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

lemmer · August 2006

300E - Any modern car that is claimed to need a tuneup scares me. What is there to tuneup in a car run by computers? If it is just spark plugs, why not spend a few minutes and a few dollars replacing them?

Civic - Maybe if he parted out every nut and bolt on eBay...

CJ7 - I have a friend who recently bought one for $3500 that looked similarly clean. It could probably use a carb rebuild, but that is about it. Seemed like a great deal to me.

lemmer · August 2006

A MB diesel beater - funny thing is that the guy isn't asking $5K for it like most of these jokers.

I am a little excited about this Land Cruiser. My wife never seems to think stuff like this is such a great idea.

fintail · August 2006

Yeah that low mileage 300E seems off somehow...it's been exposed to elements if anything, I see rear seat sag that looks like a car with 4x the mileage.

Unusual Stude

Don't click if you just ate

jaserb · August 2006

This could be either a very good deal - ie, the guy did all the expensive stuff and ran out of time / motivation / money / spousal patience - or it could be a nightmare.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/car/189647640.html

-Jason

lemmer · August 2006

Who knows? He doesn't give us a description of the body, paint, interior, etc. 10 or so wires to hook up? I vote nightmare.

au1994 · August 2006

Man, that's a heck of a price for the Land Cruiser. Looks nice, but at 235k miles there's bound to be trouble on the horizon.

lemmer · August 2006

I was figuring he must have replaced most of the major mechanical components once or twice already. The thing probably is as loose as can be at that mileage.

au1994 · August 2006

yeah, thats whats in the back of my mind as well, but man, say so in your ad!!

That's a major selling point for a rig like this. but you're right, unless that suspension has had a thorough once over, its probably a bouncy ride and scary amounts of steering play.

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

That Lark might be fun with a V-8 4speed, price is okay if it's clean.

84 Monte Carlo -- unless there are about 40 $100 bills in the trunk, I don't think so.....

CAR I SAW: 1997 BMW 318ic convertible for $6,000. Problem is a few pinholes in the top, AC doesn't work. Pleasant green with light green top. Decent all around. Problem is that the 318 is not one of BMW's high points.

Seems too high a price for what's there. New top is $1,100, and fixing the AC is well, you know....whatever....

fintail · August 2006

The hump-hood MG

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

What's it doing with a fiberglass hood?

fintail · August 2006

The original probably rusted away.

andre1969 · August 2006

does fiberglass really save THAT much weight? For example, I know you can get fiberglass front fenders for the '67-69 Dart. But c'mon, even the steel fenders probably only weight like 35-40 pounds each, if that. So how much does fiberglass really save?

Now in some low-hp application like that MG, I could understand weight being a bit more important. But as small as those things are, stuff like hoods, fenders, etc are going to weigh less too.

Unless I'm just really off with guessing weights? Hey, it's happened before. I used to think the dog weighed about 70-75 pounds. Until one day I picked him up out of curiosity and stepped on the bathroom scale while holding him and found out that oops, more like 110 pounds. And I wonder why I have back problems. :P

ghulet · August 2006

I'm a bit late to the party with these comments, but at $5000, it should really be a 'no excuses' car, 54k miles or not (meaningless IMO on a 20 YO car owned by someone very old, except that probably not much has been done)....needs A/C 'recharge'? (or perhaps a $2000 compressor or condenser, this is the second oldest...well, you know), no radio?, needs a 'tune-up' (THE oldest line of...). Sadly, I'd rather have my mom's 300E, even with the ugly color and 8x the miles, just cuz I know it's not neglected, and at probably be 1/4 the price. Last, every advertised used Mercedes on earth, inexplicably, has a 'leather' interior (that one has MB-tex, not that it's a bad thing, but you can tell by the stitch pattern very easily, especially on 124s). I think that's about a $3000-3500 car.

lemmer · August 2006

I drove the 944 Turbo I posted about yesterday. It is owned by a mechanic. To sum it up: Mechanically, great; everything else, not so great.

It needs a paint job. It has the original paint job - no wrecks, no bodywork, just completely worn out paint. The wheels look great and the tires are new. The interior has threadbare carpet, but the seats are good, and the dash is good.

The owner has done all the work on it himself. The car has all of the problem areas fixed - oil leaks, power steering leaks, timing belt/water pump, motor mounts, hardened engines hoses and vacuum lines (from all that turbo heat), etc. He has replaced all of this stuff and a lot more. The car is fast, and the clutch and transmission feel great.

So how much trouble would I be in for? Option one is to drive it for a year and leave it alone and sell it on eBay when I get tired of it. Option two is to put some $ into carpet and paint. Either way, I wouldn't likely keep it more than a year or so, and I want to minimize my losses over that time.

I am going to check out this supposedly no needs 944T. If this car is really as nice as claimed, is it worth $11,000 versus the $5,900 for the other?

qbrozen · August 2006

I like that MG. Just locate a new original hood and have it painted.

Anyone know offhand what kind of power that I6 put out? Is the car a great deal heavier than an MGB?

lemmer · August 2006

I am thinking 137hp with about 250 extra lbs, but I might have imagined that.

It was supposed to be like a Healey, but people didn't buy it (literally and figuratively).

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

The MGC puts out decent power, but it's mostly on the high end. The car is a better highway car than it is a throw around or stoplight type of vehicle.

The engine itself has no relationship to Austin Healey at all and many parts, like engine and suspension do not interchange with an MGB.

944T -- a shabby Porsche is never a good investment. They are basically sale-proof unless deeply discounted, and I don't think you're going to make a $5,000 944 into an $11,000 944 by merely adding $6,000....if you buy the $5K car and something mechanical comes up, you're sunk in a hole you've never get out of. But if you buy the very sharp $11,000 car, you can repair the problem and still bail out even or slightly behind.

qbrozen · August 2006

i'm assuming this pic is from when the car was new?

this is just an ABSURD asking price.

how do you know you are over your head? Well, maybe when you say you don't want to finish a project because you bought a bike .... but will take another project in exchange??

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

Don't choke but he'll probably get that price on the Impala SS.

No, you're right, it makes no sense but supply and demand dictates and this price is achievable.

british_rover · August 2006

Yeah there is a cult following for that car and 16,000 dollars for a really low mileage one that is clean and has not been chopped up by aftermarket parts is doable.

qbrozen · August 2006

i know they are desirable by some folks ... but for that kind of money at that age, there are MUCH better cars available. I would hope buyers would realize that .... but then again ...

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

The rare, almost unheard of phenomenon, of a 4-door sedan becoming a hot collectible. The only other one I can think of is the Jaguar MkII of the 1960s. By "hot" I mean lots of phone calls late at night and a quick sale within days or a week. (way more buyers than cars available).

Of course, this applies to nice cars, not rats or projects.

I also got to thinking about the rare case of a coupe version of a car being worth more than its convertible version. I thought of two---the Corvette split window from 1963 and the Mercedes Gullwing.

british_rover · August 2006

I saw a split window maybe three or four days ago and about gave my wife a stroke trying to make a U-Turn in traffic to follow it.

fintail · August 2006

You don't find em like this much anymore

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

Nice but you can buy a mid 90s BMW 3 series in nice shape for the same money, and really an old 325 is nothing special...it will drive and smell like an old BMW, which means hard as a rock seats, marginal AC and the same repair bills as a 1997 BMW. I don't see the point in paying double blue book for this car.

lilengineerboy · August 2006

Wrong car, wrong engine, too late, not a muscle car...
Olds 442
asking a mere $8000

jlflemmons · August 2006

Let's see, now...

Current bid is $150. Seems about right. You think the seller could at least get the name right (Salon, not Solon) but then again, he does think this beast is worth more than it cost new.

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

that is one of the most clueless ads I've seen on eBay in a longgggg time.

oregonboy · August 2006

I'm going to need a LOT more info to convince me the an 83 VW van is worth $28,000. (that's right... 3 zeros)

http://eugene.craigslist.org/car/188364487.html

james

british_rover · August 2006

They better be one hell of a porsche engine in it.

au1994 · August 2006

I'm tempted to call ol' Marvin myself and ask him one simple question : WTF??

lemmer · August 2006

Well...It has a Porsche engine, but of course the problem is that a superb '83 911 isn't worth $28K. Come to think of it, a really nice 911 and a nice van together aren't likely worth that much.

I guess she figured there was no sense providing pictures and a description as no body is going to call regardless.

lemmer · August 2006

I can't remember the last time someone posted a car with a comment that you could buy it and get it nice shape without getting in over your head.

Come on, surely someone can find a viable project.

lilengineerboy · August 2006

Go Westy
Prepare for sticker shock

ghulet · August 2006

...or perhaps, expensive cheap cars (aka, how much drama can you buy for $3500?):

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/car/190030750.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/car/190137467.html

I can think of few things scarier than a needy 928 or W140 Mercedes.

nwng · August 2006

look at it this way, you can have it with the color of your choice.

pardon my ignorance on the 944T, does it have a boost gauge? Is it working properly? Does the turbo sounds okay?

xwesx · August 2006

The MB cracks me up..... "This is not a piece of crap. I am moving out of town" and yet the title says "for sale or trade." Uhuh. :sick:

Mr_Shiftright · August 2006

The problem is that labor costs are so high and these old beaters are way more complex than a 68 dodge dart.

For instance, just about any used car is now automatically junk if it needs an engine.

all the easy projects have been done already it seems.

Why do you think car donations became such a big business? Because nobody could sell this junk to anyone anymore.

lilengineerboy · August 2006

1968 Mercedes Benz 280 SL

fintail · August 2006

It does look nice in that color, and in those pics. Location makes me leery though, those cars can rust hard. You can get a really nice one for 20K, so you have to be careful.

Not really a project, but a nice 107

ghulet · August 2006

I love that 560SL, and the price seems 'correct' (I still see lots of these a bit over $20k 'asking', which seems a bit dear for any 20 year-old car, and since its predecessor is in the same ballpark pricewise). I saw one today, also, though it was in a rather boring silver with black (I think) interior.

ghulet · August 2006

...though probably not so much with an automatic, and I think the price is a bit high, though in this condition with these miles, this has become a 'hard-to-find':

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/car/190528725.html

fintail · August 2006

Sometimes I think I wouldn't mind having a 560SL...probably just the weather getting to me as this summer has been very nice here. That signal red color is indeed unusual on one of those, too. It'd be a hard choice between that and a 113.

That Acura is a rare bird in that condition. Just about all of those are trashed in this area, or are really miled up. If you could negotiate it a bit...I think you could do worse for the money.

Certainly not many of these left on the road

bumpy · August 2006

If I'd special-ordered a $57,000 car in 1987, the first thing I would have done upon receipt was remove those stupid DOT bumpers.

"1974 was the first year that ford had their small pick ups sent to Japan for the engines to be installed."

What? It's a rebadged Mazda. Did this guy even read the data plate he took a closeup picture of?

fintail · August 2006

Some people just don't get it. Toyo Kogyo.

Euro bumpers are extremely hard to find.

qbrozen · August 2006

that's not an offensive comment at all ... just a true one.

The whole idea is for us to find potential projects and then talk about whether is viable or not, right? Based on the number of projects we manage to find that get the "fold 'em" vote, it just goes to show you how tough it really is.

I think there were a couple back there where the census was "eh, you MAY be alright IF ..." But, no, I don't think there has been one at all that was "yes! that would be a great project!"

And, frankly, I'm not surprised. Finding a rust-free HemiCuda stashed in a barn and buying it off the poor [non-permissible content removed] for $300 is like getting hit with lightning, and I'd say most likely a thing of the past (you can thank barrett-jackson and the speed channel). The discussion MAY get hit with lightning at some point. You never know.

ghulet · August 2006

...unless you consider the seller finding this kind of money for this thing (from the 'please pay for my stupid rims/modifications' file):

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/car/190631736.html

lilengineerboy · August 2006

Yeah, I understand where everyone is coming from. I really need something to do this winter... as much as bench racing on the computer is fun, I need something more hands on to do during the hibernation period. I have been trying to find an original Audi Quattro for a few grand but they are either over budget or basket cases.
I am getting less picky about what it is at this point. One idea is to get a 2002 from California and having one of my friends out there bring it back here. It just has to be able to hold my interest and not financially wreck me. Its not going to be a daily driver so that gives me a lot of freedom.
I'm still looking for the barn fresh 356 or 73 911s but alas, I'm not real hopeful (and if i did find it, I don't think I would try to do either one myself... which defeats the purpose here)

fintail · August 2006

$7500 for a pimped out 20 year old Supra...sign me up!

oooh he's "FIRM" on the price of this lovely...would a junkyard even pay you for it?

Another beauty from the same seller

This must be his brother...dude, you need to "reduce" it again by about $1850

This could be decent for the money

Good luck

Could be a neat driver

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

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles

Your Privacy