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

steine13

My daily "driver" is a 1995 Cannondale T400 touring bike ;->

I just LOVE driving these old rigs. I thought the mileage was OK until I discovered I have a THIRTY gallon tank. Ouch. I still wish it was a stick, though ;->

I do not want to talk about blind spots.
-Mathias

andre1969

I thought the mileage was OK until I discovered I have a THIRTY gallon tank. Ouch.

I had the opposite experience of that with my truck back in college. Well, back then it was grandmom's truck. Granddad had passed away fairly recently, but Grandmom held onto it for a few years before giving it to my Mom. Anyway, before this '85, Granddad had a '76 GMC Crew Cab, and I remember it had dual 20 gallon saddle tanks. So I just figured the '85 had 20 gallon tanks, too. Back then, it usually got about 15 mpg in local driving, and I don't know how we managed this in retrospect, but we were able to break 20 on highway trips.

Well, one day, the gas gauge was reading low, but doing the math in my head (15 mpg x 20 gallon tank) I figured I still had a plenty of fuel left before needing to switch tanks. Then, going home from college, the thing just died about 500 feet from a Shell station. I couldn't get it re-started, and finally gave up and went down to the Shell station to see if they'd tow it home for me.

The tow truck driver checked it out, and said he thought it was just out of gas. So I switched tanks, and it fired right up! That little lesson cost me a $20 service call.

The next time I saw my uncle and told him about what happened, he just looked at me like I lost my mind. "What made you think that truck has 20 gallon tanks?" he asked. They're only 16. D'oh! :surprise:

lilengineerboy

My daily "driver" is a 1995 Cannondale T400 touring bike ;->

My weekend driver is a 1995 Cannondale Super-V 1000 (with the Carbon Fiber swingarm) or '95 R1000.

There is a big following for the VW campers up through the "Realta" conversions to motorhomes. The Sychro campers are kind of rare (and have an interesting and $$ assembly process) and of course have a cult like following. I don't know if craigslist is going to get it done for that guy, but eBay or thesamba might be a better venue.

Other then the acceleration was on par with watching paint dry and they could be a little tricky in strong crosswinds, they are easy to drive, have a pretty good turning circle, and can hold a lot of mountain bikes/gear.

andre1969

I always wondered how something like a VW Westphalia camper would compare to a "real" motorhome in terms of acceleration? Back in 2000, I almost bought a 1974 Travco 220 motorhome. It had an industrial 440 engine in it, but it also had at least 4 tons of bulk to move, if not more. I never did get a chance to drive it, because I took one look at it and came to my senses!

I know motorhomes can be pretty powerful with the right Diesel engine, but I imagine that forcing a 440 engine to pull around 4+ tons is every bit as painful as forcing the VW camper's little engine to move its bulk around?

I've also heard that smaller RV's, like the VW, or many van conversions, are VERY expensive to repair/restore, because all the components inside are miniaturized. I mean, they're miniaturized on a "real" motorhome as well, but tend to be shrunk down even further for the van conversions.

I kinda liked the layout of that Travco I looked at, though. As small as it was, 22 feet, it still had a private bedroom squite in back. The main area where the compromised space was that the passenger seat up front was reversible. Either you could face forward, or flip it and it would become part of the dinette.

steine13

The interesting assembly process involves IIRC shipping the truck Austia and having the 4wd installed by Steyr-Daimler-Puch.

I really like driving the Vanagon, but I'd stay away from the 4wd ones... the whole thing is a great "spare car", just so long as you have a good daily driver...

-Mathias

Mr_Shiftright

There are a few people around here who will install a Jetta turbo diesel in your Vanagon or Synchro and this really makes sense (well, as much sense as a Vanagon made in the first place).

That old Dodge van just needs some good tires a wheel alignment and probably a few fancy tie rod ends and you'd have a whole new van there....

The problem with the VW vans is that you can stuff more into them then they are really capable of hauling...their mouth is bigger than their muscles, and so----KABOOM! for that poor engine.

steine13

This is not really of-topic, but it's a technical question related to my van. Sorry for the long post.

I'm currently violating my rule of "if a beater, then have ANOTHER beater", so the van is my only ride.

I did expect problems with an '85 that had been sitting for a while, and I have not been disappointed... No sooner was my '07 Silverado sold than the following problem cropped up:

When the ignition is on -- even with the engine off -- there is a clicking noise somewhere under the dash and the voltage dips, then comes back up immediately.

Upon popping the hood, there are actually two noises; a "pop" kind of noise, like a tiny explosion from around the alternator, simultaneous with (perhaps a split second later) a "sproingy" kind of noise, like a bimetal strip letting go, or a plucked spring. Thhis noise comes from around the dashboard, between the steering column and the left side of the car, somewhere near the firewall.

The voltmeter dips to "around 8 Volts", and I measure 12.5 down to 10 right at the battery terminals with a fluke meter. All lights dim for a moment when this happens.

This happens every 3-to-8 seconds when the car is cold, and sometimes goes away for a while when everything is warmed up.

The big clue has to be that the engine doesn't have to be running. The battery is handling it so far, so I'm gonna let it go until after my vacation (leaving Tuesday).

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.
-Mathias

Mr_Shiftright

Some kind of funky relay---maybe your voltage regulator is freaking out, would be my guess.

british_rover

One of the other stores in our autogroup is taking in a 1999 M3 next week.

I have a tiny window to buy it if I want to. I haven't even seen it yet but will be able to see it sometime next week. It has 71,000 miles on it and is black. The VIN is

WBSBG9333XEY82298

The only thing I remember about M3s from that era is either sub frame mounts or rear diff mounts flex and brake if abused and the engine can be a hand grenade.

Anything else I am forgeting?

Mr_Shiftright

Well I'd definitely do a cylinder leakdown test. Many M3s are flogged, and historically at least, their engines are not noted to be long-lived. But each engine should be evaluated on its own of course.

urnews

and the engine can be a hand grenade.

And you are interested in this BMW because?

lemko

I heard of some place that'll actually install Porsche engines in those VW vans. Has anybody seen this?

steine13

From what I understand, the engine that's installed in these vans from the factory IS a Porsche engine.

This isn't all that mysterious, seeing as how Porsche and VW were part of the same company at the time; the details escape me, but they certainly worked cheek-by-jowl. The Vanagon engine is related to the 914 engine in some way; I forget the details.

Nebulously yours,
-Mathias

Mr_Shiftright

Yes and no. The Porsche 914 used a VW engine, so what the Vanagon would have is a VW engine from a "porsche" back into a VW! But it's not a Porsche engine. It's a typically cheap VW unit, the one from the VW 411. An anemic little fellow. Not bad in 2.0 liter form in the lightwieght two-seat 914, but grossly underpowered for a van.

Yes you COULD put a Porsche engine in a VW camper or whatever, but your engine would be worth about three times as much as your van, so that's kind of weird. Also you'd have to improve braking and suspension with disc brakes, sway bars, better shocks, tires and wheels, etc or you will definitely kill yourself. I've seen brake conversions done. A friend just did it. Maybe I can find some pix. He's going to put a Porsche 996 and tiptronic into his Camper. But he owns a Porsche shop, so he knows what he's doing. The engine and trans both come out of wrecks, of which there are plenty around.

lilengineerboy

Volkorshe

Volksbaru

There are a couple of companies that make motor mounts and changeover kits that allow basically anything imaginable crammed back there.

Mr_Shiftright

You could buy a decent used Porsche engine, say from the 1980s, for maybe $3,500 to $5,000. If you rebuilt one, you're looking at $12,000 or so. This of course is not the turbo engine.

jrosasmc

I recently ran into an older friend of mine with whom I got to talking- he told me he still has his '90 Cadillac Brougham which has 234k miles on it (this one has the Olds 307 V-8). He says it still runs like a top. Is your Brougham still alive? I bet yours will make 200k easily.

british_rover

Any other thoughts no the M3.

lilengineerboy

Any other thoughts no the M3.

Rear lower control arms...they are a maintenance item but if not taken care of they can lead to those frame issues (the E36 M3 has bracing to prevent that though).

I really haven't hard of issues with the 3.2 M3 motors, and my friends torture them. If you add a supercharger, the rear end gets annoyed.

It is very easy to swap instrument clusters, so if something seems like it has low mileage, I would at the very least run carfax. My guess is being in the biz, you know how to spot that.

Hmm, oh yeah one more thing...remember to enjoy being able to run with the last generation RX7s while being able to transport 4 passengers comfortably and getting better fuel economy.

I'm jealous, although I would be more so if it was a sedan.

british_rover

I should be able to see it tomorrow or Tuesday so I will let you know what it looks like. I still don't know who much I can buy it for as no value has been loaded into the system yet. I am not worried about odo roll back or anything funny like that.

I just wasn't sure what other idiosyncrasies there were on that body M3.

xwesx

Beautiful van, Mathias, though certainly not a subtle interior! I think those Chevy/GMCs were the best-looking vans ever made. It looks quite similar to the '86 GMC my grandparents had for many a year. They sold it in... 2002?... and it had less than 22,000 miles on it. Likewise on the drivetrain and with similar mileage. The mileage never bothered me when I used it though, as all I had at the time were my pair of '69s (Chevy C20 pickup and Econoline van).

grahampaige

There is a mob over here doing GM 253 v8 engine mounts for the combi..... I believe the wheelie bars are an optional extra

qbrozen

well, i don't know where else to post this at this point ... so i guess this is as good a place as any.

i think i need to bounce some problems around here. I actually drove the Alfa to work this morning after finally getting the chance to finish my rear spring install. It did not cure the problem I was hoping it would, which is a nice grinding/clunking sound that seems to come from under me everytime I start off from a dead stop. I believe the new springs, however, have made me notice another problem I never noticed before. Now the car seems to pull a bit to the right each time I take up a new gear. hmmmm... This isn't possibly a differential problem is it?? That is, if these 2 things are at all related.

Other issue is a strange whining/rattling/grinding noise that comes from ... well, i believe the tranny ... whenever there is no load on the drivetrain. So if, for instance, on level ground, I let off the gas a bit. Throwout bearing??

Oh, while I'm at it, anyone happen to know what size allen key fits the differential and tranny check plugs? The largest one I have is not big enough. And, to give a frame of reference, a 3/8" drive ratchet can also fit into this allen hole, but not snug enough to make me want to try turning it.

I'm getting really really tempted to drop this off at a specialty shop and just let them tell me everything that is wrong. I could have them change all the fluids, at the very least. When you only have a few hours every weekend to spare, it is pretty much impossible to do what you need to do on a project car.

and a couple of those hours this weekend were spent on the bimmer. It failed emissions, by the way.

british_rover

Hmhh maybe a tranny mount is loose or broken somewhere? Almost sounds like something in the drivetrain is getting pulled out alignment some where.

texases

Pulling to the right on acceleration - any mis-alignment possibilities in the rear? Or a loose link somewhere?

andre1969

Mathias,

Sorry I didn't respond sooner, but electronics is not my strong point. I know enough about it to know that it can hurt you if you touch it in the wrong place, but that's about it.

If you do find out what the problem is though, let me know, in case my '85 ever does the same thing!

The only electronic/electrical problem I had with the truck was with the distributor and the ECU. You can still get the distributor from the dealer, but it's really expensive, like $700. I had a local repair shop replace mine back in 2004, something like 3 or 4 times! They just kept getting a run of crappy aftermarket/rebuilt units. I remember them telling me that they put one on, and it fried the first time they started the truck up!

british_rover

^^^Great minds think a like.

texases

True, true I don't know much about Alfas - does this have IRS or some deDion kind of a setup?

qbrozen

yeah, a mount problem also crossed my mind. I'm not sure I can even check that safely in my garage, though. Maybe its time to spring for some ramps.

qbrozen

some deDion kind of a setup

Is that an '80s pop singer?

ya know, I wanna says its 4-wheel independent ... but now that I think about it, I'm not even sure. Seems to me its a solid axle housing back there. yes, yes, it is. I put the jack under the differential and it all goes up in the air together.

british_rover

I think the Alfa sedans had a deDion setup not sure about the roadsters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Dion_tube

lemko

Very much alive and very well. It was just at the Carlisle All-GM show two weekends ago. It also has the Olds 307.

texases

You never heard of deDion and the Axle Tramps? :P

fintail

You'll always have something to fix with this...I like the mentioned fault, very British

Rare thing

andre1969

Isn't it somewhat on the illegal side to drive a car with non-functioning windshield wipers? Sometimes I worry about the wipers on my '79 5th Avenue that like to park in the upright position, but I see enough 90's Ford products with this same issue that it kinda blends in.

texases

Never seen that Capri before - here's what it could look like cleaned up:

Mr_Shiftright

It's ...ahem.....interesting looking. Too bad it's such a rat inside. I'd hate to look underneath. Great "freak show" car!

Jaguar XJ-S: Well for $2,000 you can just drive it until it breaks...you know, for about a week or two....umm....I always have to ask: if something is an "easy fix" why didn't you fix it? Here's a safety pin, will that work?

And you could always sell the Chevy engine to somebody with a pickup truck.

fintail

I don't mind the Capri, reminds me of a 2/3 scale '60 Ford Starliner, which was a nice looking car.

But as Shifty mentions, it looks pretty messy, a labor of love if one is to restore it.

texases

Yes, there are even some hints of later Capris in the front end, but how is one to get the many interior parts? Engine and body I can see, but dash parts?

andre1969

I just noticed that, how the "face" of the car, as well as the rear quarter window, has a family resemblance to those 70's Mercury Capris.

It's kind of a cute little oddity.

lemko

I once had a problem like that on my 1989 Cadillac Brougham. I changed the wiper switch ($64) and that solved the problem.

fintail

You'd have to deal with England and that brilliant 2:1 Dollar/Pound ratio we now have

gsemike

I'm thinking that if the miles are real, then this is pretty good for the money

2500 dollar Explorer

Besides the wheel bearings what do I need to watch out for?

qbrozen

yeah, that does seem good. I'm always suspicious of NY cars. They always seem just a bit too cheap with low miles. hmmm...

texases

That price is not too far off, at least it's about what ebay '94s are going for. Explorers are taking a hit these days with gas mileage, and those were pretty rough-riding ones, a friend had one.

Mr_Shiftright

Transmissions, 4WD hubs, defective transfer case motors, head gaskets...other than that, they're fine!

To answer more seriously, stay away from any high mileage Explorer. 99,000 miles is DONE unless it's a throw-away price.

qbrozen

Wow. Someone with a worse outlook than me on exploders!

I give them 120k miles, personally.

So one with 73k still has a good amount of life for $2500, IMHO. Still needs to be inspected closely, though.

andre1969

who took a Mercury Mountaineer of mid-90's vintage on up to well north of 200,000 miles. However, it wasn't a trouble free ride. Still, it lasted longer than what replaced it: a 2000 Infiniti I-thirty-something that she ended up ditching when the service center told her that it needed about $3-4,000 in repairs, around the 90,000 mile mark. She's got a Saturn Aura now.

I have a buddy who has a mid/late 90's Explorer, but I have no idea how many miles he has on it. I'll have to ask him the next time I see him. I have another friend who also had one that had pretty high mileage...well up into the mid 150,000 range. He totaled it trying to drive it in 2wd mode in the snow.

Exploders use a 4.0 V-6, don't they? Is that derived from that infamous 3.8 "Essex", which tended to blow head gaskets, or is it a different design?

qbrozen

I believe there is also a 4.6 V8 model, if I'm not mistaken, and easily the model I would recommend. I know the mountaineers have that as an option.

andre1969

Yeah, the 4.6 is optional. In the earlier years, I think the old 302 V-8 was the step-up engine.

The 4.6 is supposed to be a good engine, but the only personal anecdote I have relating to them is a friend of mine who had a 1995 Grand Marquis GS. It had about 55,000 miles when he bought it summer of 1999, and about 175,000 when he traded it, summer of 2004, for a Crown Vic LX from CarMax. By that time, it was getting tired. The SES light was on, and it was blowing a bit of smoke, and tended to clatter on acceleration. But, it served its purpose.

The '04 Crown Vic had about 9800 miles on it when he bought it, and I think he's around 90,000 now.