While front-wheel drive is extremely popular today, it wasn't always so. In fact, for many years it was viewed as a novelty, particularly in North America.
American front-drive pioneer Walter Christie tried it in the early part of the century but his effort failed and front-wheel drive interest remained largely dormant. There was one exception, however, and it began in the late 1920s, inspired by the success of Harry Miller's famous and beautifully crafted front-drive Indianapolis racers.
The front-wheel drive idea was picked up by the adventurous Errett Lobban Cord, a Moon salesman who became so prosperous he was able to gain control of the failing Auburn Automobile Co., in Auburn, Indiana in 1926. After sprucing up and selling the unsold inventory Auburns and turning the company around, Cord went on a buying spree, acquiring among other things the Duesenberg Motor Co. of Indianapolis, and Lycoming, supplier of Auburn engines. He would bring all of his enterprises together in 1929 under the Cord Corp.
2012 Buick Verano with Leather Group - Review by Carey Russ +VIDEO
24.05.12
In common with most luxury car manufacturers, Buick has had to deal with
generational shifts in customer tastes and preferences. Compounding that
challenge, Buick's position as the entry-luxury brand in the General Motors
portfolio means that it needs to adapt to customers younger than its
traditional market. So there has been quite a turnover in the Buick lineup
in the past few years. Gone are old-time nameplates like Park Avenue, Le
Sabre, and Century, replaced by new names such as Enclave, La Crosse, and
now Verano.
The Verano is interesting as it is the first small Buick since the
demise of the Skylark some years ago, and it is the first Buick made with
people who would otherwise buy an import in mind. The Skylark was downsized
American Traditional luxury, soft and cushy and made for sedate drives on
the highway. The market for that type of car is long gone, and today's
upscale sedan customer wants comfort, prestige, contemporary electronic
connectivity, and a more connected driving experience than his or her
grandparents desired. Decent performance and good fuel economy are further
plusses.
Rear beam creaking on a peugeot 306 HDi. Time for a replacement or rebuild? Video was taken with the handbrake on and me bouncing up and down on ...
Im interested in a frame off restoration of an 80's model Ford pickup, whats the cost?
Jul 31, 2007 by cee_zee_gee | Posted in Maintenance & Repairs
I have an 82 Ford F150 that I'm intersted in restoring.
It's a standard cab with an 8' bed.
I'm capable of doing most labor myself, as I am a mechanic, but I'de prefer to outsource the body work, and I'm having difficulty getting a quote: There is a dent in the passenger side door, both rear wheel wells are rusted out, as are the panels at the bottom rear of the box, and the tailgate has "pit rust".
I'm interested in what price is fair for these repairs as well as having the vehicle sanded down, reprimed, and repainted to a factory or better quality.
Also, I'de like to know about having the frame, front I-beams, and rear axle sandblasted bare, and either painted, powder coated, or "rhino-lined"
CEE -- I would rather see you buy a new truck. Yours is not a collectable and not worth all this fixin. A rough estimate depending on whether you want the engine redone. ..Estimate at $15,000 to $20,000.
When you start taking apart the more you will see that has to be fixed.
Gerald | Jul 31, 2007
You are in the $5K range to do this professionally. You'll need to find some grass roots guy through the grape vine that has a small home setting shop.
There are some half cocked shops that will make it look new after they cover everyhting up with body putty and just cut off the rust and spot weld new metal on panels in place but this is temporary and after a few Winters and rain the work will show, badly.
Good Luck!
CactiJoe | Jul 31, 2007
Go to Lowe's and get a welder for a couple thousand dollars. It's really easy to do the body work yourself after some practice.
Knock N | Jul 31, 2007
The rough rule of thumb for restoring classic, collectible cars is:
Check the value of similar, restored vehicles, and add 10% to 50%.
In other words, if a restored vehicle would be worth $50,000 in restored condition, it will probably cost $55,000 to $75,000 to have someone else restore it.
Check the blue book value for an '82 Ford F150 pickup. First of all, it's going to be cheaper to simply find an original '82 F150 in "cream puff" condition than to restore yours, or to have it restored.
Here's my suggestion: check the cab for rust. If it's rust-free, or has repairable rust, find a replacement bed in good shape and junk the old one.
That just saved you several thousand dollars.
With a decent cab and a decent bed, you're just looking at a relatively simple paint job.
As for powdercoating the frame and suspension components, I wouldn't bother on an '82 unless you're replacing the suspension components anyway.
Restoring a pickup is probably the easiest restoration; beds are cheap to replace, and the cab is fairly simple- very little if any carpeting, replacement seats are easy to find (JC Whitney), Ford doesn't change truck body styling as often as cars, so things like dash instruments should be easy to get.
If you want to make an interesting vehicle, replace the old rusted steel bed with a nice hardwood flat bed. Flat bed kits are available from a number of sources, the ones that provide the metal parts while you supply the wood are relatively affordable.
Really, if restoring cars and trucks was affordable, a lot more people would be interested in having it done, but it's not economical unless you have a real classic and do the majority of the work yourself, and even then the return on investment isn't that great.
Beaugrand | Jul 31, 2007
It's a restoration. There is no answer to this question. Take whatever amount you think it is going to cost, mulitply that by 2, then set aside a little extra just in case. You'll use all of it.
Mark F | Jul 31, 2007
Please Help Damage to my 04 VW Jetta GLI 1.8L?
Jun 26, 2009 by DH | Posted in Volkswagen
My car is not insured but got hit on the side and i need a new passenger side back seat door everything is powered as well as a new side airbag and where the right rear got hit i may need to replace these parts: right rear door, hub, stub, axle beam, quarter panel.
Is it worth it? How much will it cost, i live in Canada? How hard would it be to fix myself have done some car work before, my biggest problem is the side air bag. Where would be a good place to find these parts? This is a high end car with less than 61 000km 4 door, 1.8L turbo, mt5, keyless entry, a/c, sunroof, pw, pl, pm, am/fm/cd. I love my car and all ready spent so much on it now this happens. Any other tips would be great. Please help! THX
There are specific items that are required replacement items when a deployment occurs or when an airbag light comes on...and there are some items that are "check only". Check out this website for the EXACT answers to your questions including fault code charts and reset information. This site tells you exactly what needs to be replaced and how to access them (seat belts & all) on over 3500 cars. It's a pay site ($14.95 / day), but it's little money well spent to get the correct answers and to see exactly what you're after...it uses pictures, not text, so you can see what you’re looking for.
This is the same website insurance companies and body shops use to determine what needs to be replaced.
http://www.airbagsolutions.com
http://www.airbagsolutions.com/demo.aspx
http://www.airbagsolutions.com/vehicles_ list.aspx
Good Luck...it's not too bad of a job & if your state allows it, used parts or parts from ebay should be ok
Doug G | Jun 27, 2009
Anybody know where i can get door pins for a pug 205 gti?
Aug 27, 2008 by Big Greg | Posted in Peugeot
Being trying to find a pair of door pins (roll pins not torx screws) for ages, can't find them for less than £20 a pair. Anybody know where I can get them for a decent price?
Also if anyone is thinking about buying a 205 consider the work required! I bought mine (1990 1.6) 2 months ago for £300, so far I've changed the rear axle (a decent torsion beam is very hard to find!) which resulted in snapping both copper brake pipes, Tried to find a decent drivers seat, impossible, so had to stick a passengers seat on the mount, flushed the fuel system, changed the thermostat, given it a full service, had to change a drive shaft oil seal, had to fit a full exhaust, wouldn't run, turned out to be a broken vacuum hose running from the dizzy to the throttle body, only one radiator fan works, odo doesn't work, door lock on drivers side tempramental cus the doors dropped, door lock linkages loose, headlight glass fell off, now need to get my fuel air mix set up cus it's running lean....
But.... I LOVE IT!!!!
P.S Don't bother going to a scrap yard for parts, you tend to get laughed out of the yard!!
I currently own Peugeot 205's from 1984, 86, 90, and 93.
The driver's door is difficult to shut after 10 to 15 years due to the hinges. The door hangs a few millimeters too low, and doesn't shut smoothly, unless SLAMMED> But, I have noticed that the hinge pin is not the problem.
The hole in the solid metal hinge wears unevenly, until the round hole becomes an oval, allowing the door to sag.
Here in America (I'm here on vacation) you can buy these hinge pins in all diameters. A metal, hollow cylinder with a cut, lengthwise. Just give me the diameter and I will buy you two, then mail them to you from Ohio.???
email me from my avatar profile.....Trevor
PS.. the radiator fan from a 405? or a 306 is the same little fan.
speedometer cable wears down from a square shape, to a rounded shape just behind the speedometer, so the cable just spins around inside a square hole. you need a new cable,
I have several glass lenses for the 205 headlights at my home in Belgium. Were you unable to locate these in your country?
The multi-plate clutch, which is electronically controlled and hydraulically actuated, is located at the end of the propshaft, in front of the rear axle and more »
I was certain that Ford would soften the European Fiesta's rear twist beam axle and front strut suspension layout. Ford didn't. In a day of mountain-side and more »
The multi-plate clutch, which is electronically controlled and hydraulically actuated, is located at the end of the propshaft, in front of the rear axle and more »
The front of the Rukus is suspended on MacPherson struts, while the rear uses a simple beam axle with coil springs and trailing arms. and more »
I was certain that Ford would soften the European Fiesta's rear twist beam axle and front strut suspension layout. Ford didn't. In a day of mountain-side and more »
Building on the sophisticated all-aluminium double wishbone front suspension and Integral V rear axle, the BMW 535i and 550i are fitted standard with
