In a message dated 96-11-17 10:12:35 EST, CMottram@aol.com wrote, below the
reply:
If the drivetrain is STRONG, my personal top dollar would be about
$1700-2000. He's asking too much for a car that can't be made to run
decently and be tested, mostly because of the carbs, I suspect.
>From the lack of rust elsewhere besides the repaired floor and the underside
exposed sill, it sounds like the wheelwell caulking 'held' and kept the
moisture from inside of the outer skin. I'd take a magnet to it though and
see if some rust was covered up when it was painted. The powder rust under
the accelerator probably isn't a concern, but you gotta have a battery box.
Did you check the trunk FLOOR and spare tire cavity carefully?
You mention the oil comes up to 40 psi upon startup. Is that at idle, when
cold? 40 psi is a minimum for a hot engine, at speed. At idle, when first
started, it should read about 60psi.
Did you 'jerk' the car with the throttle at speed to see if it wants to pop
of gear (usually third)?
A compression test is always recommended, especially if the car seems to have
no power.
If the caliper pistons are badly rusted, you could be looking at finding new
calipers. Did it have a brake booster? If leaking internally (evidenced by
white exhaust smoke), kits cost around $75, but you may want someone else to
do it right.
The obviously neglected Strombergs are pretty easy to rebuild yourself and
the kits relatively inexpensive.
How's the front suspension look? Tons of grime covering ancient ball joints?
A-arm bushings oil soaked and/or extruding? Soft cross-tube bushings?
If you're not concerned with cosmetics, you might get away with not having to
put too much extra cash into it immediately, beyond a softtop, battery box,
and misc. brake work, but there's a lot of 'ifs' and definately lots of your
time will be spent tracking down the electrical bugaboos. (sounds like mostly
bad grounds and switches)
And, if original, it has 4.22 gears (early Series V). Good for acceleration,
but tough on the freeway unless you have high profile tires.
Dick Sanders
>>>C Mottram wrote:
>
>I went to check out a series V for sale in the sticks outside of Atlanta
>(B395003294). I was armed with the Alpine buyers guide off the web site
>(thank you _Very_ much). My exposure to Sunbeams has been mostly from this
>list. (Cyberbeam?) So I wouldn't notice if something wasn't quite right. The
>owner didn't know much about Sunbeams or the history of the car. So I need
>some help here. My observations and questions are as follows:
>Asking price $3195
>Looks like a well maintained 30yr old car, no visible rust on body or in
>wheel arches, quarter panels, doors, trunck lid, etc.
>Under the Chasis # was #58,(midnight blue?), which I assume is the color
>code. The car is now red and paint is in good condition. Interior is
good,
>no ripped seats and carpet is OK. I liked the car.
>Oil Pressure came right up and was arond 40 psi
>Now my concerns:
>Under the right side of the passenger compartment a small 4x10 metal floor
>patch riveted in.
>Both Outer sills looked good (no visible rust or bubbling) but the pass.
> inner sill? (The horizontal surface that butts up to the outer sill, or is
>that just the floor?) was rusted/crunched if I pushed hard.
>Powdery surface rust under aclerator pedal
>Rusty battery box (surprise)
>In general not a rusty car by what I have read on the list here.
>Brakes didn't really work well (hard to stop, fluid was low, calipers stick)
>Wipers didn't work
>Tach didn't work
>Panel lights didn't work.
>Heater didn't work. (Where should the blower/vents be, I didn't see any?)
>One of the strombergs was sticky and had black gunk on the walls of the
>piston. Car started right up but ran very poorly until it warmed up, them
is
>just ran fair (no power) Owner has not done anything in 5 years except
drive
>it 50 miles/year.
>Needs a new top (hardware all there)
>Back bumper is black, front bumper is in fair shape, no rust.
>No OD
>Starter stuck but freed up easily when we rocked the car
>Driver side window stopped half the way up.
>
>Gee, after I listed all the bad points it seems like more than when I was
>looking at the car :-( .My impression overall in comparison to all of your
>cybercars and those on the british cars list is that this car is in better
>than average shape for an unrestored car. HELP! Is $3195 a good price
>considering it will need at least a carb rebuild and a brake redo? (Not to
>mention all the other stuff I listed)
>
>Thanks for any input, sorry about the length,
>
>Chris Mottram
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