What Car: Learning to wrench edition.

I am looking to learn how to work on cars better. I am also looking for a hobby that I can do at home so I thought purchasing a less expensive car, working on it and taking it out for drives with my kids would be pretty fun.

I have a pretty minimal budget but luckily I don't have many stipulations. I'd like it to be manual as I haven't had one since I got married and I really enjoy rowing my own gears.

My Dad built a Birkin 7 when I was younger so that is partly my inspiration. But this car doesn't have to be that cool.

Suggestions?

Sweet!

I wholeheartedly endorse this plan. We can certainly help you along the way. Collectively we could design circles around OEMs, but as we stand, not all that collected, we can be a bit of a mess.

What do you like? As far as "easy" a pickup with a carb is about as easy as it gets, but if you want a sporty ride through the mountains (Miata), the pickup is not where it's at.

We're like herding cats, so you really should get some direction and budget before we go all "Buy a BiTurbo!" on you.

Fox-body or second/third-gen F-body. You want simple with aftermarket, manual, and cool? You got it.

whatever you can get cheap.

I found a four door 1984 Mercury Marquis(Fox Body 1979-1993 Mustang chassis) so that I could play around with it, haul my family and be able to throw Mustang suspension parts at it.

Other things in that vein, would be some of the GM cars that have all those stock car racing parts available for the suspension. And similarly some of the Mopar cars that were rear wheel drive didn't change much from the '60s to the late '80s. (Hey GM guys, which cars use all the stock car stuff?)

Things like manual transmission can be swapped in with the stock parts when available. My Marquis will be getting the parts it needs from a Mustang.

Miata

I'd say something pre computer for simplicity. As the owner of one I am going to contradict the 3rd gen Camaro / firebird thing. For a car that big access under the hood isn't that great and GM spent most of the 80's trying to figure out how to work OBD systems well. I would however say a second gen f body eludes most of those issues and is fairly easy to find parts for on a budget.

I see you say kids, so I am assuming that 2 seaters are not the best choice since you would like to take them both.

I see that you are in Cleveland (same area as me) so I wonder if you might be looking specifically for a convertible that you can drive "summer only" and wrench on (if needed) over the winter.

You want to learn to work on it so internet support for the model would be wise.
You are willing to work on it yourself so the ability for the corner shop to know much about it is not as necessary.

These lead me to the answer of Saab Convertible.

Pick any year. The Saab prices have dropped quickly since the demise of the brand and its dealerships. Parts availability still remains very good.
This Saab convertible will not be as sporty as some other choices but will make for a fun (and different) car to make ice cream runs in with the whole family.

Local sample:
http://youngstown.craigslist.org/cto/5068993567.html

tuna55 wrote: Buy a BiTurbo!

I second this motion.

Foxbody

VW Aircooled.

Miata

The holy trinity.

wearymicrobe wrote: Foxbody VW Aircooled. Miata The holy trinity.

I like this list and will add..

Honda Civic Camaro/Malibu

S10 Pickup (for v8 swap)

Also.. Whatever is cheap. Just get something cheap.. anything.. go for it.

wearymicrobe wrote: Foxbody VW Aircooled. Miata The holy trinity.

Since he's new, the trinity changes ALL THE DAMN TIME. The Miata is really the only one that's stationary. As I recall, Panthers, XJs and a few others have graced that list.

Define cheap? Is the budget small because you want it to be or because you don't have it? How many kids? How old an what are they into? Autosport going to be part of plan? Space to work (heated or?) Tools available? Understanding wife unit? Any car buddies?

If I had kids, little money and an urge to do something car oriented, I would convert a full size van into the family camper and go explore logging roads.

Go find something that you would like to drive that's in the cheap category. The earlier ODB1 cars are super simple really. No sense in working on something that you don't even want to own.

Craig -- I heard you love wagons, so get one of those. You came to the right place.

Obviously, get something that you're interested in. And no full-restoration projects. Part of a hobby is being able to stand back and admire your work, even if it is as simple as changing plugs and plug wires (after you spend half a Saturday trying to figure out how to put the wires back right.) If you buy something that is a total basketcase, it'll drain your wallet and soul.

I would say anything made in the 90's would be the intersection of modern enough to be relevant and simple enough to be approachable. Wagon, cheap, simple, manual, fun to drive, made in the 90s.....Saturn.

Head south and get a non-rusty FWD Hatch - VW Golf, Focus, Civic, etc.

Easy to wrench on - good DD especially with kids around, can be made to handle, etc.

Foxbody Mustang- Power goes to the proper wheels, cheap to buy, cheap to fix, easy to work on and tons of aftermarket for them.

Mazda B2200. Useful when it's running, easy to work on when it isn't. Pretty simple, cheap, lots of cross-Mazda pollination possible. Same with an El Camino.

Depends on what you want out of the car, just fun wrenching on it?

Drive to work every day?

Back seat for the kids?

Racing?

Car shows?

Vintage?

I have been entertained learning about Spridgets lately, (hell once I got one its like they start coming out of the woodwork! The later ones are especially cheap!) That being said, they may not be what you want as no back seat and not really useful on the highway.

You sir, have asked a very broad question. can you narrow the criteria?

EvanB wrote:

tuna55 wrote: Buy a BiTurbo!

I second this motion.

Only if the kids are big enough to help push it home. It will teach them valuable lessons about disappointment

That was a little too generic of a question. Sorry, I was just looking for ideas from you guys because you have experience.

Here is more info.: I am a stay-at-home Dad right now, will return to work in the future. Budget is small because we would rather invest for kid's college savings, paying house and small student loans off early etc. 2 Kids, infant and 3 yr old. Single car garage, unheated. Will have to insulate and get a heater to work in winter. Basic tool sets, for house maintenance. I will have to get more mechanics tools.

Wife and I both have reliable cars.

Car: could go in two directions: 1) Practical - pickup/minivan to haul my windsurfing gear in Summer, haul everything else the rest of the time. 2) Fun - sporty vehicle. Preferably 2+2 (small back seat) or 4 seater. Basically, a car that is rewarding/fun to drive and makes me want to just go for a drive. Enjoy the act of driving.

Fox-body seems like a good idea right now.

I vote Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Prices are going up. Parts are cheap. Simple to work on. Big enough to get the whole family involved, and everyone thinks they are awesome.

Older Volvo Wagon with a manual transmission. When you're ready swap over a 5.0 and manual trans from a mustang.

I vote a GM truck. Possibly a Suburban.

Granted, not very much "fun" but it checks a bunch of boxes:

1. Dime a dozen. Millions of them made so finding one should be easy
2. Suburban, Tahoe, extended cab can carry the kiddos
3. Parts are cheap. I mean, when your local parts house has a flyer showing "XX Part as cheap as $xx" 99% of the time it's for a GM truck.
4. Dead simple to work on. Choice is yours on if you want to start with a carb'd one or a computer controlled one
5. They're hard to kill. Translation, you could get one that's a rough runner cheap and use it while working on it (see above about NOT buying a basket case)
6. Hauls whatever you need it to and then some
7. Huge parts, aftermarket and enthusiast support. Anything wrong with it is a Haynes manual or internet search away.

Cons:
1. Not "fun"
2. Guzzles gas
3. Huge. I.E. won't fit easily for working on in most garages
4. Although hard to kill, most PO's have tried, so they could be pretty beat down...

-Rob

NGTD wrote: Head south and get a non-rusty

This is actually the most important point in this thread. A rusty car makes backyard wrenching going from fun/challenging to wanting to completely give up ever doing anything with cars.