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

Mr_Shiftright

walllllll, you really only get one chance in a car to put the fire out, so the conventional wisdom is to get one that is rated UL Rated 2-A:10-B:C . Some may call that overkill, but if it's a rechargeable type, that rating is considered excellent for the home. Any lower rating is considered "supplemental", such as 1-A:10-B:C

I'm not pretending to be an expert. I just researched all this myself because I need one for my house.

xwesx

:sick:

I don't get it. What does it all mean?! I saw one in a local home improvement store that was about $150 and said "4-A 80-B C." *?*

Mr_Shiftright

I thought the "A" number referred to the quantity of the contents; the "B" number is the square footage you might expect to cover before you yourself catch fire, and C just means the stuff inside is non-conductive, which is a good thing.

alwaysbelieve

My father passed in 05' and we still have his 01' Dodge Ram. We do not want to get rid of it and we use it quite often with my brothers, sister, mother and even myself from time to time. I just recommend keeping the vehicle protected from the unexpected repairs. Try going through a reputable company like National Vehicle Protection Services at www.nationalvehicleprotection.com. It just give you some good piece of mind with a truck that old.

explorerx4

after your reply, i called a friend of mine. he is going to lend me one his.

texases

Nah - A is for paper wood, B is for gasoline/oily fires, C is for electrical, with the number being the relative ability for each type. So a 10A would have 5X the capacity of a 2A for paper/wood fires.
More info here

I get mine at Sam's Club.

ghulet

Lemko, my Caprice had manual windows, power locks, cruise, brown ext/tan vinyl interior (not top), F41 suspension, AM/FM 8-track, 305 engine, blower rear defrost, A/C.

Mr_Shiftright

Can the 560SELs get much cheaper?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/1731307301.html

Pretty soon people will be leaving them on the street with a "free" sign on them.

Mr_Shiftright

I wonder what you'd do with THIS?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/1719432772.html

hpmctorque

I like that Armstrong Siddeley a lot more than the 560 SEL. Neat name, too. Can't think of a nicer cruiser for going out on a Saturday night. Just take the side streets and, keep in the right lane of major streets, and stay off the on ramps.

fintail

The W126 is a parts car and probably doesn't have many nice parts left. The Armstrong Siddeley is more visually interesting, but you'll never find parts and it is only worth anything at home,

srs_49

North of Dover, several developments sprung up over time and I always wondered, where do those people work?

Wilmington, Philly, Aberdeen (Proving Ground).

qbrozen

Seen this one a few times now. It was just relisted on ebay. I think I first saw it on craigs. Not sure. Anyway, it keeps calling to me for some reason. Wifey is cared by the miles.

qbrozen

That is certainly a scary history report!

Mr_Shiftright

Well just bid enough on it so that if it completely failed in 3 months you wouldn't be totally bummed out. Basically, in my opinion, any car with 175000 miles on it is basically worthless----so therefore any "value" is calculated on a day by day basis of avoiding disaster. In other words, if a rental car costs you $35 a day, and this car lasts 50 days, and you paid $1500, you're ahead.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah it's scary but if the car is cheap enough---I mean, what can you buy for $3500 these days that isn't scary?

This is a throw-away car. If it runs well for a while, enjoy. If something major happens, you just unscrew your license plate and put on your rubber nose and glasses and hitch a ride home. Don't even look back.

andre1969

This is a throw-away car. If it runs well for a while, enjoy. If something major happens, you just unscrew your license plate and put on your rubber nose and glasses and hitch a ride home. Don't even look back.

Nah, if you're gonna do that, make sure you pull every VIN plate and sticker you can find off of the car. Otherwise, it will come back to haunt you, eventually! :surprise:

Looking at that car, I see what you guys mean about Volvo leather not holding up. Now granted, the Infiniti M30 has chunks missing from it, but it's also 19 years old and 175000 miles. That Volvo though, for only being 8 years old and 104,000 miles, just seems a bit worn out with regards to that leather.

Mr_Shiftright

Some leathers dress well but don't endure; others don't look great when new but wear like iron. Leathers are quality-graded and generally the leather used in a car befits its price point. Most Americans don't take care of their leather interiors---they don't even fully grasp that this is organic material. I don't think the Swedes use barb wire, so their hides might look nicer--but for wear I think the British hides (wherever they get them) are really beautiful. German leather seems to be well-done but very hard and shiny.

qbrozen

As Shifty alluded to, it is really a care thing. Volvo seats are pretty soft, so, yeah, the leather gets punished. BUT, if you take care of them, they will last and look good. After 115k on my '98 S70, the seats looked just like they did when I bought the car with 30k miles (and, yes, they looked good at that time).

For another example, our 118k-mile '87 bimmer vert with black seats looks like hell. While the seats in my 170k-mile '85 300Z are in great shape.

Convertibles, of course, suffer much worse.

xwesx

m0! Haha; I am more scared by the hideously blocky '80s styling (the dash especially) than the miles. It actually looks like a car you could buy and use for a while before it asks you to feed it more green, and let's be realistic... they all ask that eventually!

lemko

I think you're referring to Connolly leather used in British automobiles since time immemorial. There's quite a gulf between quality of the leather used in my Mercury Grand Marquis LS and my Cadillac DTS Perfomance. This stuff in the Mercury might as well be vinyl.

lemko

Hard to believe that instrument panel was in an upscale car back in the early 1990s. The dashboard of a current Chevrolet Aveo looks more luxurious than the one in that M-30. It has all the warmth of the dashboard of a Ryder truck.

andre1969

I can see an odd sort of attraction in that M30. Even though it reminds me of a convertible version of the 1991 Stanza my Mom & stepdad once had, it's just offbeat enough that I like it.

boomchek

I was looking at that dashboard and thought the same thing. What did it have that made the car luxurious, other than a steering wheel with an airbag and leather seats?

The dashboard looks like it was pulled out from a Sentrea of that vintage.

Mr_Shiftright

world's fastest bar of soap? The car is *very* late 80s/early 90s.

xwesx

That's why they get such great fuel economy.... just wet it down and give it a squeeze! :surprise:

bumpy

IIRC the M30 had some sort of electronically adjustable suspension. A Japanese technocrat's idea of luxury, which didn't work out so well over here.

qbrozen

Well, I'm pretty sure they aren't going to let it go for $3500.

The unibody damage isn't even the scary part to me (if it was repaired well enough). It is the 3rd-party warranty history on there. 5 reports in the past 20k miles, the last of which is "transmission serviced." Uh-oh. "Servicing" the fragile 5-speed geartronic? I'm thinking this transmission is toast, the warranty company wouldn't pay, and they've put a bandaid on it just long enough to get it to the next owner.

Mr_Shiftright

It's not worth a penny more than $3500.That's fair market value---more than fair. Even KBB, which is notoriously high as a rule, doesn't even give it that much.

qbrozen

?
you sure you're looking up an '01? Galves is at $4k on the car. So a dealer would have a hard time going below $5500 (at least here in the NE).

Of course, that is NOT considering the bad history. But my guess is it was purchased without knowledge of that history. So they probably paid $3500, if not more, and are into it for over $4k.

IF they knew the history, then, yeah, they maybe paid $2k-$2500, I would think.

Mr_Shiftright

$5500 is crazy money IMO. You could buy a newer and nicer BMW 325 convertible for that money, or a mid 90s Miata in nice shape. A $4000 car would be flawless, which this one certainly is not. It's miled up, scratched up. I think $2500 is about right, and $3500 no real harm done. After that, you're skunked.

qbrozen

I wonder if this isn't another one of those west coast vs east coast pricing issues. An '01 325 vert with 105k miles and premium pack has a low trade-in value of $6500 here in NJ.

lemmer

I can't find an E46 convertible for less than $12K within a 100 miles of me. If I branch out to Atlanta, the only ones I see are suspicious looking examples at third rate lots.

Shifty, if you see any deals on any manual tranny 3-series, Z3 or Boxster in the sub $12K range, let me know.

Mr_Shiftright

You're pulling my leg, right? You want late 80s, early 90s BMW convertibles for under $4000? How many container ships of them can I send you?

Here are two in 2 seconds.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ctd/1734354374.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/1728069915.html

lemmer

I thought we were talking about 2001 models not 1991 models.

The older ones are cheaper, but I can't find any of those around my part of the world, particularly one in decent condition.

On a completely unrelated note, I would not have guessed that the little climate control switchgear panel for my 944 would be over $1,000 from an aftermarket source. Even dodgy looking used ones on eBay seem to go for close to $200. I guess I'll only be driving my 944 after dark in the Birmingham heat.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh I thought we were spinning off my comment that if you were going to spend $4000--$5000 for a '91 Infiniti ragtop you'd be better off buying an equivalent BMW droptop.

What year 944? Can you tell me exactly what you need? Maybe I can hunt something up for you.

lemmer

Oh yeah, I totally agree with that. Sometimes I get lost in the conversations here because anything on Craigslist or eBay is blocked on my work computer. It is as if they expect me to work or something.

I'll see if I can find a part number or something for my 944 part.

lemmer

I haven't seen one of these FWD Loti up for sale in a while. It is only $10K and you won't see yourself coming and going like in a Miata.

Mr_Shiftright

Price is market correct. FWD sports cars? No thank you.

Mr_Shiftright

Price is market correct. FWD sports cars? No thank you. I barely acquiesced on my MINI for that reason, but since it's a "sports coupe" I relented. Torque steer is a pain in the butt and in the 1990s, they hadn't totally dealt with it.

qbrozen

wait a sec. We definitely got crossed up. Thought we were comparing the C70 to the theoretical bimmer.

The Infiniti is worth NOWHERE near $4k. I'd be hard pressed to even break $1500 on that one.

edit: we WERE talking bout the volvo, in fact. I commented on the scary history. You said "what else you gonna get for $3500." I said no way they'd let it go for $3500 .... and that's how we got into the "you can buy a bimmer for $4k" discussion.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah okay...the joys of internet communication---LOL!

I didn't have the "scary history" in front of me, so I didn't know which car---probably both are a bit scary.

To be fair, the dealer did a full disclosure and has discounted the car for the lousy rap sheet---so I'm thinking that actual private party retail is about $8,000, and knock off 30% for the accident report, so maybe $5500 tops.

omarman

Anyone have a link to a Mopar tag decoder which works with a 1978 Dodge Monaco? Maybe I'm not looking at the correct line but reading L to R from the bottom row, all I can get is: E86 (440-4 hp) and D36 (727-b torqueflite 72 up). The next one looks to me like: WL41

I have no idea. Anyone else? Here's the link to the CL ad for a 1978 DODGE MONACO 440HP A38 POLICE PURSUIT and the seller is asking $9500. I like it but not that much! Still it's an interesting old relic which somebody would want if it checks out okay.

andre1969

I like that old beast too, but not to the tune of $9500. Those '78 440 Monacos and Furys were the last really powerful copcars, with something like 245 hp, a 0-60 time of 9.2 seconds according to the Michigan State Police, and a top speed of around 132 mph or so. That same year, I think the Pontiac Catalina 400 managed to do 0-60 in around 9.9 seconds, and everything else the MSP tested that year was somewhat doggy in comparison.

It went downhill for 1979, with the fastest police car the MSP tested being either a St. Regis or Newport with a 360-4bbl, and 0-60 of around 10.1 seconds and top speed of around 125 or so. And from there it got worse. I don't think anything came out capable of beating the '78 Fury/Monaco until the 1994 5.7 LT-1 Caprices. Unless you count the more specialized models like the Mustang and Camaro interceptors.

Oh, as for "WL41", that part probably breaks down into something like
W = Dodge Coronet
L = Low Line trim level (stripper model...other codes here could be H for "High", or P for "Premium")
41 = 4-door sedan (43 would be 4-door hardtop and 42 was 4-door pillared hardtop, which is what the R-body used)

Mr_Shiftright

See if this works:

http://www.stockmopar.com/mopar-fender-tag-decoder.php

omarman

Oh, as for "WL41", that part probably breaks down into something like
W = Dodge Coronet
L = Low Line trim level
41 = 4-door sedan

That must be it. For 1978 the W is probably Dodge Monaco but everything else fits: L = Low price class, 41 = 4 door sedan.

The next character, U = 440 4bbl 8-cylinder RB high performance engine, 8 = 1978, and that last character...if it's an A then it's the Lynch Road assembly plant. (The seller masked the sequential numbers at the end but that's okay.)

I must not have been plugging in the expected numbers into the tag decoder page because it wouldn't work for me, but I found this other Mopar site with some handy VIN decoding data.

lemmer

I am about to give up on ever finding a decent BMW 3 series convertible. Maybe, I'll go over to the dark side and get a Sebring. How horrible would that be as an open topped cruiser?

Mr_Shiftright

It would be *very* horrible indeed. You might say to us "I could do worse" but no, you can't. :lemon:

lemmer

Yeah, I've already given up on the idea.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm surprised you can't find a decent 3 series 'vert. Tell us again how much you want to spend?