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Ever see those British restoration magazines?...they cut out and replace rotten rocker panels like we replace wiper blades...I bet there's a "Jiffy Rocker" in London somewhere...
I think the Jensen is worth a look to see how bad the rust actually is. Best way to check is looking to see if the rust has penetrated from the rocker ends to the wheel well area...also check the door fit (the "shut lines" as the Brits say) for sagging body warnings. You'd also want to look INSIDE the door panels, and also peel up the carpeting where the A Pillar welds to the floor, (the pillar holding the door hinges).
If it's just some surface rust or a few pin holes, I'd bondo them up and terrorize the neighborhood for a few months. Could be a fun ride and the car is a great "gentleman's express" for freeway driving with the AC on between frequent gas station stops. (this is not a car worth restoring with a top dollar potential of maybe $12,500 in the USA).
If it were a drop top however...it still probably isn't worth restoring in the US. A mustang convertible would be worth more by half again.
I'd like to have it for a while. I'm getting toward the age where I have to make frequent gas station stops anyway.
I dont speak german but judging by the couple of words I can pick out and the pictures the rebuild was a sucess.
Merc V12
Looked nice at the end though, labor of love. Crazy Germans, restoring W140s already.
Back in HS I knew a guy who had restored a couple of V12 Jag engines. He was so talented that I swear he could repair lesser cars just by walking by.
It's like brain surgery but on a car.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
And speaking of project cars, these are classy old beasts
'66 Mustang coupe
88-90 FJ62 Landcruiser
'93-97 FJ 80 Landcruiser
W124 MBZ (any - 300, 300D, Wagon, 400)
Volkswagen Bus camper
'93-95 Ranger Rover LWB
Jeep Grand Wagoneer or Cherokee Chief
I'm not ashamed of my desire for the first four. There's something about the last three I always liked regardless how crappy they were.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Well, I have a fetish for big 70's cars, so there's not too much that embarasses me. Heck, I paid $28,000 to have a 4-car garage built, and then parked a $900 Chrysler in it. I suppose there's irony in there, somewhere. :P
I always liked those old-style, throwback Wagoneers. My uncle had a 1976 Jeep Honcho (I think that was its name) pickup that was based on the same platform. It seemed like it was more farm machinery than automobile, but damn it was tough. As I recall the cab and front clip were pretty solid, but the bed was shot. I forget how we did it, but somehow between my uncle and me, we managed to get that bed off the truck, and then he built a homemade bed out of plywood. We put the old bed back on top of it, and hauled it to the dump.
It was an ugly looking thing, but still had a charm to it.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I guess my steady favorites have been late 50s, early 60s t-birds and a cobra (would have to be a kit). I'm not sure anything else I'd want would be considered a "blue-collar project."
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Some inexperienced tech left a couple of screws loose on a distrubtor which some how caused a severely rich condition in the engine. The Super rich fuel mixture thined the oil between the cylinder wall and piston which cooked the motor.
I'd imagine that once you stripped off all the accessories, inside an engine is still an engine...still, with all the labor involved, you'd have to guess that this is a $20,000 job here in America at least. Maybe more. A Ferrari V-12 rebuilt can run $35,000 and if it were a brand new Ferrari V-12, about $60,000 would not be unheard of. Well you'd just ship in a crate engine, I don't think a shop would attempt it.
Did they really rebuild that V-12 or are they exchanging it?
I think he is rebuilding it but I am not a 100% sure. He did tear it down a good bit but maybe he just used parts of the old engine on the new engine.
I figure labor would have to be more expensive and cars probably also more expensive but who knows.
Worst possible color...whoever did this should be shot
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
For anyone who did not get a chance to see it, here's just one photo in particular that shows it well.
link title
oops... sorry, meant to hit link, not photo.
How about "freezer-burnt salmon?" :P Ick. Not as bad as the pink Toyota, though.
There are a couple og 6.9's for sale in my area at an attractive price and was wondering if I should bother and take a look at them.
Thanks
They are just money pits with no upside. They aren't particularly beautiful, very few people even care to notice one, you can't show it, you can't race it, you can't put the top down and you can't sell it to anyone else.
If you MUST have an old Benz V-8, by all means save up and buy a 1970-71 3.5 coupe, or even a 300SEL 6.3 (also a money pit but more fun at least and more bragging rights and more valuable).
The guy links to other insane repair logs on other diesels he has too...some people are just drawn to those cars, and they get in deep, and seem to love it.
Jag
Worth restoring?:
Cobra
It seems like this guy just buys wrecks and re-sells them (I think this M3 has been rolled, looks more of a partsd car than anything):
M3
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
(in reference to all the other parts being boxed up) One has to hope so, because all the chrome bits and trim items that are missing will add up $$$ quickly.
If I had space in the garage for it, I could see maybe a $1,000 for it and I'd be interested, but I'm a bit of a sucker for Jags....so I'm already prepared to not make money off of 'em :P
Stutz
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
According to the VIN, that thing started life as a 1979 Pontiac 4-door sedan. I would imagine it was a 1979 Bonneville. The "N" is the code for the model, but I don't know their codes. The "R" is the engine code, but again I dunno what it means. Looks like an Olds V-8 though, so it's most likely a 350 or 403.
There was also a Stutz coupe of that timeframe, which I think was based on the downsized Eldo/Toro/Riv. I think earlier models of the coupe were based on the Grand Prix.
In any case, you have to want what he did to it. IMHO, the purpose of a kit is to build the car the way you want. If the engine and tranny aren't what you want or the suspension isn't just how you'd like, then its almost pointless to buy that for the same price you could get the kit for.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Seen too many dangerous short cuts taken when the builder starts getting tired of the project.
JAG: Worthless car, worthless project, great engine. I agree, I'd offer $1,000 for the engine and transmission if they are both rebuilt, definitely, throw the car away and put the driveline into a totally clean mint 1986 XJ6 that needed an engine and/or transmission.
If you did all that, you'd actually break even on both cars!!
Early XJ6s are the worst. One should shun them like the plague. They might be a candidate for "worst car in the world" at least mechanically/engineering wise. Who else could build the same car that badly for 20 years?
MB DIESELS: I understand the appeal (I've had a few) but there comes a point when devotion becomes madness. The most devoted marque-lovers I know are MG TC worshippers, who will restore the most horrendous basket cases imaginable, taking years and years to do it. A wrecked, mangled, rotted, junked TC is never lost, no matter how bad it is, someone will take it on. Also folly of a sort but here at least you have a much loved automobile that is very significant historically, and while not worth the cost of a major restoration (you can buy clean drivers that are very presentable for $20,000 and a Pebble Beach car for $35,000), at least you've done something worthwhile to history. But an old diesel sedan--while it deserves a shot at a new life, has to be weighed against the fact that these are commonplace cars that will never be worth very much.
Everyone's entitled to be crazy, don't get me wrong, but at least admit that one's a fool to spend $25,000 restoring a $2,500 car. Sometimes a charming devotee is really just a victim of his own bad judgement.
I wonder what will happen to these old diesels once the next generation hits the USA---with no noise, no smoke, able to burn biodiesel, and plenty of power?
The gas prices also make it so my local market is clogged with dreamers wanting 7-10K++ for their 250K mile W123s, especially wagons.
I once saw a Stutz out the biannual auction at the Tradex in Abbotsford that had a clock in the steering wheel hub!