I know y'all will tell me to take it to a body shop but they can't see me for another week and I'd like to drive the car this weekend without worrying.

My car creaks. When you open a door and put a little pressure on the seat, there is a loud creak that appears to be coming from the cowl area, but it's hard to tell -- it's definitely in the engine compartment area.

When I begin to drive and give it gas (slowly) it creaks a lot, but when I'm doing 30 I don't really notice the creaks as much. It does not creak if I hit a bump. For some reason it seems to creak more when I'm driving very slowly.

Everything under the hood was removed and replaced/restored. The body shop did tell me that as I began to drive it a "nut or bolt may come loose" and I'd have to bring it back to have it tightened. Since he's 75 miles from me, the odds of me returning there are about a billion to one.

Any ideas of what may be causing this?

I've driven it about 100 miles since the restoration so I haven't abused it, and most of those miles were put on by driving on back farm roads doing about 20 mph.

 

check out all of your suspension to rule that out.

 

+1

there is a good chance it could be a blown strut or another partin there just saying "hi".

 

Is it "safe" to drive until I get it checked out? I'd hate to have to find a tow truck on a holiday weekend and then try to find someone who knows how to tow a 40 year old car without causing undercarriage damage.

 

yeah, just take it easy and don't go real far.

how well do you know the car? have you had it for a while? if you have had it for a while and you know how it handles keep driving (safely) and if you get in it and it feels funny DO NOT GO ANYWHERE.

just try and take it easy and get to a shop asap. i don't think it's much more than maybe a blown strut tho. mine makes the same type of noise.

 

I've had it for 2 weeks. It was being restored for nearly 9 months and I just got it back.

I took it for a small ride earlier (before the rain hit) and I noticed it creaked a lot more when I took a turn. Idling it's fine but the second I give it gas when it's moving, it creaks.

I'm positive all struts were replaced, and it creaked when I got it back. I noticed it right away when I sat it in, but I figured it was just groaning due to some added weight! Also, I know older cars make noises that can't be identified, it's the nature of the beast. I'd just hate to think I spent so much restoring it only to have something minor that was overlooked by the body shop.

 

more than likely what you are hearing is the rubber bushings in the front suspension.if the body shop put in new rubber or urethane bushings and didnt lubricate them properly that will give you a creaking noise

 

Thanks. I bought all new bushings and they did install them ... I guess I will have to wait to take it to the local body shop this week.

 

They probably didn't put in poly bushings, so that is why you are getting the creaking. Rubber bushings need to be lubricated when you put them in. Try using a white grease spray on the joints and see if that doesn't stop the creaking temporarily. Also, check your ball joints for a grease zerk. It they have one like mine, then grease them well.

 

It's going to the body shop in 20 minutes. I gave him all the options I read about here and he agrees that it's mostly likely something that wasn't greased properly. If this is the case, I won't be very happy after spending so much and having something so simple be wrong.

All I can do is wait and hope I guess.