Should I fix it?

[firstcarfrustrations]

Hi. I'm a recently-graduated college kid, and I just saved up the cash to purchase my great-grandmother's old '84 LeBaron. (It might be an '83, I can't recall at the moment, but I'm pretty sure it's an '84.) It only had 46,000 miles on it, and seemed to be in pretty good shape. It had been sitting mostly unused for three years or so, so I went into the purchase expecting to spend a lot more to replace everything that might have gone bad from lack of use. Long story short, my mom and I put $1900 dollars into replacing the radiator, all the belts and hoses, two axles, and two tires, as well as patching some leaks and whatnot - and everything seemed to be in working order. So I took it to work for the first time, only for it to completely die on me, stranding me on the side of the freeway. We took it to our mechanic, and he said that it had blown a cylinder or something along those lines, and was in need of a whole new motor. He priced it at $4000 for his shop to do it - a sum of money I neither have nor would be willing to spend on a car that cost only $2500 - but I could also get ahold of a new motor and do the work myself, as I have a good buddy with the tools and know-how to help me pull that off. Looking online, it seems like a new motor could run me around $1200, which would be doable for me, but might take a while to save up.

So my question is, is it worth it? I feel pretty attached to this LeBaron - the interior is in really good shape, we already sunk a bunch of money into it for new parts, and I was really excited for it to be my first car. That said, even $1200 is a lot of cash for me right now, and it might be smarter to just get rid of the thing and get whatever I can for it. What does the K-Car community advise?

[89ARIES]

Hi there,

Welcome to the club. It is absolutely worth it, and that mechanic is quoting you way too much money. Without knowing the detail, I could not say what is wrong with
your motor. But I could say that usually it is just a blown headgasket, which is easy to repair, and inexpensive if you do it yourself or know a better mechanic.

I would save up, and contact my friend Hemi Andersen at hemland@aol.com. He has 50 years of experience. I wish you were near Los Angeles, as I use a really cheap
mechanic for my two K-cars.

Convertibles are now increasing in values of excess of $5000 in running condition. One even sold for $12000 at Hemmings last year. You have the most iconic collectible
convertible of the 1980s. I am curious as to why your motor failed, as that rarely happens on these cars unless that have been neglected or were low on fluids.

Feel free to contact me
Guy V.Coulombe
CKCC President
818-219-2587

[K-CAR_WAGON]

..

[89ARIES]

In Los Angeles, I know someone that can do his engine for $1200. We also have a member with 500,000 on his 2.6 engine. K-Car Wagon is right, it is a risk, but I think we could
get the price way down.

[firstcarfrustrations]

So, after some inspection and consideration, I've decided I want to sell the LeBaron. It seems that it isn't the easiest car to keep running as a daily driver, and I have a low income and a whole lot of commuting miles to deal with, so I need something as reliable and easy to run as possible.
My only question now is how I'm going to go about selling it. I know everyone here (myself included) would hate to see a good car scrapped, but I might end up with no other choice. I could try craigslist, but who knows how easy it will be to find someone willing to buy a car that comes without a working motor, especially in my relatively small town.

What do you folks thing I should do, as far as selling it? Is it possible that someone on this forum might be looking to buy it?
Should I just try craigslist? Is there somewhere else I should look?