Looking at a Pontiac Wagon,What should I offer?

With 14 cars....I'm thinking he would have thought of that.....but it's good advice just in case!

 

Nah it ain't tar it's a solid part of the oil pan.

 

Well,my thoughts on this are probably different than most. If I try to start the car,or if it fires and then it has internal issues the seller didnt tell me about or didnt remember, Ill be ok with it.

If I change the oil now,and then fire it and it has internal issues,thats money wasted,as I wouldnt think of reclaiming the new oil I just put in.

Had a similar situation happen to me on a 67 Ford Wagon I once owned. I tried to get the car running,which I did ,and when it did there was a knock. I discovered later that the drain plug was stripped out at some point in its life and the engine was starved for oil due to the drain plug being stripped.

Now im glad I didnt change the oil in that one. If I had,I would have discovered the drain plug issue,tried fixing it with another drain plug and maybe even up to replacing the oil pan. I would have filled it back up with with fresh oil,fired it up only to discover the rod knock. All that work wouldve been for nothing.

If I get the Poncho running,I wont run it long on the oil thats in it,just enough to know it does run.Once I get it running then ill go through and change filters and such and perform the overdue maintenance. Ive done this same thing with every car that Ive purchased that has sat and none have ever given me any trouble to this point.I pulled a 76 Valiant out of a field in 2006. The car had been sitting since 1985. It was parked with 70k on it. I did my normal routine and the car is still being driven by the people who bought it from me. I see it all the time.Never any adverse effects on any cars ive owned.

 

Wellll.......at least pull the stick on it. Maybe turn it over awhile before firing it....

 

If you do some Google searching, you won't find many 73-77 A-Body Pontiac wagons at all. I have only seen 2 others on the road in the past 20 years.
We have two of the last few around.

BTW, the service manual is ~285 MB. I can host it for you to download or mail you a copy. I also have the 76 Fisher Body Manual.

 

Steve--You have a PM

 

I was going to ask whether it was a 2 or 3 seater. I looked up the figures too. Sooooo....I have the $300 here......when can I come pick it up?

 

The Delco control under the dash is for the rear air shocks & the vacuum operated pump for it is mounted on the fenderwell under the master cylinder.
Nice score!

 

Sweet that brings the rarity up.

 

So would that be a factory or dealer installed item?

 

I would think it was a dealer option.....:confused:

 

It RUNS!!!

Well I got the Poncho Running. It was easier than I had imagined. I installed a battery and cranked it over,just to see what it would do,to see if it would even turn over. It fired up!! I wasnt expecting that. It mustve still had some residual Carb cleaner in the throat of the carb from the other day.

I went and got about 5 gallons of fuel.Cranked the engine over a few times and then I poured some fuel in the tank,and also into a small ketchup style squirty bottle.I primed the carb with the squirty bottle and then let er rip.The engine came to life without any trouble. Idled fairly well for being dormant for so long.

The one problem I see is that it smokes. It puffs white smoke out the exhaust.Perhaps because it has sat for 10+ years? In checked the oil level and it was up past the full mark but didnt smell of fuel. Wonder if the rings need to be reseated,causing it to smoke?

Think next thing ill do is pull the plugs and see what shape they are in.

 

That only sweetens the deal.
White smoke sounds more like coolant, though.
Head gasket?

You should expect your service manual to arrive by Wed-Thurs at the latest.

 

Bubbles in the radiator? I don't like the sound of that chrriff. Not the end of the world but it SOUNDS like maybe you MIGHT have a head gasket gone. Or a cracked head. OR....could be just from sitting. But with the oil over full...i suspect water in there. Brownish/whitish oil?

 

Nope no brownish or whitish oil,looked to be normal color.

I pulled the plugs and they were fuel and carbon fouled and the gap was set at .035. My Chiltons manual tells me that the plugs on the 1975 400-2V is supposed to be gapped at .060. So thats what I did,I regapped em and the smoke seemed to go away a little.

It would only show when the engine was revved a little.I would think that if a headgasket were gone then I may see 1 or more steam cleaned spark plugs,but they were all equally carbon and fuel fouled. Well... It runs and now comes the maintenance. Oil and Filter,Coolant/radiator flush, New spark Plugs(Maybe cap and rotor,depending on how they look when I do the inspection) A good steam cleaning of the engine.Then Ill inspect for vacuum leaks. Next Ill go through the brakes and scrub the body down real well.

I gotta scratch up some decent cheap used tires so I can road test it too.