The local owner of a 73 coupe I've been waiting on finally contacted me today and agreed to sell. I will be seeing the car on sunday and need to ask you guys a question or two. First, anything 73 specific that I need to look at thats different from say my 79.
Second, the car apparently has a "carb" issue although I'm keeping Lars words in mind that a carb issue is usually a ignition issue. Anyway I only got to speak to the owner for about 2 seconds today and he told me they had the carb "rebuilt or replaced", not sure what he said but it didnt cure the problem which the best I can make out is some type of running rich issue. The car is a numbers matching 73 cpe, 350, base motor, a/c, auto, p/w etc. Mileage is 57k original. He even mentioned that he thought the issue related to when the car had a full tank of gas???? Does that make sense? UNfortunately we didnt have a lot of time to talk so this is all I have to go on till I see the car this Sunday. The car also has a paint issue on the drivers side rear quarter panel, it has 3 bubbles about the size of a quarter all in a row near the upper most portion of the fender. He implied that where a natural seam in the body was and some moisture may have gotten in there. I was thinking more of a bad prep job on a fender repaint. The car is orange with the deluxe saddle leather interior and I can get it for 10k as it is now. I'm kind of thinking I cant get hurt too bad on this at this price even if it needs a carb or distributor work.
Opinions as always appreciated, will post some pics as soon as I can,
ESU

 

I don't know enough about the '79 to speak to the differences, other than the obvious appearance differences. I think suspension is for the most part the same, but I think the '79 will allow larger tires without rubbing, and the '73 will have a 400 Turbo, where as I "think" the '79 has a 350. I bought my '73 in 80, and enjoyed every 150K mile I put on it since then. The '73 probably won't reach the appreciation value of the earlier years, but it is hands-down my favorite.

I don’t have a clue for why it would run worse with a full tank, unless the pressure of a full tank caused the carb to flood over, but that just doesn’t seem possible.

I’m no paint/body expert, but I assume it has been repainted, since the owner mentioned some moisture may have gotten under the paint. If you are not sure, ask if it has been repainted, and it is has, ask how it was prep’d and what type of paint was used. If it was BC/CC and it was not stripped to fiberglass, then I would guess it is bubbling because of the incompatibility of the old and new paint. I’ve read some horror stories where BC/CC was applied without stripping the old paint, and everything was fine for about a year or two, and then paint started bubbling and chipping off.

If a patch repair can be done to fix the paint problem, $10K for a 57K mile 73 seems like a good deal, even with carb and ignition problems.

Hmmm. And here I was just going to chime in with a short response. . . . sorry for my babbling…

 

Thx for the responce long or not, its just what I was looking for. I'lll settle for a few more just like that one,
ESU

 

ESU - I have a 73 vert 350/auto and when I bought it I was told it had a brand new carb but it still was s dog. I pulled the dist (after I bought it) and found the dist gear was pretty well chewed up.

So I pulled the original 190hp dog & TH400 and shelved them for a new ZZ4 and TKO 600

I would be more concerned with the frame and bird cage. Dont really know of anything the 73 is infamous for...maybe the first year front bumper, brake calipers (though I think for all 68-82years), might need a modern aluminum radiator...

Cheers,

Crunch

 

I think just the usual checking for frame and birdcage problems, just as long as it starts, stops and steers that would be the major concerns, working out any minor kinks would'nt be a deal breaker for me. Is that mileage you stated genuine? Good Luck, Peace,,,Moosie

 

What type carb problem is it? Slow or little distributor advance, vacuum or centrifugal, will give sluggish acceleration. The centrifugal advance weights and springs can be missing, wrong type, or the weights rusted in place. Poor engine vaccuum can affect the vaccum advance and engine idle. Get Lars' papers and read them throroughly.
Just because a carb was rebuilt means nothing. My 73's carb had been rebuilt but the idle system was missing the little steel ball under the adjusting rod and the spring was toooo stiff. Also had to bush the throttle plate rod holes on the carb base. When you get the car check the carb meter rods and jets to make certain they are the correct pieces and then set the carb up by the book. Second check the distributor for the pieces to be correct and working. My stuff was correct by the book. Lars installed softer springs and bigger weights in the distributor and I got better acceleration due to the fast and more advance.
Roger

 

Hey Cory, where's the pic's? I wouldn't worry about the carb issue. You can buy a 600 or 650 edelbrock new & put it on then send the #'s matching carb out to Lars for a rebuild. The new edel's run great right out of the box. Pick up the carb and a case of beer and me & Bob will have you running in a few hours. Around 45mins to install the carb & 1.5 hours to drink the beer. I'll bring the dogs. I think your right about the three bubbles in the paint sounds like a bad prep job to me. That too can be fixed. For $10k you can't go wrong on a original 73 coupe. Try taking the price of a new carb off the asking. Can't hurt.
G/L
Jim

 

If it's a carb problem, it can be solved by rebuilding that carb or buying another one (less than $300). Ignition is similar, but likely not as costly, unless you have to replace the dist. The "kicker" is how to determine if the engine internals on a "poorly" running car are OK or not...that's where the big money problems lie. All I can suggest is that you rev the engine [both cold and warm] to see if you get any smoke/mist and, if so, what color it is. Basically, you don't want ANY smoke or blow-by out the exhaust or you likely have ring and/or valve problems. If you hold the palm of your hand over the exhaust outlet (not tightly, just enough to feel the force of the exhaust), see if the pulses on your palm are even or if they are erratic. If erratic, you may have valve problems. Don't know what else to suggest to check out a car with a "sick" engine. Make sure you di$count it liberally if you decide to pursue it.

 

hi im in the middle of a frame off 73. got it out of conneticit for cheep with 34000 miles ya with conn. title but it sat a long time worst thing to happen to a car but a few things get any exstra parts check to see that the cowel induction air cleaner is still with it. kinda pricey and check under the car frame an rocker chanels whare the frame sits up in bring a light to see up inside pluss the windshield framan all body mounts all this is a lot of money also the price of the 73 has jumped in price 16 to 18% in the last few years people are realizing the potenctal as a colector . 5 mile an hour front bumper safety impact doors no dam wiper door real cowel induction works grate to get cooler air to the moter well ive got to go an remember have fun.

 

Gonna swing by the car on my way home and take some pics, although the car is filthy from sittin outside uncovered the last few months. Dogs and beer and a new carb sounds good to me. I'll have to send some more t-shirts to Lars also so I can get him involved. I'm thinking even a new carb AND distributor I still cant get hurt for this price as long as like another poster said its not something internal like a wiped cam lobe or bad valve or whatever. See and I thought I wasnt gonna buy another project!
Cory

 

Not really sure what type of problem, again he implied a running rich issue which seemed to coincide with a full tank of gas?
ESU

 

ESU
How long you been on the force? I was up there years ago on the Foster/Laurie murder trial..............LT

 

Foster and Laurie?? Thats was back in the 70's with the BLA. I was on from '86 till '06. Now with a University PD in NJ. Shoot me a PM on your involvement with that case,
ESU

 

I agree, check the birdcage,frame and panels. My friend just got a 71 LT-1 that had a constant unknown carb issue. Fixed it in 10 minutes. 10k sounds like a decent price as well. Also, since your're ESU, I sent a PM.....we have a common thread.

 

Cory -
If the carb has been replaced with a non-original commercially-rebuilt carb, it has problems.

If you get the car, simply go through the tuning techniques I showed you: Set up the timing curve to give you 36 degrees total advance below 3000 rpm. Use a suitable vacuum advance control unit. Then, check the carb and verify its setup to the carb number. I'll be glad to assist with any of this. Just let me know what help you need. Start with getting the carb number off the carb.

 

Just sent you a PM.LT

 

Lars,
I'm hoping they attempted to rebuild the original one and not replaced it with a bread truck carb. I'll try to get the carb numbers on Sunday and see what I have. Thx for the info.
Cory
PS By the way I left LM.

 

Did you buy it?

 

Did you get my PM?...LT

 

Dont get to actually drive it and see it till Sunday. I have driven by and seen it parked but the seller wont be around till Sunday.
ESU