So this winter I bought a red 83 Chevette at the Goodwill auction for $350. It didn't run, had a badly dented driver's door, and no left rear floor. The rest of the body was great, the interior was all there, and it was a 4 speed. So why not? I really just wanted the good late nose to add the front air dam to my 79 but closer inspection showed it to be almost worth saving. In retrospect my mistake was replacing the battery and putting gas in the tank-it started right up.
Turns out it needed that gas, a water pump, an exhaust, and brakes to be a driver. And I had everything except half the brakes. So I put on the parts I had and replaced EVERYTHING in the braking system for under $200 from RockAuto.
Drove it to work, cleaned it up, and enjoyed it for a day. Then it ran like crap on the way home. Replaced the cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, A.I.R. tubes and valve, and every last vacuum hose and it starts and runs better than a0ny $600 car has any right to Yes the additional parts were that cheap from RockAuto. Certainly better than ANY smog era carbureted car I've ever owned.
And that's the problem. I didn't need this car, I only wanted some parts off it. Now I want to fix the floors and a few little items and drive it this winter-after undercoating of course. Or it'll go onto CraigsList and I'll keep my current Miata, but one of them needs to get gone.
Fresh from the auction:
The only external rust:
Post cleanup interior:
The armrest, headliner, and driver's seat are the only problem areas. Post cleanup beauty shot for CraigsList:
The wheels and tires ran about $350 and get shuffled from Chevette to Chevette. I banged out most of the big dent, and added the stripe using electrical tape. Not bad for under a grand.
More pics of this and all my Chevettes here.
