So you want to buy an old car?

 It’s a great way to help a guy(or girl) unwind, and de-stress. It’s a fun community to be a part of. And, every old car saved is literally preserving a piece of history. Now if you’re thinking of looking for a car but aren’t sure what to look for, I will try and give you some pointers. The most important thing is figure out what you are willing to invest…. physically, mentally, and financially. And be honest about what you’re willing to do. Otherwise, you end up with a parts car sitting in your drive-way for years.

 I’ve found what works for me is to find a car that is complete. If it has all the trim, original drive-train, and all the little bits and pieces, I don’t care how worn out it is. Who cares if the paint is faded, that just makes it that much easier to prep for paint. Old oxydised paint makes for easy sanding, and priming. You get to skip the paint stripping process at that point. Next you need to determine your mechanical abilities and desires. Do you need a big V-8, or do you just want a daily cruiser that gets decent gas mileage? This blog will focus on the economical daily driver. So lets say you saw a 1963 Dart that really caught your eye, and you have your heart set on a 63′ Dart. Things to consider are….. The Dart was basically the same car from 1963-1966(66′ having more square fenders). There were only minor cosmetic changes for the most part. Now lets say you fell in love with the push-button transmission. That was available on the 64′ as well. And, both years came with what might have been the best 6 cylinder engine ever made. So now that gives you 2 model years to work with.

Now you have to consider whether you have to have a 2-door, or will a 4-door work? If you have kids, maybe the 4-door would be better. A 4-door tends to be priced a little less, and usually has seen better care throughout it’s life. The 2-doors tend to attract the wannabe hot rodders, and have had more abuse. Thats not a hard and fast rule though. Lets say at this point, you’ve decided that a 4-door is acceptable. Now think of what appointments you desire. Darts came in many trim levels. The models were 170, 270, and GT trim levels. 170 was the base model with bench seats, rubber floor covering, fabric seat coverings, and very little trim. the 270 had a little beefier trim running down the outside of the car, carpeting on the floor, and  seats were covered with a combination of fabric and vinyl. And little things like a full horn ring around the center of the steering wheel, ashtrays in the arm-rests, and a host of optional items including the new 2bbl 273cid V-8 engine(not in 63′). Both of these models came in 2-door post, 4-door, and station wagons, and convertibles. The 270 was also offered in a 2-door hard-top coupe(no posts). Then the premium level was the GT. It came with a boat load of exterior trim, and was in the 2-door coupe body only. It had bucket seats, console floor-shifter, special 3-spoke steering wheel, all vinyl interior, full carpeting(including carpet on the door bottoms, and seat backs, deluxe arm-rests, stone shields, full wheel hub-caps, 15 color options, and interior and exterior emblems denoting that is a GT.

 Engine options for all cars were the 170 slant-six, 225 slant-six, and the 2bbl 273(64′ only). So you can apply these sort of offerings to most of the other American compacts of the 60’s. Remember we are using only the 63 and 64 Darts for examples here. So take all that information, and narrow it down to what interest you. Are you happy with a base model bench seat car, with dog-dish hub caps, or do you want to go a little sportier with the GT buket seats, floor shifter, etc..  Also consider manual and automatic transmissions. The GT had a cool 4-speed floor shifter option, or the lesser models had 3 on the tree manual transmissions. The automatic was the same across the board, either push-button shifted, or floor shifted(GT). 

Now you are armed with this info. Now research what is and what is not available for these cars. Mechanical stuff is generally readily available for the Darts, but trim, and the bits and pieces are harder to find. So the object is to find something with all the trim intact. No speaker holes cut into the doors, or back dash, and original wheels and hub-caps.  Even if the interior is worn, it is replacable as long as it’s not drastically altered. Look at the engine, and see if it has things like the original air cleaner, original oil filler cap, and the little things like that. And just look at the general condition of the whole engine compartment. Everybody always wants to know what the mileage is on a car. When a car is 45 years old it doesn’t really matter. Unless it was some grandma car with 2200 original miles. But with a normally used vehicle, it really doesn’t matter. Our goal here is to find something you can drive while restoring,so if you find a car take it for a spin, drive it for at least 20 minutes so it gets to full operating temperature, and see how hot it gets. Stomp on the breaks and see if it grinds or pulls to one side. If it has power steering, pay attention to it, and listen for noises coming from the pump. Do a walk around and check all the lights. Get any maintainence records the owner might have. Check how well all the body panels match up, and how easily the doors close. And most certainly check the floor-boards for rust.

Now, not all these things have to be perfect, it’s not a new car after all, but it just gives you an idea what you’re up against. And if you do decide to buy the car, you will know what the immediate cost will be. If the tags are out, try to get the owner to renew them. It’s easier for him than it will be for you. Now if the tires are bald, half the bulbs are burnt out, it needs an oil change, a radiator flush, a transmission service, plugs and wires, etc. That is a lot of expense right off the bat. Thats not a deal breaker, but just something you need to figure into your intial cost. So let’s assume you found a good candidate. And you’ve paid cash(not a check, cash talks), and you’re on your way home in your new old car. We will discuss what to do next in my next installment.

Straight Sixes and manifolds.

 In this installment I will be addressing an issue I had with my exhaust manifold. And by reading this you could save yourself a ton of time. The engine in my Rambler is a 232cid straight six cylinder Torque Command. It is of the over-head valve variety. The block and head are both cast iron, and it puts out about 145hp at optimum tune. It is a very simple engine and is not too dissimilar from other ohv sixes of the time. It is a very reliable engine, the design lasted from the mid 60’s until last year(2007). It survived in the Jeep after Chryslers take over of AMC in 1987. And that helped in my decision making in buying the Rambler. An engine with a 40-plus year production run is easy to find parts for. Everyones comment when they realize it’s an AMC is…”You must have hell finding parts for that.” …. thus far they have been plentiful and cheap. Now on to the the manifold issue I was having. I began to notice a ticking sound about 2 weeks after buying the car. After a process of elimination I realized I had an exhaust leak. I took it to my good friends at JT Automotive for a second opinion and they agreed. So I bought a new manifold gasket set and proceeded to remove all the necessary parts to replace it.

Now this blog is intended for the shade tree guy who wants to do as much work as possible himself. I had 2 years of auto-mechanics in high school, and worked as a mechanic at Pep-Boys during and just after high school. So I am by no means an expert, but I do know my way around. And I do know that many other straight six engines have similar problems, so whatever your make, this may be helpful. In most of these engines their is a fuel line to the carburetor, a vacuum advance line from the carb to the distributor, a line of some sort for a heat source to the choke coming from the exhaust manifold to the carb. And a throttle linkage to the gas pedal. All these things will need to be removed. If it’s not obvious where it’s going to go when it comes time to put it back together, mark it with masking tape and a sharpie.

 Now the carb usually has a couple nuts screwed down onto studs sticking up from the intake manifold. By removing those you can remove the carb, and keep in mind there is still fuel in the bowl so don’t tip it. Hold it flat put it somewhere clean and dry and protected from debris. On the AMC 232cid, both manifolds are held on by the same set of bolts. So you simply remove those bolts, and the two connecting bolts that connect the exhaust manifold to the tail-pipe. Then it should be free and ready to remove. Inspect the flat mounting surface and you will likely determine the source of your leak.

There is usually some sort burn indication where the exhaust gasses were escaping. Also the gasket will probably be burnt through in that same spot. If the manifold surface has deteriorated you will need to replace it. I got a brand new manifold on ebay for about $100 with shipping. Next, inspect the side of the head(engine) and look for any damage there. Now that may not be as simple as looking at it. The best thing to do is get a piece of fine grit sand-paper(230 grit is good) get a flat piece of wood or something equivalent, about the size of your palm, wrap it in sand-paper. And then run the sand-paper over that falt mounting surface. The color of the sand-paper will show on the good spots, and not appear on any low spots. So if you see a low spot you will need to pull the head off, which I will address later. Now lets assume all surfaces are ok, then you basically slap on the new gasket, and re-assemble what you’ve just dis-assembled. But chances are if the gasket burnt out, there is a reason why. Those surfaces basically have to be perfectly flat, or the exhaust gasses will eventually find the weak spot. Now here is a list of things NOT to do. TRUST ME!!!

I found a gouge burnt into my manifold, and had the bright idea that I would put some JB Weld on it, put it back on the car with the new gasket while it was still wet. And therefore it would dry replicating a perfect flat surface. I was a genius! I let it sit for the rest of the day until about lunch time the following day. I went to start it and VIOLA!!! NO leak! I drove around town with my head high and swagger in my strut. That lasted for about 48 hrs. I was cruising on the highway and thought I heard a slight tick, I wasn’t sure though. Once I exited onto surface streets and stopped at a light, I still heard nothing. The light turned green and my heart sunk. The leak was back! So I pull it apart again and decide to buy a new manifold. Ebay was the best source, and the most economical. But I’m sure any decent parts store can score one for you. Thats the beauty of this engine, that manifold was used forever on a series of vehicles. You guys with other makes, good luck!!

 So the car sits for a couple weeks and I finally get the new manifold. I put it on with new gaskets. Drive it for 48 hrs. and the leak is back. I am heartbroken….. But I come up with the idea of using two gaskets and a tube of form-a-gasket. I slathered the form-a-gasket all over everything, and put it all back together again. Test drove it for about 2 hours. And it was good. Got in it the next morning, got out on the highway and there it was again. I was just plain pissed off at that point.

So, I take it apart yet again, go buy another gasket set, and stare the car wondering why I’m going to just stick another gasket set on. It will just leak again. Thats when I decided to do the sand-paper trick. It worked and I could see the imperfection, and it was in the same spot that matched the burnout on the old manifold. I then pull the head, which is really self-explanatory. I highly recommend a good torque-wrench for removing and installing the head bolts. And I left the valve train intact. I left the push rods in place and just lifted the head straight up. Also prior to removing the head, you will have to remove several small items that attatch to the the engine(coil, temp guage cable, thermostat housing and thermostat, etc.) I took the head to the best machine shop around, High Pursuit Engine Rebuilders in El Monte, CA. For about $185 I had the head resurfaced and a valve job done. When I pulled the head I flipped it over and noticed quite a bit  of wear on the valves, hence the valve job. So I should get the head back in a couple days and I’m confident that will fix the problem.

Now just to round out the assembly process…. When re-installing the head. You will have to remove the push-rods, make sure to take that masking tape and sharpie and mark each rod. They have to go back in the same spot. TRUST ME!!! As for tools. You will need a good set of sockets, both shallow and deep. Plus short and long socket extensions, just to work around all the stuff that gets in the way. Plus a good set of medium length wrenches. And set of regular old pliers. And if you got’em, a set of flare-nut line wrenches too. So the moral of this story is, when you have an exhaust leak, get a new manifold, machine the head, and use new gaskets. Do that the first time around and save yourself a bunch of money and disappointment. It will set you back less than $300 if you go ahead and do the valve job. Which I highly recommend, because when are you going to want tear all that apart again? And in doing this yourself, you have saved yourself many hundreds of dollars in labor cost. Just getting a new gasket put on will be $250-$300 at a garage with parts and labor. And if that doesn’t work you just wasted $250-$300. All of these things are fairly easy. And in the Rambler I could get to everything without much effort. So, stay tuned for the final result of the menacing manifold! Thanks for stopping by!

The Beginnings Of My Rambler

So…….. My current focus will be on my 1969 AMC Rambler 4-door. It is the base model with dog-dish hub-caps, and not so much as a cigarette lighter. I bought it back in September of 2007 from an 18 year old kid for $900. It had current tags(with original black plates), and in fair mechanical condition. It was covered in heavy metal stickers, and had an 8 ball on the cloumn shifter. But the car was pretty straight, and original. It still had it’s original AM radio(working), and hadn’t been altered or cut up. The funny part was when I saw the pics on the internet it looked like a shiny red paint job. But when I showed up it was a dull red primer. He just wet it down with garden hose to make it shine in the pictures. So I drove it, crawled around, under, and over it.  I got him down from his original asking price of $1,400, and drove off into the sunset. I had always been a MOPAR guy, and had just started reading old articles and became interested in all the 60’s American compacts….. besides the Valiants and Darts, I started looking at Nova II’s, Corvairs, Falcons, Comets, Larks, and Ramblers. Upon further investigation, i decided to go with one of the independents. I found a 1961 Studebaker Lark for $600 and went to check it out. It was worn and faded, but equally so all the way through. It was complete and had been sitting, but the owners son had freshened it up and it started with one twist of the key and purred like a kitten. It was the flat-head six, and flat heads just have such a cool sound. It had a ton of records, some spares, and original owner documentation. I was really excited as I checked around the car. But sadly, upon inspecting the under-carriage, it was riddled with rust. And it was pretty severe, so I passed on that one. Maybe a week later I stumbled on to the Rambler that is now parked in the drive-way. I was happy with the purchase and went immediately to my favorite garage in the whole world…… JT Automotive in Azusa, CA. I had them give it a once over and make a list of to do’s, had the oil changed, radiator flushed, and the driver door(which I had to hold closed while driving) fixed. I got it home and started doing furhter checks of the mechanicals, and found it to be in really good shape. One highly annoying factor was that the kid had put one of those noise maker mufflers like you see on the little tuner cars. But it was a drivable car for sure. The kid had done a fair amount of body prep to the car and had it in the, previously mentioned, red primer. Although he had failed to fix a lot of the little door dings, etc. I had decided I was going to paint the car white. So I set out sanding, filling, sanding, filling,sanding, and more sanding. Then I primed it white and sanded, then I sanded agian, followed by more sanding. Around this time I got my hands on the now famed Hot Rod magazine Body And Paint special winter 2007 editon. And read the article about painting your car with a roller, using Rustoleum acryllic enamel paint. I became fascinated and read all the related forums on the net, and was really pleased with the results people were getting. So I’ve decided thats the road I’m taking. Now I still have some more sanding, and priming touch ups to do, but I hope to start that process soon. Well, this is a good place to conclude my first entry. Next time I will be addressing the saga of the exhaust manifold. The bane of my existence. I will give a detailed how to regarding the issues I faced with that. And hopefully have an update on the paint and body progress. Thanks!