gofastica

I'm genrally of the same opinion. I've flipped my share of cars, and they were all cars that I really wanted but knew I wasn't going to keep for a long time. I find a good deal on something I just HAVE to have, fix everything wrong with it, and drive it for 3 or 4 months until I get bored and find another car I absolutely have to have. When I flip something, I've put at least 5k miles on it, and I know pretty much everything about how it runs. I stay far away from anybody flipping something just to make a few bucks. I'd have a couple friends go look at the car and offer him a rediculously low amount, then you offer him 2k and all of a sudden that offer looks good.

A couple people have suggested avoiding the turbo motors, but didn't suggest why...unless I missed that part entirely. I'm looking at more horsepower and more torque, and it seems like a no-brainer. What's the problem with the turbo motors?

Slightly off topic, but since I started the thread I'm not gonna complain. I see lots of Sub's for sale with blown head gaskets. I assume this is a common problem? Causes? Cures? Thanks

I saw a car posted locally on craigslist that someone had dropped a tree on, and I've seen some real cheap 2wd cars. I figure everything has to come apart for a lift, and other maintenance/repairs/mods, so it's not that much more difficult to bolt it back onto another car. The car the tree fell on sold almost instantly though. That turbo wagon is looking better, simply because I see it every day. It doesn't help that my local wrecking yard has a 4wd wagon of about the same vintage sitting in their holding pen, just waiting to hit the yard, which would obviously provide a huge source of parts if I wanted to swap in the d/r 5 speed. The search continues. I really appreciate everybody's input. Great board...great community of people. I've been on a few forums (not subie)that weren't. Thanks a bunch.

Two random questions that I've had as my search has continued. First, would turning a 2wd car into a 4wd car be as simple as just bolting on some driveline components? Yeah, I know, tranny swap too, but it's pretty much just bolt-on stuff, right? Second, if I can swap a late model engine into an older model car, can I assume an older transmission can be swapped into a later model car? My local wrecking yard has a Forester with a very light front end hit (no airbag deployment) that they're selling pretty cheap. Can the D/R trans be adapted? Thanks

The flip is my current plan, to then finance a different car.

Am I going to find this to be a common rivalry? Harvard - Yale....Red Sox - Yankees....Hatfields - McCoy's....wagon's - hatch's? Nice rig, but for me the build is the fun part.

That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thank you. I'm sure I'll have lots more questions when I find the right car.

I'm just getting into Subaru for offroad fun, and I've got a question about vehicle selection. I want a wagon, and I'm looking at mid-'80's cars just because those are easiest to find in my area for a reasonable price. Anyway, I mentioned this to the guy who does my machine work and he tells me he's got one in his garage that he'll sell me real cheap 'cause it needs a head gasket. I can do that, so we go take a look. The car is an '88 wagon, with everything. Turbo, pneumatic suspension, all power stuff, digital dash, automatic, and 95k miles. I'm not a fan of the automatic, or the digital dash, or the suspension, or all the power accessories, but he really wants his garage back. He's making me a really good deal. So I guess my question is, would this be a suitable vehicle to begin with? I don't want to spend the time / effort / money to fix the head, just to find out that I need to do other mods that maybe I wouldn't have had to do if I had started with a different car. Like I said, I'm just getting into this, so I don't know if I'm even starting in the right place. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks Bryan in Oly