[Grandavi]

I am looking at buying a 1987 MKIII. It has 148,000 miles on it (238,000 km).

Now.. the power steering pump is leaking. I figure this is an easy fix for me
correct?

The valve covers are also leaking and I can hear a tapping (light metallic sound) while driving.. its not very loud but I can hear it in the passenger compartment. I dont think this points to anything major though, just seems to need some attention up top.

The rad is old, but the coolant looks fairly clean. (green) I dont smell any coolant in the exhaust but it does have the traditional puff of blue while starting. (thinking is only the valve seals.. common with the 7MGTE)

Its got a very decent body, with some little funny stuff (side molding has the metal removed about 9 years ago when it was repainted and then glued on, so it is a tiny bit "wavy") But the doors/quarters are fairly rust free. For the age, the body is in very good condition.

So.. now to my question.. this is a US car, so there are some strange things (I am Canadian). Some subtle differences between my 88 and this 87. I believe that 87's were the only year with the LSD until 90 or 91.. not sure on that. The diff is wet with oil currently but doesnt howl or anything bad. I thought all MKIII's were LSD.. but apparently thats incorrect.

Is it going to be a pain to get the diff to stop leaking? (without really looking at it very closely or understanding where the leak is coming from.. just want to know if this is a monster that I can tackle or not)

If I do buy it (3000.00 CDN) I would have it in the garage through this winter and fix all the leaks that I can find. Car drives very nicely and spools good. Turbo has 6000 miles on the rebuild. I think that top end was rebuilt about 9 years ago, but hasn't had a ton of miles on it since then. It has sat a lot. Its the body that really catches my eye.. very straight and nice.

Any info on LSD?