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

xwesx

I agree about the Subaru, though I'm not sure a '99 qualifies as "classic." :P

It seems in overall decent condition on the exterior, too. I can see the exhaust system is not original. The lack of engine compartment photos has me wondering why...

$2,200 and a manual; I'd go for that.

Mr_Shiftright

"rare" Camry 2005: Read my Lip Kit

99 Subie -- price is okay but a high mileage 2.5L engine is a scary thing (chronic head gasket issues). No head gasket check, no buy!

qbrozen

I started posting this one day, got interrupted, and failed to finish.

Anyhoo... guy buying the Z backed out. Says he couldn't come up with the money. So that's back up for sale.

As for the FIL's Caddy, I had one guys leave a deposit, then call the next day to say he lost his storage space and couldn't follow through. What's with these people?

gsemike

I think that usually they're half the way there on the cash and figure that they'll be able to scrape up the rest and then get home and then think "Oh s___, I better not"

gsemike

Needs $1,000 work He forgot to mention that the quarter is completely out of whack

lemmer

I looked at and drove this l97 Boxster this morning. The top is shot with including broken rods and arms and who knows what else. The paint is not terrible, probably a little below average. The driver door skin was replaced due to a deer incident. The driver quarter panel has some pretty rough welds in the trunk. No idea what happened there. The interior was average with no major damage. The owner has absolutely no records, none from the previous owner, none in his seven years of ownership. Mechanically the car seems great, but I wouldn't bet against hidden surprises. The owner got a little out of control with his sander trying to fix one of the wheels and one of the cloudy headlights.

stickguy

well, from what you described, i would run and hide. If nothing else, a full PPI and a major price reduction would be required to roll the dice on this puppy.

Mr_Shiftright

Good grief, no. This sounds like a parts car. You can buy clean 97s for $7500 cash in hand right now. I saw a pristine '99 just sell for $9500.

e.g.: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/1916357628.html

these early Non-S Boxsters are not "high performance sports cars" by any stretch. The seller is hyperventilating.

lemmer

I agree with you and stickguy. I wanted to literally run away from it so I could claim I saw a car so bad that I could do that. It really is worth more as a parts car. It really kind of pushes me towards something simpler. Actually I already have a 944 and a Miata so I have it all covered.

qbrozen

Well... it takes all kinds...

I relisted the Cadillac "nationally" on FeeBay. Got a ton of activity in the first day. Then someone goes and clicks the "Buy it Now" button for $5500. Turns out he has zero feedback and is in the Netherlands. "Great. Deadbeat," I think. But I do my due diligence and send an email, then I go ahead and relist the car because I had other offers, etc.

Guy emails me back a few hours later. He is ever so excited, etc, etc. Then he emails again asking why I relisted it. So I explain my apprehension. After some back and forth, he agrees to give me a $200 deposit right away. Shockingly, I had $200 in my paypal this morning. The transporter has made contact and everything is moving right along. I am supposed to have the balance in paypal on Wednesday, after which I will fedex the title and bill of sale to the shipping company and they will schedule a pickup time.

After all the ebay and paypal fees, my FIL will have a bit over $5k for the car, so he's happy.

fintail

I believe it. The Dutch absolutely LOVE big American land yachts, and there are many dealers that specialize in old American iron in that little country. That thing would easily bring double the money there (I've seen 12K Euro asking prices on Chrysler Cordobas from Dutch dealers), so the buyer is getting a deal, and your FIL gets the thing out of the garage. Nicely done.

Mr_Shiftright

That *was* good luck---the European buyers have all but dried up, except for the billionaires. What with shipping and him paying VAT etc, he'll have another $3000 in it before he's done.

jlflemmons

Having never done this, I will ask what may be a stupid question...

Does PayPal verify the funds? Like, once they are in your account, they are real, non-removable dollars?

qbrozen

As far as I'm aware, paypal only accepts direct deposit from bank accounts or credit cards. So, yes, there should be no backing out.

This is why I wound up insisting on paypal. He wanted to pay with a certified check at first. I explained it would take weeks to clear. I'm losing out bigtime on fees to paypal, but I think its worth it in the end.

au1994

Ah Shifty, ever the optimist. Even if he sinks another 3k in getting over. If he sells it for 10k, thats not a bad investment.

Fintail is correct, there is a market in Europe for this kind of iron. They also tend to be much more forgiving of its condition as well. At least the guys I have talked to over there.

tjc78

I'm losing out bigtime on fees to paypal, but I think its worth it in the end.

I would have done the same thing. Although, I am more of a Ford/Lincoln guy I really liked that Caddy at a little over 5K it was a good deal.

qbrozen

They provided some humor this morning.

Also crossing the auction block in St. Charles is a 1968 Chevrolet C10 Pickup owned by Ray Walker of the music group Jordanaires. Walker, who purchased the truck from his cousin on April 1, 1974, recalls driving to and from the group's recording sessions and even giving rides to singer-songwriters Don Gibson and Chuck Howard.

Huh. A whole paragraph and 4 name drops on this truck and I'm left thinking, "Who??"

Their newsletter also linked to a few "Ebay finds of the week."

Lessee... $111k, reserve not met, and fewer pics than I post of my $3k cars.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. This is like a 60-year-old former beauty queen who still wears her crown to the grocery store to spend her foodstamps.

andre1969

I think the Jordanaires used to sing backup for Elvis Presley back in the early days. They must be like three days older than God, if any of them are still alive.

texases

The Aston ad provides a new definition for 'nearly rustfree'...

fintail

Aston is nothing 150K or so won't fix.

fintail

I find it weird to see the following some Europeans have for land yachts. It is fairly significant in the UK and Germany, but what I have seen, in Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, there are some really rabid followers. While here, many would kill for the normal cars there. There are still private importers of new American cars in Europe too. Grass is always greener I guess.

lemko

Anybody who can restore this car is a god!

Whatever Became of Miss Belvedere?

Maybe andre1969 can tackle this one!

qbrozen

no such thing as restoring that car, no matter what anyone says. You'd have to replace pretty much everything .... so with no original parts of the original car, what have you got?

jlflemmons

Ray Walker and the Jordonaires sang back up to Elvis Presley. In later years, Walker was a traveling song leader for Church of Christ revivals and special events. Heard him about 40 years ago at a small church in Waco, Texas.

More than you ever wanted to know, I am sure... :shades:

Mr_Shiftright

What I meant was there is no profit on OUR end right now for selling cars to Europe. They are shrewd buyers and have already calculated all the taxes, shipping and currency differences, so they aren't paying fat prices for our iron anymore. The Netherlands buyer might see a profit on his end, I don't really know how the numbers all come out in the end.

The US--Europe car exchange basically follows arbitrage trends. Right now it's not in our favor.

I can always tell because when the calls dry up from Europe to do inspections of cars for sale here, I know things are soft. Also local classic car dealers are not selling too much to Europe right now---only very high end stuff.

lemmer

The Boxster seller that I mentioned a couple of days ago claimed he wasn't entertaining "lowball" offers because old Boxsters sell for $50K in Columbia. I supsect he is off a tad.

andre1969

Nah, after my Catalina and DeSoto, I'm learning my lesson. Buy the damn things already done, if you can!

michaellno

Nah, after my Catalina and DeSoto, I'm learning my lesson. Buy the damn things already done, if you can!

Andre, how is the DeSoto coming along? Any idea of when it might be finished and returned to you?

andre1969

Andre, how is the DeSoto coming along? Any idea of when it might be finished and returned to you?

Well, the last time I talked to the mechanic, back in July, he guessed by the end of summer. But, the last time I saw the car, the engine was all pulled apart, radiator was out of it, all the suspension and exhaust parts were off of the car, seats pulled out, etc.

I'm planning on getting back over there later in the week, to see if much progress has been made.

qbrozen

Caddy was just picked up by the transport company.
Feels good to get rid of another car .... too bad it wasn't even mine. Z is still here and getting very very lonely.

stickguy

spent the day in your neck of the woods. took my daughter to the jackson outlets for back to school shopping. What a zoo.

while sitting on a bench waiting for her and my wife (again) I thought about calling you up and having you bring over some beers. Not having your number was a minor drawback to that.

fintail

Have the fintail out today - no signs of its previous running hot problem of a few weeks ago. Started right up and runs like normal at a normal temperature... although I am not running at 70 in 95 degree heat.. I did take the radiator cap off when it was cold and idling, and noticed that the coolant was completely still. Is this normal? I'm suspecting some kind of radiator obstruction issue.

ab348

If engine is still cold, t-stat will not be open and so no circulation to radiator will occur. Sounds normal.

Apologies for my ignorance, but what is "the fintail"?

fintail

A fintail is a 1960s Mercedes sedan, with modest tailfins.

The car once had a cool old fashioned radiator cap with a button you could press to vent pressure, allowing you to remove it while the engine was hot. But it finally wore out years ago, and now has a normal cap.

martian

I have a friend who has one..its a bright metallic blue, leather interior, and in showroom condition (76,000) miles. The rareity of the car is based on the fact that it is supercharged, and FORD only made about 2600 of them in 1994.
The problem is this: because of the supercharger, the car has a non-standard radiator-and it leaks. The mechanic cannot get a replacement radiator, and doesn't know if the existing one can be recored.
So my friend is thinking of junking the car-does it have any (or future potential) to be worth anything? I'd hate to see the car go off to the junkyard-will it have any potential to be worth anything? :confuse:

steine13

Slap any radiator of ~ the same capacity in there and see if it works. If the car isn't constantly driven all-out, I don't see it making a big difference. And it doesn't sound like there's much in the way of other options.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying the issue, but a lot of people get hung up on the very little picture... water in, air cools it, water out... even if it's not perfect, it should work. One can always add temp gauges and monitor the water temperature in several places, but maybe it's not necessary to overthink this one.

Start with having it recored, of course.

Often wrong, never in doubt,
-Mathias

Mr_Shiftright

Collector interest? Not a chance. It's a $3500 car all day long (if it's nice).

The reason Ford made so few is because so few people wanted one. This is a classic example of where "rare" does not mean "more valuable".

Nothing *wrong* with such a car---it's just a nice old used car.

I see no reason why you can't fit a radiator to this car. Any good radiator shop should be able to fix your friend up. No sense junking a perfectly good car because of a parts obstacle.

tjc78

The problem is this: because of the supercharger, the car has a non-standard radiator-and it leaks. The mechanic cannot get a replacement radiator, and doesn't know if the existing one can be recored.

Carparts.com shows the radiator is available and instock to ship within 1-3 days. $220.27. 94 wasn't the only year for the S/C 3.8 IIRC.

See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

BTW I like those Thunderbirds. My mother had a 96 it was a nice car, the only problem was her's had the base 3.8 Engine. It was kinda slow, but otherwise a pleasure to drive.

lemko

Was it a Lev-R-Vent cap?

Mr_Shiftright

That's right---they made the SC T-Bird for 6 years, 1989-1995. So it's quite normal, as the sales of a certain model declines year by year, that the latter years would have the smallest production numbers.

One could argue that the last year of a certain model of car makes it the most valuable, but that is often contradicted in reality---moreover, sometimes the value of the model is so low that the year makes no real difference.

fintail

Nope...I do remember those, I think one of my dad's old Fords had one. This cap had a round black button in the middle...you could press it and it would relieve the pressure, so you could remove the cap on a warm engine. Eventually the plunger part cracked. The MB specialist who would do work on the car claimed to have not seen another like it. I don't think it was OEM...I have an OEM type on the car now and it is standard style.

explorerx4

You beat me to it about the supercharged Tbirds back in the early/mid 90's.
Even found the part. Nice!

qbrozen

funny. seems quite a few people i know were there on Saturday. Ah well. Hit me up next time, I'll see what I can do.

xwesx

So if you're interested in a follow-up on the truck project I mentioned a while back, I posted an update in the Subaru Meet the Members II thread.

Yeah, I know, it's an odd place to put it, but we chat about all sorts of stuff over there and there's no need to duplicate it. Feel free to chastise me about the project; I certainly deserve it! :P

stickguy

hey, do you still call it hillbilly in Alaska?

j/k. Looks like beautiful country. and I guess you can't possibly be annoying the neighbors!

and you did learn the important lesson about combining a few into 1. make sure they are actually the same to start!

one dream of mine when I finally move is to get a 2nd (free standing) garage, and splurge on one of those home lifts. And an air compressor. not that I have the faintest clue what to do with them, but it would be fun to have something to play with!

if you ever saw "two guys garage", that is what I want.

tjc78

Looks like a fun project! Keep us posted on the progress.

xwesx

hey, do you still call it hillbilly in Alaska?

Haha; no, I think it is just phrases as "Alaskan."

Unfortunately, I do have neighbors that live close by. In the photo that shows the rear-end of the truck with my house in the background, there is a house on either side, just outside of the frame. It's lame, but that's what I get for not buying three lots when I first purchased mine. My wife told me to buy them, but I wanted to get started on building right away. Ah, the lessons we learn the hard way....

and you did learn the important lesson about combining a few into 1. make sure they are actually the same to start!

Ugh; yeah. I knew there would be minor differences. What I did not know is that about the only thing the same on them is the sheet metal! It is okay though; I'm making it work, kicking and screaming the whole way!

Two garages? Absolutely! Our house has one (we live in it right now, though), and I'm planning to put in an underground shop eventually, but that's about a decade down the road.

xwesx

I felt pretty good after last night's two hours on it. We are just about at Equinox right now, so with only twelve hours of daylight, it is getting very dark by 9pm. I can usually get out there by about 6:30, so I have until 8:30 to work before it is time to wrap up.

Last night I was able to reinstall the oil pump, fuel pump, oil pan, dipstick, and exhaust manifolds, plus torque them all down. I could install the engine into the truck at this point, but I am going to swap the intake manifolds (the one from my truck is a 4-barrel) and distributors (mine is EI) before I drop it in. I can probably get that done tonight if I can successfully rig a stable crib on which to set the engine so I can remove the puller chain from the top.

qbrozen

Decided to give one last ditch effort before putting the car back in the garage for the winter. I lowered the prices on my ads and, sure enough, got an excited email about 4 hours later. Called the young lady who promptly dragged her folks over here to check it out. They all loved it and left a deposit. Supposed to come back tomorrow with the balance.

I pretty much went from an "asking $3300" to a firm $2800 and respurred the action it seems. Guess folks don't want to negotiate as much as I thought. So if the sale goes through, with the original $100 deposit I took from the guy who backed out, I will have gotten $2900 for it, which I'm pretty pleased with, although only $100 more than my original "rock bottom price."

Mr_Shiftright

That's the way to do it. You set a price, lower your hook into the water, and see who nibbles on the worm.

No bites? Bigger worm or change the bait.

Eventually, the buyer, who is really in charge of setting the market, sets the hook.

I like to describe the situation as a hollow pyramid if you can picture that.

At the very tippy-top of the pyramid, is the highest possible selling price (without getting silly about it). As we can see there are very very few buyers who can fit into that small space at the tip of the pyramid.

As we lower the price, and descend further into the pyramid, there's more room for more buyers.

Obviously, nobody could squeeze into your $3300 "tip"---or at least, the few buyers willing to pay that were either not in your area or unable to see your ad.