At 05:06 PM 2/16/02 +0000, Les Huckins wrote:
>Need just a little more info, trying to cram a semester into a couple of
>weeks. Is it preferential to get a car that has been painted or live
>with one that has original acrylics? Is there any reason other than
>personal preference to get a '74 manual shift vs a '75 automatic. AMC
>vs Ford. Opinions are fine, you don't have to be an expert of any sort.
Les,
To answer your questions, part of it is money, time, and location, and
money, and money.
The 74 4sp is the rarest - only about 154 built. The original clutch was
very hard to press, but there are other clutches that can be installed that
are easier on the left leg. Since they are the rarest, assuming that your
are looking a 3 cars of identical quality, 74 4sp, 74 auto, and 75, the 74
will be the more expensive.
Painted vs acrylic. This is sort of a personal thing. What do you want the
car for? Show? Are you a "gennie" freek? The acrylic will crack. The only
way to fix that is to grind/cut out the crack, patch it, and paint the panel/
car. The other option is to replace the panel with either a NOS acrylic
or fiberglass one. A new acrylic panel will crack, and may not be the same
color as the original ones. A fiberglass panel will require the panel be
painted. For a driver, (which is what I'm trying to make my car) I'm
repairing the acrylic panels - as I don't have the money to replace all the
panels. However, I have replaced the roof, door skins, and A pillars with
fiberglas panels. Any panel that is replaced in the future will also be
fiberglass. The fiberglass replacement panels tend to be stronger than
the original acrylic ones.
As to the AMC vs Ford, some people really like AMC products, just like some
people really like Ford or Chevy products. Therefore they will look for a
car with the engine of choice.
ALl that said, the next problem is where do you live? Where is the nearest
Brick for sale. If you live in Idaho, Montanna, etc. there aren't too many
cars there. Consiquently, you will have to spend a good bit of money and
time traveling to see the various cars.
If the is a 74 4sp, 3000 mi. from you for sale, and a 75 within 200 mi, and
the 75 is in better shape, I'd go for the 75 (personal opinion) only because
of the money, time, and travel issues.
Now if you are Donald Trump or Bill Gates in discuise this has no merret.
Get what ever you want. But these cars don't grow on trees. You can't
go down to the local use car lot and check out 3 or 4 of them.
One final thought, as the production went on, the quality supposedly got
better and some of the problems were fixed. In reality it doesn't make
any difference. If you looking for a car, you only have 3 choices:
1. Find a restored one - if you can afford it - $16-20K
2. Find a drivable nice car and drive it for a while - $7-13K
3. Find a car that needs work - $3-7K.
If you choose either 2 or 3, you then have to decide when and how are you
going to fix it.:
a. Send it to one of the 2 shops to be fixed as needed,
b. Send it to one of the 2 shops to be restored (>$20)
c. Fix/restore it yourself - I've been working on my car for 7 years,
have dumped $12K in it, and have about 1700 hours invested in working
on it.
Again, money, time, and money!
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
75 Bricklin SV1 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
65 Rambler Classic
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
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