Classic Car General

Yes imports of all kinds are allowed if they are classics

the worst part is, all i gotta do is buy a T adapter to run one of the heater core hoses off of the radiator. Laziness, i guess.

>I'm lovin' it

I really want to wake up a nailhead for some reason. It's such a clean looking engine.

Why not put a hose fitting where that blown out electric temp sender is on the water neck?

huh, i haven't thought of that, actually.

Needs more blue

I wanna get a mcdonalds sticker for it, so if anything i need more red.

what car is that in? and why only a 2 BBL intake?

This was when I rebuilt my 302 for the 79 Thunderbird. I didn't think about upgrading to a 4 barrel at he time, nor could I afford it.
Suffice to say the 2 barrel didn't stay on or long

my 400 came out of a junked 77 thunderbird.

if I were to do it all over again I would have just rebuilt the 390. But whatever, It's in the car now and I'm keeping it for as long as it'll live.

Wait, you seriously bailed on the 390? What in the fuck were you thinking? That shit is superb just with a stock rebuild, headers, upgraded cam and 4 barrel

I've still got it, and considering it's the original 390(and transmission, presumably) to the car, it's going to be stored in a special corner of the garage. when the time comes, I'll rebuild it and put it back in it's proper place.

the original line of thinking was "oh no, I'll have to have this crank machined, or buy another one, since I spun bearing on this"

1 year and $3,000 later I ended up ordering a new crank kit for the 400 anyway, but before that i was already ~$1k into parts anyway, so I figured I was already in too deep to abandon the 400. It certainly does haul ass with 9.5:1 compression, what with those custom pistons I ordered, though.

If you have a spare water pump kicking around, look and see where that plugged hole (the one below the pressed-in hose barb) goes. If it goes to the 'out' side of the pump put the other heater hose there. That'll make for a cleaner-looking job.
Sorry I can't remember what goes to where. My small-block Ford knowledge is really rusty haha

user, what are you thinking? Engines don't run on zombie blood.

I wish we got the Hemi 6 in A-bodies over here. Instead we got the kinda doggy but stupidly robust Slant 6.

You wouldn't want the heater core supply hose coming off the water neck or from the radiator since neither would have any heat until after the thermostat opened. IIRC that lower plug just below where the heater hose is being used as a plug on the water pump in the pic is a heater hose connection on the 400 and takes the heated water supply from the thermostat bypass port.

Yup, but the actual block nipple itself sheared off from pure rust during rebuilding. I really don't want to go through the hassle of drilling out the old nipple and installing a new one, hence I was just going to get a T fitting to dump it straight into the radiator, i figured it'd work well enough to not freeze to death in the winter.

They can be chopped out easily with a cape chisel.
Installing is pretty easy, too. You just need something like a cam bearing installer and some loctite on the nipple

Just refer to this for heater core routing. 1 hose off intake, 1 hose off water pump. Ez pz nipple squeezy

Cleveland engine has dry manifold tho

Oh. Well. Fuck

I think the guy said a 77 Olds Cutlass? At least the bezels anyway, the headlights are just standard sealed beams

Reposting because I don't know if you're in here now

I fucking love that grey man, paint/wheel combo is choice as fuck, imeccable taste.

Good luck senpai

You should've painted those headbolts yellow, missed opportunity

started this little one up today for the first time in a few weeks. Found out that as long as the hazard lights are on, she will run without keys in the ignition. Turning them off kills the engine, sort of like some shitty italian push-to-start.

I love weird electrical quirks.

Literally y tho

this

when it rains the power locks in my car start jumping up and down like no ones business

yo nigga yo car is possessed.

no, his car is italian

At least the locks stop when i take out the keys, would hate to end up locked out
The most frightening is when the auto seatbelt retractors suddenly snap tension on the belt for no apparent reason
American actually, 85 LeSabre

Got me a parts car today. Has a hard to find 4 spd that im gonna swap over so I can finally rid myself of the 3 spd slushbox

Original front fenders repaired, there were fist sized rust holes under bumper side brackets.

Don't want to replace with new fenders because aftermarket fenders for W123 are usually shitty and have fitting issues and they are almost in mint condition otherwise.

Also refurbishing side brackets, new ones cost about 150 euromoneys new per piece and these are not in bad shape.

New paint and welding in new bolts for attaching to front fender (old ones were rusty and snapped) and these are good as new.

friend of mine had the exact same thing happening with a VW T3

Good luck senpai, I had to go through 3 heater cores after the original gave up in mine after 38 years and 596k miles. New ones kept fucking leaking within a week.

It's almost always easier to repair originals than buy repop. My dad and I were replacing front end parts on his 66 caprice, anything repop we got was sent back because they fit like shit or were made like shit, even though they share the same parts as biscaynes and impalas for similar years.

Hey /ccg/

I have approximately between 5-10,000 dollars I can acquire through a personal loan to buy a car. Looking at the options, there's a lot of classic cars that are "rebuilt right and ready to drive" in this price point that are a little rough cosmetically but appear to be a better value for a daily-driver than anything I could get new. I want something V8, RWD, driving dynamics be damned, big and brash with presence on the road. There's an 11,000 dollar 1968 Cutlass (pic related) with this in the description -

>t has a 455 Oldsmobile engine completely rebuilt ALL NEW, competition cam, very fast, automatic transmission, Krager rims and new tires, electronic firing ignition, brand new quad dual pumper holley carb with mechanical secondary, new x pipe exhaust, it is ready to drive and done right, the only need would be front bench seat does not match the rest of the interior

Notwithstanding the gas mileage, would buying one of these and putting it into daily driver service be a "smart" decision? My commute is not that long and I would invest in a Vintage Air setup when the cold months finish up.

I should add that I have a mechanic who I already use who restores classic cars, I have almost zero mechanical hands-on experience but some knowledge and a will to learn. I drive a 2003 Chevy Suburban and so it's not like I'll be losing much by DDing something that gets 13 MPG.

You'd be wise to use a loan towards an appropriate commuter, and save your money for a classic bud. If you're not mechanically inclined, this is exceptionally true.

Here's the thing, classics (especially those semi-restored, modified etc) because you're dealing with 30-60+ year old parts, quality or cheap replacements, and any aftermarket or home-grown stuff the previous owners have done, so things can go wrong, routinely.
Also keep in mind, depending where you live, work, commute, etc, driving a classic can be sketchy, some are prone to theft, as well as Debbie in her crossover rearending you in traffic.

If your heart is set on a classic, and you're skilled, can do your research, can afford, and can do work, buy something not rusted out and work on it yourself, you'll appreciate it more in the long run too, there's nothing quite like driving the car/truck you know through and through.

This is all coming from someone who saved their money and simply kept their econobox on the road until they could buy what they wanted, and work on it from the ground up.

Here

You're gonna pay through the nose, you're going to be up shit creek when little things fail on you, like tail lights blowing out, or the carb is acting up, heater core shits the bed dumping radiator fluid into the floor pan, rust, gauges going out, and any of this can be amplified by previous owners "work" and "repairs".

You absolutely, truly, never know what the car is like until you tear into it, so many hackjobs out there dude.

Save your money and wait, buy a toy down the road, don't make this a DD, you're going to regret it, seriously.

Thanks for the kind advice. As with most things I've drawn out a few things that should solve the issues you described (hopefully).

>theft
I am a huge fan of the Ravelco anti-theft fob. I would have one installed immediately after I purchase the car (look it up!)

>shit going wrong
This one is the kicker. I drive a 159,000 mile Suburban with a slipping transmission, dents in the side and a limited checkbook. If I buy one of these cars with a rebuilt motor / transmission (hopefully in good condition), my thinking is that by putting it into daily service I would remove a lot of the issues that come with these cars being only seldomly used and sitting. I could go the smart route and buy a low mileage P71 Crown Vic that has basically all the qualities I'm looking for in a car without being 60 years old but that would be quite boring.

>so many hackjobs out there, dude
I have already experienced this. My dad went and bought a 1966 Pontiac Lemans sight-unseen, picked it up and had the engine throw a rod through the block on the interstate home (he tried to drive it 115 miles home after driving it around the block and declaring it highway ready!) The engine was fucked, the driveshaft was too long for the car, there was significant hidden rust and 10,000 dollars later in repairs from a 10,000 dollar purchase he takes the car in the divorce and hides it in South Florida. Talk about a fucking mess

Also I believe I am being siren-songed into buying this car. Look at this shit man

Agree, usually aftermarket replacement panels need fittiing & prepping as much as you'd consume time to fix the original panel. And they still don't fit.

Also original Mercedes panels are made from beefy stuff so welding them is easy even with my welding skills.

Another option of course is to buy new original Mercedes fender but i don't even want to know how much they cost nowadays.

I am in the UK, how difficult would it be for me to get parts for a 1970's classic american muscle car as well as the expense of it?

i.e. has anyone brought and restored one, what was your experience.

Probably pretty hard, but depends on the car. You can literally build a new mustang from reproduction parts

Why work hard when you can work smart

yup, mustang parts are all over the place, as well as classic chevy parts.

Meanwhile I can't even find a spare hood for my galaxie so i can finally run an air cleaner. and there's no way I'm hacking apart my only hood.

if reproduction parts availability are a deal breaker for you then I'd suggest looking up common things like body panels, trim pieces, etc before you go diving in to a new purchase. mechanical items are always available for all classics.

>Road salt

It's been a dream of mine to have a first gen fastback with a Flathead V8 and Toploader.
If i win the lotto i'd probably build one with repro parts.

...

dear god that shit is fucked

put the car out of its misery.

Rust no rusting!
Rust no rusting!
Rust no rusting!
There, fixed

My alarm goes off in the rain, especially while driving

>tfw it's a 2004 MG ZS (which is an updated 1999 Rover 45 (which is an updated 1990 Rover 400 (which is an updated 1988 Honda Concerto))) so I count it as a classic

Oh and the concerto is based on the 87 Civic

I drive a civic essentially

Stealthy nightime pic

...

...

>flathead v8

Why? I mean if you were doing a period correct hot rod I'd understand but Flatheads are super old technology even by hotrodding standards and there's not much you can get out of them.
And this is from someone who owned a shoebox Ford and likes them.

we /stealth/ now

>there's not much you can get out of them
People have gotten 400+ horsepower out of them but mostly dank sounds.
youtube.com/watch?v=UUvWBYt__oo

Flatheads are shitty motors, why would you do that

Because i want to faggot

Haha no fucking way that thing is making even close to 400hp. Maybe more like 150-175.
You won't even make close to 300 without a blower, and even then they only have 3 main bearings so it wouldn't last long at all.

flatfire.com/recycledteenager.htm

give me 14 good reasons why i shouldnt buy an old 1957 Alfa Romeo Spider or old Alfa Romeo 164

Why not put on in a deuce coupe. You won't be getting much more than 250hp out of it

because you're poor as fuck buddy

21k asking with 48k miles

not bad at all

Because you're poor, it's an old Italian car, rust, can't vape with it, probably not a twin cam
>I want one too tho

because fuck off, I live in America where i can put whatever engine into whatever car i want.

im not poor tho

Just because you can, doesn't mean you shouldn't. Be a badass and swap an intech four cam in

Then do it.

>Just because you can, doesn't mean you shouldn't.
That's exactly my point.

>Be a badass and swap an intech four cam in
No.

Have fun with no oil filter and terrible cooling system then

Wow, your proof is a completely custom built streamliner land speed car built by a massive team of experts and probably a huge semi-truck load of spare parts.

You're fucking retarded dude.

>Exhaust ports running through the block
>THROUGH THE BLOCK

>Have fun with no oil filter and terrible cooling system then
Thanks
>gets btfo
>bloo bloo no proofs

Flatheads have nothing but potential to make power. It just takes a lot more $ to do it which explains why you don't know how huge the aftermarket is for them now.

Flatheads do not have the ability to make power because you cannot get a good compression ratio and the head flow is pretty crap. A blown flat head type out at around 350 to 400

Yeah no shit you can build any engine up with enough resources, but its fucking stupid and a waste of money for how little you can get out of them.
You havent even posted even a shred of information to back up your claims.

But I guess Veeky Forumstists are experts in "arguing about shit they know nothing about"

>Flatheads do not have the ability to make power
Besides all the people getting 400+ rite?

> A blown flat head type out at around 350 to 400
Not bad considering 255 cuin.

>Yeah no shit you can build any engine up with enough resources
Which was my entire point:
>If i win the lotto

>You havent even posted even a shred of information to back up your claims.
>But I guess Veeky Forumstists are experts in "arguing about shit they know nothing about"
Sure are if you're still here my man.

>All the people making 400+
Yeah, with nitro, on an engine without a waterpump or coolant passages, and a massive retarded amount of boost. Those engines do not last long

In a mustang, it would be a showpiece more than a car.

>Yeah, with nitro
no. Nitro is where you start getting 600.

Here's the problem with you cunts, you just echo opinions you heard or read somewhere without understanding the reasoning behind those opinons. You're the type of fag that would be like "ls swap it lol"
Fuck off and educate yourself.
Even bargain basement tunes for a flathead are approaching OHV-tier power with comparable displacement engines. That's another thing, Flathead V8s are low displacement regardless.
Even less than your garbage 300.

>you just echo opinions you heard or read somewhere without understanding the reasoning behind those opinons.

Like you're doing now? Post pics and dyno sheets your vast experience with 400+hp Flathead Fords. Clearly you must be 65+ years old and spent time tuning them.

What's the point, you'll just cry about it, move goalposts and try to claim victory, just like you always do in /dbt/

Just leave me the hell alone. LS swaps are for faggots.

>oh no someone asked me for proof of my claims, better act like I don't care and shitpost.

alphonse is that you?

>own clean CRX
>dad says he might make me use my car in the winter
>literally everybody else says otherwise
>see this
How do I convince him my car won't last one season in the snow?

Im gonna need some more pics of that beautiful machine

I don't have any newer ones, all I have are the ones when I first got it