Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

jamespowers · Jan 16, 2013

Maguire said:
I know it may seem a Sacrilege to post this along with all these pristine, golden age cars, but my (first) bought car is this 1988 Lincoln Towncar. I really liked the big land yachts from the 70s and 80s, the ones that were very shoebox shaped, and was committed to getting either a cadillac or lincoln from this era. this one had 63,000 miles on it, and cost me 800 dollars. It drives very well, i had to put a bit of work into it and its body has some rust of course, but its my pride and joy.. maybe one day i'll have a car like one of the beauties i've seen here but for now, i'll cling to this town car as long as i can.

You don't have to explain about a big luxury car to me. I am currently looking for a late 80s Cadillac Brougham. There is something to be said for the larege luxury that they don't produce now. :

Maguire · Jan 16, 2013

One down the block from me was just sold, a 1983 fleetwood brougham.. I took it for a spin.. it had a pristine body but it was a diesel engine and the guy wanted 3 grand for it. I don't mind paying 3 grand for a car in tip top shape, but this thing undoubtedly would have needed work and lots of it. I heard those diesel fleetwoods weren't reliable either and i take that towncar to work everyday.

John in Covina · Jan 16, 2013

Maguire said:
One down the block from me was just sold, a 1983 fleetwood brougham.. I took it for a spin.. it had a pristine body but it was a diesel engine and the guy wanted 3 grand for it. I don't mind paying 3 grand for a car in tip top shape, but this thing undoubtedly would have needed work and lots of it. I heard those diesel fleetwoods weren't reliable either and i take that towncar to work everyday.

At the time many GM diesels in cars were reworks of gas engines and not noted for reliablity.

jamespowers · Jan 16, 2013

Maguire said:
One down the block from me was just sold, a 1983 fleetwood brougham.. I took it for a spin.. it had a pristine body but it was a diesel engine and the guy wanted 3 grand for it. I don't mind paying 3 grand for a car in tip top shape, but this thing undoubtedly would have needed work and lots of it. I heard those diesel fleetwoods weren't reliable either and i take that towncar to work everyday.

Yeah, perhaps I should have said late 80s. Those early 80s models had lousy engines. Diesel was cheaper back then so they decided to go for the easy sell with---look a diesel! It is economical! Yeah right. PU! The gas engine they had back then stunk too the fifth generation Broughams had the HT 4100 in it that was underpowered and an aluminum block that had all sorts of problems.
That being said, I plan on looking at one this weekend----the engine was replaced though.

I like the d'elegance leather package. If it is in decent shape and about $1500, I'll likely go for it. He has a a barn full of Cads though so I might go with the 1990 Brougham or the 1980 Limo. I dunno.

Maguire · Jan 17, 2013

Diesel engines can be very reliable, in Ireland most if not all the cars run on diesel engine, they get incredible mileage. But there are disadvantages of course, and our GMs, as you said, never took well to them. This cadillac in question sounded like a tractor when turned on, and had smog coming out of the exhaust so thick and smelly you'd think you were standing in the smokestack of some industrial plant... but it sure was a beauty to behold.

1500 for a nice caddy sounds great. I am on a tight budget so for me, that is not just a bargain but probably the only price i'd be able to afford. I was actually thinking of picking up another big old car, so that if this one breaks down on me i'd have another one to roll around with while this one is in the shop but that seems a bit decadent yet...

jamespowers · Jan 17, 2013

Maguire said:
Diesel engines can be very reliable, in Ireland most if not all the cars run on diesel engine, they get incredible mileage. But there are disadvantages of course, and our GMs, as you said, never took well to them. This cadillac in question sounded like a tractor when turned on, and had smog coming out of the exhaust so thick and smelly you'd think you were standing in the smokestack of some industrial plant... but it sure was a beauty to behold.

1500 for a nice caddy sounds great. I am on a tight budget so for me, that is not just a bargain but probably the only price i'd be able to afford. I was actually thinking of picking up another big old car, so that if this one breaks down on me i'd have another one to roll around with while this one is in the shop but that seems a bit decadent yet...

The whole sound of the diesel coming from a Cadillac just turns me off. lol lol I looked at a right hand drive Brougham a while back. It was nice but I don't think I could handle the difference.

The guy wants $1500 for the 1980 Cadillac limousine as well. That might be fun but....

Carl Miller · Jan 17, 2013

AtomicEraTom · Jan 17, 2013

Funny you say that. One night, I was just getting out of my car at home, when I thought a semi was coming up the alley. Turn and look and it was an '80's Fleetwood Brougham.

jamespowers said:
The whole sound of the diesel coming from a Cadillac just turns me off. lol lol I looked at a right hand drive Brougham a while back. It was nice but I don't think I could handle the difference.
The guy wants $1500 for the 1980 Cadillac limousine as well. That might be fun but....

Beautiful car! It's a shame FoMoCo has discontinued the Panther Platform (Crown Vic, Marquis, and Town Car) I've owned two Crown Victorias, have a Grand Marquis Colony Park Wagon, and am shopping for a nice Town Car (1998-2011).

There's a Town Car like yours, but the top is black sitting near where I work and I always wait to see a for sale sign on it. The lucky thing about these, is they can usually be found with low miles for cheap, and the parts are easy to get, and the cars are fairly easy to fix. You really got a winner. I played with some lower-end cars in High School, but after going to a luxury style vehicle, I have little interest in going back.

Maguire said:
I know it may seem a Sacrilege to post this along with all these pristine, golden age cars, but my (first) bought car is this 1988 Lincoln Towncar. I really liked the big land yachts from the 70s and 80s, the ones that were very shoebox shaped, and was committed to getting either a cadillac or lincoln from this era. this one had 63,000 miles on it, and cost me 800 dollars. It drives very well, i had to put a bit of work into it and its body has some rust of course, but its my pride and joy.. maybe one day i'll have a car like one of the beauties i've seen here but for now, i'll cling to this town car as long as i can.

My current luxury car is the last of the true Luxury Cars that GM built, in my opinion, a 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. Paired up in this pic with my 1990 Grand Marquis Colony Park. They're not terribly vintage, but they sure don't make anything like them anymore!

Maguire · Jan 17, 2013

Nice cars, you especially don't see that wood panel siding anymore, that just screams 1980s family car. Not a complaint, of course. i personally lose interest in the 90s + models, they start getting that rounded look, i mean some of them still look nice (the ones you just posted certainly do) but by and large its around this time that cars really started to all look identical. I can hardly tell most cars apart except by paint job and size. I like those big cars designed with straight right angles all around. and i don't care about "aerodynamic" this or that, its a car not a jet engine, my towncar's got a v8 and zips past those newer models despite all their aero dynamic, wind resistant whatevers. And if God forbid i ever get in an accident with most cars on the road, i know i'm going to come out better than the other fellow.

GoldenEraFan · Jan 17, 2013

Maguire said:
I know it may seem a Sacrilege to post this along with all these pristine, golden age cars, but my (first) bought car is this 1988 Lincoln Towncar. I really liked the big land yachts from the 70s and 80s, the ones that were very shoebox shaped, and was committed to getting either a cadillac or lincoln from this era. this one had 63,000 miles on it, and cost me 800 dollars. It drives very well, i had to put a bit of work into it and its body has some rust of course, but its my pride and joy.. maybe one day i'll have a car like one of the beauties i've seen here but for now, i'll cling to this town car as long as i can.

When I was younger, I never saw anything special about cars after 1962, but recently I've come to like those classic land yachts they built into the early '90s and your Lincoln is a real gem! Hardly see any shoebox Lincolns around here anymore.

AtomicEraTom · Jan 17, 2013

Yup, I've got three woodie wagons and seldom see others on the road. Current models in the stable for wagons are a '72 Country Squire, 87 Caprice Estate, then the '90 Colony Park. I prefer older models than what I have, but the fuel injection in the Caddy, the Colony Park, and my '89 Ram is nice for daily driving, especially on colder days.

Like you said, they sure are getting to all look alike. Hardly any V8's in sedans anymore either, and not a sedan on the road that is fresh off the lot is Body-on-Frame and RWD anymore.

Trust me, I hit two deer going 60 in the Cadillac (just got it all put back together a couple weeks ago) and never felt a thing and only heard a light thud. The car took a bit of a beating in the plastic and glass parts, but structurally it was fine and in the cabin, like I said, I hardly felt a thing. They were built well.

Maguire · Jan 17, 2013

The parts should be more widely available, but i'm not particularly handy (yet) with cars, so i've sunk money into this one already. I don't mind since i'd prefer this to virtually any more expensive car on the road, but the transmission is the next thing that needs to go and thats one job i'm not looking forward to.

AtomicEraTom · Jan 17, 2013

What's wrong with the tranny?

Maguire said:
The parts should be more widely available, but i'm not particularly handy (yet) with cars, so i've sunk money into this one already. I don't mind since i'd prefer this to virtually any more expensive car on the road, but the transmission is the next thing that needs to go and thats one job i'm not looking forward to.

Maguire · Jan 17, 2013

AtomicEraTom said:
What's wrong with the tranny?

Mechanic said it is on its last legs, same for the radiator which has a slight leak. Now dont get me wrong, i know autoshops like to play up issues, they see a car like this roll in and they figure they've got a Goose that lays golden eggs, but i took my father who knows cars far better than i do and he concurred with the mechanic.
Its lasted me a good year without too much trouble, i've only had to take it to get work done on one occasion, and that work wasn't critical. but i figured the radiator would give me a problem. The transmission on the other hand i wasn't prepared for.. but i'm weighing my options. If it keeps afloat for another few months i'll consider putting the money into it, since i don't want to part with it. If it goes in the next few weeks though... it goes. i can't be dropping a thousand here and a thousand there, especially right now in my life.

jamespowers · Jan 18, 2013

Maguire said:
Mechanic said it is on its last legs, same for the radiator which has a slight leak. Now dont get me wrong, i know autoshops like to play up issues, they see a car like this roll in and they figure they've got a Goose that lays golden eggs, but i took my father who knows cars far better than i do and he concurred with the mechanic.
Its lasted me a good year without too much trouble, i've only had to take it to get work done on one occasion, and that work wasn't critical. but i figured the radiator would give me a problem. The transmission on the other hand i wasn't prepared for.. but i'm weighing my options. If it keeps afloat for another few months i'll consider putting the money into it, since i don't want to part with it. If it goes in the next few weeks though... it goes. i can't be dropping a thousand here and a thousand there, especially right now in my life.

Hmmm...

LizzieMaine · Jan 18, 2013

Or if you really want to be Vintage, a handful of oatmeal.

jamespowers · Jan 18, 2013

LizzieMaine said:
Or if you really want to be Vintage, a handful of oatmeal.

I had heard that eggs will do the same thing but both of those tend to also clog the radiator passages.

The stop leak is fine enough to get through the system and accumulate at the leak until it stops it.

rjb1 · Jan 18, 2013

It's not quite as vintage as oatmeal, but that "silver-powder"-type radiator stop-leak was great stuff back in my hot-rod days. I always had a bit of worry that it would clog something up that shouldn't be, but it never seemed to. However, I don't know if they even make it any more. (I suspect that it falls into the Law of Nature that says: "Anything Worth Having will be Discontinued".

jamespowers · Jan 18, 2013

rjb1 said:
It's not quite as vintage as oatmeal, but that "silver-powder"-type radiator stop-leak was great stuff back in my hot-rod days. I always had a bit of worry that it would clog something up that shouldn't be, but it never seemed to. However, I don't know if they even make it any more. (I suspect that it falls into the Law of Nature that says: "Anything Worth Having will be Discontinued".

I can still get it here. It is a good temporary fix.

AtomicEraTom · Jan 18, 2013

On the note of the radiator, we had a leak in our '31 Model A and that Prestone Stop Leak and Super Tech Coolant fixed it. One didn't work without the other, though.

For the Transmission, I recommend trying some Lucas, I can't remember the exact name, but it's some sort of tranny stuff they have. It seemed to work well. Also, those transmissions are fairly common in boneyards. I haven't bought a trans in a couple years, but my last one was 200 bucks and I put it in myself. Good way to save some cash. If your dad's a bit more schooled in cars, I'm sure he could help you or walk you through it.

Maguire said:
Mechanic said it is on its last legs, same for the radiator which has a slight leak. Now dont get me wrong, i know autoshops like to play up issues, they see a car like this roll in and they figure they've got a Goose that lays golden eggs, but i took my father who knows cars far better than i do and he concurred with the mechanic.
Its lasted me a good year without too much trouble, i've only had to take it to get work done on one occasion, and that work wasn't critical. but i figured the radiator would give me a problem. The transmission on the other hand i wasn't prepared for.. but i'm weighing my options. If it keeps afloat for another few months i'll consider putting the money into it, since i don't want to part with it. If it goes in the next few weeks though... it goes. i can't be dropping a thousand here and a thousand there, especially right now in my life.

Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

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