How to judge health of new daily driver?

[AndrewMac]

I bought a 1981 SC targa with 114K. It is about an 8 out of 10 cosmetically. Been sprayed once but a good job. All the panels are straight and gaps even. Just a few rock chips. Carfax is clean. Top recently recovered. Glass is good and everything seems to work. Short shift with spoiler fore and tail aft. Lowered suspension and handling is pretty tight. Has tensioner updates and popoff valve installed. Oil return tubes recently replaced. Fuchs 6/7. Sport seats with worn driver bolster. Dash has a cap. Strut bar and car cover came with it. No service records to speak of. But at least I got the owners manual etc. Oil pressure is very good judging by the guage.

NEEDS: New exhaust and tires.
I suspect the top end if full of carbon as the prior owner drove it little and not hard. Lots of periodic trips around the block to keep the battery up. PO also sid it used only about a quart between oil changes and his garage floor was dry. He isn't the type to try hiding problems. He was really a straight up guy that just needed to get rid of the car.

So here's my question. In what order do I address the issues to identify the real health of the motor?? Should I do the exhaust and give it a hard and fast few or several weeks of driving to clear out the top end and then do compression and leakdown tests?

[hkspwrsche]

get it so that it runs and drives and just drive it. You might want to drop a 3.6 in it before you spend on a rebuild!..

[AndrewMac]

I hate the US market bumpers. What are the options to get rid of those heinous rubber bumpers? Is there an option to remove the rubber bumpers and fill the spot with something else? How much work is it to cut in holes in the side fenders and wire for the Euro side markers? I still have my 78 euro targa and I wish I could take some parts of each and merge the two.