Should I Junk, Part or Fix Car
 

Hey guys... been a while since I've been on the forums. Good to still see some familiar names staying active. I know this is the off topic forum but I'm going to give some details. I don't need help on how to fix it but whether or not I should. Last topic I posted about I had a broken timing belt mess and a few bent valves. Fixed everything up and it was running pretty good.



~20k miles into the fix had some hesitation at random times. Bad enough the car stalled once at a stop and would have a couple more times if I didn't give it gas. I figured leaking head gasket due to using a shitty torque wrench so got a good torque wrench and the head bolts took 8-10 more ft-lbs to get to spec. Problem didn't go away.



The car is old and the problem didn't seem to be causing permanent damage so I kept driving until one time it just wouldn't start. Made a pop and then funky sound while starting... no compression. I thought head gasket was damaged due to improper torque and just blew out or something. Swapped new head gasket in, lined up timing belt to same spot on cam gear, and no change while starting. Still no compression.



At this point I was pretty fed up and just ended up buying a new car. 2012 Kia Forte with 7500 miles. It's funny(and pretty awesome) that the sh*t I was doing with a carpc all those years ago now comes standard in a car. Not really a fun car or anything but it drives great and the peace of mind is nice.



Got the tibby towed to my house and worked on it today. Went to make sure timing didn't slip between cam and crank but couldn't get the crank pulley off so I used a screwdriver in #1 to approximate crank at tdc and see where cam mark was. Crank was spinning, cam was not at all. Rotate the timing belt around and something like 15 teeth are sheared off. This was an oem belt with proper tension. I'm going to assume I've bent more valves and will have to yank the head again.





So the decision.



I could just junk the car and get I'm guessing around 500 bucks for it. No extra money/effort on my part. I have a brand new car and don't need another.



I could part the car out and get god knows how much an 14 year old car can get in parts. Not thinking many people are still porting stock IMs and stuff. Still have a couple aftermarket parts (lightweight pulleys, rside advanced shifter, eibach sway bars, rside bbtb, two sets of wheels and tires, other odds and ends) but shipping would probably be a nightmare. Then junk the remaining and probably get nothing.



I could spend about 150 and a couple days time, fix it and give/store it at my parents' house. I'm taking up space at my buddies house where I live now and I don't want to for much longer.



I could spend the same amount and then sell it. Maybe get around 1500. It's rough around the edges, and would not have sound as I'd yank the speakers and amp out for the kia probably.





What do you guys think? The though of spending more money on it is not appealing to me. On the same hand, it already cost 140 to tow and for an extra 150 I'd repair it to a drive-able car that still gets 30mpg but could break again(no clue how that many teeth got sheared).



I spent an entire winter in that thing with the interior completely gutted sound deadening, replacing everything sound related and installing what had to be one of the cooler alarm setups I've seen. The sound deadening wasn't really worth the effort, and the alarm is basically pointless on what's become a beater(and not working now). But no matter how much I would like to cut ties and get some money off it, it would still be tough to see that car go.

first off, sup mang how you been?



second, where is the car located



third, if you were to sell it right now, unfixed, how much would you want for it





just out of curiosity

Good man, how's life? What are you driving these days? Still in ABQ?



Car is in bowie, md. I would guess somewhere around the $800 range. Not set obviously and I still don't know if I'm going to go that route.

abq was 5 years and 2 moves ago. screw that place

I'm in Arkansas now.

I would try to fix it personally. But if you have lost interest and it's just going to sit, sell it to a member here who will give it TLC.

My idea will take a little effort, but will be worth it. Donate it to some high school auto shop. You get a tax write off and they can learn something from fixing it. They then sell the car to fund the shop program. When I was in high school, it was very hard to get people to donate.

You'll always miss it if you sell it, otherwise it's looking to me like a choice between doing some work and getting a few hundred more dollars, or not doing it and leaving that money on the table.



OR



you could sell the new car after you get this one up and running? but if you don't mind the money donating to a school shop class does sound pretty awesome.

Find a cheapo motor with low miles from CL, swap your stuff across, bam. It's running again. Then it will be a far easier choice as to whether you want to keep it or not.



It'd be pretty heartbreaking to get rid of it in a beat down sorta condition.

^truth. You'll likely find yourself wondering what would have happened if you'd just spent the money on it. The RD has enough character to be a car that gets stuck in a person's head even after it's gone.

This is actually a really awesome idea! :thumbup: