Car issues

[gimpy]

I'm in quite a mess right now. My transmission on my ford explorer is fried. And replacing it costs more than what the car is worth.

I just found out that my neighbor that moved into a old folks home 2 years ago is having her house sold by the bank. Sifting through her old things with the cleaning man, finding old hats from the 1920's, saving bonds, books, and other things. I walked into the garage, obviously there is a car in it under a white sheet. I take the sheet off, and to my surprise there is a classic 1964 dodge 440 V8 Polara with 23k original miles just sitting there. The interior is extremely well kept with original leather and fabric, and it even has that push button shifter. Where you push a button for drive, or reverse, and so forth. The car has been garage kept and hasn't been run in two years, it shows a bit of surface rust, but the rims are completely rusted out. This thing also is has the big original chrome accents and grill, which are in awesome shape. Though there are some kinks where the hood wont stay in place, it kind of rest at a weird angle.

I know there are some car people on here, Mechanics and such. I would just like a second opinion. Should take a risk and jump on this thing a make a dream cruise car out of it? Or should I fix up my exploder?

[Scott]

It's really something that can only be decided by you, but I would go with the Polara. If you decide to fix the explorer, just get a tranny out of the junk yard, I'm sure there are plenty of ford SUVs out there with collision damage that you could take a practically new tranny out of.

[gimpy]

Oh, I've considered it all, the transmission I need is a 2wd special something.. And am having a hard time finding, I also have my uncle on the search for one, who builds muscle cars, and is a ford mechanic. We've been searching for a while, at local junk yards and adds in the paper. And the ones we did find were either already busted, or were used and were to expensive.

The thing that attracts me to the Polara so much is that because of the circumstances. I can get this classic car for about $900 or so, which is really extremly good considering the condition and milage on the car.

[Scott]

Think of it this way, in a few years you could really regret passing up this deal, but how much could you regret getting rid of an Explorer with a bad transmission?

[El Phantasamo]

Ok heres my "Professional Opinion"

1, the explorer. It depends on what the truck is worth to you. Can you get a reliable vehicle for the price of the transmission? I doubt it. If you keep hitting dead ends, I have some trans guys who ca give you a good price on A "Bench Build'. This means you have to take the trans out and put it in

2 the Dodge. It is a classic, and at a good price. The catch is, it wont be a winter car. You will want to restore it, and that will cost more than maintenance on the Exploder. If you can afford it, get it. Just remember, its NOT an everyday car, so don't intend to buy it/use it a such

[D.]

Exactly. My dad restores corvettes for a living, and although we have three, You'll never see them outside in the winter. A lot of upkeep goes into keeping and having a classic car. You'll want to rent a spot in a heated garage somewhere. You'll need constant maintence depending on the condition. On the other hand though. I can't stand Ford SUV/Trucks, they are worthless (No offense, born a Chevy kid). So in the end it's up to you, and as El said before it's not a winter car.

[King]

"born a Chevy kid"

Chevy kid getting a Ford Fusion.

Traitor.

[Scott]

My family has had 3 expeditions, and the biggest problem was crappy brakes on one that covered the wheels in brake dust. Other than that, not a single problem. I sure do love chevy cars though.

Back on topic, If you want to do this bench job, it really shouldnt be hard to remove the transmission.

If you really wanted to drive the Polara daily, you could assuming it runs well. The engine will require you to adjust things pretty frequently though. Driving it during the winter, assuming you can handle it on snow/ice, is only a problem if you feel guilty doing it to such a classic. I personally would feel guilty.

[gimpy]

It doesn't matter now.. Damnit

I just found out someone made a move on it..

[D.]

king said:

"born a Chevy kid"

Chevy kid getting a Ford Fusion.

Traitor.

I can't help it if GMAC is shitty, they produce nice cars but their service is horrible. I guess that's a tradeoff you get for having good cars. Anyway, I'll be driving a 72 Vette, in the summer.

[duper]

gimpy im a car buff and if your haveing douts about buying a new tans for your ford then dont touch that dodge. class dodges are very expensive to fix or keep running. my father had a 69 charger with a 426 hemi and that car really brought the mato "mopar mo money" into light.


if you need any help with your truck just hit me up i got all the tools and stuff to put a trans in and if you buy me some pizza and beer i'll help you for free lol.


if you still want a hot rod i got a 93 cobra with a 514 .60 over ballanced and blue printed trick flow twisted wedge heads holly 350 fule pump holly 1,250 domanator 2nd genaration tremic tko trans 40 spline gun drilled axles pro fogger kit 12 pint cage and alot more stuff i use to work at roush racing and that car was my life but now its just to much to run and to much power for a car thats that light. i got a 02 z28 that sucks gas and for some odd reason my g/f likes to drive 24/7 turing my extra spending cash int more gas money. on the upside its the perfect dream cruse car. make a 440 look like a 4cyl v tech



ps rust on classic dodges kills the value unless your willing to spend alot of money to find original parts and not skimp any corners. when people buy cars like that they check for bondo waves and make shure all the numbers match. If you dont get it its ok just dont worry about it and some day your gonna find a killer deal on it like i did on my cobra. mint con. 93 cobra 12,000 miles never seen snow or rain $4,000. i was lucky enought because it was a womans husband's car and she got it in the davorce and told me $4,000 and if i picked it up that day it was mine. that was the best day of my life.




also is your trans slipping? gears shot case cracked? you could get away with a rebuld but i would just drop a new one in it wont take more than a day to swap it out. pm me the year and i got a few buddys who own junk yards and i'll see if they got a good trans there with low miles. Prob get you a good trans for about $300

[gimpy]

Well, also the things kind of out my hands now, someone made a move, but if the deal falls through you never know.

I guess I was really really excited when I saw it, I kind of jumped to conclusions really quickly. I wasn't thinking rationaly about it, was being stupid and posted this thread, but as far as I know the whole thing my Ford duper, is that the whole tranny is shot to hell. The gears on it stripped, just from abuse from it's previous owner, and also being how it has 180+ thousand mile on it, but I'm sure getting stuck in a ditch didn't help (long story).

My uncle suggested just selling it back to my other uncle, who would buy it in a heart beat back from me. And buy something like a civic si..

[Scott]

gimpy said:

And buy something like a civic si..

NO

[Gestapo]

At least something rear wheel drive now......

[AndrewMp5k2007]

Gimpy, do you know if it fell through? My dad wants it.