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

Michaell

stickguy said:

my take? first, I would bet that it would be cheaper to just buy a comparable condition 1998 Mustang GT and get the same end result, much easier and cheaper!

and it probably only makes sense if you have the shop, tools and talent to do the work yourself.

also, there are likely a lot more differences than you would think. stuff like different subframes, suspension pieces, computers, and a bunch of little stuff. I bet you would need a wrecked GT to park next to it and steal all the parts from (a rear end wreck of course!)

but it does sound like a fun retirement project!

Yeah, I suspected that was the case. Yes, it would need a new rear end, among other things. No, I can't do the work myself, which may make this more expensive than I'd like.

A quick look at cars.com shows a bunch of low mileage Mustang GTs, SVTs and Mach 1's for sale. I saw one for about $12K, and as high as $60K for a sub 10K mileage SVT.

qbrozen

I concur with stick. Well, other than the comment about it being a fun project.

kyfdx

The Mark VII seems like a good deal..

oldfarmer50

I always like the Celicas of that era and a 98’ would be modern enough to have fun with.

My mom had a 53’ Ford like that 51’ and I have memories as a kid jumping around on plush velour seats.

That Tempo would be barely worth $1000 with a good engine.

I had an 85’ Ford pick up that was indestructible except to rust. That 89’ should run forever.

I also like that Opel. An affordable mini-Corvette.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

my take? first, I would bet that it would be cheaper to just buy a comparable condition 1998 Mustang GT and get the same end result, much easier and cheaper!

and it probably only makes sense if you have the shop, tools and talent to do the work yourself.

also, there are likely a lot more differences than you would think. stuff like different subframes, suspension pieces, computers, and a bunch of little stuff. I bet you would need a wrecked GT to park next to it and steal all the parts from (a rear end wreck of course!)

but it does sound like a fun retirement project!

Yeah, I agree. It would be cheaper to just buy a Mustang GT. One thing you might be able to do is find a 4.6L 4 valve from a similar year Mark VIII and turn it into a Cobra Stang. Mustang got the 4.6L after 1996 so fitment should be better.

qbrozen

fintail said:

A few more beauties ripe for the picking:

Rare fox that's more expensive but maybe not bad, nice interior

Wow. All this time and I am just now learning that the Zephyr came in more than 1 coupe style. Mine looked like this.

tjc78

@kyfdx said:
The Mark VII seems like a good deal..

I was surprised how good the driver’s seat looked with that mileage. The bolsters are usually gone by then.

Panther wagon is well preserved for the mileage too.

I like the color combo on the Vette. Fun toy for not much $$. Driver’s seat looks pretty rough for the low mileage. Was it Shifty that said the interiors age in dog years?

ab348

qbrozen said:

Wow. All this time and I am just now learning that the Zephyr came in more than 1 coupe style. Mine looked like this.

Yes, the basket-handle roof style of the Fairmont (Futura) and Zephyr (Z7) came out for ‘79. I remember sitting in one in the showroom and being astounded at the lack of headroom. It made me wonder if Ford used the wrong seat tracks in that particular car.

ab348

Of Fin’s Finds (TM Regd.) 😄 I like the ‘78 T-bird as a best buy. The ‘74 Caddy has good colors IMO but ‘74 GM engines generally didn’t run very well and were pretty emasculated. The Caddy V8 was never a powerhouse anyway.

fintail

tjc78 said:

@kyfdx said:

The Mark VII seems like a good deal..

I was surprised how good the driver’s seat looked with that mileage. The bolsters are usually gone by then.

Panther wagon is well preserved for the mileage too.

I like the color combo on the Vette. Fun toy for not much $$. Driver’s seat looks pretty rough for the low mileage. Was it Shifty that said the interiors age in dog years?

Yep that was a Shifty line. I suppose white shows all sins, it is a 30 year old car, and if never conditioned properly, some wear would show through.

gsemike

First car shopping on Long Island marketplace


Overestimating what he's got

This must have some life left in it

QX4 with needs but I'd imagine it has some life left in it

I never trust a buy here pay here lot and the car is obviously photographed wet,, but not a lot of miles for one of these Lexus Camrys

Looks like a pretty good Landcruiser for this money Ad however says 4runner

texases

Guy missed a decimal point on that ES300's miles. First stop, seat covers.

That 4Runner is a 4Runner. Or were you saying it's overpriced at $6000? That's pretty much the market price for them.

qbrozen

QX4 is interesting for the money

tjc78

Could be a deal if the misfire is something simple.

gsemike

texases said:

Guy missed a decimal point on that ES300's miles. First stop, seat covers.

That 4Runner is a 4Runner. Or were you saying it's overpriced at $6000? That's pretty much the market price for them.

No, I did think it was a LandCruiser. My bad. Looks decent for the $$

gsemike

tjc78 said:

Could be a deal if the misfire is something simple.

Definitely would need to be checked out. Can be anything from a spark plug to a bad engine

qbrozen

@gsemike said:
Definitely would need to be checked out. Can be anything from a spark plug to a bad engine

My guess is dirty MAF sensor. Not at all positive, but something in the back of my brain is telling me that was common on the 3.3

fintail

Just a few caught my eye this morning, as I have the slightest itch for a radwood era car:

Those hubcaps again - I find no period material with them, yet I have seen numerous 66-67 Galaxies with them, and our 66 had these when we got it. Maybe it was a thing to change them in the early 70s, which I think these date from.

Button tufted

Now that's a low price

Needs some fettling, but cool looking for the money (and I bet you could get it cheaper

I love the color combo, don't love anachronistic wheels

Maybe bargain of the day, three point eight is great?

stickguy

I like the Fiero..

Alante is only cheap to buy. Will eat you alive from there and still be worth squatola.

xwesx

I really like that Fiero at first glance. If I was in the area, I'd be tempted to go look at it.

fintail

Maybe surprisingly, I like the Buick, those appear to be wheels rather than hubcaps, uncommon. Nice window sticker, pretty loaded.

Fiero is cool too, always liked the GT, and the SL isn't wildly overpriced, but I will deduct at least a grand for wheel replacement/correction. 70s SLs need bundts, or on early cars, even hubcaps, not 90s wheels.

ab348

Sadly the two Caddys have the awful HT series engines. No thank you.

Never buy a convertible with a black vinyl interior.

sda

I wonder how hard it is to swap the 4.1HT for the much better 4.9 or 4.5? The 4.9 would be my preference but the 4.5 moved my 89 Seville just fine and got 27 mpg on the highway on RUG. The 4.9 needs PUG.

fintail

Is there a way to maintain a 4.1 and have it hold up? Adam's bustleback videos today make the car look pretty nice.

Out for a bit today, got a few waves and comments, and at a car parts store (I like to keep an extra quart of oil around, and the Wally World down the road had almost nothing), an employee was amazed by the car, asked to take photos, etc. No running or driving issues, and I remembered to snap a pic, with some late summer foliage that won't be around forever as the seasons have changed fast:

tjc78

One thing is for sure, that car is very photogenic

gsemike

Those hubcaps on the Galaxie are from the early 70s, probably 72 or so and on. The were ubiquitous on galaxies and LTDs. I don't know why so many have found there way to 60s cars

fintail

As they say, a 10 footer. I recall my dad's 60s Fords were similar probably because I kept them clean. Fintail gets wiped down every time I drive it anymore.

tjc78 said:

One thing is for sure, that car is very photogenic

fintail

That looks like it. I also find them on mid 70s pickups, Ford getting mileage out of a part (like with the steering wheels used on everything):

gsemike said:

Those hubcaps on the Galaxie are from the early 70s, probably 72 or so and on. The were ubiquitous on galaxies and LTDs. I don't know why so many have found there way to 60s cars

xwesx

fintail said:

As they say, a 10 footer. I recall my dad's 60s Fords were similar probably because I kept them clean. Fintail gets wiped down every time I drive it anymore.

tjc78 said:

One thing is for sure, that car is very photogenic

Hey, things are looking up! There was a time when you said it a was a 20-footer!

qbrozen

@xwesx said:
Hey, things are looking up! There was a time when you said it a was a 20-footer!

That’s just his eyes getting worse with age

oldfarmer50

xwesx said:

fintail said:

As they say, a 10 footer. I recall my dad's 60s Fords were similar probably because I kept them clean. Fintail gets wiped down every time I drive it anymore.

tjc78 said:

One thing is for sure, that car is very photogenic

Hey, things are looking up! There was a time when you said it a was a 20-footer!

Maybe his eyesight is getting worse.

gsemike

fintail said:

That looks like it. I also find them on mid 70s pickups, Ford getting mileage out of a part (like with the steering wheels used on everything):

gsemike said:

Those hubcaps on the Galaxie are from the early 70s, probably 72 or so and on. The were ubiquitous on galaxies and LTDs. I don't know why so many have found there way to 60s cars

Yep, so many passenger cars came with 14s then. Basically just the trucks and full sizers had 15s so how many wheel covers are they going to come up with

fintail

Some precious gems from CL:

Seldom see the 4 bangers, maybe less risk of transmission implosion

Excuse me? Oh, and I would like to buy a period or comma

I guess the price seems fair, but knowing some of the rubes around here, it's missing three zeroes

Bargain of the day, probably sold already

Radio works

I like the old documents - local window sticker, and it sold!

Money pit, but if it lasted this long and got some miles, maybe a good one

Probably close to a sole survivor

What is it with this segment and punctuation, car looks nice save for price

Quite the interior color combo, might clean up

Neat rare gnat

Interesting story, seems a little odd

I never noticed the emblem under the rear door handle

Hood scoops writing checks the powertrain can't cash

Needs one heck of a "mechanic"

These bring decent money if pristine, could be a good project

Not CL, but had to share, the ne plus ultra of fintails - posted in a fintail group. W112 300SE LWB, around 1500 units made for worldwide sales over a 3 year period. I'd be surprised if more than 10 or so are on the road in the US today. Air-suspended car with an engine related to the 300SL - these cars would cruise at 120 all day. I notice it is also a sunroof and AC car. Nothing 75K or so won't solve. Most desirable fintail aside from the Universal.

stickguy

mazda is neat. way to expensive for what it needs.

and the Escort isn't a sole survivor. You get 3 of them in the package deal! though maybe only 1 spare diesel engine. man that thing must be slow.

tjc78

My Mom had a Caravan of that vintage with the 4cyl. S L O W… right when I got my license I had it loaded with family heading back from a funeral. I had to kick off the AC to make it up a step hill. I’m not kidding.

Mark looks decent for the price. Story is certainly interesting. Wouldn’t a 4 door been better for that task?

Franco-Econoline is kinda cool.

ab348

The Hurst/Olds price is optimistic as those things were not a muscle car in any way, shape or form, though they did look like one. They were also not paragons of quality given that era of GM and so ones as nice as that one which are unrestored are rare. They have the hokey and relatively useless Hurst "lightning rod shifter" with 3 levers that few people will know how to use.

kyfdx

Kills me when people can't even get the model name right: Cordova?

Grandma's Buick is pretty cool.

sda

"Excuse me? Oh, and I would like to buy a period or comma" I had to laugh at this and then catch my breath after reading the description with the continuous run on sentence. whew

fintail

World's longest sentence ending with a double exclamation mark, a chef's kiss. Huge price as mentioned by ab is just icing on the cake.

Some complain about the text-speak of young ones, but there's a more experienced age cohort out there who isn't exactly writing prose, themselves (and they are often the complainers).

sda said:

"Excuse me? Oh, and I would like to buy a period or comma" I had to laugh at this and then catch my breath after reading the description with the continuous run on sentence. whew

ab348

kyfdx said:

Kills me when people can't even get the model name right: Cordova?

I know, right? The name is right there on the fender.

Not an uncommon issue though. I can’t begin to count how many ads I’ve seen offering Cameros for sale.

kyfdx

ab348 said:

kyfdx said:

Kills me when people can't even get the model name right: Cordova?

I know, right? The name is right there on the fender.

Not an uncommon issue though. I can’t begin to count how many ads I’ve seen offering Cameros for sale.

A lot of people seem to purchase Rouge..

texases

So much done with phones, where autocorrect messes things up.

kyfdx

texases said:

So much done with phones, where autocorrect messes things up.

I can't bear to read this forum on a phone. Occasionally, on an iPad. I don't know how they do it.. lol

stickguy

works fine for me on my iPhone. can even post comments.

oldfarmer50

Just saw a Caravan of that vintage (maybe older) yesterday in VT cruising the highway. VT plates but pristine body so must have come from down south.

That 55’ Buick is going to need a tow truck to drag it out of the ground and probably an entire bottom.

On the 76’ Lincoln, why would they use a two door car to transport dignitaries? Don’t they usually sit in the back?

That 64’ MB looks like it’s been sitting in a field for years. I get a kick out of the request to submit bids in DM. Don’t they use Euros now?

fintail

Maybe the last cruise before winter hibernation? We had a couple inches of heavy wet snow on Friday morning, made a big mess then quickly melted during a windstorm that made another mess. Now we're slated for a cold snap with snow again tonight. The clock is ticking. Cold morning, below freezing - my garage is insulated but not heated. The car started on the first turn no problem, but seemed to have a slow cold idle, after letting it run for a minute or two, I tapped the throttle a couple times, which seemed to help. I might need to make a cold weather adjustment (idle speed adjustment is simple) if I get a winter drive in later. Still getting a rattle from the front of the engine, I am hoping it is pulley related and not the engine. Running smooth as ever, and the heat works, been a while since I used it. Gratuitous pic from this morning:

stickguy

must be nice to finally have it safely tucked away in your garage at home.

Michaell

@fintail - what happens if that noise is something major? At what point do you throw in the towel to keep it running?

I'm not trying to be mean - anybody who has owned pets are often faced with the same decision.

fintail

I think I'd have no choice but to repair it. Fortunately, the cars have appreciated to the point where a repair could probably be justified. It might be harder finding a shop to fix it than coming up with the money - even for regular service and maintenance, it's getting tough even in my metro area of several hundred thousand people, not to mention a major repair. A lot of shops don't want to touch something so old and unusual. If it is something that needs major attention, the car will probably be off the road for a while during the repair.

In 1997, a piston ring broke, and I decided to fix it rather than walk away or do an engine swap. It was an expensive and time consuming repair, the car was eventually off the road for a couple months. I justified it by thinking what else could I get for the money, as the rest of the car was in good shape (at that time, I was a student and the car was my DD).

Michaell said:

@fintail - what happens if that noise is something major? At what point do you throw in the towel to keep it running?

I'm not trying to be mean - anybody who has owned pets are often faced with the same decision.

Michaell

fintail said:

I think I'd have no choice but to repair it. Fortunately, the cars have appreciated to the point where a repair could probably be justified. It might be harder finding a shop to fix it than coming up with the money - even for regular service and maintenance, it's getting tough even in my metro area of several hundred thousand people, not to mention a major repair. A lot of shops don't want to touch something so old and unusual. If it is something that needs major attention, the car will probably be off the road for a while during the repair.

In 1997, a piston ring broke, and I decided to fix it rather than walk away or do an engine swap. It was an expensive and time consuming repair, the car was eventually off the road for a couple months. I justified it by thinking what else could I get for the money, as the rest of the car was in good shape (at that time, I was a student and the car was my DD).

Michaell said:

@fintail - what happens if that noise is something major? At what point do you throw in the towel to keep it running?

I'm not trying to be mean - anybody who has owned pets are often faced with the same decision.

Would you consider shipping it to Seattle to get your former experts to do any major repairs, if that time ever comes?