Thoughts on this '77?

[robpic]

Here's a '77 I looked at tonight. There's an ebay listing and some additional photos I took before my iPhone ran out of battery.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=Vie ... 102wt_1167

https://picasaweb.google.com/TopGun930/ ... directlink

• -I couldn't see any rust, but that undercoating might have hidden it.

• -The engine did "shake" a little when running..not sure if that's normal.

• -The engine bay seemed wet and smell like gas.

• -It didn't seem to have an overabundance of power vs the '82 I had driven last week.

• -And it seemed to pull to the right a little bit.

• -The driver's door didn't seem to align perfectly

• -In the photo, the trunk isn't aligned perfectly either.

I'll think about it for a bit, and maybe have a mechanic look at it.

[Carye]

Rob,
She look/sounds beautiful and the description sounds amazing to me. But I am a rookie at best. My 80 shakes a bit when idling but is so much fun to drive. What a summer it has been. I bought mine for 8k and put in 1k to upgrade the headlights and get various other small things done. This 77 sounds like it has many more upgrades. I really like my mechanic--Pino at 416-918-4988. Pinarello Motori in Woodbridge. He seems fair, was very helpful. Biggest issue is he's busy. He checked mine out free of charge and told me what it was worth/needed to have done... Hope this helps.

[spidernut]

1. "I couldn't see any rust, but that undercoating might have hidden it." Put it on a rack and check it out thoroughly!!!
2. "The engine did "shake" a little when running..not sure if that's normal." No, that's not normal. It isn't going to run as smooth as a 2012 Honda Civic, but shouldn't be shaking. How many RPMs is it idling at? It could be too low. Listen to the exhaust to see if it is missing, could have a problem with the ignition. In neutral, give it a few 3,500+ rpm revs and look for smoke as it revs up or revs down. It could be a fuel problem.
3. "The engine bay seemed wet and smell like gas." Look for fuel leaks - you don't want it to catch fire! Look for oil leaks below the distributor and underneath the exhaust manifold near the firewall. These are common oil leak areas. There should not be an overtly strong fuel aroma unless there's a leak.
4. "It didn't seem to have an overabundance of power vs the '82 I had driven last week." This is normal. There's almost a 20 horsepower difference between the two cars.
5. "And it seemed to pull to the right a little bit." Inspect the front suspension. Look for a cracked cross member near the A arm bolts, worn bushings, worn tie rods or center link, abnormal wear on the tires.
6. "The driver's door didn't seem to align perfectly" Check the upper and lower hinges where they attach to the door. Rusted out door hinges are fairly common. They can be repaired, but must be welded. It also might just be a door alignment issue.
7. "In the photo, the trunk isn't aligned perfectly either" This can be a symptom of a prior accident or something as simple as bent hinges. It will require a closer look in person.

It looks nice in the photos from what I can see...only an in-person inspection will really tell you what is going on with each area.

[giuliot60]

I agree with John G.

It looks great. But with all that money sunk into it, it shouldn't be shaking or smelling of gas. The new interior, cloth top, and paint may be worth it, but do check the crossmember. One of the symptoms of loose or bad connection is pulling to the right or left when braking. I hear it is a pretty expensive fix. But if the car doesn't have any rust, it might have been in an accident as John suggested.

Is it original 40K miles, or 140K?

Definitely have someone who knows Spiders check it out.

Good luck.