had hit something. The front bumper was pushed in and the radiator was all
smashed but the engine and the rest of the car where in absolute mint
condition. I was talking to the guy and he said someone had just bought it
off him for $1750 (which is very cheap considering they sell for around
$5K - $6K when they aren't damaged. I was considering selling my car but
later thought that I've already spent so much time fixing everyting on my
car that it wasn't worth it because I wouldn't get very much for it if i
sold it. Anyway I was talking to a friend about it and he offered me $4K for
my car because it is in such good nick. So now I'm not sure whether to sell
my car and by this newer one or just keep my car and forget about the whole
thing.

Originally I bougght my car for $2K and have spent around $3K on it. The
work I have done to it is I changed it from auto to manual, recondtioned the
motor, new tyres, new exhaust, new windscreen, new battery , brake pads and
most other general wear and tare bits.

Is the '87 80 a much improved car over the earlier one ? Also pretty all the
ones I have seen have a four cylinder engine. Is it possible to put a five
cylinder engine in one of these ? I noticed that the engine mountings are in
a different place so I'd probably have to weld in some new brackets and get
a different front sub frame. Other than this does a 5cyl manual gearbox bolt
straight into a 4cyl manual ??

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Chris

'81 80 5+5 175 000 Km