What's your motor vehicle history?

[putnam6]

A while back I got a line on a '76 GMC Jimmy.  Kid that owned it got his GF prego and needed money.  Had a tired 350 V-8 in it, and a busted trans, but the body was straight (except for the front left fender).  Bought it off him for $500 bucks.  Didn't screw around with trying to repair the fender, just ordered a new one and replaced it and the liner entirely.  Pulled the engine and trans, and swapped in a Corvette LT-1 engine I'd just finished getting balanced and blueprinted.  Put in a 400 trans I had also.  I'd had the engine in the shop just looking for something to put it in.  The Jimmy had the low back interior, so I just gutted that entirely.  Found a crashed Blazer Silverado series which was loaded, picked it up for a song and the interior was showroom new.  I started just thinking I wanted the high back bucket seats, but wound up pulling the entire interior and swapping it into the Jimmy.  What had started out as a beater hunting truck was now turning into something special.

Rebuilt the front and rear ends, transfer case checked out good.  Changed out all the lights and dash electrical.  Sanded it down and primed it up.  This thing was shaping up like a million bucks.  Sprayed it down with a 2 stage lacquer paint job (DuPont Corvette Orange), inside and out.  By then I was in 'the gonzo zombie zone'.  Striped it up with some white pinstripes (painted on).  Put the whole new interior back into it (tan leather) over the top of all new carpet.  Yanked the intake manifold and put on a Edelbrock high flow intake and topped it off with a Holly 750 cfm double-pump 4 barrel.  Tore out the old exhaust from the manifolds back, and dropped in a set of Hooker headers w/ straight 2" dual exhausts with some glass packs about mid way back.  Put some Methods and new shoes on it.  Drove it out of the shop and that thing was gleaming!  And, boy howdy, would that puppy get up and go!  Man, that thing would leap straight up off the ground when you mashed the throttle.  I literally have pictures of it at a dead stop where you can see daylight under all four tires!  Those old full-time 4wd's would do stuff like that.  Absolutely loved that thing!  When you'd mash on the gas you could see the whole front end twist from the torque.  Once I'd gotten into 'the groove' rebuilding that old Jimmy, I just couldn't stop.  By that point it was way too nice to ever beat on it up in the mountains elk hunting, so it mostly sat in the shop as a garage queen. 

Every place I drove that thing someone wanted to buy it.  Wound up selling it to this older fella I knew who collects and restores square bodies for about $20k (I had about $9k in it by then, plus my time).  Wish I would have hung onto it now.  I can't touch one of those for under about $45k in not nearly as nice condition as the one I built.  Watched a similar one go across the blocks last year at Barret-Jackson and the dude fetched $80 grand for it.  His had more chrome on the engine, and all braided lines, but otherwise almost identical...wow!

P.S. - Part of my sales deal with the older fella was I've got him on the lookout for a '71 Chevy "Cheese grater" 4x4 (my dream truck).  When he finds it, and he will (if anyone can), that will be a full frame-off restoration from the ground up.  Told him to buy it on sight if it has potential, I don't care how much it costs.  If he can find me a 2500 I've got a half a mind to do a resto-mod with a 6.4L Cummins turbo diesel.  Now wouldn't that be cool!!

Yeah, I don't think I'll ever buy new again, 

You spend that much time, money, and effort on a ride, it's no wonder you get attached. I never had the skills, tools, or room to restore properly, but relatives and friends did.

My Dad found my older sister's car 1972 Nova 350 SuperSport, it was fairly beat up, but Dad got it running cherry. The exterior wasn't decked out too much, but it would haul ass. So many guys were jealous of her ride, that she got a few speeding tickets IIRC. My brother then inherited it, and got it looking sharp as hell. I was hoping to get it, but my brother got an offer and sold it. 

I'd give my left nut for a restored ride like this today. 

[SnrRog]

1969 Pontiac GTO, fully loaded, ragtop
1976 Mazda RX4
1980 Mazda RX7
1992 Ford Exploder
199x Mazda 929
199x Mazda Millenia
2006 Olds Alero
2006 Jeep Liberty (current)

I have kicked my own ass 76 times for trading in the GTO
I was young and stupid. I'd ripped the motor apart to replace a busted timing chain,
and added a Crane Fireball cam. Thing was a rocket. Then the new, small imports started arriving, and I was hypnotized.
Came out of hypnosis when I went out to go to work and didn't have my Goat, but a Mazda.

SnrRog

[KKLoco]

Easily 100k.

My father’s was a heck of an investment given he picked it up for ~5k in 2000!

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I didn’t know these were so problematic. What are the primary issues you’ve had with them?

Just about everything except for the engines. They are great up until about 60k miles. Then they turn to shit. And everything costs at least 4 times what it would on an American made car. Hell, I even had a heater go out in the DEF tank with only 26k miles on it. It was $4k just to replace the heater. Not the whole DEF tank, just the heater. It doesn’t help that Mercedes makes it so everything Has to be programmed by a Mercedes computer. That same vehicle had the transmission start slipping at only 40k miles.

Another example, if you want a spare key, they key costs $145. Then you have to pay Mercedes $225 to program it. It takes them one minute to program it, but they charge a full hour shop rate - BASTARDS!

They aren’t that expensive to purchase new. Mercedes makes all their money off of them through maintenance.

[putnam6]

1969 Pontiac GTO, fully loaded, ragtop
1976 Mazda RX4
1980 Mazda RX7
1992 Ford Exploder
199x Mazda 929
199x Mazda Millenia
2006 Olds Alero
2006 Jeep Liberty (current)

I have kicked my own ass 76 times for trading in the GTO
I was young and stupid. I'd ripped the motor apart to replace a busted timing chain,
and added a Crane Fireball cam. Thing was a rocket. Then the new, small imports started arriving, and I was hypnotized.
Came out of hypnosis when I went out to go to work and didn't have my Goat, but a Mazda.

SnrRog

Hell my Dad had a 1969 Chocolate Brown Pontiac Bonneville, I wish we still had it, it would book, but it was a family car, I can only imagine a GTO convertible. If I ever hit the lottery I'll get a convertible muscle car of some kind, the GTO is top shelf 


Couldnt find a brown one 

[VulcanWerks]

Just about everything except for the engines. They are great up until about 60k miles. Then they turn to shit. And everything costs at least 4 times what it would on an American made car. Hell, I even had a heater go out in the DEF tank with only 26k miles on it. It was $4k just to replace the heater. Not the whole DEF tank, just the heater. It doesn’t help that Mercedes makes it so everything Has to be programmed by a Mercedes computer. That same vehicle had the transmission start slipping at only 40k miles.

Another example, if you want a spare key, they key costs $145. Then you have to pay Mercedes $225 to program it. It takes them one minute to program it, but they charge a full hour shop rate - BASTARDS!

They aren’t that expensive to purchase new. Mercedes makes all their money off of them through maintenance.

Got it! Appreciate the insights.

I hear you on the rip off that is keys or otherwise.

It’s the “Gillette Razor Model” for cars. Sell you a razor and a few heads for 10 bucks.

Sell you 5 new blade heads for $20 which cost basically cents to produce at scale.

MB is notorious for this kinds of electrical issues. Over engineered. Good news is you can typically find the Bosch generic parts and save a whole lot of money - and it’s literally the same part.

Jay Leno once said “if you’re restoring a car and making money you’re doing it wrong”. He’s right about that with various classics or exotics, but you shouldn’t have to feel that way keeping a van going. Appreciate your review and hopefully the automotive gods will give you a reprieve on the maintenance for a bit.

[FlyingClayDisk]

Yeah, I don't think I'll ever buy new again, 

You spend that much time, money, and effort on a ride, it's no wonder you get attached. I never had the skills, tools, or room to restore properly, but relatives and friends did.

My Dad found my older sister's car 1972 Nova 350 SuperSport, it was fairly beat up, but Dad got it running cherry. The exterior wasn't decked out too much, but it would haul ass. So many guys were jealous of her ride, that she got a few speeding tickets IIRC. My brother then inherited it, and got it looking sharp as hell. I was hoping to get it, but my brother got an offer and sold it. 

I'd give my left nut for a restored ride like this today. 

[Image: https://cdn.dealeraccelerate.com/streets...igh-sierra]

That one is almost identical to mine, same year.  I'd have to see the paint code on the orange on the pictured Jimmy, but it looks like a direct match to mine (possibly one shade darker).   I want to say my paint code was DuPont 80-980 'Corvette Orange', and the one you've pictured is damn close if not it (but there's some shadows in the picture which make it hard to confirm).  It was the stock OEM color on the 1973 Corvette Stingray.

I forgot to mention, I removed the metal trim off of mine and filled the holes.  I wanted to go with a single color, not the two tone.  That Chevy / GMC trim always got banged up anyway, plus it promoted rust underneath.  So, I pulled it off.  As noted, I went with the 2-stage lacquer, which was the Corvette Orange undercoat (about 8 lacquer layers, buffed out between coats), and then 2 coats of enamel clearcoat over top of that.  I normally painted a lot of my vehicles in my shop, but for that job I rented a restoration shop's positive pressure paint booth.  It came out perfect.  I did leave the fiberglass top white though, just like the one in the picture.  Mine didn't have the rack on top though.  And, I didn't put nerf bars on it so I had full ground clearance.

I added a little over 1" of lift on the front to level it out, but otherwise left the rest of the suspension alone.  I did put some gas shocks on it though.  She was sure 'sexy' when I got done.  Classy understatement, which has always been my automotive style.  (with a sleeper under the hood, of course!)

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Hell my Dad had a 1969 Chocolate Brown Pontiac Bonneville, I wish we still had it, it would book, but it was a family car, I can only imagine a GTO convertible. If I ever hit the lottery I'll get a convertible muscle car of some kind, the GTO is top shelf 

[Image: https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.co...C398&ssl=1]
Couldnt find a brown one 
[Image: https://tenwheel.com/imgs/a/b/s/q/d/1969..._3_lgw.jpg]

Good grief, that's one good lookin' GOAT!  Mom had a '71 Pontiac Custom SS that I was going to get from her one day, but some knucklehead T-boned my dad in it one day and totaled it.  She wound up replacing the Mustang II (which replaced the Custom SS after it was wrecked) I noted previously with a '78 Trans-Am.  She owned that car up until her passing.  I had fully restored that car for show.  My wife and I put it in the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit.  Basically identical to the Smokey & The Bandit car, but candy apple red w/white leather interior.  Had the T-tops and the whole 9 yards.  That was a cool car, but it wasn't really worth anything, not like the old GTO's are.  Only negative about her car was it had an automatic in it (which was sacrilege for the T/A, in my opinion) (she never learned to drive a 4 spd.).

I cracked up when we sold that car.  The Ad we ran said..."1978 Trans-Am.  33,500 original miles.  Fully restored.  Always garaged.  Driven by a little old lady who only drove it not to church, but to Krogers for groceries."  Sold the car by Noon on the first day the ad ran.

[putnam6]

My uncle probably had the best ride I ever experienced myself he had a 1970 Mustang Mach 1, and he was such a car guy too. Big slicks on the back monster chrome hood scoop, and hood pins LOL thats what my 6-year-old mind remembers. He had it tucked away in a ramshackle wooden garage, the car barely fit in it. Every time we'd visit him he'd take my brother and I for a ride 

[FlyingClayDisk]

My uncle probably had the best ride I ever experienced myself he had a 1970 Mustang Mach 1, and he was such a car guy too. Big slicks on the back monster chrome hood scoop, and hood pins LOL thats what my 6-year-old mind remembers. He had it tucked away in a ramshackle wooden garage, the car barely fit in it. Every time we'd visit him he'd take my brother and I for a ride 

[Image: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/...ipo=images]

I worked for a buddy one time in college doing some plumbing work.  (Yes, this is an 'old barn' story)  We did this repair job for an older gentleman which turned out to be a lot bigger than any of us thought.  The bill came to more than he could pay (not by a lot).  My buddy was a good guy, so he was just going to let it go.  The guy was pretty old and lived alone.  Well, he was having none of that...he was determined to pay the bill (dammit!).  Said he had an old car sitting out in the garage my buddy could have if he wanted it.  Said his son left it there like 20 years before and then disappeared.  Long story short...we went out to is barn and he yanked the car cover off of a showroom new '69 AMC AMX, one of the ones with the old 397 GO-PAC engines in it, and 4 spd Hurst trans, complete with the Sidewinder exhausts.  WOW!  That car was worth a metric sh**-ton of money as it sat, and despite my buddy's efforts to pay this guy for the car, he was having none of it.  Said he just wanted rid of it because it reminded him of his long lost son.  Even though it was 100 miles from his shop, we went got a trailer and went and picked that car up that afternoon.  No kidding!

True story too.

P.S. - I'm never this lucky!!!

[putnam6]

I worked for a buddy one time in college doing some plumbing work.  (Yes, this is an 'old barn' story)  We did this repair job for an older gentleman which turned out to be a lot bigger than any of us thought.  The bill came to more than he could pay (not by a lot).  My buddy was a good guy, so he was just going to let it go.  The guy was pretty old and lived alone.  Well, he was having none of that...he was determined to pay the bill (dammit!).  Said he had an old car sitting out in the garage my buddy could have if he wanted it.  Said his son left it there like 20 years before and then disappeared.  Long story short...we went out to is barn and he yanked the car cover off of a showroom new '69 AMC AMX, one of the ones with the old 397 GO-PAC engines in it, and 4 spd Hurst trans, complete with the Sidewinder exhausts.  WOW!  That car was worth a metric sh**-ton of money as it sat, and despite my buddy's efforts to pay this guy for the car, he was having none of it.  Said he just wanted rid of it because it reminded him of his long lost son.  Even though it was 100 miles from his shop, we went got a trailer and went and picked that car up that afternoon.  No kidding!

True story too.

P.S. - I'm never this lucky!!!

This is why I love talking cars, I never knew AMC had a muscle car, so cool and I bet it is rare AH too. Was the AMX a Javelin?

I remember the Gremlin, Pacer vaguely the Javeline never knew AMC had so many models. Here in the south it was Ford, Chevy 

https://www.ranker.com/list/full-list-of.../reference

[KKLoco]

Yeah, I don't think I'll ever buy new again, 

You spend that much time, money, and effort on a ride, it's no wonder you get attached. I never had the skills, tools, or room to restore properly, but relatives and friends did.

My Dad found my older sister's car 1972 Nova 350 SuperSport, it was fairly beat up, but Dad got it running cherry. The exterior wasn't decked out too much, but it would haul ass. So many guys were jealous of her ride, that she got a few speeding tickets IIRC. My brother then inherited it, and got it looking sharp as hell. I was hoping to get it, but my brother got an offer and sold it. 

I'd give my left nut for a restored ride like this today. 

[Image: https://cdn.dealeraccelerate.com/streets...igh-sierra]

That’s a beautiful rig. Since I was a teenager, I’ve always wanted to buy and restore a 70-74 Ford Bronco. The convertible top one. Cherry red with big black fender flares and humongous BFG A/T tires (best tires on the planet). Maybe I’ll do that in my early retirement. I’m goddamn sick of the wine tour biz…