Topic: Out with the old, in with the older

[inco]

Oh,oh, forget about Maaco! 

And at 4.30 am what were you doing out and about? 

[initial_D]

UPDATE: After 5 whole weeks of ownership she arrived at my mechanic's shop dead on a hook at about 4:30am today.

My guess: timing chain failure, which would almost certainly be fatal. We will find out for sure on Monday.

And I figured the rust would kill it first.

Sorry to heard that, Wolfe.

Oh,oh, forget about Maaco! 

And at 4.30 am what were you doing out and about? 

Very slow arriving tow truck?

[Arthur Dent]

The end result says it all. Now about the exterior.....Let's see what miracles can be wrought there.

Washing the exterior didn't have quite the same positive effect as cleaning the interior did. In fact it made it look worse than before. The dirt hid a lot of the scratches to the paint.

I'm actually considering trying that $50 tremclad job that Arthur Dent mentioned once I get rid of as much of the rust as I can. However, replacing the valve cover gasket and getting rid of that useless timing chain guide are at the top of my to do list for now.

I'd try an aggressive polish first - worked wonders on the crap paint on my Spitfire.

[AVToller]

UPDATE: After 5 whole weeks of ownership she arrived at my mechanic's shop dead on a hook at about 4:30am today.

My guess: timing chain failure, which would almost certainly be fatal. We will find out for sure on Monday.

And I figured the rust would kill it first.

  I hope your experiment doesn't turn out to be THAT brief. 

[dr_spock]

Bummer.   

[mmret]

Hope it can be brought back to life.

[safristi]

  ...did someone say Whale OWL !!!?...chicken Sept???..

[mdxtasy]

Well that wasn't part of the plan....hope things aren't as catastrophic as initial thoughts.

[Julie]

Sorry to hear that. Let us know the update.

[Wolfe]

UPDATE

Well that wasn't part of the plan....hope things aren't as catastrophic as initial thoughts.

No, it wasn't the catastrophic failure I had feared.

The pre-existing timing chain rattle had me worried that one of the guides might have broken off and taken the chain with it. The fact that the engine stopped with a loud rattle/vibration and then silence seemed to suggest that was the case. That wasn't it though.

In fact it was the ignition system shorting out due to the oil leak from the valve cover (that I was going to get around to fixing).

The fix is fairly simple. The complicated part is whether it should be fixed. The estimate for the minimum necessary repair is more than I paid for the car. That wouldn't include replacing the valve cover gasket or any of the other problems that have accumulated over the many years of neglect. Now, I was going to fix a few of these things myself and spend a bit to get the more tricky bits fixed, but the cost of this repair plus the other things I was already planning to do... [reaches for calculator... tap, tap, tap.... ]     ...um, uh, carry the 1 and.... hmm, I don't like that number. And then there's the possibility that something else will break soon Sigh, maybe this isn't so complicated after all.


I didn't plan on owning this car for very long (6 months to a year at most), but I expected it to be more than 5 weeks. Oh well, easy come, easy go. I guess I can vote in this poll now   http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/index.php/topic,47360.0.html


Now for a practical question: The car is at my mechanic's and he's waiting to see whether I want to fix it or not. I don't. What do I do with the car now? Should I call a wrecker to take it away?


I sense that there will soon be another "What car should I buy?" thread started.

[Wolfe]

The end result says it all. Now about the exterior.....Let's see what miracles can be wrought there.

Washing the exterior didn't have quite the same positive effect as cleaning the interior did. In fact it made it look worse than before. The dirt hid a lot of the scratches to the paint.

I'm actually considering trying that $50 tremclad job that Arthur Dent mentioned once I get rid of as much of the rust as I can. However, replacing the valve cover gasket and getting rid of that useless timing chain guide are at the top of my to do list for now.

I'd try an aggressive polish first - worked wonders on the crap paint on my Spitfire.

Polishing a turd only makes more of a mess.

A moot point now anyway, but thanks Arthur.

[mdxtasy]

Seeing as you don't LOVE this car, keeping it and throwing money into it is not a great thing to do.  Plus as you said, it's been neglected for many years and it's in ahem.....fair condition.  I don't mind putting money into a car I like and plan on keeping (although that never works out).....

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Eeek, you had transformed that SX into a mighty fine beast.

I think cars like that are great to have on the side or as a project, but not so great as your primary mode of transportation.  

If you don't have tonnes of money and need wheels, I would see if anyone has a push-pull-or-drag-it sale     Too bad it'd cost that much to fix.

[AVToller]

You see to be taking it well.    I look forward to your new thread. 

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I sense that there will soon be another "What car should I buy?" thread started.

I vote: "Buy from the US, you will save thousands and be sending a clear message to Canadian manufacturers" 

[Arthur Dent]

Don't sent to the wrecker. Here at least they command some money even in trashed shape.Sell to some kid with a dream of slapping in a SR20DET motor. Either that or buy a good stock motor from someone swapping his out. They can be had super cheap. Depends how much work you want to do.

[Wolfe]

You see to be taking it well.   

Meh, happens. I knew the car was near the end of its life. This is just a matter of inconvenient timing, no big deal.

I just wish it hadn't crapped out at 3 in the morning when I was on my way home from a 14 hour shift at work.

[inco]

I agree with Arthur. Why not try and make something good come of it if you can. Assuming you can store it or have the room I would consider both approaches. If you don't want to afford the motor route then sell as is. It's always worth something to someone and more than what the wrecker would give you.

It would also make a good project car to keep if you have a) time and down the road b) money. It's a terrific looking car and you have done a lot of the hard stuff already.

[dr_spock]

Have Barrie1 shoe horn a small block into it. 

[Wolfe]

An LS1 V8 will fit in the 240. It's been done before and sounds awesome.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j10t3Og5T2w