Got the chance to get an old vehicle to fix up this summer for fun.

[eldorado99]

I have the chance this summer to get an old (I'm thinking 70s ish) vehicle to fix up just as a hobby. I don't have a heckuva lot of money to do this with, and I do not now a heckuva lot about cars ( I do know some, but I'm still learning, hence why I want to take on this project). I'm still living at my parents house and my dad knows enough about cars to do what I want to do, but he does not want to work with me, he will only advise me for the most part (he is lazy). Anyway, I really, really like the old Cadillacs from the 70s, especially the eldorado, but I'm worried the parts will be too hard to find/too expensive for me to take on thhis type of car. I like most kinds of land yacht cars, ie. Lincolns, Crown Vics, etc, so any suggestions are welcome, The other thing I am thinking about is an old 3/4 ton Ford pickup since I like them as well.
Cliffs: -Need car to work on as hobby over summer, so what kind?
-Don't have a lot of money or knowledge but want to learn so make the car easy/cheap to find parts for.
-Love the land yachts of the 70s as well as the pickups.

 

[Brutuskend]

I miss my old 64 Caddy vert.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Not 1970s! Complicated and never-worked-right-to-begin-with emissions controls and such. 1970 or earlier. Nothing with a smog pump or a catalytic converter.

Also, those old Caddy's and Lincolns used hydraulics to do things like raise power windows and such, those are a pain in the ass to restore. You're better off finding 1960's vehicles with manual controls if you want to restore it.

ZV

 

[Black88GTA]

I'd do the Caddy. Much cooler than an old pickup. Of course, I dislike trucks (and used to own a junky '77 Coupe DeVille), so I'm a bit biased.

That car would have been cool as hell if I had fixed it up.

 

[eldorado99]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Not 1970s! Complicated and never-worked-right-to-begin-with emissions controls and such. 1970 or earlier. Nothing with a smog pump or a catalytic converter.

Also, those old Caddy's and Lincolns used hydraulics to do things like raise power windows and such, those are a pain in the ass to restore. You're better off finding 1960's vehicles with manual controls if you want to restore it.

ZV

Ok, the only thing about vehicles earlier than the 70s I thought was that I would have to spend far more on restoration due to the parts being older and more worn out, but maybe I'm wrong, I dont want to do a total restoration because I dont have that kind of money.
EDIT: How much can I expect to spend minimum would you think? that is, if the car at least runs when i get it.

 

[Brutuskend]

Wanna fix up my Jeep for me?

It's a FJ-3

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: eldorado99

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Not 1970s! Complicated and never-worked-right-to-begin-with emissions controls and such. 1970 or earlier. Nothing with a smog pump or a catalytic converter.

Also, those old Caddy's and Lincolns used hydraulics to do things like raise power windows and such, those are a pain in the ass to restore. You're better off finding 1960's vehicles with manual controls if you want to restore it.

ZV

Ok, the only thing about vehicles earlier than the 70s I thought was that I would have to spend far more on restoration due to the parts being older and more worn out, but maybe I'm wrong, I dont want to do a total restoration because I dont have that kind of money.
EDIT: How much can I expect to spend minimum would you think? that is, if the car at least runs when i get it.

Engine/transmission is easier and cheaper to fix than anything else. Especially rust. You're much, much, much better off to buy a car that has a good interior and a clean, rust free body with a dead engine or transmission than the other way around.

Body panels and intreior bits often only fit one single year of a car from back then and are hard to find. The engines and transmissions were used in millions of vehicles over many years and are easy to get parts for.

Get a nice, straight car with a good interior that doesn't run. Something with a thrown rod or something and rebuild the engine. Easier, cheaper, and you'll learn more about the car.

ZV

 

[eldorado99]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: eldorado99

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Not 1970s! Complicated and never-worked-right-to-begin-with emissions controls and such. 1970 or earlier. Nothing with a smog pump or a catalytic converter.

Also, those old Caddy's and Lincolns used hydraulics to do things like raise power windows and such, those are a pain in the ass to restore. You're better off finding 1960's vehicles with manual controls if you want to restore it.

ZV

Ok, the only thing about vehicles earlier than the 70s I thought was that I would have to spend far more on restoration due to the parts being older and more worn out, but maybe I'm wrong, I dont want to do a total restoration because I dont have that kind of money.
EDIT: How much can I expect to spend minimum would you think? that is, if the car at least runs when i get it.

Engine/transmission is easier and cheaper to fix than anything else. Especially rust. You're much, much, much better off to buy a car that has a good interior and a clean, rust free body with a dead engine or transmission than the other way around.

Body panels and intreior bits often only fit one single year of a car from back then and are hard to find. The engines and transmissions were used in millions of vehicles over many years and are easy to get parts for.

Get a nice, straight car with a good interior that doesn't run. Something with a thrown rod or something and rebuild the engine. Easier, cheaper, and you'll learn more about the car.

ZV

Do you think the Caddy would cost more to fix up than say a Ford pickup if they were in similar conditions?

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: eldorado99

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: eldorado99

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Not 1970s! Complicated and never-worked-right-to-begin-with emissions controls and such. 1970 or earlier. Nothing with a smog pump or a catalytic converter.

Also, those old Caddy's and Lincolns used hydraulics to do things like raise power windows and such, those are a pain in the ass to restore. You're better off finding 1960's vehicles with manual controls if you want to restore it.

ZV

Ok, the only thing about vehicles earlier than the 70s I thought was that I would have to spend far more on restoration due to the parts being older and more worn out, but maybe I'm wrong, I dont want to do a total restoration because I dont have that kind of money.
EDIT: How much can I expect to spend minimum would you think? that is, if the car at least runs when i get it.

Engine/transmission is easier and cheaper to fix than anything else. Especially rust. You're much, much, much better off to buy a car that has a good interior and a clean, rust free body with a dead engine or transmission than the other way around.

Body panels and intreior bits often only fit one single year of a car from back then and are hard to find. The engines and transmissions were used in millions of vehicles over many years and are easy to get parts for.

Get a nice, straight car with a good interior that doesn't run. Something with a thrown rod or something and rebuild the engine. Easier, cheaper, and you'll learn more about the car.

ZV

Do you think the Caddy would cost more to fix up than say a Ford pickup if they were in similar conditions?

Probably. You can get replacement aftermarket fenders, etc. for old pickups quite easily (JC Whitney has cheap aftermarket ones, IIRC), but not so much for an old Caddy. I would imagine that truck engines/transmissions would be easier to find as well.

FWIW, I bought my old Coupe DeVille for $450 in running condition, with a surprisingly rust free/straight body for a Michigan car. Had been tapped in the back though...the bumper was held on with a chain, and the plastic panels by the taillights (behind the fenders) were tweaked.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Caddy!

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: Brutuskend
I miss my old 64 Caddy vert.

I suppose you bought it brand-new, too. :evil:

 

[Brutuskend]

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: Brutuskend
I miss my old 64 Caddy vert.

I suppose you bought it brand-new, too. :evil:

Where's that "Finger" Icon when I NEED it??

 

[thedarkwolf]

You can almost build a new 70s ford truck out of a catalog. They are pretty popular and parts should be dirt cheap. Caddy would be a lot better cruiser if thats what your after though. Thats when trucks were still trucks and rode like well a truck . The crappy emission controlls shouldn't be that big of deal since you can just get rid of them.

 

[eldorado99]

Heh heh, I'm still having trouble deciding, its my personal preference versus what might actually be possible, I don't want to find out I'm going to have to spend more than 5K on somethng like this.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Go with a 67 - 70 Caddy. I'd love to have one of those

How much are you spending on the car to start with?

 

[eldorado99]

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser
Go with a 67 - 70 Caddy. I'd love to have one of those

How much are you spending on the car to start with?

As in the purchase price? Probably around 1K... After that I would expect to spend no more than 4K on it.... Like I said I don't want to do a total mint restoration, just enough to get the car "nice enough".

 

[eldorado99]

bump for replies

 

[VirginiaDonkey]

get the truck

70's trucks don't have near as much emission equipment as a car. Hell, some of them used regular leaded gas up til the late 70's.

much easier to get parts for
and.....................
much easier to sell you get bored with your project

 

[john49]

try a 70's ford 4x4 get a catalog from http://www.lmctruck.com/ tough trucks, huge following.

 

[eldorado99]

Now I'm starting to lean towards the truck as you guys have suggested, mostly because of the availability of parts and my limited budget.

One last bump to milk the thread for all its worth.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: eldorado99

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser
Go with a 67 - 70 Caddy. I'd love to have one of those

How much are you spending on the car to start with?

As in the purchase price? Probably around 1K... After that I would expect to spend no more than 4K on it.... Like I said I don't want to do a total mint restoration, just enough to get the car "nice enough".

Don't do it!

For $4,000, buy an early 90's Town Car and bring it up to snuff with the extra $1,000. There will be plenty to do, like brakes, tires, battery and maybe exhaust. At least you'll have a nice car, with working A/C (which is mega expensive to fix on older cars) and other bells & whistles.

Zenmervolt is right about the 70's stuff... STAY AWAY! The 80's weren't much better, and the Lincolns were downsized.

My brother-in-law recently snagged an early 70s F250 for about $1,500, which is fair, but I'd rather put that money toward a nice car personally.

 

[eldorado99]

That is tempting, the problem is I would have to save up the 4k first but nevertheless I will consider it.

 

[Iron Woode]

Eldorado99:

Just go and buy a copy of Hemmings Motor News.

Check out Cadilac for both cars and parts and services available.

Contact a Caddy Club or website and see if something like that is in your area. Networking to get deals makes a lot of sense.

You'd be surprised at what you will find.

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: Brutuskend
Wanna fix up my Jeep for me?

It's a FJ-3

yes! i'd love to fix up your fj-3.

 

[eldorado99]

Do any of you guys know how much it would cost to do a total rebuild of a ford 360 v8 or 460, say in comparison to a cadillac 500 v8 or another common cadillac engine from the 70s?