Would you buy an "A" not running?

Houston Rodder

Houston Rodder

Member
My brother is looking for a car to buy and we found a nice coupe. Unfortunately the vehicle got hot and cracked a head. The owner has a new head, gaskets, and fasteners to fix. What other problems can we expect to find as a result of the overheating. Would you be scared?
 
A new motor would cost between $3-4,000 so does the price reflect that? Why didn't the owner repair it himself? If he cracked the head could there be other issues like a cracked block? IMO the price should reflect the worst case scenario.
 
I would worry more about what CAUSED the overheating. Was it something trivial to fix, like retarded timing, plugged exhaust, dragging breaks, etc., or a bad engine rebuild?
 
would not be scared but expect the worse such as may need an entire engine. oh yea fix the head fire it up to find it smokes, knocks and or has blowby....i would also remove the fill plugs on both the trans and diff and ck to see if they have oil at the proper level, also take a sample of fluid condition. if things are not correct with that assume those itemsd may need work also....
 
Actually the engine isn't the only thing to consider, look at the whole car and not through rose colored glasses! Bring someone who knows their stuff with you. And you shouldn't be scared, become very informed.
 
I would do like the others say , for sure take some with you that knows A's. I bought my 30 coupe not running . It did have a good body with lots of good things , like tires wheels good running gears . the car was compete. 95% original man I bought it from said it run for him a while then just quit. It did back fire threw the exhaust when trying to start. I did expect timing. but didn't know how to time it and know one I new did either. So I bought Less Andrews book. and sure enough it was 180% out of time. Timed it and started right up. car ran hot . found out block was cracked 2 places. So be careful.
 
There is a guy N. of Dallas that has a nice bright red coupe he's considering for sale for $12,500. I believe that it runs. If your seller is close to that price, I would walk away.

I would say a non-running coupe with old paint and crusty should sell for $5-$6K

A nicely painted coupe with no engine (that's basically your situation) maybe $7K-$9K

A shiny driver $10K+
 
to start with find another car the same type that is running see what its worth, then go from there, body work, upholstery, running gear and engine can add up to a ton of money unless you are able to do some work your self, i all ways seem to buy cars that are not running, just get it for a reasonable price, engine work, paint and body work and upholstery can easily cost $ 7000 to $8000
 
I bought an A at an auction, Great Price! It wasn't running either. My first one! WOW! I was walking on clouds for a week. Slowly, Buyer's remorse settled in. The more I looked, the more I found. That was in June 2010. I'm still working on it, because I'm not a perfectionist , but I do things right. If I told you I rebuilt the engine, I would tell Just what I did and give you receipts. Many people like to keep things vague, "I lost the receipts, I think I honed the Cylinders!" Blah, Blah, Blah! So buying a non running 80+ Y.O. car is always a minefield. Makle sure you get it cheap!
Terry
 
There have been many an old vehicle that needed only simple repair, that were torn apart only for the owner to then lose interest. Definitely use the non running angle in haggling. With the engine disassembled you should be able to check it over very well, you may get lucky and find replacing the head is the only issue.
 
A friend bought a non-running PU a few years ago and trailered it home. The widow said "My husband said the engine was rebuilt. It was running when he parked it a few years ago." It was a nice looking truck and my friend asked if I could help him get it running. A compression check told us we had a problem. We pulled the head and found one stuck valve. We replaced that and put it back together and it ran beautifully. Sometimes things work out.

In your case, if the head is off, you can take a better look at the internals. Give the block a close inspection. Pour some water into the block and see if it shows up outside somewhere.
 
Ross/Kzoo said:
If it's disassembled, head only, it should take a couple of hours to reassemble. Why didn't he do that ? Sounds fishy to me. Sounds like he may have found other problems.
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There are way too many A owners that would be not mechanically inclinded enough to replace a head. It's always easiest to tear things apart, quite different to put back togehter and have it run. I tend to think loss of interest due to it being appart.
 
Steve Wastler said:
There are way too many A owners that would be not mechanically inclinded enough to replace a head. It's always easiest to tear things apart, quite different to put back togehter and have it run. I tend to think loss of interest due to it being appart.
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I understand what you are saying but there are plenty around that you could hire to do the work or ask someone for references.. JMHO
 
I purchased my '31 from a widow that said she knew nothing about the car. She said her late husband was "working on it" when he passed. I got lucky, the engine had been rebuilt, but was frozen from being parked for 40 years. Bought the car for $4K totally rust free and all original wood still good. I wouldn't pay more then $4k for a non runner.
 
For the right price I'd buy anything Model A related; assembled, disassembled, working, frozen-up, or...

Come to think of it, I have.

Good luck. As posted above, inspect, inspect, inspect. Or, put another way, act in haste; repent at leisure.
 
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