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

Mr_Shiftright

Certainly you could on an 80s Jaguar engine--you could even use a Wok on it.

I think if you had a special compartment on today's modern turbo engines (if you could find a few square inches to put ANYTHING in there anymore), that would make a nice crockpot type of stew. No real room on a car engine for pancakes.

fintail

Drove the old car yesterday, didn't notice any blowby when I parked it. It is running fine, and I hope the oil issue isn't serious. Turn signals are still being quirky, I think this will be something to attend to at its next servicing. No pics again - don't get as many chances for a nice shot when I take it to hockey, and I am too beat to think about it when I am done

tjc78

You had a busy day yesterday.... Hockey, old car driving, and a new ride!

omarman

It's 1973. And it's got the 2 tone avocado Sport Accent Group. And the "big" 4 cyl.

This is NOT a 10,000 Midget for 3,000.00 dollars!!!

1973 Chevrolet Laguna California Car. The engine is a 350/175HP out of a 1980 corvette. I think California got a 305 V8 in the 1980 Corvette but either way...

Had to add this Ranchero.

ab348

I could never warm up to the looks of the flat-nose early Lagunas, the later ones with the slant-nose look much better. That one is mighty plain inside.

Someone might pay 5 figures for that Ranchero, but it wouldn't be me.

The Midget might be priced close to its value. The Pinto? No idea. But there sure aren't many left.

stickguy

I always hated that style of Ford steering wheel, but the car looks OK otherwise.

tjc78

That steering wheel is even worse on the Lincoln’s when the wood grain wears off.

Mr_Shiftright

patina.....that's pa-TEENA.

fintail

I remember those Ford wheels, with the rocket style cruise control on the spokes.

Of the group above, I pick the Pinto as long as it checks out. Cheap (no doubt can be had for less than asking), rare, will get some attention and smiles.

omarman

I can't recall seeing these in 1978 but I remember the Champagne edition Rabbit. Anyone want a rusty non-running 1978 VW Champagne Edition bus? Seems like I saw this CL ad last year too.

jpp75

No check engine light!

Michaell

jpp75 said:

No check engine light!

Think I could get the wife on board with this as a replacement for the Jetta?

xwesx

Oh, I'm sure!

Mr_Shiftright

An 18 year old Audi with 167,000 miles and no radio---now THERE'S a good buy! Get it for $2K, put $3,500 into it, and then flip it to Ace Wrecking for $150.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

An 18 year old Audi with 167,000 miles and no radio---now THERE'S a good buy! Get it for $2K, put $3,500 into it, and then flip it to Ace Wrecking for $150.

That sounds like the car I had in college, though it wasn't $3500 I invested (thank goodness)

jpp75

No check engine light!

Michaell said:

jpp75 said:

No check engine light!

Think I could get the wife on board with this as a replacement for the Jetta?

xwesx

I took a few minutes out this afternoon to start my C20 for the first time this year. My son recorded it for posterity. And, of course, I flubbed the process by forgetting one little detail at first.... Overall, though, it started very well.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIRiNB4GnCE

xwesx

Second part of today's recap: Pulling the wheels off the '69 Econoline in order to replace the tires. These tires were manufactured in the tenth week of 1995 (e.g., date code was 105), so just slightly more than 24 years old, and were on this van since June of 1995.

This section here was the worst area on any of the tires. I'm replacing them now because I'll be using it to introduce my son to driving in another month or so. Should be fun! And, we shouldn't need to worry about a blowout...

stickguy

I think you got your money's worth out of them. And darn, that beast has surprisingly tiny brakes!

tjc78

stickguy said:

I think you got your money's worth out of them. And darn, that beast has surprisingly tiny brakes!

I swear brakes were an afterthought years ago. 

ab348

They look like the teacup-sized drums that were on our family's Maverick years ago.

xwesx

They do work reasonably well, though. It may seem surprising given the physical size, but unladen weight is about the same as our 2013 Forester (e.g., about 3300#). I will say, though.... I would LOVE to have disc brakes on the front of this thing.

The 69 C20 also has drums on the front, and they are substantially larger than the ones on the van.

texases

My ‘65 Mustang 6 had TINY brakes. I’d sure like to drive it today, for a good scare.

sda

What engine, transmission does the Econoline have? I think I mentioned sometime ago a friend’s parents bought new a 69 Chateau Econoline, typical two tone green with green plaid interior. IIRC it was auto, ps, factory air that didn’t work, 302. They had it for years before succumbing to Maryland rust.

kyfdx

Seems like most of the Econolines have big straight sixes, instead of V-8s.

bhill2

You could get a V-8, but most of them had a 240 ci six.

xwesx

Mine is a 302 V8, which was original in the 1971 that my dad purchased new. This one is a 1969 body, but most of the running gear, seats, etc., came out of the '71. Sadly, the body of his suffered a lot in the time he had it (the first twenty years of its life), so replacing the whole thing (darn unibodies) was really the only practical thing to do.

This one also had a 302 V8 in it, but was in *nearly* non-running condition when I bought it. I intended to rebuild it and put it in my Pinto, but 2,300 miles of distance for twenty years is just too much to keep a project like that viable. My brother ended up selling the Pinto about three years ago, and I think that my father found a buyer for the 302 a short time after that.

Transmission in it currently is a C6, if I recall correctly. This transmission was in the van when I bought it, and it looked practically new. However, I have the C4 from my dad's machine in the back, and I plan to swap it out in the very near future. It's "on the list" for this summer. I also need to pull the transfer case from the plow truck and have that rebuilt. That's the #1 mechanical need right now of any of my vehicles. I'm flirting with disaster letting it go even this long.

stickguy

if the C6 works, what is the point of swapping it out for a tranny that has been sitting loose for many years?

tjc78

Yeah, the C6 is more or less indestructible. Adjust the intermediate band when the 1-2 becomes sloppy and keep riding it.

Mr_Shiftright

I think those use a vacuum modulator--that's cheap insurance to replace that as well.

xwesx

I just don't like the gearing on it, and I need to pull it apart to address seals anyway, so I figure I will go with what I prefer. Also, this will keep a C6 in reserve for the plow truck, which ate its last transmission several years ago now.

bhill2

xwesx said:

I just don't like the gearing on it, and I need to pull it apart to address seals anyway, so I figure I will go with what I prefer. Also, this will keep a C6 in reserve for the plow truck, which ate its last transmission several years ago now.

I don't want to be a smarta** but I gotta be me. To the best of my knowledge, the C4 and C6 both used the 2.46/1.46/1.00 progression. Am I missing or misinterpreting something?

xwesx

I don't know. The van is sluggish with this transmission and very peppy with the C4. That's all that matters to me.

ab348

I think the C6 soaks up a lot more HP to turn than the C4.

bhill2

OK that would make sense. I think the C6 is beefed up to handle more power.

fintail

A small handful this morning:

Too bad this is so far gone - I've never seen this odd option in person before.

These days someone might save this

The invasion continues

Nice color

Unusual Fox, nice wheels/hubcaps

Those were the days - runs great no doubt

Too bad this needs so much work

Not seen very often

Mr_Shiftright

I would take that Econoline camper van for a few hundred bucks--but really, by the time you're done with something like this you could have bought yourself such a nice rig instead. Perhaps it's some good garage therapy. Would be nice to install a Ford 300 cid straight-6. That was a great engine. It's really just a shell to build out, or maybe house some chickens.

qbrozen

$5500 for that rotted out wagon? Geesh! Good luck! It would have to be darned nice in the first place to get that much from me. And I like it.

And $12k for an ugly French-looking nissan? C'mon!

texases

Nothing looks very 'factory' about the Ford van. Even if it is, who cares?

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

$5500 for that rotted out wagon? Geesh! Good luck! It would have to be darned nice in the first place to get that much from me. And I like it.

And $12k for an ugly French-looking nissan? C'mon!

RE: Toyota Crown --Price is nuts. He'd be lucky to get $500. He'd be lucky if a wrecking yard towed it for free.

I don't think some sellers really grasp the concept of "rust". Rust isn't a "thing". It is the absence of a thing---metal. The foundation of structure/ body integrity. Rust repair is the most labor intensive thing you have to do to a car, and the type of repair requiring the highest skill level. I've seen some old unibody cars that were so utterly rusted (like say a Porsche 356) that all you can do is throw them into a dumpster. It's simply not worth even trying.

ab348

Imagine trying to drive that Econoline in any type of a crosswind. No thanks.

I somehow don't think that glass roof on the Lincoln is factory.

The Corvair wagon is sort of interesting but I suspect lots of broken dreams on the part of the seller. If he bought it at Mecum he likely paid somewhat more than that and I would question any of the claims made in the description given at the auction.

JDM Crown wagon is only for the truest of true believers.

sda

The Allante may not be a bad choice especially since it doesn't have the NorthStar. I believe it has the less powerful but much better 4.9.

omarman

texases said:

Nothing looks very 'factory' about the Ford van. Even if it is, who cares?

Yes! On both points. "Econoline supervan is a factory built camper van with the extended roof ?" Lol!

omarman

Ford called it the fixed glass moonroof option but I've never seen it in the wild.

kyfdx

That looks like a '77

My mother had the same car in '72 and '76, but not the "Town" version, with the carriage lights.

Also, full vinyl roof on both of them.

ab348

Yes, but compare the pic in the ad with this from the factory features brochure. The glass is very different and does not appear to use a rubber gasket like the one in the Craigs ad.

fintail

Here's an interesting piece on the fixed glass roof:

http://automotivemileposts.com/lincoln/lincoln1977fixedmoonroof.html

omarman

And the hood looks different too!
This is another view of the factory Moonroof from the same page where I found the first pic.

But you could be right I really can't tell if the CL car has an authentic factory equipped moonroof.

omarman

Lol! Must be some kind of delay in posting. I didn't see fintail's post linking to the moonroof page when I posted the same link above.

tjc78

The fixed glass roof is certainly factory. I've seen a few in person and for sale. It's in the brochure I have as well.