This sucks. I sent my car in to have some work done on it (replace u-joints, overhaul carb, mayberebuild tranny/rear ends). Once I got it in there, we discovered that the head gasket was leaking so decided to put off any work on the tranny/rear ends to a later date. The bill at that point was about $1.1K to do the work I decided to have done which left me about $300-$400 to put into the interior out of the $1.5K I was planning to spend. Well, wouldn't you know it, but both heads are cracked so now I'm out about another $700 for heads. Oh well, guess the interior will just have to wait a while. Guess that's the way it is owning an old car...you have to expect those things. Sure would be nice to have an enclosed shop (It's cold in N. Utah right now) and a little more know how. Could have saved some of that money for other things.

 

interiors the last on mine, im not to worried about it, and i dont think you should be either, and PLAN to spend only a certian amount? you should have known you were going to put double that amount in. -Jon

 

The interior was one of the last elements on my car. You gotta take care of the bigger things first...and cracked heads would definitely be a bigger thing

 

I'm learning that quickly. Guess the better plan is to get the engine, drive train and suspension right before I worry about how it looks. I was so fired up about working on the interior, though, because that's something I could have done onmy own. Oh well, baby steps.

 

Yeah, definatley learn to do some of that stuff on your own. It'll save you a lot of money. Especially stuff like u-joints and carb. You could do that stuff in your house. Maybe not ujoints unless you have somewhere to put an anvil or something like that.

 

You know, I am taking the shop's word that the heads are cracked. It does have leaks here and there and I have smelled just a hint of antifreeze burning off at times, but I didn't see milky oil when I changed it last. They seem to be a reputable shop. Would you necessarily have coolant in your oil if your heads/head gasketsare bad?

 

minus reupholstering the seats, the interior is fairly easy, which is why its a nice thing to save for after your busted your ***** with all the other things.

 

I'm getting ready to move to a house in a few months where I have an enclosed garage and I can pretty much do anything I have a manual for so I'll be in a better position to do that soon. Of course, I don't plan to do any tranny/rear end rebuilding, but I plan to do the front suspension and interior work myself. Looking forward to getting my hands on that.

 

No you may not have coolant in your oil it depends on where the cracks are, but I would tell the shop I want the old parts return to me for one thing you know you got new parts and you can see what was wrong with the old ones. You can also fix the cracks and sell the old ones but it is a lot of work to do it and may not be worth it.

 

Good advice. I think I'll do that.