Hello Everyone! After a 9 year hiatus I bought another 1977 Seville, this time in the right color both inside and outside and in much better shape! I found it on facebook a guy had it up for 3k and I ended up getting him down to $600 with a quick sale. The car has 36k documented miles. My grandparents had the exact clone to this car back from 1980 to 2001 and I used to ride around in it growing up. Theirs was sold and it was later stolen from the guy who bought it. So, while I could not buy theirs I bought the next best thing! I have all the maintenance records for it. Many of the repairs have been done in the last decade (injectors, etc) at least 8k worth.
The guy I bought it from did not seem to know much on cars and wanted to make it into a low rider (yikes!!) (said it overheated as it turns out all it needed was a new radiator, etc. it now can idle for hours no problem (radiator had a huge hole in it- was the original)). He bought it a couple of years ago from a guy who bought it for about 5k about 10 years ago. It seems that owner had some issues with it and then sold it to the guy I bought it from. I have already replaced the battery, hoses and radiator. I am burning off the old gas and the fluids are reasonably fresh. I am getting a bit of a knocking sound on acceleration that I can feel in the pedal, I dont know if this has to do with the old (year +) gas or perhaps a torque converter issue? In any event I am happy with my purchase!
Appears to be a clean example. Colors are Demitasse Brown with Buckskin leather.
Congratulations on your purchase and good luck with it.
Looks nice. Sound like $3k would have been a good price and you got it for $600?
Feeling it in the pedal is interesting. Do you know does this have a cable or rod gas pedal connection? If its a rod I would be closely inspecting things like motor mounts.
Yes I got it for $600, I think his price originally was too high as it does need some mechanical work (radiator, knocking sound, etc) and my wife would only allow me to buy it if it was under $1000! He wanted to get it gone as it had been sitting in his driveway for a year and he didnt have $ to fix it (or perhaps the inclination). It is currently on non-op and will have to pass smog here in CA. However, in 2014 it passed just fine. I just have to figure out what the knocking issue is. The engine does not seem to move at all. Though it is idling a bit rough right now (probably due to the old gas which should be all run through soon). Im going to put in 91 octane and some fuel cleaner additive and see what happens.
Sounds like main engine bearings...
Maybe, at idle there is nothing out of the ordinary then when I step on the accelerator the pedal make a click at a certain point then the noise starts.
Does make a harsh metallic banging sound?
Yes I took a video see below
I don't believe that noise is from inside the engine. Look around for poor
fan clearance, more rpm causes it to bend some. Take the belts off and
see if it goes away. Could be down at the flex plate.
The engine likely has the original timing chain set (with plastic teeth),
check for slack and prepare to replace an original.
good luck, Bruce Roe
I agree. Sounds like something tapping on the outside. Possibly bad fan belt.
Congrats on your purchase! That was a good buy.
I resized, cropped and lightened up the photos for you if you want to save them.