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

Mr_Shiftright

Well let's see a 1971 Caddy engine is rated at about 375 HP and a 40 Caddy limo weighs 5,290 pounds (oof!) so that gives you a 1:14 power to weight....not too bad, not too bad....just keep the wheels straight at all times :P

fintail

Is that car rusty or anything? You live in a rust area, don't you?

That would be my main reservation...MB enthusiasts usually have a picky eye and the really good older cars tend be passed from one enthusiast to another.

Would a 71 Caddy weigh more than 5100 lbs? I like some of the really deluxe Packards too, like those Brunn models.

andre1969

it looks like most Caddies were running around 4600-4800 lb, although the Fleetwood was just under 5000 lb and the Fleetwood 75 was around 5300 lb. They porked up fast after that though. By 1973 the lightest Caddy was the Calais hardtop coupe, which started at 4900 lb. By '75 it was up to 5003 lb.

It's amazing that the same basic body could pork up by roughly 400 lb over the course of 4 years? Did those 5 mph bumpers really add THAT much weight? I know there was more emissions crap too but c'mon, how much weight does a catalytic convertor, that vapor recovery cannister, and a bunch of vacuum hoses really add? Maybe more sound insulation, too?

Mr_Shiftright

It's just bad engineering.

fintail

I assume "rear seal" is a rear main seal...these cars aren't so common anymore

british_rover

There might be a seperate rear seal for the oil pan but it is impossible to tell till you actually take the oil pan off or pull the engine/tranny.

andre1969

would most likely have that lightweight 3-speed "Slim-Jim" Roto-Hydramatic, or whatever they call it. Instead of being a 4-speed like the old Hydramatic, this one was 3 speeds with a torque convertor. Supposedly it was very troublesome.

I don't know if you could swap in an older Hydramatic, because they were physically a larger unit. Back then, even though an Olds, Buick, Pontiac, Chevy, or Caddy might have used the same basic body, they'd still alter the floorpan, dependent on which transmission the cars used. The old Hydramatic was a longer tranny, and I believe had the pump at the rear, so the body needed a different floorpan.

Now the newer THM350 and 400 might swap in, and they were plenty durable. I've heard that the Slim Jim is a tranny to be avoided, though.

lemko

I've seen no external rust or signs of putty on the body. Underneath, I don't know. I haven't come close enough that the guy might be watching from his house and pounce on me thinking he had a buyer.

As for the weight of a 1971 Cadillac, I had a 1975 Cadillac Sedan DeVille and it weighed 5,028 lbs. A Fleetwood may weigh more than 5,100.

fintail

I'd be scared of that old MB...the pessimist in me tells me there is something wrong if it has been for sale for so long.

Did those Caddys have a frame made of cast iron or something?

I kind of like that 63 Olds...the fullsize GM coupes of that time (Impalas etc too) were pretty elegant in their own way. GM was able to make big not look bloated.

bumpy

"Bad Rear Seal" is probably the main bearing seal on the crankshaft, which means you get to pull and rebuild the engine. While you're at it, toss the Slim Jim and throw in a big-block Powerglide. Otherwise, it's a nice, cleanly-styled car; definitely a keeper.

stickguy

hey Andre, if it made it 43 years, it can't be that bad!

fintail

If your eyesight is REALLY bad

lemko

What is that? Is it a contemporary Mustang disguised as a Ferrari?

british_rover

I think it is a Fiero or maybe a C4 vette.

stickguy

looks like a Fiero. Check out the interior. At least the engine is in the right place.

lemko

...it's a Fiero. I recognize the turn signal stalk. Not the worst replicar I've seen. For a really strange Fiero conversion, check out the Zimmer Quicksilver

http://www.bobsclassics.com/sold/86zq.htm

andre1969

is telling me HELL NO on this 1977 LeMans sedan, but the price and the nice big 400 motor make it sound SOOOO tempting! My biggest concern would be the tree branch hit to the roof. I guess if it bent the frame around the windshield, it would be a nightmare to fix.

I wonder if this sucker might have been a police car? It's kind of an odd color, and does have the big engine and little dog-dish hubcaps, but then it also has cloth seats. Still, I guess there's no law saying a police car can't have cloth seats! Would air conditioning have been a rarity on a copcar back in the 70's, though?

Mr_Shiftright

I really like the dinky rotors and brake calipers. On a real Ferrari they are the size of a manhole cover.

fintail

I could see andre (or lemko) in this

The damage on that Lemans seems too much. I dunno about the cop car thing, even though I have seen cop cars with replaced seats. The AC does seem out of place.

bumpy

A "cubit" engine? I suppose the capacity of the gas tank is measured in spans.

fintail

Maybe not the fastest engine but the car/truck itself looks nice

Nice color

Well, it's big

fintail

This seems sad

british_rover

What was it?

It got deleted.

fintail

It was a decent looking but soon for the crusher (so says the owner) 63 Galaxie sedan

This has been on here before, now a lower price. I suppose you could do worse

fintail

I am sure the engine is shot somehow, and it's a grey market car (500SE maybe), but it shows an 80s fad seldom seen - the SEC nose on the 126 sedan

Mr_Shiftright

worth a look if that's all that's wrong with it. Probably an 8 hour job + parts, so about the exact selling price or a bit more...maybe you'd be in $2,500 total. Of course, the world wants to know---did the car overheat badly?

fintail

I was thinking there might be head damage. But as a Euro car it could have some cool accessories...and that front clip would interest one of the 20 or so 126 enthusiasts who live on this continent. It tempts me, but its a fair distance from me and I really can't keep another car.

fintail

Corvair with big stupid wheels...too cool

From Texas to England

stickguy

that must be a scary site coming down some of these narrow country lanes in England. That, and the sheer cost of filling the tank.

fintail

Is that Texan really rare? I swear I've heard of it but never seen one.

Painfully plain but I guess they can be durable

This is pretty cool

andre1969

of that Texan Dodge. I'm pretty sure it's just a trim package for the Coronet, as Royals and Custom Royals ran 350/361 Wedges that year, and I'm sure only the Coronet was stuck with that old 325 poly.

Cool car though...I wouldn't mind having it, if the price was cheap enough and I had the space for it.

british_rover

I have always hated the G-Waggons but I must say that two door one looks cool and even cooler with the green paint.

fintail

Yeah I kind of like the earlier ones too. I once saw a ca.1986 model up close, it was a grey market G300 with a 5 speed, cloth interior, etc. It was pretty cool.

british_rover

Here is a unique one.

fintail

Too bad for the seller the market for small cars that old is very limited anymore.

Here's a little freakshow...I can't imagine that mileage not being a typo

I dunno if this is a good deal or not...car looks decent

lemko

Funny thing is Chevrolet had two vans that year. Nineteen sixty-five was the last year for the rear-engined Corvan and Greenbrier. The one picture is comparable to the Ford Econoline and uses the Chevy II chassis and mechanical as the Econoline was based on the Falcon.

My Uncle Chuckie had a gray 1967 Ford Econoline van in college. It was an old PP&L truck (Pennsylvania Power and Light based in Allentown, PA). I thought it was really neat with the engine compartment between the front seats. You could sit a third person on the enigine cover - the best place for winter as that all-metal interior was pretty cold. I guess you could say the Econoline came with the first heated seat!

fintail

I wouldn't want to crash in one of those vans

Ooh don't tempt me

stickguy

Nice color. Grab that one, get it sorted out, and keep the best one. I this one a better model than yours since it is a later car?

Looks plenty sound for 1K, so hard to lose too much if it doesn't cost a fortune to get it running right again.

fintail

I think mine is a better car...mine is an injected (220SE) model and has no major needs. Those carbs are really painful to deal with, they always go out of sync. I'd be interested to know the serial # of that dark blue car - it has to be very late to be titled with that year.

I might go look at it...if anything, I might know someone else who would want it. I really don't want to have to store 2 cars, but it looks real cheap if it isn't rusty.

xwesx

Freakshow?!? No no..... these old mid-sixties Chevy/Ford vans were sharp units, though I agree that they are probably among the worst vehicles in which to be involved in an accident. I'd take one of these over, say, a Metro or Justy, though!

Ultimately I prefer the '69-'74 Econoline over these, though I wouldn't mind having that '65 Chevy! 1974 was the last year Ford made a decent looking van. Chevys looked nice up to... ah heck, now I am unsure when they upgraded... was it '89 at the same time as their pickup? I think it was later. Anyway, I digress.....

andre1969

any of those flat-faced vans...just too scary for my tastes! I thought that Dodge/Plymouth made a good looking van in the 70's, and the 80's versions looked good until they ended up going with those composite headlights.

The Chevy vans were good looking too in the 70's and 80's. It was when they tried to put that pickup truck-looking front end on them, with the quad headlights side-by side instead of stacked, that I thought they started looking bad. It looked bad just by itself, but being grafted onto something that was designed in the 70's just made it worse. I also never really cared for the newer Chevy vans, the ones that were redesigned around 1995, to finally be able to accommodate a big-block engine.

lemko

...you forgot about the '60s Dodge vans with the big round headlight bezels. Weren't they based on the compact Dart? My Uncle Chuckie bought a new 1977 Dodge van when he graduated from college. That van was still runnning 20 years later. Obviously the Ziebart rust treatment kept it from rotting away. Funny. Whatever happened to Ziebart and Rusty Jones, etc.?

xwesx

The only thing scary about them are the drivers... you have to have a healthy respect for what you are driving and a fair bit of competency behind the wheel to boot!

I also liked the Dodge van of that era. None of the "newer" vans are visually worth a hoot any more, and Ford hasn't done it right since '75, though their '75 to whenever-they-redesigned-it was by far the worst! I'd rank GM's current version a close second.

Full-size vans are just such versitile vehicles, it is difficult for me not to like them. The only disadvantage they have is the fully covered top (also their greatest advantage... figures....) If a manufacturer could come up with a well-designed and practical fold-a-top van, it would be the perfect work vehicle - capable of towing bumper or 5th, hauling covered or uncovered... it would be quite the vehicle.... and quite the ungainly contraption!!!!

Mr_Shiftright

First thing you need to do is take a compression test. Those engines will burn valves regularly if they aren't adjusted periodically. Also the cylinder head surface itself corrodes from age and neglect (not flushing coolant) and the head gasket won't seal any longer.

fintail

That reminds me, I need to put a coolant flush on the fintail's to-do list this year, along with maybe a valve adjustment. She's gonna have some dough sunk into her this year, as she's going to get a full tune-up and some other minor work done too.

I think I can have the willpower to even resist looking at the car in that ad. I just can't care for it right now, I don't want to park an old car outside.

I suppose you could do worse for an old cruiser

ghulet

Looks pretty nice for $2000, fin, and it's even a four-door hardtop.

As virtually ALL cars of this next make fall into the 'project car' category, this one's perfect (sorry, no picture). I love how the ad touts its 55k miles as an act of restraint rather than the more likely reason (it's as long as one could keep it on the road):

http://chicago.craigslist.org/car/124546640.html

Anyone care to guess how long it will take an $8k Fiat convertible ('perfect summer car!') to sell in Chicago in the middle of winter?

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, you have to know the NUANCES of Fiats to understand the price tag.

First Nuance: the '82s are desireable because they are fuel-injected (more power, run way better, better fuel mileage, more reliable).

Second Nuance: Low miles are a very very good thing on a Fiat, as one Fiat mile equals three ordinary car miles.

ghulet

Yeah, I forgot about the FI thing with Fiats (unfortunately, my parents had an '80 Fiat Brava, which I think was carbureated). Still, could it possibly be worth $8000, and in mid-winter Chicago? I'm guessing not.

How's about this:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/car/124724764.html

Limos strike me as one of those things every collector, at one time or another, THINKS they want, though they end up being nightmares (finding those model-specific body and interior parts, paying for gas, securing sufficient storage space, electrical maladies, etc.). The price seems reasonable enough, though, especially considering the body condition.

fintail

I like some limos, but usually a bit older than that one

Here's another nice enough looking old Mopar cruiser

jaserb

$8k will buy just about the nicest S2 or S3 (71-90) Alfa Spider around. I'll take the Alfa, thanks.

-Jason