Easy fix car win stories

I'm in the mood for stories about a car you bought for $500 because it had a "blown head gasket" but you fixed for $25 by replacing the clogged PCV and sold on for $3,000. (OK not that exact scenario, that is just an example) What easy fixes have you come across?

NMNA but my friend was given a 1988 Volvo 850 sedan for free that had a "big misfire". It had been sitting for about 3 years outside at this point.

Previous owner (and neighbor) had replaced the MAF, the throttle body, and a few other $300 items (because it HAD to be something major).

We ran a compression/spark check and notice #3 had no spark. New plug wires, runs like a champ.

We went out for gas and passed his neighbor (and previous owner) on the way back heading in the opposite direction. He whipped a U-ey and followed us home.

His first question: So are you a Volvo guru then?!?!

Random 850 picture for giggles:

Bought my last black Celica for $600. It hadn't run in a year or two, PO was actually pretty knowledgeable, but still couldn't get it to run. Had new ECU, distributor, plugs, wires, ignitor, starter, fuel pump, main power and ground wires re-done.

I wasn't planning on getting it running, i just wanted the shell.

Was poking around, noticed that the distributor plug wasn't real tight. Wouldn't snap on. Took it off, noticed it was a different style plug than was on the distributor.

Took off the brand new distributor, ran some numbers on it, turns out it was for a 1998 Camry. Same motor, later iteration. It still had stickers on it and everything, found out it was sold by Carquest.

Local Carquest was awesome and let me swap out that distributor for a cheaper Celica distributor for $free.99.

Dumped it in, car fired right up. I slapped some Eibach springs, RS2s on 7th gen Celica GT-S 16" wheels, and EBC Yellow pads on it, and took it down to Deal's Gap 3 days later.

When I bought the s2k, the owner said it wouldn't shift into 6th and said it would need the transmission rebuilt or replaced. The ABS light was on as well. The car was cheap enough that I could justify a replacement trans, but some Google-fu lead me to a simple fix. The shifter isn't lubed by the gear oil in the trans, but by a thick grease. It dries out and gums up the shifting mechanisms. 30 minutes and a $15 tub of grease from Honda and it was shifting into all 6 gears.

The owner had also put some cheapo lowering springs on the car and managed to pinch one of the ABS wires between the spring and spring perch. I soldered in a new section of wire and it was good as new.

Go read the Wheeler Dealers USA Episode 1 thread.

Bought a 1984 Corolla SR-5 manual from a redneck's front yard in Charlotte circa 2005 for $350 after talking her down from $500. She wouldn't let me test drive it more than a mile. Me and my room mate split the cost because we were dirt poor college kids that wanted a "drift" car to do a mad tyte engine swap. On the way home, the car overheated and the upper radiator hose exploded in the most violent way possible. Got the car back to our garage (apartment complex parking lot) and noticed the crank pulley was wobbly. We figured the crank was toast but after taking it apart the pulley itself was shot and the crank was spotless. New upper radiator hose and junkyard pulley and the car ran like a spotted pup. Realized how expensive an engine swap would be so we eBay'd it. Sold at auction for just under $2,000 to a kid that lived less than a mile from our apartment. It was a nice bonus for broke car guys.

My old Miata was free. That's right, free. A 1993 base model (AC and manual steering factory) with 103k on the clock. I noticed it had been sitting at the same office building in neglect for at least two years. Was able to track down the owner via the NCDOT and he said wow, thought that car was long gone. It's broke down but you can have it if you want it. He basically abandoned it and hoped someone would tow it away. He thought the engine was toast and the car was junk. Heck yeah. Got the title, towed it home. Similar story, the belt that powers the waterpump slipped off and caused the car to overheat and bust the upper rad hose. New belt, new hose, oil change, and she fired right up after sitting for more than two years. Great car, but it basically had zero maintenance over the years. I did the timing belt, water pump, all the coolant hoses, clutch, new suspension, wheels and tires. I sold the car for the parts I put into it after realizing that I was too big and the car was too small. I still have money from selling that car.

My uncle was given a 5 year old ford van back in the '80 because the engine was "leaking coolant so it must have a busted head gasket". He replaced a $1 heater hose clamp and drove that van (for work) for 5 more years.

My best was around 2001.. Saw an ad for a 85 Shelby Charger in need of a transmission. Listed for 200 bucks. It was pretty rough so I gave the man 150. Before heading home to grab the trailer I thought to have a peak underneath. It was up against a parking block so I popped it in first and went to look for the noise. One driveaxle later I did a burnout in the parking lot, then drove it home.

A week later I picked up tags went for a drive. A lady pulled out and just clipped the drivers side rear quarter. If you didn't know she had hit it, you would have been hard pressed to tell as the car had lived a rough life. Insurance paid out 900 bucks, and I kept the car.

About two months later a dumb kid backed into the passenger side front corner, again not really hurting the car, but damaging that expensive stripe kit. another 700 bucks.

I had the car about a total of 8 months. I don't even remember changing the oil. I sold it to a friend for 650, and he drove the crap out of it for several years.

RX-7's were my best cheap-o's over the years.

Got an 85 that wouldn't start: Towed it home with a rope, de-flooded, then driven ($300).

1988 RX-7 "Transmission shot, car wont move". I just replaced a clutch as part of my 1986's rebuild and threw the old clutch in this 1988. Ran like a champ ($500)

Had a 1986 RX-7. Somehow it swallowed a nut. Bought a dead 13B off of craigslist for $50 made one engine from two (replaced the clutch since I was in there, and to get rid of the little throwout bearing noise) and drove it for the next two years. This also reminds me that I found the smashed nut when I removed the baffle from the tip of my Apexi exhaust at the next autocross. Kept it and the rotor/housing as a trophy.

obligatory picture of said trophy (top right):

I've had a bunch over the years. Free car that supposedly needed transmission rebuild only to find a vacuum leak, cheap car with bad coil, and a few others. But I still have the one I think was best. The ad read "70 Firebird for parts $190.00 call Lillian xxx-xxxx" It'd been sitting a looong time but I paid the $190.00 and got it out of her backyard on a roll back.

Some Marvel mystery oil in the cylinders and a $5.00 points condenser got it running. With 42,00 miles on the odometer that seemed legit I decided to fix it up.

[URL=http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/scan%20pics/Scan_Pic0003.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/PopHotRodcover-1.jpg.html][/URL]

In reply to Rad_Capz:

You, sir, have just won the thread.

Bought a Honda many years ago that had a leaf blocking a vent on the carburetor. Owner swore it had a blown head gasket.

Corroded battery cable on a Buick...said it caught fire and smoked a lot and would not start.

Chevy truck with the coil wire pinched under the valve cover.

83 Mustang 5.0 with a broken rod...turns out they had not tightened the upper bolt on the starter! That bolt is a booger to reach though.

Aspire with a B6T turbo 1.6 that had the ground for the injectors on a freshly powdercoated surface. That one was a pain to find.

Thunderbird with a bad fuel pump...pressed the inertia switch and was good to go!

My brother has many too! Crown Vic bought with a blown head gasket turned out to be a bad plug for the radiator fan. Another Crown Vic that had been repaired after a brush with a fence. All the electrics were glitchy and would die, flickering lights and poor running. Basically would not go a block before dieing and acting up. Turn and a half on a ground bolt to the front fender and it was golden.

Easiest by far was a 95 Mustang with a blown head gasket! Bought for $650, discovered it was under warranty, tow truck hauled it to the dealer who fixed it and returned it to my house.

Bruce

I got a solid but dead '75 fuel injected Beetle for free. It would turn over but wouldn't fire. I spent an entire weekend on it before I figured out that that in '75 they had a seatbelt interlock. Once I buckled the driver's belt, it fired right up.

I bought a Mercedes 300SD for $500 that "needed a new engine" and wouldn't start. I drained the overfilled oil, jump stared it, and drove it with the accelerator to the floor and a big cloud of smoke behind me. By the time I got home my Italian tuneup had cleared up the smoke and it was running well. I drove the car for 3 years and sold it for $2200

Does it have to be a car? I know a guy who saw a plastic chainsaw case sitting by the curb so he thought he would take it home. But he went to put it in his truck and realized there was a chainsaw in it. He went and banged on the door and they owner said he had had it for a few years and it had never run. So he finally tossed it. But when my friend took it home and looked at it, it had a factory installed insulator covering the sparkplug to prevent accidental starting.

Buddy of mine just picked up a 2005 Accord EX for $1000 with a "broken transmission." One half shaft later it's back on the road. Put me on toast, cause I'm jelly

In reply to bearmtnmartin: My mom bought me a Husqvarna 51 for $10 at a yard sale because it needed a new clutch.

The chain was installed BESIDE the drive sprocket instead of on it. I put it on correctly and the saw has been flawless for 4 years now.

Several people I know have bought otherwise clean gen 1-2 SHO's with a mysterious no start issue.....most of them just reset the fuel cutoff breaker in the passengers side kick panel and voila, it runs.

Bought a 1989 Ford Probe Turbo for $68 (cost of towing). Diagnosis was a snapped timing belt, which the owner assumed meant a trashed head. Five minutes of internet research told me the turbo cars were non-interference, so I got the car. I pulled the timing belt cover and discovered that the cam pulley had come loose and wallowed out the locater pin hole, allowing the engine to jump timing randomly back & forth. I removed the cam pulley, rotated it 180 degrees to an undamaged pin hole, and bolted it back down. I was off one tooth on my first try, so I took it back off, moved the belt one tooth, and it fired right up. My friend and I immediately installed a Home Depot boost controller and did John Force burnouts down the street.

Completely running, driving, emissions passing car for $68. I blew the bottom end out of it one month later on 285 running 14psi of boost in fifth gear. No regrets.

In reply to slefain:

How, with as much abuse as SFO's mx6 has endured, you did something really wrong to kill an F2T.

My first one was an '83 GTI for $300. The owner said one day he pulled up to a stop light and it died as soon as he hit the clutch. From that day on it wouldn't idle, but would run if you gave stayed on the accelerator pedal. I went to look at it with a roll of duct tape in the car. Looked at it, gave him the $300, then wrapped the intake boot in duct tape and drove it away.

My dad bought a really nice '89 Firebird for $600 with a "blown head gasket", because it was losing coolant and running like crap. Turned out to just have a crack in the coolant tank and the distributor was loose.

Oh, one more!

A friend if mine that knows nothing about cars had a headlight go out on his Mazda 3 with HIDs. He took it to the dealer, they checked it out and said that it's either the bulb or the ballast, and that there was no way to check them. They'd replace the bulb first (for $300) and if that didn't fix it they'd replace the ballast (for $800). He was dubious of this, so he called me.

The parts are the same from side to side, so I started swapping parts to find out which part of the system was bad. After every part of the system tested fine, I checked and that headlight wasn't getting power. It was a blown fuse. I'm positive if he would have went ahead with the dealer repair they would have charged him $1,200 for a blown fuse.

yamaha wrote: In reply to slefain: How, with as much abuse as SFO's mx6 has endured, you did something really wrong to kill an F2T.

Lots of boost, cheap gas, humid Georgia summer night, and trying to accelerate past 125 in fifth gear. BLAMMO! I sold the car for $275 to a friend who rebuilt the engine, autocrossed it, and eventually grenaded the transmission.

I was working at a GM dealer when an '85 CRX Dx came in on trade. Were were going to wholesale it because the "clutch was bad", the drivers side wiper didn't work and the paint was dull as primer. One of my techs had just come from a GM/Honda store and swore that it just needed a clutch adjustment. I bought the car from for the dealership for $400, had him adjust the clutch in exchange for a free lunch and drove it home. I bought two new wiper links (less than $20) from the Honda dealer and put them on so it was road legal. Then I paid our detail guy $50 to buff and wax the car, making it look like new.

The owner of the dealership and the sales manager tried to get me to sell the car back so they could get full retail for it but I never budged. It was my first Honda and I loved how well built and fun to drive it was, even with 120K on it. I drove that thing for a few years before selling it for $2300.

Hungary Bill wrote: Random 850 picture for giggles:

That's a 740