Solution to old and unreliable cars?
Posted by MrReptilian1@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 12 comments
Ok so my idea is if you have a newer car that is reliable and has not givin you any issues. You also have a old car that looks cool but has issues once a week.
To solve this you take the New car part and put it into the old car. Thus having a old car that you can trust.
This is a dumb idea?
Do people already do this?
(Btw im new to cars and have a basic understanding of how cars work)
JCDU@reddit
Very common to do engine/transmission swaps for newer versions, as well as upgrading or swapping stuff like suspension, power steering, disc brakes, etc.
Converting from carbs/points to EFI is a good way to gain reliability AND performance AND economy and can be done to almost any engine.
But that said you can make an old car reliable by just actually fixing the damn thing properly. Too many people won't fix a car because the car "isn't worth it" - but it's not what the car is worth to sell, it's whether you could buy a better car with that money. That car was likely reliable when it was new, if you actually go through and replace a load of the old worn out parts with new ones GUESS WHAT!
Disastrous-Group3390@reddit
If you don’t have the skill to fix it yourself (and maintain it yourself), or don’t know someone who can, you’re either hunting for people who can, having ‘know it alls’ fix it wrong, or paying out the nose for it. Sometimes all three! (I have a ‘68 Buick and an ‘85 Chevy, and do almost all my own problem solving and maintenance. I’m not fast enough or skilled enough to work on other peoples’ cars but, with the help of factory service manuals and friends I can muddle through.)
Hash-82@reddit
Very few new car parts will fit old cars...
Cars tend to change over time.
nixiebunny@reddit
I drive very old cars that have issues once a year. If your car has issues once a week, it needs to be restored or scrapped. Installing new drivetrain in an old car that it wasn’t designed for adds its own set of issues, because the job requires engineering, and the original car had a thousand times as much engineering put into the design than you can ever hope to achieve. I have friends and relatives who have done this. It’s much harder than it looks to make a frankenstein car reliable.
AlphaDisconnect@reddit
Get wrenching. Some problems are an easy fix.
And some require jack stands a 2 weeks.
PageRoutine8552@reddit
What? But why?
ScaryfatkidGT@reddit
Congratulations you just invented the “restomod”
lunchbox651@reddit
To some degree you can do this. Not even necessarily for reliability but many older cars have less common parts around so swapping in a more modern engine can refresh parts supply. It's part of the reason LS swapping cars is so popular.
Oak510land@reddit
Yes I put a lower mileage, higher output engine and newer transmission in my 35 year old car.
ProJoe@reddit
This is called a resto mod. Its incredibly common in the classic car world.
MrReptilian1@reddit (OP)
Yeah I thought this was a thing for a while. Thanks for telling me what its called
EGGWURST@reddit
People do this, but compatibility is a huge issue. Watch a video os someone swapping in a. new engine into an old car and look at all the things they have to do to make it work