What did it take for you to give up?

I bought my 75 Malibu cause I have always wanted one. When I saw this car and the video I just knew it was the one. From the minute it came off the truck it has given me nothing but fits. After the out of gas and bad battery I got it home and stuck it in the garage. When I took it out I noticed the roaring noise up front. Tried to fix that but it appears that I may have a bad caliper. After that it started running bad. Full tune up was in order. Did all that to find the vacuum advance was bad. After licking that and taking it up the road I noticed a headlight pointing down, adjuster broke. Then after I fixed that the upper radiator hose started to leak. New thermostat later and all back together it looks like I need a neck cause the old one was corroded so bad. Then the overflow tank started to leak. I notice now that the clock has stopped working after working after all this time and now the sending unit has gone bad. All this piling on and it needing valve cover gaskets, old cat replaced, rear wheel cylinders and one of the calipers needing to be replaced/rebuilt it is starting to throw me over the top. I planned on replacing the rear wheel cylinders this weekend trying to get everything done for powertour but I think the sending unit has thrown me over the edge and the damn thing will just sit in the garage until I can get more funds to start replacing things, and it will give me a full year to drive the thing and work out all the bugs. I know the car was a driver for a while then parked. I was told the guy bought a newer truck and didn't use this anymore. I'm wondering if things started to go and he didn't want to get caught up in the snowball. Sometimes I really hate old cars, most time I love them. I don't think I could really sell this car because I do like it but my God, this is almost like a sick game the car is playing with me.

I decided a long time ago not to piecemeal anything. If the caliper is bad replace both. Go through the whole front end not just one tie rod or a ball joint . Needs a brake line? Replace the whole line not splice in a piece. Its an old car expect this stuff and have patience. Sometimes those little projects on Saturdays help prevent bigger stuff.

I expect to do a lot of maintenance when I get an old car. Just recently, I replaced the wiring harness for the engine and forward lamps on my daughter's car and expect to do the same on my Laguna simply because the plastic connectors get dry rotted and crumble when you look cross-eyed at them. I will also be changing out the sending unit and throttle cable on the 74. All that on top of the self-inflicted damage I caused by deciding to drive the car home after purchase instead of putting it on a trailer. It threw a fan belt and cooked the engine (ruined rings and warped head). Had to change the radiator in the middle of nowhere because the one in the car had the fins and tubes separating. It took 14 hrs to make a 5 hr trip.

Don't give up. You may be in despair right now, but stories like this with the eventual conquering of the little gremlins make for good cruise night BS'ing and can make you into a local garage hero because you are the one who fixed everything about this car.

X2 on that...it's an OLD car & needs TLC !! We all know this when we jump into getting an old car. To me personally, I like doing all the fixing, it's therapy for boredom !!

X3. Right now you're behind the eight-ball: there's more stuff that needs repairing/replacing due to time and neglect than you've got time, money, or patience for. But if you knock these things down one at a time, eventually you will come out the other side and realize it was worth every dollar, curse word, and bloody knuckle.

I guess I just expected more when I bought it. Damn eBay. Normally I'd throw a for sale sign in it and take my lumps. But, I really like these cars and want to see it through.

Buy a factory service manual and a body manual for it in ebay, helps with a lot of stuff

If you plan to keep it as I do mine. Rework ALL the mechanicals. Wife and I have gone through every nut and bolt on this and replaced almost everything. Don't like surprises.

Most old cars weren't that great when they were new, especially 70s cars. They didn't (couldn't?) build cars to last 200,000 miles back then. Hell, when I was a kid you just DID NOT buy a car more than 5 years old or with more than 50,000 miles because you KNEW it was already half way to the scrap heap.

Lots of old cars came from the factory with tool kits because everybody knew the things were gonna break.

Now even spare tires are almost obsolete.

I buy old cars knowing that something's gonna break, but for me half the fun is tinkering with them.

This is already turning into a whale of a story to share with all the future folks you will meet and believe it or not you will laugh later on about all the crap you ran into trying to get your new ride back home plus those issues you have run into as you made necessary repairs. The best part of all this is you will know the condition your car is in when you do take trips or make the local car shows. You will feel proud to be able to share the ordeals and accomplishments you have achieved as you bring your new ride up to date.
Frustration for sure BUT, when all is said and done its worth every effort and expense you endure. These are great cars to update, unfortunately our cars haven't caught on with the reproduction folks. Some pieces are beginning to show up and I think in time will become more available.

Keep the faith and make quality repairs as you progress. Its worth it.

Good luck and stay in touch here in this G3 forum Its a great bunch who are more than willing to help with any problems you may run into.

Jerry Harman
testpilot61

What did it take to give up... Well fast forward 21 years and I'm still not giving up! I bought my 76 Laguna in 95, it was undriveable at the time, I got it running and repaired enough that I could get it legally on the road. I used it as my primary transportation for at least 12 years. During that time I rebuilt the car without doing a frame off resto on it. Replaced everything on the suspension, brake lines etc. built a small block during the spring of 96. Started breaking rocker studs bending push rods broke driveshafts blew up built transmissions, new torque converters. Sorted that all out, redid the body twice, replaced doors fenders. Moved to the us in 01, brought the car back with me in 04, stated a full frame off resto, that's where I'm at now, slowly coming together. Not giving up.

I've had my '74 Malibu Classic since 1990. I was lucky enough to buy a Georgia car with just a rust hole in the right side floor ! After rebuilding the front suspension & steering, changing rear springs & all shocks, the original engine was getting sick. So, I had this built 408 inch small block from my '77 El Comino that I had to scrap because of rust, along with TH350 that I built for abuse. That went in, and then it was time for paint and new interior which were the last items. And it still runs great & lights off the tires nicely.

That one was the easy one.

My '75 Elco project ( started in May 2009) is just getting finishing odds & ends done. It was a body shell from Arizona when I started, and now has a 507 cubic inch Caddy engine in it.

So, this hobby forum is about fixing & restoring the G3 cars & Elcos, and we love'em !!

I'm on my 2nd Chevelle, a Malibu, and my 4th Elco.....

I really thought long and hard about dumping this one and buying another one but I figure I'd probably be in the same boat but different problems. That is really what I meant about giving up. I'm more disappointed because I can't take it on PowerTour this year but there will be other years to come. In the back of my mind I have a goal for it so I think I really need to push for it. I've seen a red car that is dropped and just sounds killer. I also like the Earnhardt Laguna. I want to drop it a little lower in the rear, go back to a 15 inch wheel and tire combo, get rid of the roof and trim and and give it some more hp.

I do think the popularity of these is going to rise though. I see more and more than ever before. Now some done up not how I would do it (donked out) but to each his own. I'm going to stick with this one and see my vision through.

Good on ya.
I've got another old car that needs work.
I get very impatient and frustrated with it, then I have to calm down and come to terms with the fact that it's probably gonna be a couple of years to get it where I want it.

Power Tour 2018...er 19...or whatever, here I come!

What did it take for me to give up?

Having to sell them!


Cort > www.oldcarsstronghearts.com
pigValve.paceMaker.cowValve | 1979 Caprice Classic (needs new owner)
"Why are we so blind to see that the ones we hurt are you & me" __ Coolio __ 'Gangsta's Paradise (Dangerous Minds)'

Power Tour is overrated anyway. Bunch of snobs. You'll likely enjoy the Car Craft Anti-Tour more -- they're a lot more like us.

When I first joined the Hoosier Chevelle club I was the only G3. That was less than two years ago. Now we have 5 hold on to them they are coming around fast!

I really agree with ant7377 that one should not piecemeal repair an old car. Troubleshooting becomes triply difficult when you have old and new parts in the same system and doing performance replacements in such a system increases the difficulty. When I started my renovation of my 76 I waited until I had every part of an entire system before beginning its replacement. I also had an advantage in keeping it stock. The new system replacements have not been problematic in operation.

Damon23 wrote:I bought my 75 Malibu cause I have always wanted one. When I saw this car and the video I just knew it was the one. From the minute it came off the truck it has given me nothing but fits. After the out of gas and bad battery I got it home and stuck it in the garage. When I took it out I noticed the roaring noise up front. Tried to fix that but it appears that I may have a bad caliper. After that it started running bad. Full tune up was in order. Did all that to find the vacuum advance was bad. After licking that and taking it up the road I noticed a headlight pointing down, adjuster broke. Then after I fixed that the upper radiator hose started to leak. New thermostat later and all back together it looks like I need a neck cause the old one was corroded so bad. Then the overflow tank started to leak. I notice now that the clock has stopped working after working after all this time and now the sending unit has gone bad. All this piling on and it needing valve cover gaskets, old cat replaced, rear wheel cylinders and one of the calipers needing to be replaced/rebuilt it is starting to throw me over the top. I planned on replacing the rear wheel cylinders this weekend trying to get everything done for powertour but I think the sending unit has thrown me over the edge and the damn thing will just sit in the garage until I can get more funds to start replacing things, and it will give me a full year to drive the thing and work out all the bugs. I know the car was a driver for a while then parked. I was told the guy bought a newer truck and didn't use this anymore. I'm wondering if things started to go and he didn't want to get caught up in the snowball. Sometimes I really hate old cars, most time I love them. I don't think I could really sell this car because I do like it but my God, this is almost like a sick game the car is playing with me.

I don't know what you mean.

What is this "give up" of which you speak?

K

Damon23 wrote:I bought my 75 Malibu cause I have always wanted one. When I saw this car and the video I just knew it was the one. From the minute it came off the truck it has given me nothing but fits. After the out of gas and bad battery I got it home and stuck it in the garage. When I took it out I noticed the roaring noise up front. Tried to fix that but it appears that I may have a bad caliper. After that it started running bad. Full tune up was in order. Did all that to find the vacuum advance was bad. After licking that and taking it up the road I noticed a headlight pointing down, adjuster broke. Then after I fixed that the upper radiator hose started to leak. New thermostat later and all back together it looks like I need a neck cause the old one was corroded so bad. Then the overflow tank started to leak. I notice now that the clock has stopped working after working after all this time and now the sending unit has gone bad. All this piling on and it needing valve cover gaskets, old cat replaced, rear wheel cylinders and one of the calipers needing to be replaced/rebuilt it is starting to throw me over the top. I planned on replacing the rear wheel cylinders this weekend trying to get everything done for powertour but I think the sending unit has thrown me over the edge and the damn thing will just sit in the garage until I can get more funds to start replacing things, and it will give me a full year to drive the thing and work out all the bugs. I know the car was a driver for a while then parked. I was told the guy bought a newer truck and didn't use this anymore. I'm wondering if things started to go and he didn't want to get caught up in the snowball. Sometimes I really hate old cars, most time I love them. I don't think I could really sell this car because I do like it but my God, this is almost like a sick game the car is playing with me.

By the way - this sounds more like what is going on with my daily driver that it does my Chevelle.

No - wait. It sounds like my Chevelle, too.

K

Keith Seymore wrote:What is this "give up" of which you speak?

Hear! Hear!

In for a penny, in for a pound. Go for broke. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

I can absolutely appreciate the hassle, headaches and heartaches that come with vintage cars. I can also identify with pecuniary parsimony. There's a saying, "Cheap can be expensive." Those of us that are a bit long in the tooth have no doubt had direct experience be it a crappy part or tool. Please permit me to illustrate.

When one piece of a system or assembly fails, the initial reaction is to replace that piece as quickly and cheaply as possible. For something like a light bulb, that solution's fine. For something like your lower radiator hose, the more sound approach is to also replace the upper hose, thermostat, heater hoses, radiator cap and, if equipped, heater shutoff valve. Your entire cooling system has been exposed to the same wear and tear as that hose that just failed. Failure of the other components won't be far off. The only time this doesn't apply is in the unlikely case where the lower hose was defective or damaged and started leaking within a month of having completely redone the entire cooling system.

The most surefire way to save money is to do the work yourself. Any money you would have spent on a "mechanic" at a repair shop could be invested in job specific tools. The payoff is not only a car that's back on the road but the pride in knowing that you made that happen.

zucchi wrote:

Keith Seymore wrote:What is this "give up" of which you speak?

Hear! Hear!

Probably an appropriate place to link this update:

https://www.g3gm.com/t13226-a-little-ink#122938