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

xwesx

stever said:

Looks like you have 12 to 15 inches of snow on the ground? Guess your neighbors will welcome the plow truck being back in service.

Well, I am not even sure how deep it is right now. We haven't had any appreciable new snow in a month now (since the night before the differential went "boom"), which is amazingly fortuitous for me (and the neighbors who depend on me). So, the snow we do have is old, crusted on top now because of warm weather the last couple of weeks, and highly crystalized below that, so I think it may not be more than 12-15" deep in undisturbed areas. Total accumulation of snowfall is very near 30", but the snow has to keep falling in order for it to stay deep.

This is just winter up here, though. It is NOTHING like the snowfall you experienced recently! And, I mean to say that it is way more significant down there.

stever

We had a long rain last night and any stray piles hiding under the cacti got washed away. Still some up in the mountains and that's a little bit unusual. Been a cool couple of months and too many Seattle-like skies.

My sister just traded her '05 Forester with 202,000 miles on it and the dealer supposedly has already sold it (my guess is that they really just sent it to auction). It would have been a real project....

xwesx

From what you share about how your sister cares for her cars, I'd say that is probably an apt statement!

What did she buy?

stever

She probably maintains hers better than I do mine, but she really miles them up. She did inherit the no car wash gene like I did, and enough detritus has fallen in the back from hauling plants and antiques over the years that she could raise tomatoes in the back seats.

She got a 2015 Crosstrek demo.

fintail

That's the one she got $500 for, right? My brother would have paid more than that, he's been wanting to make a rally car. Even beat up with those miles, it will be an easy flip here, this is Subieland.

Isn't she also the one who is kind of an iffy driver, at least in the city? Was it dented or scuffed up too?

stever

She got it bumped to $650. A neighbor wanted it for her kid, but would have to have paid $250 down and the rest "on time". She's in a rural part of VA a bit away from the wealth of the beltway. She wanted the little bit of money "now" and who knows what the neighbor would have said if the head gasket blew next week. Other, similar Foresters in her area (one at least) was on craigslist for an asking price of $1,500.

And yeah, the mouse eaten wiring harness was fixed a few years ago, but she had a ~$2,000 ding right before the front door and the inside was well trashed.

I think she got ripped off a bit - kind of funny, I have way more buyer's remorse about the deal than she does.

fintail

Yeah, she could have got more, but you pay for convenience when trading in. For many people, it is worth it. Sometimes life is too short to deal with flaky car buyers. And like you say, that's the era of Subaru when you come for the AWD and stay for the new head gasket.

Cheapest 05 Forester on Seattle CL - and it sounds like a bit of a risk too.

I bet my brother would have given her $800 for it

berri

Today there are not just counterfeit currency, but very difficult to tell certified checks and the like. Also, fake ID's make it easy to rip-off the car during a test drive. So not just convenience, but risk can also be involved. But then craigslist in on the Internet, so it must be cool

Mr_Shiftright

The Subie was apparently smacked up in 2012. Has a lot of repair and maintenance items relating to engine oil leaks, frequent coolant changes, driveability checkups. Lots of money spent on maintenance, too. Then suddenly, in 2013, the records right after a new owner appears. Very INT-eresting.......Carfax says the car is "gold" in color.

fintail

And that's the cheapest one. If someone wants to flip a Subaru, come to Seattle - plenty of demand.

I'd be very leery of selling there.

xwesx

So, that's maybe a BYOTT sort of project.

Speaking of trucks, mine is back in commission! And, it stops now, too! Sadly, I think the wear and tear on the drivetrain will soon find the next weakest point in the chain, but so it goes... projects will be projects! The front locker is pretty impressive, though! I drove up into my unplowed yard with no issues at all, then backed out in the same manner. The downside? I need to get the power steering fixed! It was a chore before to steer it, but now it is a CHORE! The truck loves to drive straight, but isn't so much a fan of low-speed turning.

I imagine it would be much less of a challenge if I didn't have chains on it. Actually, I might just remove those to see how well it performs now without them, and just keep them at hand for when all else fails. I'll have to see how much work the next plowing turns out to be (on my arms, that is!).

Such a beauty... don't you agree?!

isellhondas

Tons of Subarus in Seattle but nothing like Boulder Colorado! I was warned but I had NO IDEA that what seemed to be four out of five cars was a Subaru!

pjm83

isellhondas said:

Tons of Subarus in Seattle but nothing like Boulder Colorado! I was warned but I had NO IDEA that what seemed to be four out of five cars was a Subaru!

I live ten minutes from Boulder, and this could not be more true. Dealerships want to charge eight grand for ten-year-old, 150k+ mileage Outbacks and Foresters that flood their lots out here. It's ridiculous, especially given that the foothills have just about the mildest climate you can find in continental US.

explorerx4

@xwesx,
Are you going to plow that Chevy under until the spring?

Michaell

pjm83 said:

isellhondas said:

Tons of Subarus in Seattle but nothing like Boulder Colorado! I was warned but I had NO IDEA that what seemed to be four out of five cars was a Subaru!

I live ten minutes from Boulder, and this could not be more true. Dealerships want to charge eight grand for ten-year-old, 150k+ mileage Outbacks and Foresters that flood their lots out here. It's ridiculous, especially given that the foothills have just about the mildest climate you can find in continental US.

I live in the Denver 'burbs, and I agree that the prices for used Subies is crazy. Would love to find one with reasonable miles on it but they are out of my budget.

Good thing we've got a new one ... if the wife ever decides to give it up I'm sure we'll get a great trade value.

Mr_Shiftright

It's better to discuss car values in the Real World rather than Boulder.

stever

The first Subaru I ever saw was in the late 70s in Evergreen. Lost touch with those friends but I'd bet money that they wound up in Boulder, at least for a while.

stever

May have to switch my NFL allegiances. Bunch of guys in DC after my own heart.

“Maybe someday I’ll have enough saved and I’ll see what I can get,” said starting quarterback Kirk Cousins, who drives a dented GMC Savana passenger van to work. “But it’s better to buy appreciating assets than depreciating. No yachts, no sports cars.”

The surprise team of the NFL playoffs is comprised of highly compensated pros who drive beat-up cars and share apartments. (WSJ, may be a registration link)

xwesx

explorerx4 said:

@xwesx,
Are you going to plow that Chevy under until the spring?

That old girl enjoys being tucked in for the winter and still has several months to go before I start thinking about starting her. The spring starts are quite traditional at my house.

berri

xwesx - can't make out much of that Ford pickup, but looks kind of sharp in that picture.

fintail

That football article was fun. Nice to see some realize the career can be short. I don't think any Seahawks drive an old GM van - I think a lot of blingy SUVs and muscle cars.

First Subaru I remember was always parked at a neighbor's house when I was 4 or 5, one of the "new" style ~1980+ GL wagons. They were always around WA even then.

stickguy

I looked at a Subaru back in HS, so this would have been 1979-80. I believe it was a kid in my class that had it. This was an old school one, being somewhere in the early 70s MY I would guess. I do recall it needed some part (window related?) that was apparently on order or something. Guess that should have been a sign!

also test drove my English teachers Datsun 610. I remember that thing would backfire on every down shift? Didn't buy it.

the one I wish I had was the 1970ish Datsun 510 another kid had. I remember he replaced the clutch a lot (like to put in used parts I think?) Ah, the good old days.

steine13

Kirk Cousins FTW -- once a Spartan, always a Spartan!

[FWIW I think it's a stupid mascot, but right on the money in this case .... ]

Go Green!
-Mathias

qbrozen

Still trying to get my plow back in shape before any snow hits us. Of course, mine is MUCH smaller than yours, xwesx. I had the parts on hand to change the PTO coupling that drives the hydraulic pump to control the plow blade, but that was before the move. This past weekend, I pulled off the old coupling (with a great deal of heat and beat), and when I went to put the new on, I couldn't find the master chain link (the new coupling is 2 gears joined by a double row chain in the middle, which should hold up far better than the old weird mesh gear setup, which I destroyed twice in my 2 years of ownership). so I'm awaiting a new master link to finish the job. I can't even get it off the trailer till then because the blade is in the down position.

xwesx

That sounds like an interesting setup, Q. Is this blade on a small tractor, like a garden tractor? I'm surprised that it would have a mesh gear system (the old one), as it seems like anything PTO-driven would have enough flex as to make that sort of setup unreliable. Hopefully, when you get the new one sorted out, it will hold up far better!

Also, if you need to move it off the trailer for some reason before you get the system working, a simple way I found to do this is to run a tow strap under the blade and connect it to the machine. Then, with a tow vehicle, just pull on the rope and it will lift the blade off the ground as you pull the unit forward. If the unit runs on its own (which sounds like the case for you) and is tall/sturdy enough, you can also run the strap back up over the top of the machine, connected to a ratchet on the back side, and just crank it a few times until the blade lifts a couple inches off the ground.

I had to do this once with mine, thought it was simpler because I have the old-style unit where the hydraulic pump just has an arm above the system that lifts and lowers a chain attached to the blade armature. I put a cargo strap between the lift and the armature, then just pulled it up with the ratchet.

xwesx

berri said:

xwesx - can't make out much of that Ford pickup, but looks kind of sharp in that picture.

Darkness FTW! This poor old beast is basically a rusted out heap, but with enough blood, sweat, and tears, I manage to still keep it running! Wait a minute.... I just realized that I did not actually sweat much (literally speaking) this time around. I guess there *are* advantages to winter maintenance and repair activities!

fintail

I think those later 70s Ford trucks, esp when they got square lights (or even housings like xwesx's rig) were pretty sharp in general. Many old truck designs are relatively attractive.

andre1969

fintail said:

I think those later 70s Ford trucks, esp when they got square lights (or even housings like xwesx's rig) were pretty sharp in general. Many old truck designs are relatively attractive.

Agreed, they were good looking trucks. I think my favorite style was when they still had the round headlights, but the truck got a slight facelift where the lights seemed inset a bit, and had blackout trim around them. Like this:



I think that may have been a 1978 only thing, as I believe they went to rectangular headlights for '79.

ab348

I liked the update they gave them in 1980 and carried forward for several years after, with the corners of the front end angled a bit.

stickguy

To me, just about the peak of truck design. And size. Before they became gargantuan and overwrought.

andre1969

stickguy said:

To me, just about the peak of truck design. And size. Before they became gargantuan and overwrought.

I don't know how the Ford F-series compared back then, but I've noticed that with my 2012 Ram, compared to my '85 Silverado, the Silverado is actually better with regards to 3-across seating. The Ram has a bit more shoulder room...maybe 66 inches versus 65. But, the floor over the transmission/driveshaft hump is much more pronounced, and raised up, in the Ram, which forces any center occupants into a bit of a fetal position. And that puts their knees right in the dash, which conveniently juts out a bit right at that spot.

But, nowadays, I guess most people, if they want to fit more than two people in a truck, go for the extended or crew cab models, so there's really no pressing need to make a single-cab truck with decent 3-across seating anymore.

qbrozen

xwesx said:

That sounds like an interesting setup, Q. Is this blade on a small tractor, like a garden tractor? I'm surprised that it would have a mesh gear system (the old one), as it seems like anything PTO-driven would have enough flex as to make that sort of setup unreliable. Hopefully, when you get the new one sorted out, it will hold up far better!

It is an old John Deere that my father decided to experiment with. Pretty much a garden tractor, although not the smallest of the breed. He has since bought himself something more serious (Kabuto? I believe?) and gave me this machine.

Ah, I found the pic. This is with the bucket installed. I have a simple plow blade on it now.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

It is an old John Deere that my father decided to experiment with. Pretty much a garden tractor, although not the smallest of the breed. He has since bought himself something more serious (Kabuto? I believe?) and gave me this machine.

Kubota Those are nice tractors!

That Deere looks pretty handy too, though. I know I wouldn't mind having one! I have a good friend who owns a Craftsman lawn tractor (smaller than that Deere, but still the largest Craftsman they made at the time) with a really impressive snow thrower attachment on the front. He's had it nearly ten years and never used it due to some sort of part that doesn't work right and wasn't available from Sears (or some such nonsense).

I'm still trying to convince him to give it to me. I'm sure I could sort it out.

stever

Got a ride from the airport tonight in my nephew's Avalanche. Wasn't even sure it was still running after he got hit with a bunch of electrical problems a few years ago and picked up an F-150. Must be doing okay since he's letting his wife drive it.

Current odometer reading is 315,000 miles.

xwesx

That's pretty darn impressive!

I had a friend in high school whose family had a 70-something (75 maybe?) Oldsmobile Toronado. It was one of those loooong-hooded boat cars, two-door, and had been her mother's primary driver for a long, long time. When we graduated from HS in 1995, the car had about 370,000 miles on it....

stever

The other nice thing (just came from the Subaru Crew posts) is that my nephew married an adventure woman. She came close to clipping a deer on the drive in last night and she was mad that she sees them on the shoulder all the time but didn't get one for the freezer this year. She's a better whitewater boater than I ever was.

A miled up Chevy doesn't faze her at all.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, well, if she hits a large enough buck she might end up in the freezer. A big animal will mess your car all up.

qbrozen

xwesx said:

That Deere looks pretty handy too, though. I know I wouldn't mind having one! I have a good friend who owns a Craftsman lawn tractor (smaller than that Deere, but still the largest Craftsman they made at the time) with a really impressive snow thrower attachment on the front. He's had it nearly ten years and never used it due to some sort of part that doesn't work right and wasn't available from Sears (or some such nonsense).

I'm still trying to convince him to give it to me. I'm sure I could sort it out.

I actually also have a snow thrower attachment for the Deere. Never tried it. Seems easier to me to just plow. I guess if it was deep enough, I'd have to try out the thrower.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

I actually also have a snow thrower attachment for the Deere. Never tried it. Seems easier to me to just plow. I guess if it was deep enough, I'd have to try out the thrower.

Agreed. Plowing is simple enough, but the thrower really helps with deep stuff. Or, if you live in a place like I do where accumulation adds up over the winter, being able to toss the stuff you pushed to the edges off into a blanket WAY off to the sides, that just keeps things open so you have somewhere to push the next snowfall that comes along.

Typically, by the time we get to April, plowing starts to get a little interesting in terms of where to put the snow. It definitely gets more time-consuming because the areas are tighter and I often have to make more passes to get it all cleaned out.

stever

My first snow in the UP, the next door neighbor plowed his entire front yard. I thought "oh-oh". There were lots of mounds around town that you could have used for as a drive-in theatre backdrop. Not as bad as Valdez, but impressive.

Used pickup buyers in snow country always check carefully for evidence that the truck was used as a plow. If it was, the price was whacked big time or they just moved on to the next truck.

fintail

The most interesting thing in a sea of beige:



Ran sweet as can be today, a pleasure to have on the road.

tjc78

Love the wide whites on your car. It looks perfect.

fintail

I've had them for about 3 years now. They have now kind of "mellowed" to the point where I don't think they are too brash. They are essentially period correct in style, and they really work with the style of the car.

fintail

I wish this wasn't so far gone, I like these - nice pile of unobtanium parts anyway

stickguy

Now that I like. Cool project if rot is not too bad.

You can actually get a crate wankel for not too much money. Modernize it but keep all the character.

Are those actually Mazda OEM wheels? Look like Whitney specials!

Mr_Shiftright

Nothing 1,000 hours of labor wouldn't fix right up.

fintail

Invest 25K and have a 6K car when you are done. seems legit. I like the look of those cars. The wheels are cool and work with the style, but I don't think they are stock.

Speaking of old Japanese cars, I like these too but the seller is wacky even with the devalued Loonie.

Mr_Shiftright

Misplaced decimal point.

stickguy

Doesn't look that bad. Actually, other than trunk lid, reasonably solid looking. Engines are about 4K. No shoehorn required to install, and away you go!

Mr_Shiftright

"If you find a comparible to show I am not fair in price show me ..."

Oh, that is so tempting a challenge.....