Old cars

[Kiwi303]

There are topics on cooking, trucking, astronomy and so many more... but I haven't seen on on old cars.

So what do you guys have sitting in the shed with a tool chest sitting beside it?

I have a 1979 Nissan 280ZX with the inline 6cyl 2.8L motor removed and a dual exhaust with X-over pipe for a V8 installed. There's a 302 Cleveland V8 block and crank in the workshop and I recently bought a set of heads to rebuild, port and install. This will be a long term project, I've already had it 2 years with not much changed, and it'll stay in the hayshed for however long I'm in china from next Sept.

I have a 1971 Peugeot 504, stock, which is being done up, should be road legal and ready to drive by May this year. All it currently needs at the moment is a blow out of the fuel and clutch/brake lines with compressed air, new fluids (oil, GB oil, diff oil, Clutch and brake fluid, antifreeze), new brake pads installed, new filters (fuel, air and oil), and a new muffler.
This may well be sold to fund part of the China trip.

Not a lot left to do, it's had the carb disassembled/unfrozen/reassembled and new brake calipers and more stuff of that sort done to it, but the engine hasn't been opened or majorly tinkered with, just the peripherals.


So who else tinkers with old iron and what do you have?

[Paul Todd]

I have a 1967 Morris 1000 van in a garage in Dorchester back in the UK.  It was my first car after passing my driving test way back when. I bought it from the Post Office when they where upgrading their fleet and I've kept it going with parts from scrap yards ever since. In fact I only ever upgraded anything on it when I stumbled across bits or was given them and that includes tyres!. It now has an engine and gearbox with overdrive from a Triumph spitfire, 10" rear drum brakes from something I can't even remember the name of now, front disc's and master cylinder from a Marina and leather seats from an old Jag. Even the steering wheel was something I just took a fancy too. Never found a full set of spoked rims though.
I had some good fun driving that about and in the back of it too   . Now it's gathering dust as there's no way the Chinese would let me bring it over but I can't seem to let it go so I suppose I will just carry on paying the rental for the garage. Life isn't all roses over here   

[Vince G]

The topic was opened before. It leaned more on racing/muscle cars owned. In my youth I use to buy / fix up / sell cars. Still have my tools which I don't know what to do with. Still used from time to time and I think I would feel naked without them. I've had many, many cars from average to exotic.

Switching engines in that Nissan won't be to bad. I've seen it done and I think they even had a kit you could get for doing it?

My custom was a 1970 VW van and putting a 327 chevy motor in it, with a ford rear. 2 years long and it never got completed.

[shaun]

I have a 1971 VW Super Beetle.  I've had it for about 3 years and have done nothing with it.  I drug it home, put it in the garage, and a week later my now ex wife told me she wanted a divorce.  It needs a ground up restoration and some day I will do it.  When I see a extremely good sale on ebay for parts or in a magazine I buy them but before I will do anything else to it there is a beautiful woman in China that needs to move here so the car waits.

Late at night I can hear it calling out my name.  If it were a boat I would name it The X...    and hope Peggy never knows what that means.   I've tried to sell it and Peggy tells me no that I should keep it.  Now that is what I call a good woman.     The only legal way to have more than one love.

[Vince G]

Shaun, Depends what needs to be done with it. After they stopped making them here they continued making them in Mexico, if you want to keep it stock. There was a porsche motor that fitted right in. I think it was from a 411? But the problem is these days the worth of it after doing all the fixing. Some aren't worth it.

[wilsbrough]

I used to be into my old v-dubs. My 1st car after my driving test was a 1965 beetle, lowered front with moon discs and sprayed lilac. Tho it still had the 6 volt electrics so driving at night down the country lanes was pretty interesting... After that it was a 1975 1303s i think it was called the super beetle in the states, but that met its end with a tree and a wall b4 i got into fixing it up, shame really as it was pretty rot free. Then i had a 1978 VW panel van, peppermint green lowered all round on merc alloys and had a 2ltr out of the porshe 914 with a twin carb set up. For something with the aerodynamics of a brick, it seemed to shift pretty well. Then was the 1967 type3 notchback, which was a show car, sprayed salmon pink, with fish scales airbrushed down the side, I know it sounds a little strange, but with the alloys and everything else, it did actually look good. My last VW was a 1963 type 3 notchback 1500s model. I tried to make it look a little like a factory concept car (how i think it would look today) I had 911 headlights cut into the wings, took the door handles off and fitted soliniods for remote opening, but i kept all the chrome bumpers, side trim, widow trim etc, full leather recaro interior, and even managed to get a turbo bolted up onto the engine, with a jap style stainless steel exhaust box from a Lexus....It was starting to look pretty good, but the car was pretty much located in a garage too far away for working on a regular basis and with buying my flat it kinda took a back burner, eventually the burner got turned off, so i decided to sell it as a unfinished project. It ended up being shiped to a guy in the states, so who knows, one of the bro's may eventually see it on the roads out there...

After a while of driving mundane cars for a while i wanted something interesting again and recently had a couple 0f 1980's BMW M535i's, but not really having anywhere to keep them garaged over the winter months cropped up again and running two cars was not really practical,so i've sold up and got just the one car again. Something to keep me interested tho. it's a 1995 suburu impreza wrx estate. Its got just under 300bhp, and tho not as old as i like my cars, i can use it everyday as my daily driver and its been superb in the snow we've been having here in the UK lately...

[shaun]

Vince it needs a lot.  I know it isn't worth it.  I may part it out on ebay or wait for a better time to work on it.  Until I am sure it is just setting there waiting for me to make a decision.  It isn't costing me anything...  the occasional part I may buy can be turn at a profit.

[Kiwi303]

There are plenty of kits for fitting SR20DET, RBxxDET SBF and SBC into the earlier generation, the 240Z/260Z/280Z from 1970 to 1978, but theres not yet much support for the second generation 280ZX, and besides, all those kits are in the US shipping down here would be more than having a engineering workshop weld up some bits according to .PDF plans.

There's enough room in the 280ZX bay to comfortably fit a Jag, Merc or BMW V12, but I just don't have the money to pick up one of those... or more accurately, I DO, but then I shouldn't be able to afford the trip to China to teach, and meet a pretty woman.

Priorities... Car comes after pretty woman

I'd love a Merc or BMW fitted with 6x IDF twin throat downdraft webers and high flow extractors, but first I'd need a lottery win! Doing up a CLeveland V8 with old Falcon and Fairmont parts is at least affordable in small chunks for a bit here and a bit there over the months out of petty cash, no need for a special budget.


VW wise, I here any old air cooled 911 flat 6 will bolt right up to the air cooled VW flat 4 mounts and gearbox. The 914 entry level budget porsche was just a 911 stripped of any strip-able fripperies like A/C and fitted with a 4 from the beetle. find a 2.4, 2.7 or 3.0 porsche donk and double your beetles power

[shaun]

In America, you get the great car to catch a beautiful woman. 

In China all you have to do is show up. 

When is my next trip to China?

[Arnold]

So let's see ? My first Car in New York was a 63 Ford Fairlane ( Stick ) with straight Six . Moved to Calif . , this is when I had my Fill of VW's . Three 69's , two Custom Paint with Spoiler's/Tinted Windows .. but both left 1600cc . The other was my Toy Baja for Dunes and Beach driving . When I started to Windsurf , needed a Van . Here came my 71 Camper , which I modified with some dozen Gauges and Light's on the Dash .. it resampled a Cockpit . I lay'd more Wires then the Factory in this one . Sold that after many Cross Country trips for a very good Price to someone in the Movie industry . Haha .. counldn't resist when the Guy pulled out his Roll of Hundreds . Next came the '81Audi 5000S , great Car .. before the next years were a piece of junk's . Then came my little 1/2 Ton Toyota Truck ( Auto ) which I now have a COOL 510,000 + miles on it . Same Engine with used second Trans ( first lasted 300,000 mil. ) . Every two years , I drive this Truck for 100-150 miles with nothing but ATF Fluid in place of Engine Oil to clean inside and free up Rings and other Carbon's . One opens the Oil Cap , looks like new inside the Valvecover . Alos burns less oil after this treatment . As a second Truck , I bought an PreRunner V6 2000 Model and now my loved Highlander '03 . Now , Qing and myself are looking to Buy .. two Bicycle's soon .

[David E]

Haha Shaun

I was persuaded ( my story and I'm sticking to it) to buy my BMW 330CI Convertible by a Salesman who promised that every time I stopped at traffic lights, hot blondes would not be able to resist and would throw themselves into my car.

I learned later that I am unable to sue the bugger for misrepresentation. All I ever got was empty coke cans and cigarette ends........

[wilsbrough]

VW wise, I here any old air cooled 911 flat 6 will bolt right up to the air cooled VW flat 4 mounts and gearbox. The 914 entry level budget porsche was just a 911 stripped of any strip-able fripperies like A/C and fitted with a 4 from the beetle. find a 2.4, 2.7 or 3.0 porsche donk and double your beetles power

Yeah, your kinda right there, tho due to the size of the flat 6 you need serious mods to the engine bay/drive train/gearbox/rear bodywork etc to get it to work. it would be cheaper and give you just as much performance fitting a modified 2ltr out of the type 4 as that would fit much better, tho there was this guy in Sweden who fitted a 1950's oval window body shell onto a early 911 turbo Chassis and running gear... The 914 was a 1970's collaboration between Porshe and VW and was fitted with a mid engined 2ltr, tho i believe there were a few fitted with the flat 6 (916) but i'm not sure if they made it past the prototype stage. But it had a completely different body and floor plan to the 911 and all came with a removable targa roof, but there was an early version of the 911 which i think was called the 912 which began production in the early '60s and was the replacement to the 356.

[Mag00]

 Now days the the VW aircooled aftermarket is bustling right along. You can build a streetable 200 plus HP VW based on the 1600 for about 4 k ..You will need the carbs and tin and exhuast and a few other pieces,but A 200 real HP bug is insane. The 1600 engine actually is a better performance base than a 2 liter type 4... I Run in a aircooled stickshift only NASA dragracing class in Northern Cal...I always seem to have at least two of the damn things around. for anyone that has any performance car experience a hot bug is an eye opener to say the least. A typical street bug with a big engine and close ratio gears can run in the mid twelves.. A quicker, not so common machine with a little more power can run in the elevens, no prolem.. An 11 second bug due to the quickness and short wheelbase feels like a 9 second Camaro/chevelle/ etc.. scary fun..and then there are the TURBO bug...350-450 HP in a bug.... all based on a 1600...

[shaun]

In my youth I had a black '65 bug with a 1400 in it.  There was not chrome on it.  I had two webber two barrel carbs, I can't remember how big the jugs were and a racing cam in it. Also if I remember it had I think an Empi header with a glasspack muffler.  It also had a bosch coil for extra juice.  The back had E60-14's and the front had E 70-14's.  Black leather seats with a black, white  and gold flowery head liner.  What can I say, it was popular where I lived.  I made a rear deck like between the rear seat and back window, covered it with white fur and had a magnificent stereo system with six speakers in that rear deck lid.  My car went Thu... Thu... Thu... Thu... Thud before it was popular to do it.

I remember getting pulled by a cop over because I was driving uphill on a mountain road in El Paso, Texas on kind of a steep grade going 90mph.  He said he had never seen a Bug going uphill this fast before and wanted to see my engine.  I showed him of course.  A few weeks later I ran into him at a burger joint with two other cops.  He asked me to show them my engine and take them for a ride in it.  I did.

Ah, the memories. 


Still not sure of the header brand.  I think EMPI made suspension parts only.

[Mag00]

Shaun, EMPI made just about everything that could be bolted, screwed, welded/glued onto a VW.. they even made a sheet metal buggy kit before the Manx..Nowdays the original EMPI stuff brings stupid money on the collector scene.