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

isellhondas

This one has been on Craigslist off and on for over a year.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/4443046724.html

Gee, I wonder why it hasn't been snapped up?

stever

Judging by the dashboard, he's just posting to collect trolls.

explorerx4

because it's missing the head rests?

uplanderguy

Being from a Chevy family, I admit to being biased towards the V8 Monza 2+2. That said, the Mustang II had a ritzier instrument panel IMHO.

stickguy

I almsot bought a Monza V*8 hatch in the late 70s. Our mechanic looked at it. Nice shape (though I think it already had some rust forming in the bottom of one door). But he told me not to bring it to him if it ever needed plugs changed. Bright silver. Looked like the future (buck rogers stuff) in 1979 compared to what else was out there.

of course it was a 4 speed. should have bought the damn thing anyway.

isellhondas

@stickguy said:
I almsot bought a Monza V*8 hatch in the late 70s. Our mechanic looked at it. Nice shape (though I think it already had some rust forming in the bottom of one door). But he told me not to bring it to him if it ever needed plugs changed. Bright silver. Looked like the future (buck rogers stuff) in 1979 compared to what else was out there.

of course it was a 4 speed. should have bought the damn thing anyway.

Oh man, were those spark plugs a B***H to replace!

You had to remove a motor mount and jack the engine up.

Just NASTY!

Mr_Shiftright

That Cadillac is just so....wrong.....I have seen this type of conversion done professionally, and it doesn't look like this, that's for sure.

andre1969

My '85 Silverado has been given a new lease on life. I had overheated it last October, and got it to the mechanic soon after to make sure there was no permanent damage. They changed the oil, fuel filter, messed with the carb, and did some other things that I forget now, but got it running better. I know they mentioned something about a camshaft, but I'm sure they didn't tear into the engine. Anyway, it wasn't too bad, until the weather got really cold, then it got almost impossible to start, and eventually it killed the battery.

Well, I got it started, reluctantly, got it to the shop, and they messed around with the choke, gave it a general checkover, and now it's back to about where it was. 1-2 pumps of the gas pedal and it starts right up. Fast idle works, etc. Also ended up checking out the battery...turns out the negative battery cable was loose. Bolt was stripped, so it was hard to get it nice and tight. So I replaced the bolt, and now that's solved. Hopefully.

Now, can someone explain this? When the battery wouldn't start the truck, I would have to take off both cables and re-attach to get it to work, rather than just tightening the negative cable. And then it would fire right up. Why is that?

Mr_Shiftright

You probably got rid of some of the crud that formed in the gaps of the loose battery connection.

texases

One other possibility - the inside of one of the cables is corroded, and by moving it around you let the wires reconnect.

gsemike

NY Craigs

http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/cto/4459003667.html Looks real nice for a Queens car. But notice how weird the passenger seat looks compared to the driver's seat. '

texases

Boy, that's high $$ for an almost 40-year-old antique! I'd much rather have a 560SL.

bhill2

@texases said:
Boy, that's high $$ for an almost 40-year-old antique! I'd much rather have a 560SL.

Yes, that price certainly gives credibility to his statement "not really lookin to selling"

fintail

76 isn't a good year for those, IIRC - emissions issues. Looks like the driver's seat was redone, but not the passenger - seat stuffing sometimes shrinks over time on that era MB.

Like texases said, 560SL would be a better choice if you want a R107 - and 15K will get you a very nice one. I'd take a late car or an earlier 350SL.

Mr_Shiftright

Dream on, seller. That's an $7500 car all day long....IF...it's real nice. I had a very nice one to sell last year, from an estate, and I struggled to get $6500. It was 67.000 miles and perfect body and paint--only the AC didn't work. AND I'm in California!

The Fin is quite right--the 560SL is a 10X better car.

PS: Leather looks dyed, and seats are collapsed inside.

xwesx

@gsemike said:
But notice how weird the passenger seat looks compared to the driver's seat.

Whew.... no check engine lights! What a relief. That's one of my primary concerns when I look to buy a car from the 1970s.

Mr_Shiftright

These cars also have a timing chain defect, so if he doesn't have a receipt for the double-chain modification, there's a big expense staring you in the face. And of course, the extremely expensive catalytics, which are built into the exhaust manifolds, causing some ornery vapor lock issues.

fintail

Isn't the 3.8 the one with timing chain issues?

The cats are what I am thinking of, yeah. Although MB weathered the malaise era better than most, it still had some issues.

texases

Always fun looking at 'completed listings' on Ebay - 450SLs get bid to $5k - $10k, with plenty of nobids and 'didn't meet reserve' red listings. The 560SLs mostly go for $10k-$15k, plenty of no sales for those with BIN prices of $20k+.

Mr_Shiftright

The 450SL is really a pretty dull car to drive---the German 80s Buick (and not a Grand National, either!).

As one wag put it when they first came out: "The kind of car a corrupt senator buys for his chorus girl ladyfriend in Vegas".

Michaell

@MrShift@Edmunds said:
The 450SL is really a pretty dull car to drive---the German 80s Buick (and not a Grand National, either!).

As one wag put it when they first came out: "The kind of car a corrupt senator buys for his chorus girl ladyfriend in Vegas".

Funny you should say that .. the Sharon Stone character in "Casino" drove an SL. DeNiro had an Eldorado from the same period.

andre1969

@MrShift@Edmunds said:

As one wag put it when they first came out: "The kind of car a corrupt senator buys for his chorus girl ladyfriend in Vegas".

One of my former co-workers bought a 450 SL for his wife back in the late 90's. I think it was a '73 or '74. And, hate to say it, but she occasionally came off as a bit of a gold-digger...

They paid something ridiculous for it too...$15,600 I want to say. It had about 180,000 miles on it, but it did look nice. Its seats were in better shape than that red one posted above. I do remember if having a bit of rust in the door jamb, though. They got ripped something serious, though. Put a few thousand $ into it over the next few years (forget the specifics) but ended up selling it for around $7,000 in the early 2000's. I heard the transmission went out on it soon after they sold it.

I rode in it once...it was a nice, solid little car. I was actually shocked that it had that many miles on it, because it still felt so solid.

Mr_Shiftright

I will grant them that---excellent build quality. But they were no sports car, that's for sure, and they ate gas like a whale eats krill.

gsemike

A few more from NY

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/cto/4460531632.html Definitely don't see these much any more but kind of a weird mix of colors and spots that still look neglected

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ctd/4460538693.html Overall, an unrepeatable opportunity to acquire an exceptionally mint and original Jaguar E-type

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/cto/4460495495.html Pretty nice disco vette

http://newyork.craigslist.org/stn/cto/4460486090.html I like this in an old school way with the cragar s/s and fatties out back

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/cto/4451236866.html For the price of a new Odyssey.....

http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/cto/4460262250.html One expensive VW

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/cto/4460085745.html Ultimately, I don't think that anyone cares but who knew these were called town coupes?

andre1969

Those Monza Town Coupes weren't very popular, because most people were buying the fastback version!

I never cared for that different front-end that the Town Coupe used, compared to the fastback. I always wondered why they did that? The Pontiac Sunbird of the era used the same front-end, which was reminiscent of the '77-78 Trans Am, and I thought it looked good in both hatchback and notchback form.

Mr_Shiftright

68 E-Type Coupe---- a veritable TriFecta of things no Jaguar collector wants----a 2+2, an automatic, and a horrible color for an E Type. Someone took the time to order the least desirable E-type imaginable.

VW - I especially like the yellow and purple color scheme--it's....you know...edgy.

qbrozen

I have to admit I like it quite a bit. the 2+2 has always been my preference. That color reminds me of my mazda 626, which was a pretty rare "meadow green" color with tan interior. But... I agree on the automatic part of the equation.

qbrozen

ha. in searching for a pic of a meadow green mazda, I stumbled upon this website. They have some interesting things on there.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, the 2+2 design doesn't bother some people, but if one stares at it in profile, especially next to a similar coupe, the clumsiness of it becomes more apparent. In any event, the marketplace does mind, so for the 2+2 enthusiast, it comes with a 40% discount off a regular coupe. And for the automatic, you can deduct another $5000. The color is just a marketing obstacle, so no discount for that.

@qbrozen said:
I have to admit I like it quite a bit. the 2+2 has always been my preference. That color reminds me of my mazda 626, which was a pretty rare "meadow green" color with tan interior. But... I agree on the automatic part of the equation.

xwesx

@MrShift@Edmunds said:
68 E-Type Coupe---- a veritable TriFecta of things no Jaguar collector wants----a 2+2, an automatic, and a horrible color for an E Type. Someone took the time to order the least desirable E-type imaginable.

VW - I especially like the yellow and purple color scheme--it's....you know...edgy.

So, where does the seller's price come in as far as a "reality check?"

VW: "VW Panels were only available in Germany, None were ever imported into the US." Well, apparently one was... ?

texases

Hard to tell from the ad, but it sounds like that VW panel was a custom body. And all the other 'custom' parts (interior, wheels/tires, paint, etc.) would make a VW enthusiast look elsewhere, I'd think. Lots of money down the drain, IMHO...

stickguy

That monza ad. Was the picture taken in andres yard, with all the old mopars strewn about? Including a grand fury like his old cop car.

stickguy

On the 308, what the heck is the "slow down, cyl 1-4" light all about?

texases

@stickguy said:
On the 308, what the heck is the "slow down, cyl 1-4" light all about?

I translated this out of a German 308 web site:

"Set to the whimsical lights ' slow down cyl 1-4″ and "slow down cyl." " 5-8″ left and right side of the steering column. This is a primitive precursor of today's OBD engine diagnostic indicator lights. They show the activated emergency run of one or both cylinder banks from failure in the ignition or fuel system and are intended first and foremost to protect of the catalysts before overheating. They light up, should be quickly searched on a workshop and locates the error."

The 348 also has them (from a 348 web site):
"Common Causes of 348/355 "Slow Down" Warning Lights and/or Reduced Performance:

Your 348 or 355 may encounter a "half power" condition in which an entire bank of cylinders appears to be shut down. This shutdown signal originates with a thermo sensor on a cat, goes through an exhaust ECU that is located under each shock tower under the rear engine hood/bonnet, and procedes to your dash warning lights and Air/Fuel ECU's that are located behind each seat in the cockpit itself. After 5 minutes or so of showing the SLOW DOWN 1-4 and/or SLOW DOWN 5-8 warning light, your A/F ECU's will shut off on or both banks of cylinders. Your SLOW DOWN 1-4 light is located on the right side of your instrument cluster; your SLOW DOWN 5-8 warning light is on the left side."

andre1969

@stickguy said:
That monza ad. Was the picture taken in andres yard, with all the old mopars strewn about? Including a grand fury like his old cop car.

I can't see an M-body Gran Fury, but zooming in on the pic, I see a gray-looking '84-85 LeSabre sedan that could be a dead ringer for my Grandmother's old '85! And, off to the right, looks like one of those Fuselage Furys just poking into view, maybe a '71 or '72?

ab348

@andre1969 said:
And, off to the right, looks like one of those Fuselage Furys just poking into view, maybe a '71 or '72?

Yessir! That's a '72 Fury. Good eye.

stickguy

Oops. was on the ipad before. Yeah, that is a Lesabre. At quick glance on small screen, it does look like a Plymouth. Cut me some slack.

interesting on the Ferraris.

fintail

I suspect the Jag ad is a scammer/phisher type - weird copy and paste style ad copy, non-local pics with no visible plates, email on generic host directly in ad.

@gsemike said:
A few more from NY

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ctd/4460538693.html Overall, an unrepeatable opportunity to acquire an exceptionally mint and original Jaguar E-type

Mr_Shiftright

But what's the scam? Asking price is about what it's worth. No bargain price as "bait".

fintail

Maybe looking for low offers to get email, with a car someone not in the know thinks is desirable? The ad copy and pics just seem fishy to me.

andre1969

@stickguy said:
Oops. was on the ipad before. Yeah, that is a Lesabre. At quick glance on small screen, it does look like a Plymouth. Cut me some slack.

Hell, if it makes ya feel any better, my eyesight is bad enough that I had to zoom in on that pic just to see there were other cars in the background! Getting old sucks....

stickguy

I got ten years on you. Trust me, it doesn't get better

uplanderguy

Stickguy, I think I've got one year on you. Nothing on me ever hurt...til about two years ago. Now most everything hurts.

Being 60 lbs. overweight probably doesn't help.

gsemike

I noticed that too. Usually, the ads have ridiculous low prices (often not in round numbers) but what is the scam. Do they try to get you to send money sight unseen?

qbrozen

yes. Typically "I'm overseas, car is in storage at a warehouse, you put money in this escrow account..." I've obviously never taken it to the next level, but I assume the escrow account is completely bogus. I've pestered a few such people in the past, asking them the name of the storage facility so I can confirm the car is there, etc. But they do nothing but repeat what a great deal it is and I should deposit the money in this escrow account and then i'll be able to inspect the car. Yeah, right.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm amazed people fall for that. Hard to say what this ad is about---on the one hand, the text is very bizarre, but on the other hand, the asking price is 100% market correct, so suggests a knowledgable seller.

isellhondas

@MrShift@Edmunds said:
68 E-Type Coupe---- a veritable TriFecta of things no Jaguar collector wants----a 2+2, an automatic, and a horrible color for an E Type. Someone took the time to order the least desirable E-type imaginable.

VW - I especially like the yellow and purple color scheme--it's....you know...edgy.

I agree with you on that 68 E-Type. That is exactly what a dealer hopes a person won't special order and then back out of the sale sticking the store with a saleproof car.

When I see a 2+2 E-Type or even a 2+2 280Z I feel like they got enough demand for a back seat that they decided to cobble something together for the few that wanted them.

Spoiling the car's look in the process.

And that pea soup green? Reminded me of an early 50's Plymouth.

Mr_Shiftright

It's a very awkward design, to be sure. But as the ad astutely infers, as a marque's more popular body styles rise in value, it pulls up the homely ones in the litter---look how that happened to V-12 Ferraris--it wasn't so long ago you could hardly give away an Enzo-era 2+2 Ferrari.

A Jaguar E-Type is a complex and difficult car to restore. One had better buy it right.

hpmctorque

@MrShift@Edmunds said:

A Jaguar E-Type is a complex and difficult car to restore. One had better buy it right.

I'd say one had better not buy it.

stever

Definitely a classic to restore. up.craigslist