My not-so-brief vehicular history.

[celticwarlock]

It all started when I was a young lad back in 1994, when I purchased my first vehicle: A 1972 Chrysler New Yorker (440/727/8-3/4, triple black) for a mere $250. A friend of mine was eyeballing a '56 Chevy somebody had on their property, along with a few other cars that were scattered about. Among them was the Chrysler, and though it had not run in over 4 years, it seemed salvageable, even to my untrained eyes. I knew almost nothing about cars, but I'd always loved older vehicles, and was assured by a few friends (one of whom was already a professional mechanic by then) that I would be helped along the way. After months of waiting (for a variety of reasons), I was finally able to set a date when the car would be brought to my garage. It just so happened that the day that we went to go pick it up, a snow and ice storm was bearing down on central New Jersey. The tow truck, which was scheduled to pick the car up at a certain time, was first late, and then had to cancel the pick-up altogether. I was on and off the phone with the towing company for about an hour before I finally convinced them to send another driver out to the property and pick it up. It was winched up onto a flatbed, and off we went. When we got to my house, the truck let the car down and we tried rolling it into the garage. No chance. The driveway was covered in ice, and the rear drums were partially hung up. We even tried pushing it in with another car, which failed completely. In the end, we had to chisel toe holds in the ice and use brute force to muscle it into the garage. The car spent 3 months in there as it was prepared for the road. I got lots of advice about the mechanics of the car, and much of it was bad. The single worst thing I did was remove the valve covers and then the rocker shafts to clean them up a bit BEFORE starting the car (remember, I was just learning the very basics of cars in general, and I did not know enough yet to contradict anyone giving me "advice"). Even though they were torqued correctly, this procedure (apparently) collapsed and wiped out 14 out of 16 lifters. The valves made a MONSTROUS amount of noise. Pushrods were bending every so often after I got the car started, and because I was totally broke by then, I had to drive it like that to get to work. This went on for about 2 months. This was not the only problem that plagued that car from the beginning, however. On its maiden voyage, a bunch of garbage from the gas tank had washed into the fuel filter and the carburetor, causing it to stall out. This was a persistent issue until we dropped the gas tank and got all the funk and rust out of there. The motor itself, however, was clearly an even more pressing issue. Eventually, my friend and I went to "Harry's U-pull-it" in PA to find some parts for it, and came across a wrecked Formal with about 25,000 miles on it. It had a 440, and the motor was spotless inside. We took the lifters out, finished our shopping, and brought everything home. We almost didn't make it.....we were driving an uninspected and unregistered '88 Cutlass Ciera because the NY was in sore disrepair, and were eyeballed by a cop on I-81. We carefully drove back to my place, soaked the lifters over a few days, repainted the manifold and valve covers, and installed everything. The car ran beautifully after that for about a month. Soon after, the transmission began to slip. Little did I know it was because the crank pulley had cut two grooves in one of the lines, and it was losing fluid. I knew there was a leak, but I could not find it until it was too late. By the time I found out where it was leaking from, the transmission had suffered some pretty significant damage, even though I was replacing what it was losing. Again, we went to Harry's, and I went around with a transmission dipstick to every C-body I could find, testing the fluid of each one. I came across a '73 Fury with perfect fluid, and began taking the transmission out. While I was doing this, roasting in the August sun with gravel digging into my back, my friend (who was supposed to be lending a hand) fell asleep on the front bench seat. Some time later, a couple of guys came by and I could hear them snickering as they stood and watched me. Thoroughly pissed off, I crawled out from beneath the Fury to ask what was so funny. They then told me that the motor in the Fury was seized, making it impossible to get at all the flex plate bolts. One of them said, "You'll never get that trans out of there.". I responded, "Watch me.". I finished removing almost all the bolts, and stuffed some tires and other items under the transmission to give it some support. I made sure everything was wedged firmly under there. I then removed what bolts remained. I woke my friend up and he and I began kicking at the tires, and the transmission began to walk away from the motor. Eventually, the input shaft was clear of the converter and we dragged the transmission out from under the Fury. I then carried it some of the way to the parts counter (with several stops to rest, and once trying to drag it on a discarded door panel). Little did I know they had carts for rent. That would have saved me a lot of effort. Anyway, it was brought home in the trunk of my other friend's Audi, and installed in the NY a few days later. We took it on a 100 mile joyride the same night we installed it. Some time after that, we took it to North Carolina so my friend could take care of some family business. It ran beautifully, both there and back. We ran out of gas money on the return trip through Virginia, though, and had to park in a truck stop. We had installed a CB in the car before the trip, and it came in handy. We keyed up on a busy channel and asked if anyone wanted to buy a pair of Pioneer 6X9 speakers I had laying around in my trunk. A small bidding competition ensued, and we got about $50 for them....enough to buy gas and go home. I had the car for a few more months, and then certain life events made it necessary to give it up. I sold it to someone else I knew who pulled the motor for his tow truck, and sold the trans & body to a guy who was to drop a motor in it and finish some of the body work the car needed. I went into a lot of detail in this first entry because this car somehow withstood all of my ignorance and initial stupidity back then when it came to cars, and although my shortcomings at the time should have destroyed it, the mighty Chrysler persevered, and even became (eventually) one of the best running cars I have EVER owned. The motor and trans episodes are just PART of what that long-suffering car went through at my inexperienced hands, but in the end, after it all got sorted out, I drove it everywhere. There is nothing I appreciate more in a machine than durability, and I felt indebted to that car (and I still do, in a way) because of its forgiving nature, and its will to live. I have developed an appreciation for many different makes and models over the years, but I became a staunch advocate of Chrysler products as a result of that car. The love affair continues to this day.

 

[1978 NYB]

I would say you are a committed C-Body guy!

 

[celticwarlock]

I would say you are a committed C-Body guy!

What choice did I have? That car was very patient with me.

 

[The Horvaths]

Woohoo! Thanks for sharing. I was hoping you would.

 

[live4theking]

Great story!

 

[celticwarlock]

My next car was a '77 Pontiac Grand Prix. This car was a BLAST to drive. 400 cu. in., TH 400 trans. It had a minor compression issue with the motor, but it still idled well, and it didn't seem to hamper it much. You could roast the tires in that thing with no effort. I paid $300 for it, and it was some of the best money I ever spent. About 3 months after I got the car, the torque converter went. I got rid of it and then went on to my next vehicle.

 

[celticwarlock]

My next ride was a '71 Charger SE (318/904/8-1/4). A friend of mine saw it in his neighbor's driveway and said I should ask if he was willing to sell. He was, and I picked it up for $750. This image is a likeness of the car (same color). I have a few photos if this car somewhere, but not in digital format. I had it for about 12 years and looked after it carefully. It needed body work, but nothing drastic at all. It was sold to an experienced restorer and Mopar enthusiast from Harrisburg, PA. back in 2007 for about $3500 after a serious bidding war on E-bay.

 

[celticwarlock]

I went through a HUGE number of vehicles between the time I bought the Charger and the time it was sold. 4.)The 4th car I bought was a brown '77 Chevy Monte Carlo (305/TH 350) back in early 1995. The front end was bashed in pretty seriously, and I bought it for $200. All the lights still worked, though, and the inspection was still valid, so I drove it for a few months and sold it on. 5.) My 5th car was a silver '77 Buick Regal (Buick 350/TH 400). I got it shortly after I secured a position as a mechanic at a local garage (summer of '95). One of the patrons there knew of an older lady who had the car and wanted to sell it. I took a look at it and decided to buy it so I could drive the Charger a bit less and do a bit more work on it. It was a very solid car....very dependable.....even though it looked pretty rough. The silver paint GM was using during that era is notorious for degrading, and this car suffered from that same issue. I had the car for about a year, and used it for my first driving job as an independent contractor (October of '95). The car was taken off the road shortly after; money was becoming scarce and I needed a more efficient car to handle the new kind of work I was doing. I couldn't afford insurance on two vehicles, so I put it aside and gave it to a buddy of mine for his birthday the following year. 6.) Next came a '77 Buick Opel in November of '95 (Isuzu 4 cyl./4 speed). This little **** box was a fairly sturdy little car that I got from a friend of mine to save on gas while making my deliveries. I bought it from a friend (a couple of hundred bucks, and I think I had to pay it off) and intended on using it to go to work that very night. I purchased it sight unseen, bit I knew this guy well, and figured he would not screw me. I was right.....the car was about what I expected. What he didn't think to mention, however, was that the car was a stick shift. It simply never came up in conversation. Since I had to go to work immediately, I actually had to learn how to drive stick on my way to work in this car. Talk about learning under pressure. I was handling a contract for a company based in New Jersey that had me making deliveries in Connecticut on the overnight shift. I drove about 300 miles that night in that car. By the end of my shift, I had pretty well figured out what I was doing. Over the next few months, I refined my manual shifting skills. The attached photo is the best likeness I could find of the car I had. It developed some potentially serious suspension issues and had a looming fuel system problem, both of which I was ill-equipped to deal with at the time. In late March of '96, I got my next car.

 

[celticwarlock]

7.) This next car I became fond of. It was an '87 Chrysler LeBaron GTS/turbo (4 cyl./5 speed). This car got me out of a serious financial hole. I had to pay this one off too....I think I paid $450 for it, but it was worth every cent. I bought it off of the same guy who was sleeping in that junkyard car when I was taking the trans out. The motor sounded like a diesel at idle (the cam bearings were worn out to death...a common problem on those engines), but it just kept right on running. It never complained and never cost me much at all. I drove this car 500 miles PER DAY for several months handling the Connecticut contract and some other work I had managed to secure by that time. About 6 months after I got it, though, the fuel pump quit, and I had to let it go. It had so many miles on it by then, it made no sense to repair it. I did not yet have the tools or the space to do a job like that, so I had to make another purchase. The car pictured here is a good likeness, but mine was gold.

 

[celticwarlock]

8.) This next car was one of my all-time favorites! How's this for an oddball....an '87 Chevy Celebrity 2-door....in STICK! It had the 2.5 4-cyl. and a 4 speed (the MT4, I believe). I saw this thing on a used car lot (the same place I bought the Grand Prix) and decided to go for it (late '96). It was a good bargain. I think I paid about $600 for it, and it paid for itself quickly. This thing was a monster in the snow. I drove the hell out of it for several months and it never left me anywhere. It was approaching 200 K when it began to "nickel and dime" me half to death, so away it went, and I moved on to my next car. 9.) This next vehicle is in my "hall of fame", along with my first Chrysler. It was an '84 Audi 4000 coupe (1.8L / "013" 5-speed), the same car used to get the transmission home for my '72 NY back in '94. There weren't too many 2-doors around, so it kind of stood out. This, of course, was another car bought from a friend, and I knew its history well. So many great memories were made in that car that will last a lifetime. Good grief, did I stomp on this thing. It was so much fun to drive and so capable, it seemed to cheerfully accept whatever hard driving I wanted to do. This was before German cars REALLY became horrendously complicated, and I found it pretty easy to take apart when I had to. It was incredibly light, and the brakes were fairly beefy for the application, so lots of hard cornering and heavy braking were not a problem. You drive differently when you have a lot of faith in the car's equipment, and this Audi let me get away with just about everything. It didn't even have the Quattro option, but the handling was precise and predictable. This car was also the first vehicle I took over the 300,000 mile mark. It had 130K on it (approximately) and LESS THAN 2 YEARS LATER....it had 303K. Mysterious wiring problems began to develop around that time and there was a nagging suspension problem that was almost beyond repair which had been hounding the car for a while, so it was put aside in early '99. 10.) While the Audi was making a name for itself, I bought an '86 Dodge B-150 van (/6, 904 / 8-3/8) that was incredibly capable and insanely dependable. I had it for about 2 years and sent it on its way when I no longer had need of it.

 

[live4theking]

You sure go through some cars.

 

[celticwarlock]

11.) In December of '98, I bought a red '84 VW Scirocco (1.8, 8 v / close ratio 5 speed). A great car with a crappy transmission. I put about 180,000 miles on it (it had 280K on it when it was relieved of duty) over 2 years. Very solid.
12.) In December of '99, I got an '84 Dodge Diplomat (318/904/7-1/4). I put 100K on it over 6 years. This car handled BEAUTIFULLY. It also had large brakes for a car of that size. Before the kits were available for M-body Mopars, I converted the front end to polyurethane (I custom made the bushings). I even developed a special technique for installing poly bushings for the shocks, which mount at a weird angle on those cars. I jacked up the lower control arms with the shocks and bushings loosely installed until they leveled out, then tightened everything up. This allowed the bushings to touch through the hole in the LCA and be compressed so when the LCA was lowered again, the bushings remained secured. This car drove like it was ON RAILS. I do not know what sort of reputation the M-bodies have with regard to handling, but this thing was incredible. Creeping rust and constant issues with that POS 7-1/4 rear end forced me to sell it in 2006. Overall, it was very reliable. 13.) In January of either '99 or 2000, I got an '83 VW Quantum (same drive train as the Audi). I bought it for $100, and never did sort out what was wrong with it. I used it for a very short period for work, and pretty much got my money's worth.

14.) May of '00, I bought an '88 VW Golf GTI (1.8 - 8V, close ratio 5 speed). The most troublesome car I have ever owned. What a festering pile of ****. Every single solitary system on that car had some kind of failure. I junked it out of pure rage and indignation.
15.) In November of '01, I bought a 2-door '88 Nissan Sentra (1.6/5-speed). An econo-box that leaked oil, had a marginal transmission, and had a cylinder arrangement that all but guaranteed head gasket failure. However, it made lots of money for me before it quit.

16.) In May of '02, I bought a police package '90 Caprice (350/700R4/10-bolt Posi rear). Fun car. I expanded my operations with it and hired a driver to handle some overnight deliveries for a shipping company. 2 different employees of mine drove it and both enjoyed it. Lots of balls. I sold it 3 years later after moving to PA.

 

[celticwarlock]

Since this is already getting ponderous, I should abbreviate this as much as possible, and go into detail only on the more significant vehicles.
17.) Another Sentra, purchased late in '02. This time, an '87 in white (2-door). $300. It paid me back 100 fold over the next 5 years. A cop in his civilian car ran a stop sign and crippled it for good.

 

[celticwarlock]

18.) An '89 VW Fox in very early '03 (4 cyl. / 5 speed). A few hundred bucks. Good car. Destroyed by a "hit and run" driver 9 months later.
19). An '84 Dodge van in white....another /6 / 904 B-150. $400. This thing bailed me out of a very desperate financial situation. I took a contract with another company and it fell apart. When I secured another position with a different company 4 months later, I found out the day of the final interview that I needed a van (I was never told the account required a vehicle larger than a car). I found this one on a used car lot the next day. I was destitute and basically bankrupt, and paid for it with all the money I had left to my name. This van, which had a bad reverse pump in the trans when I got it, held on for 7 months of driving from PA to NYC 5 days a week, loaded with freight. It lasted long enough to put me in the black again.

20.) Another /6 van, vintage '82, this time in stick (A-833). Bought in November of '03 for $900. Very tough. It was used to haul carpet before I bought it. I sold in on E-bay in 2007. No major repairs, outside of a clutch.

21.) My beloved '69 New Yorker was given to me in May of '05 by the same friend who sold me the Audi back in '97. He had to sell it, but could not find the right buyer. He thought it best to give it to me instead, knowing it would be cared for. Of course, I still have it.

22.) Another Dodge van, this time a '91 (360, A-518, and a Dana 60), bought in March of '07. Plenty of power and overall, quite reliable. I replaced one of the injectors in the throttle body unit and some random items here and there. No major repairs that I can recall. During a period when I was not driving it, I loaned it to a co-worker for a while when his van needed serious medical attention. Sold in 2012. Bought at around 115K, sold at about 150K for about $500.

23). An '86 Chevy Celebrity EuroSport for $350., bought around the same time as the '91 van (February '07). It was a 4-door in gray, 2.8 V6 / automatic trans. All it needed was a fuel pump (it was carbureted) and some brake work. Solid and reliable. Sold in early 2010 for about what I paid for it.

24.) A '92 Toyota Corolla, maroon, 4-door, 4 cyl./4 speed auto. I got it for free in March of '08. It needed a ton of work, but it was worth it. It had almost 180K on it at the time. I put nearly 100,000 miles on top of that. No major repairs after the initial ones. It was given away to someone I knew who was moving to Florida in late 2010.

25.) In August of '09, I bought a '72 Dart with a 440 for about $5000. It was a car built with a Schumacher conversion kit, but it was unfinished. I did A LOT of work to it, but then sold it the following year to help pay for my wedding. I have a profile on bigblockdart.com with some pics....I will have to dig up a few.

26.) A '94 Pontiac Sunbird, red, 2-door, in stick (2.0 / 5-speed). Bought in September of '09. I still have it. I put a gas tank and a radiator in it, and there have been minor repairs along the way. This car is being borrowed by a friend in PA who needs a cylinder head replacement on his car. We are doing the job together, in stages, as our schedules allow (it is a huge endeavor).

27.) Another legendary vehicle - the mighty 2000 Dodge 3500 van (360/46RE/9-1/4). I paid $1700 for it in late '09. This thing has endured unspeakable horrors. I had to buy it on short notice to handle a lucrative route offered to me by my employer at the time. For years, this van was STUFFED, floor to ceiling, side to side, and front to back with VERY heavy freight. I carried around 3000 lbs. DAILY in this van (sometimes over 4,000, and once just over 5,000), traveling from central NJ to NYC, Long Island, and Connecticut to deliver industrial supplies to businesses, and also medical supplies to hospitals and dialysis clinics. This was for a trucking company....and I was driving a van. We used to skid load this thing with pallets of saline at one ton each, and fill the rest of the space with whatever else was being delivered in the surrounding area. It has made me a lot of money over the years, and I still have it. It was critical in the move to our first house back in January of this year. The trans has been rebuilt because of a broken snap ring for the overdrive unit, and the rear was rebuilt twice, both times because of a bad pinion bearing. Bought with 92K....now has 290K. It sees occasional duty hauling various things.

28.) An '01 Saturn SC2 in black, bought on E-bay for $1800 in August of 2010. It had about 160K on it, and now has about 290K. I still have it and enjoy driving it.

29.) A '95 Saturn SL2 in silver, bought for $1000 with 120K on it back in December of 2011 (1.9 DOHC, automatic). It was purchased as a courier vehicle so I could hire a driver or two and expand my very small business just a bit. The account I bought it to handle (a bank route for Bank of America) was dissolved in 2014, but I still have the car. Lots of small and medium grade repairs over the years. A decent car if you know how to address its weaknesses. I drive it to get to work, where my work van is kept.

30.) Another Mopar. A '99 Dodge 3500 van, bought to assuage the grief my other van was experiencing due to the insane demands of the freight it was carrying. Same drive train as the 2000 van, only with rear ABS. I bought it for $1200 in the summer of 2012. It had 140K on it when purchased, and now has 280K. It had the trans and rear rebuilt....the rear because of a pinion bearing (those 9-1/4's are weak there, apparently), and the trans because it had about 265K and was making noise in reverse and developing strange symptoms. The motor survived a valve spring failure at 200K. It bent a valve, but it stuck in the guide instead of dropping all the way into the cylinder. I got REALLY lucky. It happened at highway speed. Upon disassembly, the piston was examined and found to have a small nick, but no other damage. All springs on both heads were replaced at that time. This is my current work vehicle.

 

[celticwarlock]

I wish I could figure out how to add photos beneath each entry, but I'm not there yet. I will add a few of some aforementioned vehicles as soon as I can.

 

[celticwarlock]

Photos of most of the current fleet. We chose the house we have in part because we have a good sized paved area in the back to keep several vehicles. Though one van is always kept at home, the other van is always kept at work so things don't get too crowded. The NY is kept in the garage. I plan to have deeper pockets one day in order to give that car a good quality restoration in the future.