The Car Thread ... !

[bunnspecial]

I'll throw in my two cents and sat that a 27y/o forced induction car with 127,000 miles is a HORRIBLE idea unless you want to deal with constantly throwing money at it.

I have horrible memories of the 1980 Porsche 924 Turbo that my dad(fortunately) got rid of 15 years ago...the thing spent more time parked than being driven, mostly because it was either in the shop or my dad was putting off having it towed there.

 

[venomgt95]

Get an 02 Intrepid. I think you'd have more fun with that. Especially if you got the SXT or R/T Version

 

[AustinIllini]

New Chryslers are awful. I imagine a 27 y/o one with high mileage is worse than garbage.

 

[MatthewLTL]

how is the Lebaron a money pit? its actually in better physical shape than my Daewoo

 

[yg17]

how is the Lebaron a money pit? its actually in better physical shape than my Daewoo

It's a 27 year old car. It would be a money pit even if it wasn't a Chrysler.

 

[MatthewLTL]

Well, I have removed the wheel. The rotor is not ruined, rusted on the edges but not ruined.

EDIT: Caliper is rusted. looks like there is no pad material left and I don't need a brake "key" I can remove the caliper with a 5MM socket (HOPEFULLY).

 

[bunnspecial]

It's a 27 year old car. It would be a money pit even if it wasn't a Chrysler.

Not only is it a 27 year old car-it's a 27 year old forced induction car.

If I were going to buy a 27 year old Chrysler group product(which is not a great idea) I'd take a K-car in some iteration over a LeBaron. At least K cars are(or were) common enough that aftermarket parts are cheap.

 

[MatthewLTL]

Not only is it a 27 year old car-it's a 27 year old forced induction car.

If I were going to buy a 27 year old Chrysler group product(which is not a great idea) I'd take a K-car in some iteration over a LeBaron. At least K cars are(or were) common enough that aftermarket parts are cheap.

This LeBaron is turbocharged......

 

[bunnspecial]

This LeBaron is turbocharged......

That's what I said. Forced induction is a blanket term that includes turbochargers(driven off the exhaust) and superchargers(driven directly off the engine).

 

[MatthewLTL]

well everyone.... here is pictures of the caliper and rotor.....

this is my improvised jack stand setup.......

 

[bunnspecial]

How do you know that your rotor is okay? It could be warped but not necessarily obvious.

I'd still take it to a brake shop and have it machined. I'd want to do it anyway after driving with a seized caliper, and they will be able to tell pretty quickly on the lathe if it's warped. Most shops will charge $15-20 to machine a rotor. Of course, it's also not a bad idea to check and see how much replacements actually are-some aftermarket replacements for economy cars run $30-50 a piece.

BTW, with your improvised jack set up-be sure you place the front tire/wheel under the front axle. It's a good idea in general any time you're working with jack stands, and can save you a whole lot of trouble along with your life if your improvised jack stands give way.

I think I paid $15 or $20 for a pair of jack stands at Big Lots. I've since upgraded to a nicer set, but those worked fine for a while. That beats the heck out of having your car drop and really damage something on it or on you.

 

[nebo1ss]

Right hand drive on a Michigan plate?

The car must have been a private import from England at some time. The right hand drive plus the original British plates.

 

[MatthewLTL]

How do you know that your rotor is okay? It could be warped but not necessarily obvious.

I'd still take it to a brake shop and have it machined. I'd want to do it anyway after driving with a seized caliper, and they will be able to tell pretty quickly on the lathe if it's warped. Most shops will charge $15-20 to machine a rotor. Of course, it's also not a bad idea to check and see how much replacements actually are-some aftermarket replacements for economy cars run $30-50 a piece.

BTW, with your improvised jack set up-be sure you place the front tire/wheel under the front axle. It's a good idea in general any time you're working with jack stands, and can save you a whole lot of trouble along with your life if your improvised jack stands give way.

I think I paid $15 or $20 for a pair of jack stands at Big Lots. I've since upgraded to a nicer set, but those worked fine for a while. That beats the heck out of having your car drop and really damage something on it or on you.

AutoZone sells a rotor for $35. I said it was ok as in it is smooth it's not chewed up. I didn't look for warpage. The new Caliper is $40 and new pads are $30. No core for rotor but there is a $22 core charge on the caliper.
I actually have the wheel off to the side. If i put the wheel under the front the car wouldnt be supported by the ramp i have under there.

 

[MatthewLTL]

The car must have been a private import from England at some time. The right hand drive plus the original British plates.

Imagine the repair costs.... If it's a UK car in the US there would be no place in the US to make parts for it....

 

[yg17]

Right hand drive on a Michigan plate?

Any car over 25 years old can be imported into the US without any restrictions. R32 Skylines are starting to trickle into the US since the oldest recently turned 25.

 

[bunnspecial]

Imagine the repair costs.... If it's a UK car in the US there would be no place in the US to make parts for it....

It depends on what it is. There's enough of an enthusiast market over here for a lot of British cars that parts are fairly available.

I've been very close to buying an MG-B more than once(I just haven't had the "right one" come along at a time when I could afford it) and have researched parts cost on them as part of the cost of ownership. The common parts aren't actually too bad-a little bit more expensive than American parts of the same age, but not bad.

And, of course if you buy one with wire wheels, it already comes with the obligatory lead hammer to whack the fuel pump when it decides to quit working .

I've also looked into Austin-Healeys, although have written them off as the "big Healey" is too expensive for me and, being 6'2" tall, once I shoehorn myself into a Sprite I'm looking at the top edge of the windshield(or windscreen, to be proper) or even over it. Even so, I didn't find parts exceptionally expensive for them either.

I've never looked into Triumphs as they don't appeal to me aesthetically.

With all of that said, old Minis are popular and desireable enough that I'm sure that parts availability and cost is similar to the cars I researched.

 

[MatthewLTL]

It depends on what it is. There's enough of an enthusiast market over here for a lot of British cars that parts are fairly available.

I've been very close to buying an MG-B more than once(I just haven't had the "right one" come along at a time when I could afford it) and have researched parts cost on them as part of the cost of ownership. The common parts aren't actually too bad-a little bit more expensive than American parts of the same age, but not bad.

And, of course if you buy one with wire wheels, it already comes with the obligatory lead hammer to whack the fuel pump when it decides to quit working .

I've also looked into Austin-Healeys, although have written them off as the "big Healey" is too expensive for me and, being 6'2" tall, once I shoehorn myself into a Sprite I'm looking at the top edge of the windshield(or windscreen, to be proper) or even over it. Even so, I didn't find parts exceptionally expensive for them either.

I've never looked into Triumphs as they don't appeal to me aesthetically.

With all of that said, old Minis are popular and desireable enough that I'm sure that parts availability and cost is similar to the cars I researched.

I actually seen a Triumph those thing are LOW you literally FALL into them. And the pedals are way in there you are virtually standing it a sit position to reach those pedals!

 

[MatthewLTL]

Well i Turned my wheel to the left to get better access to the caliper Looking, the pistion is completely rusted and believe it or not there is atleast 1/2 of pad material left on the pad controled by the piston. The piston is sticking out 1/8 of a inch or so.

 

[A.Goldberg]

1998 LeBaron? You'd be trading in one money pit for another.

Agreed. 1988 is quite old. How much do they want for that?

 

[wct097]

AutoZone sells a rotor for $35. I said it was ok as in it is smooth it's not chewed up. I didn't look for warpage. The new Caliper is $40 and new pads are $30. No core for rotor but there is a $22 core charge on the caliper.
I actually have the wheel off to the side. If i put the wheel under the front the car wouldnt be supported by the ramp i have under there.

Consider yourself lucky. My '05 M3's rotors cost about $250 each because they're drilled and really only available from the dealer.

Speaking of the BMW, I found this when doing my valve adjustment last weekend:

That tab came off of this hub:

....and chewed up the vanos oil pump disc:

So yeah, that's about $1400 in repairs/upgrades as a result.

 

[MatthewLTL]

hey guys just some Car Trivia!: The world’s worst city to drive in is Manila. Terrible roads, endless traffic and a disregard for stopping at red lights make this place truly awful for driving.

 

[bunnspecial]

Agreed. 1988 is quite old. How much do they want for that?

You really weren't joking about that AARP card with me the other day, were you? (I was born in '88)

 

[MatthewLTL]

Agreed. 1988 is quite old. How much do they want for that?

$995. Main selling points for me are:

1988= NO AIRBAGS!
Mint cosmetic condition
Old enough to get a "Collector" plate on it so I'll never have to pay for registration!

 

[MatthewLTL]

BTW i called the mechanic in which ill be taking the car to just to ask if hed install parts id bring and how much he would charger for a caliper/pad replacement. He gave me a really rough estimate. here is all the estimates:

Timing Belt & Cam Sensor (unless i can get to the cam sensor myself) $400
New caliper and pads $260 give or take
Valve Cover Gasket: $80.
so roughly $700-800

The valve cover i can most likely do myself. I could most likely do the brakes too if i can get in there good enough and with the right effert.tools (or brute force) I could do the cam sensor.

 

[bunnspecial]

$995. Main selling points for me are:

1988= NO AIRBAGS!
Mint cosmetic condition
Old enough to get a "Collector" plate on it so I'll never have to pay for registration!

Be careful with collector plates, and be sure to check your state laws.

At least here in Kentucky, the laws specifically say that the car CAN NOT be a daily driver. Of course, the definitions are intentionally ambiguous I think. If I only ever drove it to car shows cruise-ins, or for cruising around town I don't think there would be an issue. If I drive a car to work once a month or drive it to go out to eat occasional, though, is it a "daily driver?"(I would think not, but what a police officer or judge thinks is what matters). Even so, if it's your only car, it's pretty hard to argue that it's anything but a daily driver.

The chances of getting caught are realistically probably small, but the fines can be big if you are. At a minimum, you'd probably have to cough up the registration(with interest) for all the years you should have been paying it, and there's a decent chance you'd get hit with a fine also.

There are also special collector car insurance plans, but again you really have to read the fine print on these-some have mileage limits, storage restrictions(i.e. only in the garage) and pretty strict limits about where and how you can drive the car. Some companies would be okay with "driving it to work once a month" but others would say absolutely not.

Weigh the risks with the rewards...short term savings can turn into big expenses in the long term, and this is just one example.

Going again back to the MG-B I've been threatening to buy for about 6 or 7 years now(along with half a dozen other cars ) I'd put antique plates on it and insure it with collector insurance. At the same time, though, it would strictly be a "fun" car and I'd keep a daily driver.