Question about buying an old car

BadBow99S10 wrote:

> "BadBow99S10" wrote:
> > [quote:b34b62fac9="Nate Nagel3"]
> >
> > I think that your friends are full of crap, a '60's Caddy
> > would be an
> > excellent driver car. Unlike Chevys and Fords of the same
> > era, the
> > Cadillac engines were excellently engineered and will last a
> > long time
> > with only routine maintenance. Moreover, they're usually
> > owned by
> > little-old-lady types and not abused.
> >
> > That said, if you know "very little about cars," you likely
> > will be
> > violated most unpleasantly by the first repair shop you bring
> > such a
> > machine to, and you should also not even buy a 30 year old car
> > unless
> > you know how to look for common signs of trouble. Some
> > problems that
> > look very scary are no big deal to someone who knows how to
> > hold a
> > wrench; some that appear to be no big deal mean lots of
> > expensive work
> > in the future. I'm not trying to discourage you from dreaming
> > of one;
> > just saying that you should learn how to work on an old car
> > first, then
> > go shopping. Sorry if I just burst your bubble.
> >
> > nate
> > [/quote:b34b62fac9]
> >
> > Dude,
> > I would say, do whatever you want. Ignore those people
> > people. If you want to buy a good car, bring a mechanic friend
> > if you have one. Also, a small, strong magnet is a good way to
> > find bondo work and heavy rust. Remember that not everyone on
> > these boards is an expert. Example: the quote attached. GM
> > builds both the Chevrolet and the Cadillac. The older
> > Cadillacs are worth a lot of money, and probably worth
> > whatever you put into it and probably more.
>
> If you can’t figure it out, what I meant above, was that Chevy and
> Cadillacs normally use the same engine. As for Fords, they just $u(k.

Not in the era he's talking about, the Caddy engine is way superior to
the Chevy is just about every way except maybe for aftermarket
performance part availability (although that is improving.) In fact,
there's a few people that have swapped BBC 454s in trucks for Caddy
429/472/500 motors and are happy with both the power and improved fuel
economy.

I really didn't mean to discourage him, just letting him know that a
little extra work is going to be required. Case in point, I just bought
a '55 Stude last weekend. Now this car is freaking gorgeous, by far the
best looking car I've ever bought inside and out. Seems to have a
strong motor and tranny too. However, so far I have

-replaced the turn signal switch so it actually works now (had an
aftermarket strap-on-the-column deal)
-discovered I need a whole new exhaust system as apparently the exhaust
in the car was done before the engine and tranny were swapped for '63
stuff, and now the e-brake cable is hitting the driveshaft
-also discovered that the driveshaft I'm guessing is not the right one
for the engine/tranny/rear combo that I have as the tranny yoke is
farther out of the tailshaft than I'd like and the rear U-joint doesn't
look like it fits in the rear end correctly.
-found that the previous owner's idea of converting to 12V involves
throwing on an alternator, reversing the ammeter connections, and
replacing some light bulbs but *not* making any of the gauges work or
replacing the wiper or blower motors
-discovered that when the (incorrect Rochester) carburetor was installed
the throttle linkage was adjusted *way* out of spec so that it was
impossible to properly adjust the tranny throttle pressure linkage
without following the FSM adjustment procedure, starting at the
carburetor and working my way eventually down to the tranny.
-brakes, while working well, are starting to weep a little bit, so I'm
going to have to kit the wheel cylinders at some point in the very near
future.
-Found four rubber suspension bushings that need to be replaced and
three metal ones that won't take grease (along with the kingpin
bearings, which I expected as pretty much any Studebaker which has been
sitting needs to have the kingpins disassembled and the old, hard grease
cleaned out before those bearings can be lubed.)

Now I'm not bitching about my purchase - far from it, I'm tickled pink.
I'm just offering this up as an example of what happens when you get
into buying a 30 year old (or more) car. But if you're not mechanically
inclined, have, say, an $8K car budget, spend $7K on a car like I've
described above, and have to pay someone to rectify all those issues -
your old car ownership experience will be short and less than pleasant.

I agree wholeheartedly with your advice to bring along a more
mechanically inclined friend - he hopefully would be able to spot most
of these issues in a decent inspection.

nate

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