50 replies to this topic

[RShack]

1959 Triumph TR3 ($300)

1970 Datsun 2000 ($1350)

1976 Dodge Maxivan ($4000, 1st new vehicle)

1963 Rambler 770 ($200)

1966 Ford Custom 500 ($200)

1980 Chevy Citation ($6500, 2nd new car)

197? Chevy Impala ($300)

1965 Plymouth Valiant ($125)

1983 Nissan Sentra ($4949, 3rd new car)

1978 Ford Econoline ($2200)

1986 Ford Taurus ($4500)

1978 Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler ($1300)

1987 Saab 9000 Turbo 5-speed ($10K, for bride)

1987 Saab 9000 Turbo 5-speed ($10K, for self)

(Between those 2 Saabs, we ran up more than a 550K miles, nothing important broke, 28mpg@80mph)

* 2002 Mini Cooper S 6-speed ($21K, 9th yellow one in the US, 4th new car)

* 2004 Acura TL ($30K, for bride, 5th new car)

* 1967 Mercedes SE250 Cabriolet ($35K)

* Current cars

 

I probably forgot some.

 

Next: ???? 

I want a non-small station wagon that's not a dog.  Mercedes cost too much, Volvo might be OK, new Buick TourX (Opel Insignia) might be OK.  Am in no rush. 

 

But if Honda sold Accord wagons here, I'd get one tomorrow... the new Accords with the 2.0T and 10-speed-auto are crazy-good cars.

 

If I wanted a luxo car, I'd wait a year or 2, then hunt around for a used Genesis G80 3.3T AWD. http://autoweek.com/...nder-hands-down  Great cars, but their new badge and non-rep means the used car value is gonna sink like a stone.

 

My bride totaled the Acura TL... while exiting the Interstate, she dodged a damn cat on the exit ramp... sideswiped some of those waist-high concrete barrier slabs... crunched the front left corner... got Every_Single_Panel down the driver's side... and got the left rear too... (she wasn't fooling around... it's not that easy to do all that at once with just one little swerve)... the insurance company tried to low-ball me... but I caught their appraiser in a lazy mistake... so they high-balled me instead...  I simply pointed out how their guy was a lazy idiot and they spontaneously offered me more than I had asked for, which was a nice surprise...

 

We were This Close to getting a new 2019 Mazda 6 Signature... I really, really like that car, so did she, we were gonna sleep on it... but we drove by a CarMax on the way home... and I wondered if they might have any Genesis G80's.  We ended up with a Genesis G80... we didn't even talk about it, we just drove it around, looked at each other and nodded (which in retrospect seems kinda odd)... 24K miles, seems new, a pretty "paresian gray" that's either grayish-blue or blueish-gray, depending on the color of the sky... $22K because CarMax's computer got confused and/or was ignorant about the option packages that were on it (it was $52K new)... it's loaded with lotsa smart stuff that actually works... it has plenty of oomph and gets 27 mpg with the cruise on 90...

 

I got on the interstate in ATL, turned on smart cruise and didn't touch a pedal for 300 miles... in normal traffic, as long as there are cars between me and the upcoming red light I never have to use pedals... it stops, it starts, it slows down, it speeds up, it stops again and so on.  It's just when you hit a red light or stop sign where nobody's in front of you that you have to touch the brake...other than that, it mostly doesn't requires the use of pedals... (I know some of you are used to this, but actually using it is new to me...)

 

It's not as limber as the TL was... it's more luxo in tone... so when you're on a fun-able curvy road, and you ask it to do something that's much different than what it's already doing, it doesn't exactly protest, but it pauses for just a tiny split second to say "Are you sure about this?"... but if you keep at it, it will do exactly what you tell it to... which surprised me... I didn't think it would, but it does... it's a very good car... and it gets better when you give it just a hint about what you're about to ask it to do, just before you do it... communication is a 2-way street....

 

But that Acura TL was a great car... had it 15 years, it ran like a top, always worked, and it had a very nice combination of smooth comfort with some ample athleticism in there... the only thing that screwed up was the outside memory mirrors tied to the memory seats... the passenger's side broke twice, fixed once... it'd just go whamp-whamp-whamp a few times and then stop, you'd have to use the buttons to adjust it... other than that, it was about perfect...

[RShack]

Came up from Cooks Lane on the 70 P&R late one night coming back from Bmore. Maybe...5 years ago. Probably 12:30-1 AMish. Get up on the highway, cars everywhere. Dead stop. Looked like a movie shoot from a Fast and the Furious sequel. All the sudden, boom, a woman throws down her arms and two cars peel the F off. The crowd of people hurry back to their cars and drive away like nothing happened. It went from dead standstill in what looked like a Ludacris video to driving home like nothing happened all within ten minutes. So strange.

 

It was what we might call a Flash Dragstrip... started in CA years ago... these things were the original Flash Mob events before we had Flash Mobs... but they were not for creating faux-spontaneous entertainment events to surprise onlookers...they were gatherings for racing quarter-miles and then skedaddling before the cops could react... you missed whoever was standing 1320 feet past the woman who dropped the flag... they were flagging the winner...

[Biggsy]

I don't have an answer to your question.... but I do have a suggestion... before proceeding, first nose around online just a bit and get clear about what you mean by restoration. For cars that have the potential for big money (or cars that are a zillionaire's favorite) restoration means they take the whole damn thing apart and use new-old stock to make it better than new, with closer tolerances, tighter panel fit, etc.... they put it on a big rotisserie and spin it around to where the can get to every damn thing... A serious restoration could easily be a couple hundred thousand bucks... for a Dodge, not a Ferrari... and people actually do that...

Your Dad's car may or may not be in the potential big bucks category. It depends on the options it came with, especially the engine and transmission, plus whether those things are numbers-matching as it came from the factory. I'd fine out that info first. If your Dad still has the original window sticker, that would be a big huge and tell you what you need to know about the car. If he doesn't have that degree of original records, then based on the serial number of the car, some google-fu (and Mopar fan sites) can probably help you find out how it came from the factory originally.

Anyway, you'll be better off making a list of the things you want taken care of, since restoration means different things to different people. Make a list that includes everything you can think of that the car needs, and then see where you are... otherwise, you risk getting in the middle of a project and having it nickel and dime you to death.... except it wouldn't be nickels and dimes, it'd be a few hundred here and a couple thousand there... next thing you know, you have a sad story to tell...

ps: There's a new category of collector cars that didn't used to exist... Un-restored Classics. With so many old cars getting restored (to some degree or another), there's now a relative shortage of desirable old cars that haven't been restored... as a result, many classic car concours (no "e") have a separate category for that. Once you restore it, it ain't original no more... and never can be again.

What do you know about this car? Engine? Trans? Rear-end ratio? Option packages?

Its the 318 engine, 3 speed automatic and I want to say a 3.91 rear ratio. I do know all of the numbers match. When I say all original, I mean that. I don't think one part outside of filters have been replaced. I know he did have the window sticker a few years ago. Im sure he still has it somewhere. I'm not sure on the options package. I know it's not the rare collectible R/T model. But I do know he's had multiple offers north of $25k for it as it is.

I'm kind of hung up myself on what I'd like to do. Being all original, it would be hard for me to rip it apart just for resale value. As silly as it may sound, It means more to me being my fathers first car than any price I'd get on an auction block. but it also would be nice to get it looking brand new and be able to drive it around on a nice day too.

[RShack]

Its the 318 engine, 3 speed automatic and I want to say a 3.91 rear ratio. I do know all of the numbers match. When I say all original, I mean that. I don't think one part outside of filters have been replaced. I know he did have the window sticker a few years ago. Im sure he still has it somewhere. I'm not sure on the options package. I know it's not the rare collectible R/T model. But I do know he's had multiple offers north of $25k for it as it is.

I'm kind of hung up myself on what I'd like to do. Being all original, it would be hard for me to rip it apart just for resale value. As silly as it may sound, It means more to me being my fathers first car than any price I'd get on an auction block. but it also would be nice to get it looking brand new and be able to drive it around on a nice day too.

 

Well, the good news is that (1) it means something to you, and (2) the plain-Jane spec means you won't be tempted to do something stupid while chasing fantasies of megabucks.... it really comes down to exactly what you said:  keep it original or pretty it up some...

 

Regardless of whether you think it makes sense to do, what things would you like to have done to it?  New paint?  What about the interior?  Anything particular in mind?

[Biggsy]

Well, the good news is that (1) it means something to you, and (2) the plain-Jane spec means you won't be tempted to do something stupid while chasing fantasies of megabucks.... it really comes down to exactly what you said: keep it original or pretty it up some...

Regardless of whether you think it makes sense to do, what things would you like to have done to it? New paint? What about the interior? Anything particular in mind?

Repaint it as close to the original color as possible. Get the whole interior reupholstered, the two front seats are ripped pretty bad. Get the top re-lined. Get the chrome cleaned or redone all the way around. Possibly new rims and tires. Add power brakes and steering, and get the exhaust all redone. Also would like to go over the while motor and transmission just to check it out. However I also had a guy at work put it in my head to possibly look for another broken down '70 with a 383, 426 or 440 motor and buy it and have it swapped over into my dads car. Not sure if thats worth the money or not though.

[RShack]

Repaint it as close to the original color as possible. Get the whole interior reupholstered, the two front seats are ripped pretty bad. Get the top re-lined. Get the chrome cleaned or redone all the way around. Possibly new rims and tires. Add power brakes and steering, and get the exhaust all redone. Also would like to go over the while motor and transmission just to check it out. However I also had a guy at work put it in my head to possibly look for another broken down '70 with a 383, 426 or 440 motor and buy it and have it swapped over into my dads car. Not sure if thats worth the money or not though.

 

You can get the exact same paint color... no problem with that... the cost range will come down to how much do you want painted...inside the engine bay?  inside the door frame?  or just mainly where everybody else will see it but not in places few people will see?

 

For upholstery, you can pay somebody to do it right, but that won't be cheap... you can probably get a set of new vinyl seat covers that is made for the job and slips directly on top of what's there and looks right... depending on stuff I don't know, maybe you can get seat covers that make it look as if the car came with a more upscale interior than it really did... in a concours you'd get dinged for it, but who cares?  Nobody who's normal would know...

 

Re-chroming ain't cheap... is the chrome pitted or just dull?   

 

Also, is the paint missing or just dull?

 

What's the story about rust?

 

Wheels and tires are cheap-ish and easy... same with muffler... is the muffler shot, or do you want to change it for other reasons?

 

Motor swaps are interesting and don't have to cost a fortune... it helps to know somebody who knows somebody, etc... 

 

Transmission swaps are easy if you're swapping the engine anyway... if it's an auto like what's in there... but changing from auto to manual gets a lot more complicated...

 

For the motor, before you do anything, just do a wet-and-dry compression test... google will show you how... it will tell you what you need to know about the motor quickly and cheaply.

 

Does the motor burn oil?  If so, how often does it need a quart?  Does it leave oil stains underneath it?

 

ps:  I'm enjoying this... because I don't have to actually do any of it 

[Pedro Cerrano]

I have a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

 

Knock on wood, no major issues, over 120k miles.

 

I love not having a car payment but I'd be lying if I didn't get the itch to go out and test drive some new ones.

 

Jeep customer for life though.  I owned two Nissans before this and BOTH had the same transmission and starter issues.  I had to replace the starter probably 6 times between those two cars.  Ridiculous. 

[RShack]

I had a Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler... it was fun as a spare vehicle... but tiring to drive... loud and stiff... but it was an honest-to-God Jeep without any SUV niceties... so not the same kind of vehicle as a Cherokee...

[RShack]

Who took my wheel covers?

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=Yilqz4vwoE4

[Old Man]

Looking back, dang owned too many vehicles.

 

Mostly GM, but have had a few Fords/Mercurys and not good experiences with them, even had a Dodge, again, wasnt all that cracked up.

 

Had beater cars as my goto work car back when I was raising kids. Like a Vega that used a quart of oil, every 2 tanks of gas.

 

My fav was a 87 Monte Carlo SS, T-Tops and one fine automobile. V-8 305 HO with racing ignition from the factory, 3.83 gears in the rear and would flat boogie down the highway and yet give you a good ride.

 

Had had 4 Suburbans over the past 2 1/2 decades, todays station wagon,2 of those have been handed down to my kids.

 

Solid and durable machines, great to load up and travel in. 4WD, they are a beast and will cut through snow and snow banks, just fine.

[Old Man]

Plenty. 

 

Hell, I had one of these: 

 

 

 

And one of these...

 

 

 

I was at a Design Forum at the North American Auto Show (Detroit) shortly before the new Mini Coopers were introduced.  The designer (who later went to Ferrari) gave a talk about them, they had prototypes on the floor.  The designer was like 6'5".  I asked him if I could fit.  He said "Sure, go sit in one and see."  I said "They're all locked."  He said, "We can fix that."  And he did.  I came home and got on three waiting lists for one as soon as they started selling them... months later, the one I got came in at the Mini Cooper place in Towson.

 

They're short in length.  They're not short in height.

 

The routine is (1) move the seat back, (2) recline seatback as appropriate for head, then (3) bend knees as required.   In general, the main enemy for tall folks is the ever-widening center console.  No room to put your knee between it and the wheel.  It's getting worse all the time.  The revenge of CAD:  they always designed for 95 percentile... but now they can do it precisely and screw taller folks  They're even starting to shrink room on the L side of the wheel to make room for more buttons on the door.

I had a very old and used Datsun 310 hatchbox, nothing cute or sexy about it. It was basic transportation from point a to point b.