Got $5K? What kind of car project would you look into undertaking?

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UBERKLEEN

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**Not to be confused with the $30k thread... Which I love, but I dont really have $30,000 to spend on a car. :( **



I often talk myself out of buying a car because I have a 99 Explorer that works just fine and it is paid off. Hard to beat that.



However, I still find myself constantly looking at Ebay Motors, Cars.com, Autotrader, etc at local listing in the $1k-5k range. There is some cool stuff out there, but nothing I ever pull the trigger on.



I was wondering, if you had a max of $5,000, what car would you look into?



The cars that I end up constantly focus on during my searches:



Audi b5 - A4 (1994-01)

BMW e30 - 3 series (1986-91)

BMW e36 - 3 series (1992-99)

BMW e34 - 5 Series (1988-96)

Porsche 944 (1983-91)



**BTW, I am aware of not needing to specify which model based on chassis codes, but some may not know



How about you guys?
 
None of the mentioned for me.

Too expensive to fix, repair, restore and after you are done, better plan on keeping it, cause those who would pay just amount you would have in it are few and far between.

I perfer muscle car or 60-70 American iron.

Almost bought a 64 Ford wagon yesterday, all orignal, went for $2000 more than I was willing to pay.

Still working on my 75 Ranchero driver/haul stuff from the lumber yard, the old restored motorcycles I have done, to shows.

Paid $2,600 for it three years ago, turn down offers every week, from $3500 to $4000.

Just me I guess.

Grumpy
 
I've provided a couple of in-laws with cheap transportation. Doing "reliable" for $5K can be tricky.



Ron Ketcham- Eh, sorry you didn't get that wagon.



Tru_Shine- My CRX Si was a lot of fun! Even my ('85? '86? I forget..) pre-Si one was a neat little piece. Can you find decent ones that cheap? All the ones I've seen were pretty, uhm...well used or else they weren't for sale. And while I found mine nice and practical, some folks simply need a different size/configuration of vehicle.



Ron Ketcham said:
None of the mentioned for me.

Too expensive to fix, repair, restore and after you are done, better plan on keeping it, cause those who would pay just amount you would have in it are few and far between...
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That's the sad, honest truth of the matter.



I really don't see much German iron fitting the bill budget-wise even if you turn your own wrenches. Yeah, I know...somebody's gonna say how they built their perfectly reliable 911 for $2K and change, but it's never worked out like that for anybody I've known IRL.



IMO a *real* $5K car project is one that can really get done for that amount and then serve as reliable transportation with just "fluids and filters"-type maintenance. Tires cost *how* much? ;)



I myself would buy (another) Crown Vic, sorta a variation on Ron's approach, but something from Japan could work too if that floats your boat.



But you gotta stay simple; one automatic climate control headache can cost like you wouldn't believe. And give some thought to parts availability; what if you need something like a window motor and there just *aren't* any.
 
I'd buy this one here just to race Accumulator. I'd show that old man how to drive. :nana:



Ok not really, just had to take a :smash: to Accum. Actually if I had a car already I would buy a bike. So much can be had for under 5K.
 
Thanks, Acum, yeah would have really enjoyed having the old thing.

Speaking of "wagons", been at it hard for the last three days, refinishing, polishing, etc a ton of chrome, stainless and aluminum trim for a 1956 Pontiac Safari wagon.

The guy is another gearhead from around here, the car came out of the paint booth Friday and they want to start assembly Tuesday.

It is "sweet", rarer than a Nomad (of which he has two, plus several other GM's from the 50's) and I just can't turn down a challenge.

Giving him a break, just keeping track of hours, $30 per, plus materials.

I only take cash, retired you know, but if anyone else it starts at $40 and up and hour.

Looks like I am going to have about 20+ hours in the project.

He has a 55 Chev Convertible coming out of the paint booth in three weeks, so here we go again.

Another fellow I know is expecting his full built 57- 210 to be out of the paint booth in about three weeks, and he is going to pay the full Magilla, and no complaints.

Man, once you learn how to do this sort of thing and have the right equipment, beats the heck out of detailing-too damned old for that anymore.

Just sit in the shop, have the radio or TV on, drinking coffee and making cash money.

Where did I go wrong in the past??

LOL!

Grumpy
 
Barry Theal said:
I'd buy this one here just to race Accumulator. I'd show that old man how to drive. :nana:



Ok not really, just had to take a :smash: to Accum. Actually if I had a car already I would buy a bike. So much can be had for under 5K.
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If you really want a car to taunt the "old man" image with, it'd be a Grand Marquis....
 
It would have to be a Maruder, now that's a great driving, piece of Detroit iron (not really, like the Crown Vic, made in St Thomas,Canada) Just try to find a decent one to buy! They are turning out to be like gold for Merc fans.

My last two company cars were Marquis, the last one was special ordered for my by Vehicle Ops of Ford, SVT tweaked the computer and it was pumping 300hp.'

Everyone at the company called it the "Soprano Mobile", needless to say it was black with black leather.

I do miss that old ride.

Grumpy
 
Ron Ketcham said:
It would have to be a Maruder, now that's a great driving, piece of Detroit iron (not really, like the Crown Vic, made in St Thomas,Canada) Just try to find a decent one to buy! They are turning out to be like gold for Merc fans.

My last two company cars were Marquis, the last one was special ordered for my by Vehicle Ops of Ford, SVT tweaked the computer and it was pumping 300hp.'

Everyone at the company called it the "Soprano Mobile", needless to say it was black with black leather.

I do miss that old ride.

Grumpy
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Ah yes, the Marauder.... Mercury's version of the '94-'96 Impala SS. Always did like the looks of those. I'd still rather buy the B-Body though. I took drivers' ed in a '95 DCM.
 
C. Charles Hahn- Yeah, had somebody asked this a few years ago I woulda said to go with a 9C1 Caprice. Or the police version of the Mustang. A few years from now I'll probably be thinking about the police package Charger but I just prefer the Ford Panther platorm myself.



I don't mind the GMs, just don't care for the trunk fascia treatment and changing the steering to P71 specs takes a little doing.



Barry Theal- That poor old Crown Vic you linked (sheesh, a landau roof :rolleyes: ) is too close to the $5K limit, a stock civilian CV/GM is just "potential", gotta save some money to get it fun.



And... heh HEH HEH regarding a little competition when driving that particular platform! This old guy would school you but good ;)



Ron Ketcham- Yeah, those 50s Safari wagons are near the top of my fave tri-fives.



Hey, yeah....I remember that GM you had! Yeah, it's not all that hard to find a little extra oomph.



The Marauders you'll find for <$5K will all be trashed. And you gotta be careful which one you buy as some have to have the *exact* right rear tires (no, you can't just reprogram for it) and they're a weird size that's hard to find.



To really do this per the budget, you can get a P71 (Police Interceptor) for well under $5K with plenty left over to fix whatever it needs. It'll have the good steering/suspension/transmission/other heavy-duty bits from the factory and minor tweaks will get it up to where it's pretty fun. Stone-age simple and pretty indestructible. And a lot better performing that many might think.
 
Not about the 5K thing, but I was thinking of how I missed the CV Limited that Ford put out for, what 2 years?

Not knowlegable about it, seems it had some "good things" added to the standard Crown Vic.

Fill me on it.

There is one in town, of course black, has low miles and is for sale.

May look into it.

Grumpy
 
Ron Ketcham said:
Not about the 5K thing, but I was thinking of how I missed the CV Limited that Ford put out for, what 2 years?

Not knowlegable about it, seems it had some "good things" added to the standard Crown Vic.

Fill me on it.

There is one in town, of course black, has low miles and is for sale.

May look into it.

Grumpy
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Do you mean the "Sport" model? I forget the details, but they build 'em for a few years in both the pre-'03 and post-'03 configurations.



Those were pretty good packages, but it's a shame they didn't *really* turn up the wick any. Not really "better" or "worse" (functionally) than the P71 Interceptors (but no extra cooling/etc.), better in pretty much every way compared to the regular civilian cars. Much more luxe than a P71, that's for sure!



Notably, one of those beat a stock P71 in certain tests...different suspension/tires probably accounted for it.



I forget the specifics, but IIRC they had better anti-swaybars (even better than the P71), softer suspension than the P71, and a dual exhaust, but that was pretty much the end of the performance upgrades. Nice interiors though, floor shift, buckets, gauges, etc. and good looking 17" 5-spokes (which I'm running on my CV). "Monochrome" paint effect on trim bits looks a lot/no better depending on one's taste.



Sorry I'm not better on the details, been a while since I did my Panther research and the Sport wasn't really on my short-list.



Some very minor (and cheap) upgrades would have a Sport running as strongly as your tweaked GM, with a whole lot better suspension setup. Big Q is whether it's pre/post '03 though.
 
Earlier this year I had the itch for a new ride. I wanted a SUV-ish thing to haul stuff. (The closest I have ever come to owning a truck is my 1969 VW Westfalia camper.) So this was going to be culture shock for me. I looked at Ford Explorers and Jeeps but was disappointed how poorly they held up after the 100k mile mark. Broken trim, rattles and even rust were deal killers. A friend recommended the Toyota 4Runner and I was impressed with the general build quality and the strong enthusiest following. Who knew? I found one that had been babied all it's life and couldn't be happier. I've done the full tune up and added new brakes and shocks, etc., more to satisfy my anal-retentive maintenance needs than by necessity. It's been a great ride so far. The good: reliable, quiet, comfortable, very versatile, enough power to get out of it's own way. Full leather, two heaters, seats fold flat. Best of all, I can finally see beyond the license plate of the car in front of me. (The most frustrating part of sports car ownership.) The learning curve: It's a truck. It handles pretty well, but not with the accuracy of what I am used to so it takes a different driving style. I find myself much more laid back when driving this 4Runner. No need to zip in and out our zoom around. No need to be in the front of the line just to see around other cars. It's tall and it's an automatic so it's less stressful in traffic. It's funny, though, I am amazed at how may 4Runners and similar SUV's are on the road. It's like driving around in a sea on anonymity! This is something new for me. My wife has lost it in the parking lot more than once!



Best of all my initial outlay is not much more than $5k and I won't lose the farm no matter what happens to it. I'm not a "truck" person, but the alternative vehicles (Audi Q5, VW Toureag, Mercedes ML 350) were $40k more expensive than what I ended up with. My wife is happy with that.



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And Sparky loves it, too!

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Brad B.- I'd somehow missed the part about it being so inexpensive! That's a lot cheaper than a nice 4Runner would be in my area.
 
$5k? I would probably buy and old miata and go 'racing'. Even an old BMW 3 series and do the same. Doesn't matter what it looks like!
 
Ya know, I keep thinking that if the budget is $5K I'd rather just hold on to the money for a rainy day. Yeah, I know...that's no fun :grinno:
 
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