Question about old project cars

[Brutuskend]

Ever hear of a Sunbeam?
They made a Tiger and an Alpine.
The Tiger (I believe) came with a 289 V-8 in it.
And I'm talking about a car the size of a TR-4.

Tiger

Although I still like the old 68-70 AMC Javilen / AMX! 🙂

 

[Mears]

Why would the motor need a rebuild? Because of wear or just becuase they're not up to par with todays standards?

 

[BooneRebel]

If you're young (sounds like you are) and have limited resources (sounds like you do) and want to get an old car to use as a daily driver, I'd discourage you from any import vehicles. Pick a high-production American vehicle and you'll have a better chance of getting replacement and peformance parts as you start tweaking things, with less effort and expense than an import. Camaros and Mustangs have already been beaten to death, try to stay away from an ultra-high demand vehicle. Your selection of Nova or Challenger sounds pretty logical to me, you have a wide selection of performance parts and still have a chance of finding parts in a junkyard without getting absolutely gouged pricewise. If you're lucky you can find an old car as part of an estate sale, Grandpa's old car that no one in the family wants to mess with. You can get really lucky and find someone else's project that they're tired of messing with, but chances are that they've either found a horrendous problem that forces the sale, or will try to ask far more than it's worth in an attempt to recover their previous expenses.

Keep an eye out in your local paper, if they list vehicles by make you're more likely to find a bargain there (i.e. '71 Nova $800) than under a 'Classics' or 'Antiques' listing. Autotrader & similar papers are pretty helpful, too.

 

[MajesticMoose]

I saw one of those sunbeams at a cruise night last summer. I thought it was a triumph when i went to go check it out. Then i saw the v8 badge on it and my jaw just dropped to the floor.

As for suggestions, how about a ford thunderbird. Beautiful car and not too slow either.

m00se

 

[GasX]

find a no rust car!!!!!!

It has been said before, but it cannot be overemphasized. What you want to look for is an old Nova (seems you are leaning this way) that has a solid body. How do you tell? At a minimum, do the following:

1. check to see if a refridgerator magnet sticks to all of the quarter panels and doors (sheet metal not bondo!!).
2. look at the frame rails closely for evidence of rust.
3. inspect the wheel wells
4. inspect the trunk
5. pour a bucket of water on the windshield - if water ends up inside the car walk away now!!!
6. inspect the engine compartment, especially around the battery and shock towers
7. stand 10' in front on the car and behind the car and determine whether or not any of the body lines aren't right (indicates an accident bad enough to bend the frame)
8. pull out the floor pan drain plugs and feel around in the hole for rust.

If any of these tests fail, you will have some serious expenses if you want it at show condition. Remember, anything other than the slightest surface rust is B. A. D. BAD

If the seats, headliner, dash and or carpet are in crappy condition don't worry. They are easy and relatively cheap projects and can be used to knock down the price. The most important thing in an engine is knowing whether or not the engine is original. It may not matter to you now, but original means a much better resale price even if you rebuild and modify it.

Have fun!