I need your honest opinion

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SlantedMark4

SlantedMark4

'74 Valiant 225 /6
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2022
Messages
147
Reaction score
76
Location
Switzerland
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.

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Selling it for a better car sounds like a reasonable path. As my Mom would say, No sense throwing good money at bad things.

The only other path, is to learn and do everything yourself. This is hampered by the amount of space you have more than the lack of money. Figure on double the garage space and slowly purchasing more tools and items to fix and adjust what it is you don’t like or what needs to be done.

For myself, it started with a cam bearing installation tool when I was in my early 20’s and went to a paint gun set just a few years back.

I think this hobby is far to expensive to have someone else do all the work needed all the time. The more you know and can do the more you’ll save even if you have to purchase the tools and learn it yourself.
 
Hi SlantedMark4, I believe you are struggling with your emotional attachment to your first classic car. You do not want to see it as a failure purchase, yet you may well be seeing it as a mistake. Well you are not the first, and not the last, to take on a project and realize the money pit is getting too deep. It's not an easy decision to stop and move in a different direction but it might be a smart one in this case because it may be years and a lot of money later when you finally get to a state of satisfaction.
 
It takes a lot of guts to know when to stop the bleeding. The more that you put into it, the harder it gets.....Ask me how I know. At 70% completed, it wouldn't break my heart if my project was stolen.
 
I started working on my own cars in self defense and loved it. Cars are never perfect. You also have to remember your car is now almost 50 years old. Time starts now. Don't count money, and if you must, this may not be the hobby for you. I could not tell you how much money is in any of my cars, they are only one of my expensive hobbies, but none are or will be for sale.
 
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Knowing how to work on these classic cars are really important unless you have lots of cash to have it done. I could never afford it growing up. My father taught me how to work on these cars. Back then it was a necessity because he had 5 kids and a wife. I'm glad he did because I can pretty much work on anything that needs repaired. 65'
 
Unless you have some emotional attachment to this car, its time to send it down the road.

This hobby requires committment and money and knowledge.

If you have the money, its time to commit to something else now that you have more knowledge of the hobby.

Don't give up, theres nothing like owning and driving your own Classic car !
 
Depends if you want to keep dumping money into a 50 yr old hobby car or spend it on something more valuable: loved ones, health, education, house, new car, etc. Make your money work for you: invest.
 
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So, I'm reading this and thinking you want a car that at some point you stop spending money on. Is that right? It seems so. I'll just say it. There's no such thing. Maybe if you walked everywhere.
 
Electoral problems are very discouraging. I fought them for years in my 73 dart until I finally bit the bullet and removed the interior harness and repaired all of the connections on the harness and gauge cluster. Installed a new harness in the engine bay and haven’t looked back.

It daunting but just takes time.
 
I say quit looking at it from an investment perspective, unless that is all it is, an investment. If you bought this car from a emotional perspective, than you need to stay emotionally attached to it, on the condition that it is within your means to fix it. If it is within your financial and physical know how to fix it, then fix it, and enjoy.

If you sell this car, and get another, then you may end up in the same boat, with a car you can't fix.

I would only sell the car on these conditions:

It's not the car you wanted to begin with.
It's beyond financial ability to fix it.
It's beyond physical ability to fix it.
You found a better car than the one you have now.
You found a car that you desire more than the car you have now.
You no longer are emtionally attached to your car.
Someone else wants your car more than you do, and is willing to offer a nice price for it.
 
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What I understand from your initial question is what point do you stop putting in more money than the car is actually worth.
I have no knowledge of what the market is like in your area, but I don't think it is going to be much different than the market in North America.
4 door cars are generally always less valuable than a comparable 2 door, whether it is because of styling or simply that the "performance" version here were almost always 2 door models, unlike other parts of the world.
Should you sell it for something else that you are interested in? Well that is a good question, but only you can answer that one. I personally believe there is a point at which I can no longer continue to put more time and money into any vehicle that I own, simply because it is no longer economically sensible. Having said that, I also do most of my own work and have been for nearly 50 years now because I can't afford to pay someone else, and I don't generally trust most people in the automotive industry.
What you described as the condition of your car is exactly why I don't trust people. It appears that you have been sold a dream wrapped in a pile of ****.
You were looking for an affordable classic car, and you were grossly taken advantage of by someone looking for a fast buck. It is an unfortunate but very real problem in the world of classic cars, you were not the first and certainly won't be the last one to be screwed on an old car.
I would cut my losses and get out while you can, and hope that the next one is going to be a better fit.
There is no such thing as a classic car that doesn't require some amount of work or money to keep it reliable and safe, but I have to believe that you can find a much better starting point.
Just my .02.
 
I think people have done a great job of going over the financial and emotional aspect of all this so I will take a different direction on this and even if you are planning to sell it, it would probably give you peace of mind if you could get to the bottom of the electrical issue.

I'm curious about something you mentioned. You said you had replaced the voltage regulator and then you had a "smoke in the cockpit" incident. I had a failed voltage regulator on my car and I replaced it with one made in China from my local parts store. Afterwards, I took it out for a drive and noticed my electric fan was louder than usual (it is obnoxious on a good day) and when I scanned my voltage meter ( I no longer have the factory ammeter as that seems a little dangerous in these cars ) I noticed it was reading just under 18 volts! I purchased another voltage regulator from NAPA ( NAPA typically has higher quality parts here in the US) and it also read in the 17 volt range! During all this, the electronic control unit for my aftermarket air conditioning fried. Long story short, there is a guy on this forum who sells original OEM voltage regulators, I purchased one from him and that fixed the over-voltage problems I had. If you have a voltage meter for testing, you may want to verify it is regulating in the 13-14 volt range. Also, I would take another look under the dash for melted insulation on the wires as it probably didn't fix itself.

I wish you best with your decision.
 
Here is my take...

  1. You are in Switzerland, your resources for parts (new or used) are few and far between
  2. Anything you buy from the US or Canada will be double the cost. (shipping, VAT etc.)
  3. The car was perhaps misrepresented to you when you bought it.
  4. the electrical issues are a problem BUT can be fixed with an OEM style rewiring kit
  5. There is nothing on that car that can not be fixed BUT it will probably double what you have in it now

OPTIONS...

  1. Find a car (same year) that has a good body but needs many of the parts you have on your car that are good. It does not need to be the same body style (like 2door vs 4 door) as many of the parts will transfer over BUT many won't, so same body would be the easiest
  2. Keep fixing the things on your car that are needed a little at a time. Make a list and plan it out year by year. First find out what smoked under the dash, many times wires in a wire harness have melted together from a short and it is not obvious where.
  3. Scrap the entire project and sell it for what you can BUT be sure to disclose to a prospective buyer EVERYTHING that you know or suspect to be wrong so the next guy doesn't feel like you do right now.
  4. Scrap the car and sell the parts on Ebay/FABO/etc. I imaging that are car clubs in your neck of the woods and maybe people there with needs for your parts
  5. If you really want an old car perhaps start by contacting an auto broker here in the states (look for places on the southern west coast, most any car on the east coast or the north eastern or north west areas will have RUST) Make sure they know EXACTLY what you want. Then if they find you something spend the money and fly over and inspect the car yourself (you now know what to look for) OR have a proper inspection done by members here.
Whatever you decide will be the right decision for you.

For comparison in the 80s I had a 56 ford pickup. It was a piece of crap, but I spent every penny I could to modify it (at one point I had $10,000 US in receipts.)

In the end I had a 56 Fort Pickup with a 351W 2bbl engine with a oem serpentine accessory drive belt (was never an option on that engine till well after I made it work), C4 automatic trans, ford 9" rear end, Centerline wheels, BFB tires, 4 wheel power disk brakes, a custom louvered hood, a bench seat out of my old 63 Econoline van, vise grips for the window cranks, no heater, holes in the firewall and floor, a bed that was only hanging on by 2 bolts and the wood was rotted away, no seat belts, friends painted it pink and yellow with house paint, a gas tank that would leak into the cab if the tank was topped off. I had so many dreams for the truck but in the end all I had was a huge credit card bill, and a pile of rusting hulk that sat in my back yard for 5 years before I parted it out. ( funny story... I went to the Long Beach, CA auto swap meet to sell a bunch of parts, the wheels were part of my load. before I had things set out a guy came over and asked how much for the wheels and bought them. later I was walking around looking at the other sellers parts and there were the wheels I had sold the guy in the morning doubled in price for sale!)

What I gained.... a **** ton of knowledge, you see nothing that was modified was available to purchase, I had to design and build (or have built) all the parts needed to make all those modifications, and there was no internet to assist with knowledge gain or parts location.
 
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Also... rotate you hood pop spring a few degrees counter clockwise (red arrow) so the blue line, lines up with the green line. To rotate it, wrap your hand around the entire spring and twist the entire spring

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LO23M8B said:
Also what's a quit(?) worth per US dollars?
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If the OP was talking Swiss franks they are between 1 and 1.10 us dollars so 15,000 Swiss franks would be about 15,000 - 16,000 US dollars (give or take)

Is the OP was in the US he likely would have only about 7,000 US in the car with the purchase and repairs (my guestimate)
 
You have to do hobbies with your heart, not your brain. At some point, you can walk-away/sell what you have, and purchase something better/more suited to what you'd like. If you were to decide to change cars, there are lots of very honest and helpful folks in the mopar hobby. There are also a bunch of creeps and thieves. Carefully examine sources and people's post and photos, if you decided to change cars. I'm sure you can gladly get help from knowledgeable folks, to look at cars in their home areas. I would for you. SE Michigan

Best of luck....Mike.
By the way, I had the most complete pre-ban SIG rifle collection in the USA. I love Swiss stuff.
post SIG 550-sniper outside.jpg
 
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I always tell people looking to buy classic cars... you are in trouble the minute you start keeping track of how much you have into it. Either you want it or you don't.

you notice party people never keep track of much they spend on booze and tickets to the best parties and shows and they ALWAYS have an *** kicking good time.
 
If it was me, I'd just fix the electric then drive it and enjoy it. How bad is the rust? Is it surface rust that got painted over?
 
glockr said:
If it was me, I'd just fix the electric then drive it and enjoy it. How bad is the rust? Is it surface rust that got painted over?
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Good question. Honestly, I don't know. I might go to a paint shop close to my home and ask what they think about it. They've already painted my father's cars multiple times and also the trunk of my daily.
 
MMissile said:
You have to do hobbies with your heart, not your brain. At some point, you can walk-away/sell what you have, and purchase something better/more suited to what you'd like. If you were to decide to change cars, there are lots of very honest and helpful folks in the mopar hobby. There are also a bunch of creeps and thieves. Carefully examine sources and people's post and photos, if you decided to change cars. I'm sure you can gladly get help from knowledgeable folks, to look at cars in their home areas. I would for you. SE Michigan

Best of luck....Mike.
By the way, I had the most complete pre-ban SIG rifle collection in the USA. I love Swiss stuff.
View attachment 1716071586
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Damn that's really amazing! My 2nd hobby is actually going to the shooting range and take part on some "championships" with this rifle, the SIG 550 :)
To the car. Well, you're right. I might think about it to much. All people around me tell me to sell the car but I actually want to continue... The only question I got is how long will it take me to be out of cash...
 
LO23M8B said:
Hi there. First question I have is how much could you sell it for.
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I honestly have no idea. There are now two '75 Valiants for sale, a Brougham and a Scamp. Both in excellent condition, both with a V8 (318 and 340 I guess), both for around 30 grands.
There's a '67, 170 Slant Six car, also good condition for 15.5 grands. Another '68, in excellent condition, also with the 170, is for sale for 25 grands.
There are 3 early 60s Valiants for sale, all in good coindition, all for around 16,5-20k

In total, I have paid 15k for mine, so 15k would be amazing, but I think 10-12k is realistic, or even lower.
 
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