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

gsemike

fintail said:

A couple fun affordable finds from another forum I frequent:

4x4

GT

Both of these look remarkably clean

xwesx

fintail said:

A couple fun affordable finds from another forum I frequent:

4x4

GT

Wow! Those are both impressive. That Tempo, though.... must be 1 of 1 these days.

fintail

Both are fair deals IMO. If I came across a truly pristine Tempo AWD, especially a first gen model, for 3K, it would be tempting as an offbeat Radwood entrant. Beretta is already a good Radwood car I think, it has the look on those basketweave wheels.

xwesx said:

fintail said:

A couple fun affordable finds from another forum I frequent:

4x4

GT

Wow! Those are both impressive. That Tempo, though.... must be 1 of 1 these days.

gsemike

Dead of winter shopping on Long Island

Toyota premium here Besides the paint looks pretty used up.

Regal T type The price has to be a mistake

If these land rovers are your thing and you're feeling brave

Talk about getting in over your head and giving up Too bad. These have become a rare site. Would be cool to see one that is all together

And he has the nerve to say don't waste my time

Compare this to the prior

Good first car candidate These were rebadged Corollas, right?

The rare 'leather sedan'

Another decent first car candidate

stickguy

Prism is a Corolla, yes. Way too cheap if legit.

gsemike

stickguy said:

Prism is a Corolla, yes. Way too cheap if legit.

Maybe, there were a lot of scam ads today, some really outrageous

qbrozen

I just reached out about the Prarolla.

andres3

stickguy said:

Prism is a Corolla, yes. Way too cheap if legit.

The most reliable Geo ever.

fintail

Prizm to have is a top of the line 5 door GSi, a unicorn today:

fintail

It's alive, alive!



First drive of 2022, weather finally nice enough to dry the roads, although many are still dirty. Seeing as we had lows around 0F a mere 10 days ago, this is progress.

Car started on the first turn, but cranked pretty slowly - hadn't been started in 2 months. Starting after that seemed normal, car ran fine, got a few waves and a friendly honk (oncoming car).

sda

fintail said:

It's alive, alive!



First drive of 2022, weather finally nice enough to dry the roads, although many are still dirty. Seeing as we had lows around 0F a mere 10 days ago, this is progress.

Car started on the first turn, but cranked pretty slowly - hadn't been started in 2 months. Starting after that seemed normal, car ran fine, got a few waves and a friendly honk (oncoming car).

Good to see. Battery getting weak? Driving it certainly beneficial.

fintail

Battery is from 2014, so maybe getting a little long in the tooth for a generator car. Hopefully going for a little drive put some life back into it.

sda said:

fintail said:

It's alive, alive!



First drive of 2022, weather finally nice enough to dry the roads, although many are still dirty. Seeing as we had lows around 0F a mere 10 days ago, this is progress.

Car started on the first turn, but cranked pretty slowly - hadn't been started in 2 months. Starting after that seemed normal, car ran fine, got a few waves and a friendly honk (oncoming car).

Good to see. Battery getting weak? Driving it certainly beneficial.

xwesx

Do you keep a maintainer on it? If not, that is probably not a bad investment, especially since you have ready access to it and electricity now!

fintail

Nope, I don't think the car has anything in it to create a draw (clock is correct twice a day), so I live on the edge. I am also a little leery about hooking something up to my nearly 60 year old car hooked up to the juice in my 45 year old garage, although I suppose the devices have a safety feature of some sort.

xwesx said:

Do you keep a maintainer on it? If not, that is probably not a bad investment, especially since you have ready access to it and electricity now!

stickguy

having it in the garage makes it a lot easier to keep an eye on it, and charge if needed. and take a quick drive to exercise it when you have a few minutes.

ab348

These CTEK chargers are what I used on my Cutlass for 20 years or so every winter and worked great. Many automakers sell them as a battery protector factory accessory.

https://smartercharger.com

tjc78

Doubtful any modern car would go two months sitting without a dead battery. My 99 S10 would go about a month and crank a little slow.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

Doubtful any modern car would go two months sitting without a dead battery. My 99 S10 would go about a month and crank a little slow.

I start my two summer cars once a month. The Mustang will take it with some grumbling because of the 7 year old battery in the heated garage. The convertible is in an unheated barn and needs a trickle charger to make it a month.

fintail

Cool, I will look into that. My only leeriness is the keeping something hooked up all the time, but I suppose if there's an electrical fault, it is designed to stop charging.

My garage is insulated, but not heated - so it can be cold, but not nearly as cold as outside - I think cold is actually easier on batteries than heat.

ab348 said:

These CTEK chargers are what I used on my Cutlass for 20 years or so every winter and worked great. Many automakers sell them as a battery protector factory accessory.

https://smartercharger.com

explorerx4

I've had the Mustang on the charger for 2 days. The interior lights don't come on when the door is opened, so the battery is totally dead.

ab348

fintail said:

Cool, I will look into that. My only leeriness is the keeping something hooked up all the time, but I suppose if there's an electrical fault, it is designed to stop charging.

What originally sold me on them is that Porsche was selling them rebranded with their logo (for a much higher price of course) since not many new Porsches get driven during the winter. More recently I discovered that GM does the same thing with the C8 Corvette. I imagine M-B, BMW and others do the same. These have smarts in them that works magic in how it treats the battery unlike an older trickle charger. The only fault I found with mine was that after a number of years the single control button became at first balky, then non-functional. The interwebs revealed that if you position the unit close to the battery itself, acid vapors can affect that switch. Although it was supposedly non-serviceable, there was a video that showed how to get at it. A spritz of DeOxit and a few cycles of the switch brought it back to life.

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

I've had the Mustang on the charger for 2 days. The interior lights don't come on when the door is opened, so the battery is totally dead.

I think I should replace both batteries. The Ford is easy since it’s in a nice little tray near the firewall. The Chrysler has the battery stuffed up inside the fender so that’s a job for “the guy”.

oldfarmer50

Now here is a project car. Standard shift too. It used to be you could get a decent car for that amount.

https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/amsterdam-2008-ford-fusion-standard/7454752857.html

stickguy

certainly looks like a car from Amsterdam. Also a real basket case. High miles, sitting for 2 years, rotted out and bad engine? Hard pass on that one!

fintail

Maybe not all bad, weight reduction = better mileage, important in these inflationary times.

The worn but maintained 08 Fusion without rot or neglect is now 4K.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

certainly looks like a car from Amsterdam. Also a real basket case. High miles, sitting for 2 years, rotted out and bad engine? Hard pass on that one!

Come on, it’s probably just a sensor.

gsemike

On Long Island, I'll never see rust like that. What a difference a couple hundred miles makes

I don't know why he is even bothering. I know the ad is cheap, but that is junkyard bound

stickguy

you see a lot worse looking stuff running around up there. especially in the winter when anybody that can hides their good car in the garage.

gsemike

stickguy said:

you see a lot worse looking stuff running around up there. especially in the winter when anybody that can hides their good car in the garage.

Here it seems like cars don't rust anymore and we're hardly the South. I guess the winters are that much worse

stickguy

lot more snow up there and too much salt used. And it also stays cold a lot longer so harder to get it cleaned out. and poor people.

gsemike

stickguy said:

lot more snow up there and too much salt used. And it also stays cold a lot longer so harder to get it cleaned out. and poor people.

I went to school at New Paltz so I have a number of friends throughout NY. I see the pics. Winter can be pretty different up there

gsemike

A few listings on Long Island

Curbstoner lexus but looks good Seems like a nice car to drive for the money and should have plenty of life left

Supra money has gone too far Should be a turbo for that money

No details but I'd bake the back tires off this Camaro for 2 grand

If the maintenance is up to date, this could be a good Accord for someone

These Pathfinders can really last so this might be good

texases

Yeah, that Supra's a bit high, but it is the color/model I've always liked.

qbrozen

GS seems like a great buy. If it is everything promised, I think it would pull quite a bit more on C&B.

texases

That GS has clear headlights, most are faded. It does have the red-turned-clear tail light that many do.

tjc78

GS is a good buy. Supra is a bit high, but I did see an 86 Conquest turbo go for nearly 30K the other day so who knows.

fintail

No Supra turbo until the Mk 3/1986.5 model. Those are somewhat unloved, while the Mk 4 can hit 6 figures.

And yeah, for under 5K, that GS seems like a deal.

jpp75

I had two of those Pathfinders and loved them. If that one were closer I'd be tempted.

british_rover

For fintail

https://newlondon.craigslist.org/cto/d/putnam-1958-mercedes-190/7456821259.html

explorerx4

Not a Fintail but good provenance.

fintail

Looks like it might not be half bad under the dust. Could be redeemable by a labor of love restorer.

gsemike

jpp75 said:

I had two of those Pathfinders and loved them. If that one were closer I'd be tempted.

I had one too, but earlier. Had the 3.3 engine. Still notifce that I will see them around every now and then.

explorerx4

Need a new battery for the Mustang. None available at the dealer(Motorcraft). Advance Auto Parts has one(Diehard), although $20 more.

tjc78

@explorerx4 said:
Need a new battery for the Mustang. None available at the dealer(Motorcraft). Advance Auto Parts has one(Diehard), although $20 more.

They both used to be made by Johnson Controls, but who knows now that Advance bought the Die Hard name.

ab348

I hear Deka batteries are good, but I seldom see them in these parts.

explorerx4

Installed the new battery and car started right up.
Put on the heat and smelled something funny.
Someone made a home in the cowl area.

xwesx

It doesn't take them long, does it?!

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

Installed the new battery and car started right up.
Put on the heat and smelled something funny.
Someone made a home in the cowl area.

Check your air box too. I changed the air filter on the Sebring last spring and found out about half of the box was filled with critters. I don’t know how it even started.

I store that car in an open barn, where do you keep yours for the winter?

explorerx4

@oldfarmer50,
It has it's own garage bay. It doesn't take much for a mouse to get in.
I cleaned it up but noticed some new mouse pee this morning.

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@oldfarmer50,
It has it's own garage bay. It doesn't take much for a mouse to get in.
I cleaned it up but noticed some new mouse pee this morning.

Last year I was a bit neglectful on mouse proofing the barn car and had to suffer with rodent smell for a long time. This year I threw every repellent and mouse bait known to man in and around the car. I don’t even like going near it now. Hopefully, the ones that aren’t deterred will croak for their trouble.

But you’re right, it’s hard to even keep them out of a closed garage. I put a dozen mouse traps around the Mustang this year and filled every one.