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

qbrozen

berri said:

The crown of the roof had been flattened But what about that old Volvo ad where they were stacked on top of each other

If the container had been gently set down on the volvo, it probably would have been fine. ;b

ab348

qbrozen said:

That rust scares me

Me too. You don't often see Volvos rusted like that, so it may be pretty far gone.

stickguy

the 140s tended to rust there and in the rear wheel wells. may not be that bad from what you can see, if it is on the outer layers. But I am sure it needs a complete strip down to know for sure. Could get in deep, to what would be a labor of love (not a sane financial decision).

redoing the body/paint in the same color, then a nice selection of IPD mods, and some sort of power upgrade, and get quite a fun toy.

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

Oh man. I love this. So many memories. My folks bought this in a 4 door new, and I learned to drive in it. I loved that car. Same color, interior, etc. no Weber carb though or tach!

My wife would kill me. I hope it doesn’t stay cheap

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-volvo-142-3/

It's got a Weber carb on it--so you don't want it. I really hate when people do that. This car will never run right. Fussy, fussy, & kills the gas mileage.

stickguy

Oh, that would have been changed. Moot point since I don’t have the money to blow on a resto mod.

Mr_Shiftright

Easy car to work on though.

stickguy

True. Ours was manual steering and brakes. No AC A stick. Basically no power or electrical assist everything. Heck, even the choke was manual. Truly as simple as they come, other than balancing the carbs, and frequently replacing the exhaust systems many parts.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, they had a few weaknesses but generally pretty sturdy cars. Erratic idle speeds are solved by re-bushing the throttle shafts--then no more issues

jpp75

stickguy said:

Oh man. I love this. So many memories. My folks bought this in a 4 door new, and I learned to drive in it. I loved that car. Same color, interior, etc. no Weber carb though or tach!

My wife would kill me. I hope it doesn’t stay cheap

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-volvo-142-3/

Still at $2k with 2 days left. I say go for it.

omarman

1972 Buick Skylark - $4500 (Pataskala)
"Please make sure you read this. I am not desperate, do not call me and low ball me over the phone. If you want/need to come look at it and then make me a reasonable offer, I will listen. "

"All the numbers match, there are only 2 small rust places."

berri

In its day, a very nice car though

texases

Anyone know why those pistons had a bump in the middle?

omarman

I think that's the center point where a lathe was used to machine the dish at the head of the pistons. This seller's car is a 1972 but I think GM required all engines to run on low lead fuel in 1971. The larger dish relief lowers compression for lower octane fuel.

omarman

berri said:

In its day, a very nice car though

In high school my '71 Mustang was too uncomfortable for my back and I went car shopping for Buick! I test drove a friend's '69 GS 400 but it was a 4-speed and I didn't like the bucking/rocking of a heavy car when shifting. Next test drive was a '71 GS 350 at Rawlins AMC used car lot in Lancaster. That was the one I wanted, smooth, good looking with an automatic.

Could not agree on price though so I wound up buying a '68 GT Torino 390/automatic. I loved the car but had to live with buying Sunoco 260 - and a lot of it.

berri

Omar, a guy I went to college with got some money after his father passed away. He used it to buy a yellow 69 Torino GT with black vinyl interior. That color on a somewhat uniquely styled car for the time certainly stood out. Gasoline, heck anything with a V8 sucked fuel back then

gsemike

berri said:

In its day, a very nice car though

Yeah, but I think that the seller is on crack. It's a garden variety Skylark, not even a GS350. You can get nice drivers all day long for 10 grand. Love it as much as he does? He loved it so much that he's left it as a pile of parts for 13 years. It's just parts now.

Compare this:
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/1970-gs-455-buick-gran-sport/6720823202.html

Granted it needs a lot of work, but it's an intact GS

stickguy

No clue what it’s worth restored, but that looks like a good set of bones to start with.

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

No clue what it’s worth restored, but that looks like a good set of bones to start with.

Unless you restored it for Pebble Beach, a really really nice one would bring about $40K. If you went over the top to a fanatical level of detail, and won every trophy, you might get $60K out of it.

In either case of restoration, you cannot come out ahead on this car, even if someone gave it to you for free. So you'd have to call it a labor of love, and do most of the work yourself. Even then, you might only break out even, for all your skills and time.

If it were a GSX Stage 1 (a very rare car) you'd come out just fine. --they only made 400 of those.

sda

I have seen very few Buicks of the era where the painted trim on the dash has not deteriorated to a crackle like finish. It looks bad. I don't see that issue with other GM brands.

Mr_Shiftright

Sun damage I'd imagine. Those big windshields must let a lot of UV in and amplify the interior temperatures.

ab348

sda said:

I have seen very few Buicks of the era where the painted trim on the dash has not deteriorated to a crackle like finish. It looks bad. I don't see that issue with other GM brands.

Do you mean the area around the light & wiper switches, etc? That would be a woodgrain decal. I assume someone reproduces it, but do not know for sure.

sda

ab348 said:

sda said:

I have seen very few Buicks of the era where the painted trim on the dash has not deteriorated to a crackle like finish. It looks bad. I don't see that issue with other GM brands.

Do you mean the area around the light & wiper switches, etc? That would be a woodgrain decal. I assume someone reproduces it, but do not know for sure.

Correct. I haven't looked at it in person to determine if it is a decal or if it is a painted surface.

omarman

Somewhere in this topic there's a mantra that goes "You can't save everything."

texases

Well, here's an oddball 'sport sedan':
https://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/d/1982-amc-eagle-limited-2-dr/6725385485.html

This is rich:
"... the last photo shows exactly what this vehicle would look like if restored. Although I started this as a custom car project, nothing has been done that would preclude it from being put back original if that's what you'd rather do. This sale does not include the engine, transmission, and front-wheel-drive assy. (which I do not have), but all are bolt-on to reconvert."
(emphasis mine)

ab348

sda said:

ab348 said:

sda said:

I have seen very few Buicks of the era where the painted trim on the dash has not deteriorated to a crackle like finish. It looks bad. I don't see that issue with other GM brands.

Do you mean the area around the light & wiper switches, etc? That would be a woodgrain decal. I assume someone reproduces it, but do not know for sure.

Correct. I haven't looked at it in person to determine if it is a decal or if it is a painted surface.

Here it is:

https://www.opgi.com/skylark/1970/interior-accessories/dash-accessories/S240149/

stickguy

Odd. A lot of work to turn an eagle back into a hornet.

omarman

Here's a '92 Eagle Talon tsi here in Columbus which seems to have the engine but not the turbo:
"I send it to a friend of mine in Puerto Rico , he rebuild and customize turbos so we are keeping the original exhaust housing so it'll fix on the factory manifold but everything else will customize to last and perform better I will include the turbo on the deal." $3000?

This one sold for $3600 on BaT 3 years ago.

berri

The Mitsubishi Eclipse it is based on seemed pretty popular when it came out, but then just seemed to fade away.

fintail

And now it is back as another somewhat heavy looking little CUV. That and the transformation of the Pathfinder from a trucky small legit SUV to an AWD minivan would have my 1993 self in disbelief.

fintail

Had the old dear out on a nice fall day. Started right up as usual, after sitting for a few weeks. The car received a few waves and compliments today, maybe it really stuck out once the sun was shining. The most interesting thing in this lineup:



Notice there's something new, on the grille. I installed the badge - no issues, but I got some nuts to ensure it was firmly attached:

stickguy

nice job..

I like the Mazda you are parked next to too.

jpp75

stickguy said:

nice job..

I like the Mazda you are parked next to too.

Me too. Once the turbo version arrives (hopefully with ventilated seats) I'd be content with one.

berri

You are worrying about the badge, but in Chicago that hood ornament would be on a chain around some gang banger's neck in twenty minutes or less. Bling baby

qbrozen

I like the color of the mazda. Would probably rather drive the V70, though.

fintail

I hope I don't jinx it, but I haven't lost a hood star since the late 90s. I think the fad passed, at least out here. But in a real city, things might be different. I remember the last time, the local dealer actually had one in stock - I could have found one cheaper online (even then), but I couldn't stand driving without it.

And if I was shopping a small-middle CUV I might look at that Mazda too, they seem nicely detailed.

boomchek

fintail said:

I hope I don't jinx it, but I haven't lost a hood star since the late 90s. I think the fad passed, at least out here. But in a real city, things might be different. I remember the last time, the local dealer actually had one in stock - I could have found one cheaper online (even then), but I couldn't stand driving without it.

And if I was shopping a small-middle CUV I might look at that Mazda too, they seem nicely detailed.

The fintail still looks top notch. How'd you get the special badge? Is it a Mercedes club thing or a corporate program?

boomchek

I'm thinking of picking up this 2006 GS300 AWD as winter beater.

It has 200kms (120k miles) on it, minor front fender damage, paint peeling on rear bumper, both side mirror glass holding on by tape, big gash on one of the rear doors, check engine light as well as TCS lights on, parking sensors not working, BUT almost new tires, new brakes, new battery, and seems to drive ok, at least during my appraisal. CarProof (Canadian CarFax) on it is fairly clean).

It's coming in on trade at a dealer I work at. $1300 is my price to buy it.

Wife says I shouldn't drive a banged up looking car but I think it's not a bad buy for the money so I'd buy it and ensure it's mechanically sound and leave the body alone, at least for winter. Besides I don't mind driving banged up looking cars (I had many beaters before) as I don't have to worry about any future cosmetic damage that may happen and it wouldn't be our main family car, just my commuter so don't care about how it looks.

Question is should I buy it, and if so should I bother with body work on it (another $1500 at least) or leave it as is.

qbrozen

You've got plenty else to worry about without touching the body. Get it mechanically sorted first and then see where you are with the "investment."

omarman

"Wife says I shouldn't drive a banged up looking car but ..."
In the happy wife = happy life scheme of things, would she have to ride in the commuter or see it on display in the driveway? Or would she have to park next to it - O hex no! - in the garage?

tjc78

You could do worse for that money.  Minor bit of good news... the TCS light being on is probably just due to the CEL.  For some reason Toyota disables the TCS system when a code is thrown.  

My 06 Avalon needed an O2 sensor early on and it not only threw on the CEL the VSC and Trac lights as well.  I always thought that was an odd thing 

stickguy

A 1” square piece of duct tape can fix that.

fintail

Thanks. As time goes on, I couldn't be more pleased with the car, it's a good one.

The Silver Star Preservation Class is a MBCA classification for unrestored cars retaining some originality. I think it's a way to create more interest for younger enthusiasts and those who don't have high dollar cars. Pretty good idea, I think.

For the old GS, could be fun. That's like $1000 USD, and engine-wise, those should be sound. Old enough for junkyard parts now, interior condition would concern me most as it might be the most difficult to set right. They'd want like 10K for that in decent shape here.

boomchek said:

The fintail still looks top notch. How'd you get the special badge? Is it a Mercedes club thing or a corporate program?

texases

" check engine light as well as TCS lights on"

I'd get the codes read to know what triggered the CEL before I bought it. Could be simple, but might not be. Do you have to have the CEL cleared for registration/inspection?

Mr_Shiftright

@boomchek -- I think texases has a good idea there, to plug in a code reader and see what's up. But it sounds like an OK buy, because all fixed up (not suggesting you do that), you can still get decent money for these---so chances are, if you exercise self-control, any money you put into it, you'll get back. Seems like a perfect car for a trip to the wrecking yard--bring your shopping cart and a tool box.

boomchek

I'll get one of the techs here at work to see what it is and give it a quick lookover to ensure the wheels won't fall off. I do remember in Toyotas that VSC and TRAC lights do come on with the CEl so it could be all related.

gsemike

boomchek said:

I'll get one of the techs here at work to see what it is and give it a quick lookover to ensure the wheels won't fall off. I do remember in Toyotas that VSC and TRAC lights do come on with the CEl so it could be all related.

Sounds kind of like it's been through the wringer. How the heck did both mirrors end up being taped on?

fintail

LOL you should drive around the lower mainland of BC for a couple days, especially Richmond or Burnaby. It makes Bellevue drivers look with-it.

boomchek

gsemike said:

boomchek said:

I'll get one of the techs here at work to see what it is and give it a quick lookover to ensure the wheels won't fall off. I do remember in Toyotas that VSC and TRAC lights do come on with the CEl so it could be all related.

Sounds kind of like it's been through the wringer. How the heck did both mirrors end up being taped on?

It's been parked for some time too. I think it was given up on by the current owner (especially with needing body work and such) and he decided just to get a new car. Not sure why mirrors are taped on, I'll mess around with it when I have some time later in the week.

boomchek

omarman said:

"Wife says I shouldn't drive a banged up looking car but ..."
In the happy wife = happy life scheme of things, would she have to ride in the commuter or see it on display in the driveway? Or would she have to park next to it - O hex no! - in the garage?

Wife has her own car, so no, this would be for me only. We do have a small tandem garage (one car goes behind the other) in our townhouse that fits two cars, so she would see it all the time lol.

omarman

Years ago when house shopping in Maryland my wife and I saw a couple places with 2 car tandem garage which sometimes makes better use of the lot size/shape. But over the weekend I saw a listing for a new build (2018) 4 bedroom house in MD with a 3 car tandem garage. No interior garage pics or floor plan in the listing but I think it must be like this:

I can just imagine what that 12x22 spot gets filled with after moving in!