Ten minutes, that is nothing but for a longer trip I would definitely make sure I was on top of everything. I drove my 63 Rambler every day back and forth to work 40 miles one way. Listening to some folks here one would think anything older than 10 years old will leave you stranded on the road side. As for all the suggestions for newer appliance like imports versus old cars when my car quits on the side of the road most of the time it is something simple, a bad coil, or at worse a fuel pump. When a 2000x whatever mobile is on the side of the road it could be a whole bunch of different electronic parts. Sensors aren't cheap, I found that out many many times. Often times a sensor would cost as much as a whole different engine (or car). I had an 88 Festiva, not exactly a late model but it'll give you an idea the ridiculousness of what some things cost. A new control module cost 500 bucks. At the junkyard they still wanted a few hundred bucks. When the coil and points needed to be replaced on my 53 Plymouth it was 30 bucks and about half an hour of my time. My old cars cost on average the equivalent of a couple of new car payments. The last old old daily driver I had (63 Rambler) was 500 bucks. It had been sitting for a couple of years. Some folks wouldn't dare think of driving something that old home on a 2 1/2 hour trip. I did without any problem. What helped was that all the soft parts had been replaced a couple of years ago with new parts and the brakes were redone. The entire time I drove it I never did much to it other than add oil and gas. Also drove an old 77 F-100 for years and years everywhere. Had a total of about 700 bucks into it for all the repairs and the purchase price. It blew a head gasket on me last week but with over 265,000 hard miles I figured I didn't do too bad. I bought it 7 years ago. Drove a 63 F-100, mostly original for half a year, most of the trips were on average 25 miles one way. Replaced the front wheel cylinders and adjusted the valves was about all I did to it besides giving it a tune up. Sold it when I got tired of listening to the noisy Y-block. Bought myself an 88 Chevy truck and within a month the fuel pump went out. This was a couple of years ago. I guess my point is everything breaks, and when one get's older than say 10 years old it really doesn't seem that age or manufacture makes that much of a difference over how well the car was kept up. If it was me I would be looking for an early 60s Chevy with a 70s/80s era small block and TH-350 or a Falcon with a 302 and C-6. Make sure the front end and brakes are tight and enjoy classic reliable motoring. Anyone that says driving an old car everyday means your going to have to work on it every night is full of it, I know because I have done it.
OK, I think I understand where this kid is coming from. I stand by my previous post about a slant 6 Mopar for the old car. However, my recommendation for newer iron is a Jeep Cherokee from '92 to 2000 with the 4.0 6 cylinder. I been driving one daily for nearly 8 years, and it is currently humming right along at 242K miles! My two older step kids have other late model junk, and when something breaks, it is both expensive and a PITA to work on! I just fixed one boys '99 Oldsmobile Alero with $30 bucks worth of parts. He was quoted $700 to $1000 by garages! (He aint a car guy, so is "helpless" in these matters.)The oldest boy has a 2006 Dodge Stratus R/T that his Grandmother helped him buy over my objections. (I was recommending the Jeep, Ford Ranger, or S-10 route but they thought he needed a "new and reliable" vehicle for college.) Every time that thing breaks, he has to borrow money from Grandmother to fix it. He went to, and graduated from, the Nascar Technical Institute in Charlotte NC. That place is a fucking rip off. He now owes about $25K in student loans and was able to get a job as the oil change/ used car reconditioner in a local dealership after graduation. He is a hard and willing worker, and will end up being OK. However, he got pretty much only book learning and almost no "hands on" experience there! I found out when he helped me do a water pump change on his Mom's car that he was almost clueless about actual work! Anyway, I hope this Wyotech place serves you better, kid. You may want to listen to some of the older guys on this site. Even at Nascar Technical, our kid did NOT have any extra time to work on his stuff while in school! Good Luck, get a Cherokee now, and go for the old hot rod after school. (And I mean a small Cherokee, we also have a Grand Cherokee and I sometimes wish we didn't LOL
How true this is, especially the part about being able to work on your own car at school. I don't know Wyotech's policy, but ours is strict. If it doesn't pertain to the subject matter at that time and it isn't an easy fix, ie: not something you will be married to because it kicked your ass. Then no working in the shop, and certainly not without your instructors supervision. There is usually only 2 hours a week if you are lucky on a "hobby" night, that you may be able to do some off topic work, but it has to be able to be completed by you in that allotted time. Remember, what takes a professional in the field 2 hours to do, will take you a week if you're fast. I know you are right, I have hope though and can't help but take on a challenge. A fathers perspective. LISTEN UP!
I can completely understand the want you have for an old car. It's almost a need. like you won't be complete without it.....But you need to put that aside and try and buy a newer car. I'm 26 now, and a mechanic. I have daily driven nothing but pre-1980 cars since getting my licenses at 16. 1949 Dodge truck 1967 Pontiac Tempest Custom convertible 1973 Ford LTD 1972 K5 blazer * 1967 Pontiac Lemans 2dr 1968 Pontiac Catalina 4dr 1967 Catalina sw with a 428 1967 Pontiac GTO * 1979 Ford f250 * I currently own the ones with the star by them. they have all been unreliable,money pits. even the 1979 f250 my Grandpa bought new, it's super nice, but still a money pit..... I have also bought, repaired, driven, and sold about 40 or so post 1980 runners. I don't keep them very long....but they always come in handy for the 5 block trip to 7-11, just hop in and go.....and they always MAKE me money. I currently have a 1991 Nissan Maxima SE.... If I could go back I would have bought a 90's runner at 16 and saved my money. Once you're done with school, get a job, save some cash, then buy some thing awesome....it will be worth the wait
I would definitely think about the bug when I was in college I had a lowered 55 oval drove all a round the bay area. Their are bugs all around there but you'll have some trouble finding a split window on the cheap I'd recommend early 60's vw for cheap reliability.
I don't think we are saying that at all. When the kid comes in and says when can I find a reliable Model A for cheap, people are going to tell him to buy a Civic. If the premise was more reasonable you would get a more reasonable answer. As far as sensors and electronics being expensive, that isn't necessarily true. The friend I mentioned earlier with the B2000 had one brief hiccup where it was dying at stop lights. I helped him diagnose it as either being the ECU or the hotwire sensor and we hit the pick-n-pull (Sac has great junkyards for stuff 10-20yrs old). For 100 bucks we came back with three hot wire sensors and 2 ECUs and started plugging stuff in until we came up with good parts. The rest were kept for spares. If the yard wants $100 for a computer, go to another yard. You don't need a *new* car to be cheap and reliable either. Some of my best beaters were mid70s to mid80s euros. I learned how to work on Bosch k-jetronic, which is what 90% of the Volvos, Saabs, Benzes and VWs used for over a decade. You can pick them up for a song when they get issues, because most mechanics won't touch them. I got great cars for $500, and sold them later for $1000+ once they ran again. Now I'm not even saying you should buy a euro. I'm saying that worked for me because of my skill set. If you want an old car, buy one that you know you can fix, and you are pretty sure you have a handle on the issues beforehand. I love to buy cars with popped head gaskets because they are pennies on the dollar and gaskets are cheap. Maybe that will work for you, but it's luck of the draw what's up for sale.
BUY THE KID BOOKS, SEND HIM TO SCHOOL, AND ALL HE WANTS TO DO IS EAT THE TEACHER. I get where you're comin' from dude. Obviously you arent on a super tight budget because you're talking about college and not about a job. So you arent too worried about the restrictions and other bs you will have to pay for regarding these old cars. Im gonna put this out there......model A rods are the coolest......driving a stock model a.......far from cool. lmao. I respect these cars as much as the next guy but driving a stock (restored) model A for a daily would get old quick. Like many guys have said.....inline six. You are going to have to compromise somwhere but if you want an older car just buy one...either it will work out or it wont. You may be at the top of your class, but at your age you are going to do what you want regardless of the wise advice that was posted before mine. I wont waste my time telling you what you SHOULD do, but if you are set on a classic, grab up an old 4 door six shooter and cruise. ps....might want to check with mom and dad first......sounds like they are funding this adventure...
My daily driver is an '88 Tbird Turbo Coupe. 4 cylinder, good fuel economy, cheap to buy (I have had three given to me for free) fun to drive, dependable and very comfortable. About 1/2 of them made were manual transmissions. On a DynoDynamics chassis dyno I did 232 HP to the wheels on an engine that has 195000 miles on it. I did put on a 3" exhaust and a K & N filter and ported the intake and exhaust manifold. I have driven it 30,000 plus miles with nothing but regular maintenance. Again they are cheap to buy and operate, fun to drive and good power for what they are.
I know they're two different environments entirely, but when I pack up and go to IU my ford is staying at home. I wouldn't be caught dead with my car at IU for more than a day. I'd expect wyotech kids to be a little nicer to them then the IU Bros, but still, drunks break other people's stuff. Also, from my stint of building a car and driving it to High school for the past three years, No one cares. No one cares about anything you do to your car. Now, if you really don't care what other people think, then don't care and drive a car that will get you to point b, from point a. Now, obviously you care a little bit about up-holding a greaser image, which I can dig, but its a different ball game. Rock-star chevys are cool, especially if you like going 55. Good luck with your endeavors buddy, whatever path you choose, do it for yourself. I've got four years of a different world ahead of me aswell, and it pains me to not play with cars and bikes, but it will pain me more if I dont get a job with a big bank to fund my future projects.
By the way, if you want to be a "greaser" in Sacatomato, a beat down VW Fox covered in Maltese crosses should do the job. Go to the roller derby and it looks like a VW junk yard threw up in the parking lot
A good simple classic mid 60's - early 70's Chevy or Ford pickup is exactly what you need - all problems solved and utility of hauling parts and moving too when the time comes.
Hey Mitchell --- what kinda budget are you lookin' at? Under 5k....under 7k? I am in the central valley and if you shoot me a PM ill keep an eye out for old stuff. If you arent too picky I am sure there is something around here somewhere for ya. I would tend to agree with the modern cars that have been listed but then again I really didnt have any problems with myy '49 Chevy. It wasnt a daily but it could have been, never failed me with the 6v 216 or the 12v 235. I busted the tranny but that was my fault acting stupid. That car made it to Sacramento more than once, Santa Maria, and all kinds of trips in between. Not the best gas mileage but better than some. Set a budget and we can find you something.
This would be a good place to start. I drove a 1960 Chevy BelAir 4 door several years ago. It was a 235 6 cylinder, with a PG trans. I bought it with about 80,000 miles on it. It was rusty, (a Northern Illinois car), but I put another 60,000 miles on it, with just routine mantenance. After the 60, was a 1959 BelAir, with a 235 and a 3 speed, and 85000 miles. I put another 70,000 on it. I did put brakes, tires, hoses, etc on both of these cars. However, neither ever needed any major mechanical work. The 59 even still had the original clutch in it. The 60 got about 18 MPG, and the 59 got about 20 MPG.
Eh, I took the original premise as being that he would like an A or an early 50s car but was up for anything older and reliable. That sounds pretty reasonable to me. An early 60s ride can be as reliable as any 80s or early 90s econobox. If you have to carry spare parts it sorta defeats the purpose of having a newer car for reliability. I don't have to carry around spare ECU's, crank positioning sensors, and MAP sensors for my 77 Ford. Coming back to your "cheap" 100 dollar ECU I could buy a complete 300 six that runs for that (or less, I got one for free a few months back). No matter what way you slice it an older non-computerized car wins the spare parts argument hands down just by virtue of fewer parts to go wrong.
get a volvo 240 from the early 90's. run forever, super easy to fix, yards are full of parts, plenty of room for all you stuff...i bought one for $300, drove it for 6 months, and sold it for $1300. Yeah, they're ugly, but theyre reliable, good on gas, and easy as hell to fix...I went through technical school too, I drove a v6 mustang. not my favorite by any means, but it never broke, i got there every day, and now i can get cars that need a lot of work, as I have full access to a shop anytime I want it. Seriously, figure out your budget, how much you can buy a car for, and buy one for 1/2 that, save the other 1/2 to fix it. that way you dont have to work a full time job after school to pay for parts that you wont have any time to put on. Passion for old cars is great, but a school like that the passion needs to be in the classroom. You really only do get out of it what you put into it. Plus learning to fix newer cars makes the old ones super easy. And jobs are easier to get
Just because you do good in school does not mean you will get everything with cars. I know kids who are barely even sub par in school, but give them a car and they'll get that baby looking good. Also one thing I've learned through the years, listen to old farts. They tend to know what they're talking about from experience
Thanks for the comments guys. I will take them all to heart. I am thinking to just got with a '90's S10 now and pray nothing goes wrong with it.
I know where you are coming from, I've had countless newer vehicles and limited income and it seems like the same thing happens every time- some sensor shits out and the car never runs right again. You can spend thousands trying to track down the right one if the scanner can't track it down. Not to mention the same BS you were talking about with limited space to work, or needing to remove the entire interior to change the oil. The poblem comes from your continual contradictions throughout this thread. Early off you were upset when someone referred to this thread as being "funny." Thinking you'll find Model A that will get you back and forth reliably to school every day "on a limited budget" (which you aren't even sure of) and you may not have time or permission to work on at school, but later you can...etc. That's where all the negative comments stem from. I'm like you. You've got some dough saved up, you WANT something fun to drive around in and you're looking for validation. I do the same thing. I think your mind is somewhat made up. If I were you, I'd split the difference. I don't know what California emissions laws are. The most reliable car I've ever owned was a 1973 Chevy Bel Air. Not much to look at (Kramer's ASSMAN car), 4 door, HUGE, HEAVY, and got crap gas mileage, BUT it started up EVERY DAY. Even before I knew about cars, it just ran. I got it with 96,000 on the clock, and somewhere around 130k it needed a tune up, a radiator, and a thermostat. I gave it away to another HAMBer at 170k and it gave him his appreciation of the simplicity of "older" V8s. I got it back from him around 200K. The secret with this car, I think is that it's a '73- NO power (150 HP Chevy 350), 2.73 gears, a TH350. It ran consistent mid 17's! There isn't enough power to break anything but it's simple, and the most reliable car I've ever owned. If it were me, I'd be looking for a mid to late 60s pickup up through early 80s. Again, I'm not sure about CA Emissions and what you'll need to do if you had, say, a 1983 vehicle, but I would think it would be in decent shape and still be simple, it just won't necessarily be cool in the eyes of the HAMB.
Thanks in the long run I will probably end up with a Chevy truck. I will just wait till the time comes.
that' what i have for a daily driver.....a 1995 Chevy S-10 with a 4.3 and 5-speed. it now has 260,000 miles and i wouldn't be afraid to drive it anywhere. of course it has needed a few repairs
This was my old car and I drove this thing daily for quite sometime. DrU took it and had to blow that tranny. Ha ha It just depends on how you take care of it man.
Has been some very good advice given here.. I am wondering how your dream of an older car will compliment the curriculum of the school?? I would think that Wyo is teaching about 'puters and sensors.. would think that a recent vintage vehicle may be a better learning tool for you as you can relate directly with it, especially if an issue arrives with it. Your young, you have time to find that perfect ride.. AFTER you get out and on your career..
I'd be lookin' for any '78-'88 GM G-Body... Preferably a Cutlass, or a Regal (or an Elky, Caballero, or a Malibu Coupe) with a 350 Olds.. I've got an '80 Cutlass Supreme, 260 V8/Th350... Runs like a top, it was a one owner little old lady car, she's got 68k on the clock right now... I've got a 425/Th400 with a 3x2 waiting for that little V8 to die though... If you want some info on the G's check out the G-Body Forum...gbodyfourm.com...
Well here is my 2 cents..Mitch ..look for like buddy with the mopar wagon said a little slant 6 mopar be it wagon or ???but in the econo size dart ..light wieght and easier to stop /...... or nova.same deal 6 banger ... falcon same ....stick car is easy on the buget if your not crushin gears replace the odd clutch a auto is more convienent but also more money to fix ..normally.. if it breaks down leave it there hustle your butt to school get it after class lol i have had the pleasure of knowing you Mitch for a while now and know your a bright guy dont let others piss in your dreams ..but keep your dreams simple till they can become more ..i am sure there are lots of older men or ladys cars out there..low miles and such that would suit the bill fine dont go looking at any hotrodded pieces of crap that have had the hell beaten out of them drive what ever you get easy and just cruise along and dont forget all the little things that go wrong with old stuff .... Now as far as new stuff well let me tell ya i have a 2001 z24 haha biggest money pit i have ever owned.. trany... computer issues ..mass air or whatever the hell its called wont run a steady idle for its life lol all said with just over 100,000 kms on it look at all the probs with toyota latley ...honda good bang for the buck but sorta like a fat lady fun till your seen in it..lmao do what ya gotta do but remember your education is number one !! that all said an done i would say get a place close to school walk there at first an look at what you can get dollar for dollar dont jump on first thing you see remember the old rule buyer beware...
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