Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

fintail

Interesting ad - perhaps the photo on the right is when it was new?

hpmctorque

Concerning the '54 Ford, it was kind of neat. The big innovation for '54 was that they finally swapped the old flathead for a new short stroke OHV V8, one year before Chevy introduced its small block. The displacement for the Ford was 239 cubic inches, the same as the '53 flathead V8, but horsepower went from 110 to 130. In addition, the '54 featured a new ball joint front suspension. Not a bad car, all in all.

For the economy minded, Ford introduced an all new short stroke OHV 6 cylinder in '52. That engine replaced the flathead six. The new 6 was rated at 101 hp, but some said the horsepower was understated, because it was actually quicker than the 110 horsepower flathead. Tom McCahill had high praise for the '52 Ford 6.

texases

Multi-basket case

Mopar valves?

Expensive little thing

Pricey Ponton

At least he's honest

Mr_Shiftright

As you can see, trying to make that pile of junk at $6,500 look like that beauty selling for $45,000 is definitely not going to happen with a budget of $39,000.

Mr_Shiftright

These are not high dollar cars...if the interior is trashed (no pictures shown) that's about all there is in the car.

95% of the Spiders I see are really junk. They just get neglected and aren't worth fixing up.

This one LOOKS okay---if the interior were sharp, it'd be more like $4,000. '76 wasn't a great year either--the earlier chrome bumper cars are more desirable.

I saw a really clean low miles one owner '72 sell for $7,500....that's about as good as it gets for that model of kammback.

qbrozen

actually, there are pictures of the interior. Did you scroll through them all?

IF there is no rust and the pictures are accurate, I could see this fetching $6k-$7k at next years BJ auction. ;b

So you're saying a nice EFI model is worth more than the SPICA models? The '86s and up have been climbing in value, shockingly enough. But I guess that is bound to happen as more and more rust away into oblivion.

oh... oh ... darn. I should have posted that hideous '86 i spotted on ebay last night. Really just terrible. Not in the rusted away sense, but in the owner has bad taste sense. Looked like the owner threw on the lower body kit from a '90s model and had a piss poor paint job done on it (overspray even on the exhaust). And recovered the seats in poorly fitted black vinyl. Nasty.

qbrozen

Ok ok ok... i know i come up with these plans every week, but humor me. This pretty much stems from that Benz convertible I was considering for the wifey. What would be some good options for convertibles for her (meaning auto trans ... ugh!) for let's say under $7k? Is it possible to get anything decent for that money? Is there such a thing as a good automatic porsche at that pricepoint?

lilengineerboy

Is there such a thing as a good automatic porsche

NO

Mr_Shiftright

Lessee....you could get a Miata certainly, stick or automatic, GREAT car....you could get an automatic Porsche 928 but you'd be sorry...you could get a "decent" Porsche 914 but it would be stickshift and a bear of a stickshift at that....no 911s for that money....you don't want 924s.....you MIGHT find a decent 944 automatic for that money--great handling car but high maintenance item...

You could find a superb Alfa Romeo but god you don't want the automatic version (if they made them---they might have near the end of the run)

You might find a VW Bug convertible with auto-stickshift (vacuum operated torque converter thingie-do, not bad)....you might find a 450SL with a few needs for that money...you could find an MGB but it would be stickshift---also a very nice car and easy to maintain.....you could probably find a decent but not pristine late 60s early 70s American full-size convertible (not a pony or muscle car obviously, and probably butt-ugly to boot)....of course you could buy TWO Chrysler LeBaron convertibles and play "Chrysler-KABOOM" and have a parts car.... you might find a Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible....not a bad car but quite porky....you might find a Mustang 6 cylinder convertible from the 80s....

So yeah, there are choices for $7K. Just going over my list, the Miata seems to say "me....buy me!"

qbrozen

yeah, i don't know why i didn't think of a miata. Might have to look into that.

Found THIS, which really appeals to me, but I'm sure the wife will veto.

Just to tease her, I sent her this porsche replica. She'll want it, but its way out of our range. Besides, its a replica. Seems like the guy wants more than its worth ... not that I know much about these. Is he blowing smoke about the builder or what?

qbrozen

Wow. 124 on ebay, but only 22 are automatics, and only 1 of those is anywhere near me!

I might have to keep an eye on this one, though. Might be worth the drive.

Mr_Shiftright

You know, a fake is a fake is a fake...it looks okay on the outside but the inside screams Volkswagen (look at the floor pan, custom frame or not) and it's got that little hand-grenade VW engine from Mexico. Intermeccanica is cool, good company, but still---what have you got here?

Seems pricey----try $12,500. There are many replicas on the market and you can buy brand new ones for close to what he's asking.

Gee, that Cyclone looks pretty good and it's got disk brakes and rack and pinion. What's not for wifey to like here?

lilengineerboy

.you could get a Miata certainly, stick or automatic, GREAT car.

This is the stock answer to "what kind of car should I get" on one of the other message boards I frequent. The are a little pokey (especially the early ones, stick or auto) but they are a lot of fun to drive (its that "more fun to drive a slow car quickly then a fast car slowly...).
If the goal is a convertible, a 5.0 (Mustang)should be available in that price range as well, although the fox-body convertibles leave a little in the way of structural rigidity. Newer ones are better. A Sebring should be in that range, and a Rabbit/Cabriolet/Cabrio is also reasonably easy to find in an auto.
Were you looking for a convertible or was it just most of the fun small cars you saw happened to be topless? Do you want something from a certain era age wise?

fintail

Diesel greed

Just not the best idea

Oddity

"not a freeway car"

qbrozen

mustang = NO! ... well... unless its from the '60s or '05 and up.

sebring = NO! horrible vehicles, IMHO.

Cabrio = eh. nothing here. i mean, i'd like a bit of style.

definitely looking for a convertible. that's what she'd like to have. i don't think its such a bad idea. Although it would be the third out of 5 vehicles in the stable that junior can't ride in. BUT, if she's got the vert for commuting on nice days, she can use the SUV to cart him around all weekend and not be miling either of them up too bad.

Cyclone - her answer was, "not my style. its not bad, but i'd rather have a small fun car than a boat. if we were looking for our 9th car, i might consider it." *shrug* what can ya do?

so what do y'all think of that miata? What's a fair price? Turns out one of the salespeople my wife works with lives near it, so we could have him take a look-see if we're serious.

texases

The TC was never a v6 - wonder if the what's up with that? There were two different turbo 4s, neither of which you'd want.

texases

If there was any way to swing a 1999 Miata (there are a few on Autotrader at/below $7000) you'd get rid of the pop-up headlights and the plastic rear window.

andre1969

Actually you could get a V-6 with the TC. IIRC, the one to have is the Turbo 4, which has a Maserati head and only came with a 5-speed. The V-6 was just a Mitsubishi 3.0, and I believe it only came with an automatic, probably just a Chrysler 3-speed.

I think the biggest problem with the TC is that the LeBaron convertible looked every bit as good, for about half the price. The reason for that was that originally the TC got canned, but Chrysler stylists decided to make the '87 LeBaron coupe and convertible have similar lines. But then, at the last minute, they decided to give the TC a go again.

texases

You're right, I didn't know they replaced the 'Maserati' turbo 4 with the V6 in 1990.

Mr_Shiftright

300TD---$8,000 with 269K on the car and no tach, no odometer, no radio, no fuel gauge! LOL!! Gee, all the b***tchy things that are so hard to fix. What a co-incidence.

Try $3,500.

'61 International Forest Service Truck: $1,800 is about $1,700 too much. Pile of iron. Oh, it's a 4X4...okay $750.

Morris Minor: Cute as a bug. Watch out for vicious rust issues. Also original 1075 cc engine is weak....I remember a friend who bought one and he actually could not climb a hill in San Francisco...he had to drive around them. I also remember a Morris Minor van we inspected where someone wrapped tar paper around the rusted frame and varished and painted it to look like metal. Cruel, rotten trick but it sure looked good to the eye (but not the ice-pick!)

lilengineerboy

E30 or E36 3 series convertible(seats 4, fun to drive, easy as stick or auto)?

lilengineerboy

rotten trick but it sure looked good to the eye (but not the ice-pick!)

Why does everyone in SF have an ice pick?
(Basic Instinct reference...)

Mr_Shiftright

Actually it's an awl....

qbrozen

i actually marked a 323 on ebay to keep my eye on. 4 seats truly would make MUCH more sense for us.

oregonboy

Didn't Shifty have issues with mid-90s 3-series BMWs? (I'd have to say, a convertible 3-series looks pretty sweet to me. Too bad that 90% of them seem to be black)

Mr_Shiftright

Not really....there are a few weaknesses one must watch out for....325 convertible tops jamming up all the time...radiators cracking...front control arm bushings are a chronic faillure....avoid the 7 series cars....

My favorite mid 90s BMWs...the 6 cylinder 5 series cars.

texases

Hard to beat the BMW, if you can find a clean one. One other one that might come up is the Saab 9-3 convertible. I'd stay away from it, though, the only two people I know who had them had so much trouble the dealers bought them back as :lemon:

Mr_Shiftright

I only have experience with the previous generation Saab 900s, and that was enough for me. Problem with out of warranty Saabs is that nobody wants to work on them.

lilengineerboy

radiators cracking

I thought all cars did that :P both of my Hondas did. I actually thought it was the later 5 series (Late 90s+) that did that, but they might have just had more people complaining.

front control arm bushings are a chronic faillure

I was under the impression that they were a 60k maint. item along with the water pump (not that uncommon). The failure mode I would be more concerned with on E36s is the subframe failures and diff mount failures. I am trying to get a sense of how common they are, but they seem well publicized.
I personally would still really like another E36 M3/4.

qbrozen

thanks for bringing that up. I was just about to ask. Found some with REAL low miles for not much money (case in point). I know saabs have a bad rep, though. Even I used to make fun of the large number of saabs i'd usually see on the side of the road.

i just came across a real oddball. A '93 240SX convertible. 91k miles. No photos provided, though, and 50 miles from home. I was just thinkin ... RWD, 155 hp, 2800 lbs. Doesn't sound bad. Its WAY overpriced at $4900.

lilengineerboy

A '93 240SX convertible. 91k miles. No photos provided, though, and 50 miles from home. I was just thinkin ... RWD, 155 hp, 2800 lbs

I think the convertible only came with an Auto in that car, and I believe its a 2 seater.

"The S13 was known for its sharp steering/handling (thanks to a front MacPherson strut, rear multilink suspension) and light weight (2600 lb) but was regarded in the automotive press as being underpowered. The Nissan KA24E engine, while durable, was a heavy, iron-block unit that produced meager power for its size, with only slight improvement when upgraded to the DOHC version. This engine is the main difference between North America's 240SX and world-market Silvia/180SX."

Or you could replace the 60's tech truck motor with a SR20DET like it should've had in the first place

boomchek

I should have posted that hideous '86 i spotted on ebay last night

Was it this one? :P

boomchek

The 240SX convertibles were 4 seaters. We had a used one on our lot (at my previous dealer) just 3 months ago. It had about 140km (80k miles), we were asking $9995, and it sold quickly.

qbrozen

yup! that's it.

here's the link

oregonboy

I always liked the 240SX, but hated the motorized seatbelts. The convertible version would eliminate that particular complaint. It must be a pretty rare care though!

james

oregonboy

Here's one on e-bay (geez, what an awful color).

link 240ZX

andre1969

ugh, that is kind of a nasty color. I'm not sure I care for that particular front-end, either. What is that, the Japanese home-market front-clip? Looks kinda like a '94 Sunbird to me. Not awful, but I liked the styles with the flip-up headlights much better.

fintail

Big white

texases

I looked on Autotrader last night for Nissan convertibles with auto under $7000 and came up with several of the 240SXs, along with several 300Zs - if 2 seats are OK, the Z might also be worth a look.

stevedebi

"Not awful, but I liked the styles with the flip-up headlights much better."

Like my friend who has that Pontiac coupe with the (permanently) flipped up headlights? Those Fieros were really bad...

andre1969

Well, okay, I like the flip-up headlight models better UNTIL they get that little problem of being permanently stuck up! Or even better, when one's eternally up and the other's forever closed, so it looks like the car is winking at you!

texases

My boss at the gas station (high school days) had a beautiful Stingray - problem was, those rotating headlights often were the first thing bumped. He read us the riot act when his suffered that fate from one of us backing a customer's car into it.

andre1969

in that the two cars I've had with hidden headlights were the type where they just had covers that dropped down, exposing the headlights. I've heard that on my '79 New Yorker, when they malfunction, they're supposed to default to the open position, but somehow I have a feeling that if it happens I won't be so lucky! :surprise:

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a '79-81 New Yorker with non-working headlight covers. But on the St. Regis, which used clear plastic covers, it was a common problem. That's kinda odd...I figured that they'd both use the same part? :confuse:

bumpy

In Japan, the coupe had that nose with the fixed lights, while the hatchback had the same flip-up lights that we got. They're the same car under the sheet metal, so the swap is literally a bolt-on. Most people do it to get the projector-beam headlights (the ebay car doesn't have them, though ).

andre1969

In Japan, the coupe had that nose with the fixed lights, while the hatchback had the same flip-up lights that we got.

Wasn't there another version of the fixed-headlight front-end, though? I seem to remember one that was more rounded and softer, and kinda slicked back.

jlflemmons

Nah, the trick on the Fiero was to smack the left front fender just ahead of the wheel. That's where the headlight door relay was. BAM! and the lights would close.

hpmctorque

They may not have been good cars, but they sure had good styling, in my opinion. I think the first model year, the '84, looked especially attractive. Too bad it had a low revving OHV engine, that was more suitable for a pickup of the period than a sports car. It seems as though Fieros have all but disappeared. Can't remember the last time I saw one.

boomchek

The original in the pictures came out in 1989 (for the year it had pretty advanced styling):


In 1995 it was redesigned into the one you referred:


Then in 1998 I think it received an ugly (in my opinion) facelift before being discontinued within a few years due to lack of interest in the coupe market:

andre1969

Yeah, that's it, the second one (1995) is the front-end I was thinking of. I prefer the hidden headlights, but that '95 restyle is still pretty attractive IMO. You're right though, about that 1998 facelift. Looks to me like they tried to force an early 90's Accord front end on there, with just a touch of late 90's Bonneville!

qbrozen

hmmm... no pics of the interior. not a good way to sell on ebay. And what the heck is with the switch on the ground? Is that a hint that lots of stuff needs to be reassembled on this thing?

body looks pretty good, though. Too bad about the color.

by the way, 4 seats is really ideal. If we were going 2-seater, I'd probably go for the miata.

found a couple of oddballs this morning in the auto shopper. A '95 Lebaron drop-top with 100k miles. Says it runs good. Only $1500. :0
And a '97 Sebring with only 60k miles for $5500.

both are ugly and undesirable, but its hard to argue with the pricing.