I need your honest opinion
Hey guys
I really appreciate this forum and its members. You have helped me alot with my '74 Valiant. But things are going a bit difficult, or more like, challenging.
I have bought my Valiant 13 months ago, in late February of '22, to fulfill my dream of owning my first american "classic" car (I'm from Switzerland as you can see).
I have paid 7'500 quit for a car that didn't run back then. Now, it is registered after 20 years again and is running quite good. But there's something that bothers me. The electrical stuff seems to be a mess. I have had the infamous problem with the ammeter that suddenly decided to be a BBQ. Also the voltage regulator gave up and those two things almost burned my car. It is now two weeks ago when something similar happened. I was driving out of a car park, like a 100 yards, when it started smoking from the dashboard so badly, I hardly could see the road. I have stopped, but nothing seemed to be broken. I've decided to drive it home - without any problems. At home, I have checked everything for a burnt connection. The ammeter is fine, the bulkhead connector is fine, the cables are fine, everything seems to be fine.
I have now paid 15 grands for this car. It needed new brakes, new brake lines, new radiator, and many many small stuff like the ballast resistor, battery, fuel tank gasket and so on. So in total, I am, with the price I have paid for the car, at 15 grands. For a standard 4 door Valiant with the 225 Slant Six. The previous owner fitted a completely new interior and gave it a new paint. But it was done, let's say, unsatisfactory. It was something I ignored when I was buying it, with the hope, the mechanics and electrical were good. Because the previous owner said, it was in a good shape and driveable. Well, as you may have noticed, it wasn't driveable at all. There's rust under the NEW paint, the paint itself isn't even good, the glass has primer on it, the dashboard wasn't removed when painted, so all the gaskets are colored, and so on.
I am now really worried if I should spend more money on this car or just give it to a guy that has the money. My limit was 10-12k when I have bought it. We're at 15k now and it's going to be more and more.
I wouldn't think about selling it if there were no alternatives, but there are very good alternatives. I could get a 100% original, perfectly maintenanced '67 Valiant Signet for 15 grands. I could even get a Fury 440 for 16 grands. This all makes me questioning very much.
I know, owning an old car is never a good idea in financial ways, but it is a "bad" car in a "bad" shape that just consumes money. In those 13 months of ownership, I drove it like 400 miles...
What is your opinion?? I really have no idea what to do.
The pics are to show you how bad the paint is. And obiously, painting costs lots of money.
It's not that I dont want to spend the money, it's just about the value of the car itself, and when it's best to stop.
Hey guys
I really appreciate this forum and its members. You have helped me alot with my '74 Valiant. But things are going a bit difficult, or more like, challenging.
I have bought my Valiant 13 months ago, in late February of '22, to fulfill my dream of owning my first american "classic" car (I'm from Switzerland as you can see).
I have paid 7'500 quit for a car that didn't run back then. Now, it is registered after 20 years again and is running quite good. But there's something that bothers me. The electrical stuff seems to be a mess. I have had the infamous problem with the ammeter that suddenly decided to be a BBQ. Also the voltage regulator gave up and those two things almost burned my car. It is now two weeks ago when something similar happened. I was driving out of a car park, like a 100 yards, when it started smoking from the dashboard so badly, I hardly could see the road. I have stopped, but nothing seemed to be broken. I've decided to drive it home - without any problems. At home, I have checked everything for a burnt connection. The ammeter is fine, the bulkhead connector is fine, the cables are fine, everything seems to be fine.
I have now paid 15 grands for this car. It needed new brakes, new brake lines, new radiator, and many many small stuff like the ballast resistor, battery, fuel tank gasket and so on. So in total, I am, with the price I have paid for the car, at 15 grands. For a standard 4 door Valiant with the 225 Slant Six. The previous owner fitted a completely new interior and gave it a new paint. But it was done, let's say, unsatisfactory. It was something I ignored when I was buying it, with the hope, the mechanics and electrical were good. Because the previous owner said, it was in a good shape and driveable. Well, as you may have noticed, it wasn't driveable at all. There's rust under the NEW paint, the paint itself isn't even good, the glass has primer on it, the dashboard wasn't removed when painted, so all the gaskets are colored, and so on.
I am now really worried if I should spend more money on this car or just give it to a guy that has the money. My limit was 10-12k when I have bought it. We're at 15k now and it's going to be more and more.
I wouldn't think about selling it if there were no alternatives, but there are very good alternatives. I could get a 100% original, perfectly maintenanced '67 Valiant Signet for 15 grands. I could even get a Fury 440 for 16 grands. This all makes me questioning very much.
I know, owning an old car is never a good idea in financial ways, but it is a "bad" car in a "bad" shape that just consumes money. In those 13 months of ownership, I drove it like 400 miles...
What is your opinion?? I really have no idea what to do.
The pics are to show you how bad the paint is. And obiously, painting costs lots of money.
It's not that I dont want to spend the money, it's just about the value of the car itself, and when it's best to stop.