I'm Interested In Buying A Bricklin

Letter to the Editor
I'm Interested In Buying A Bricklin ...

By: John T. Blair #0887
     Virginia Beach, VA

(ED. Michael Dinneen sent the following email to Jim Wajda and myself. Jim asked me to run this in the magazine and to put it on our web site.)

Gentlemen, Good afternoon. My name is Michael and I am emailing from Lincoln, NE. I know basically nothing about Bricklins other than what they look like, and I just found some information on line today.

Anyway, I have stumbled across a '74 with the AMC 360 engine. It has 15,000 original miles. It has been in storage for years, and was originally green but has long since been repainted white.

I'm wondering if you can give me ideas of what to look for on these cars, and what I might expect to pay for one?

I haven't even seen the car in person yet, but that is what I know about it. It is a couple hours away, and don't want to drive there to see it, if I don't know what to look for.

I would be thankful for any help given.

My reply:

You might want to start by reading the Bricklin FAQ in the Technical section on BI's web site: http://www.Bricklin.org/TechCentral/TCFAQ.htm

It will give you a lot of basic information on the car, and a lot of things to look for.

A car that has been in storage is a lot better than one that's been outside for years, but that doesn't mean that it's a great car. The car should be run/driven to keep the various parts lubricated. Otherwise seals will shrink causing leaks, and metal parts will rust, causing premature wear.

There may be a lot of work required to get it roadable. Also there is the question of why has it been parked for years? Many Bricklins were parked because they had a problem and the owner didn't know how to fix it; or tried to fix it and made the problem worse. So it may have problems from the start.

The price for a good Bricklin is going up. This is because of the money the owner has spent on the car, either restoring it, or keeping it running and the fact it is getting more exposure.

Yes, each category has a very large spread. But that's the nature of the beast. How badly do you want a specific car, and how badly does the owner want to get rid of it also has a bearing on the price.

To answer your question, while a valid one, can fill volumes. In fact it does. (Just check the back issues of our club's quarterly magazine, which are available for purchase through our Bricklinalia. I suggest a new owner purchase these back issues as there are a lot of good technical articles to help you fix problems that will crop up.) So it's difficult to answer, no quick answer. After you've read our FAQ, feel free to ask more specific questions and I'll try to answer them.

You might want to check the classified on BI's web site for a car. Unfortunately, Bricklins are not found every where. Just because the car is NOT next door, or in the next city, don't rule it out. You may find a better car for the same or a little more money. Then pay shipping and end up with less money in it; than if you get a "local" car that needs a lot of work. Just ask me. I got my car about 250 miles from where I live. I knew it needed a lot of work, but I had no idea of just how much work it needed. I've been working on it for over 12 years now to the tune of over $16,000 in parts and additional tools, and 1800 hours of labor.

Are you capable of doing your own work? Or are you going to have to have someone do all the work for you? If the latter, you might want to talk to some local mechanics, to see if you can find someone locally that willing to work on it, before you get any Bricklin or any collector car for that matter.

There are only about 4 places in the world that specialize in the Bricklins and they are all in North America:

Bricklin Parts and Services of VA
2687 Rocky Ford Rd.
Bedford, Va. 24523
(540) 586-9761
Terry Tanner (owner)
Bob's Brickyard
1030 N. Hickory Ridge Trail
Milford, Michigan 48380
(248) 685-9508
Bob Hoffman (Owner)
The Bricklin Boyz
18 Via Venus Pvt
Ottawa, ON K1K 0N4
613-744 8024
Kim Madsen
3114 N. Eldorado Avenue
Lake Havasu City, AZ
520-855-6797

These shops can provide parts to full restoration services.

For more information on vendors see the vendors list on our web page: http://www.Bricklin.org/TechCentral/TCPartSupp.htm

What do you want to do with the car, have a good driver or a show car? This will drive what you should be looking for, and how much you spend on repairs.

For instance you can buy different seats to make it more comfortable and a lot cheaper than finding good original seats. But that's not stock - not what you may want to do for a show car.

Some quick items to check for are:

  1. One of the first questions would be does it have working air doors?
    • Unless you are an originality freak, you don't want the hydraulic doors. (Again see the FAQ).
    • If it has hydraulic doors, your looking at $1,500 and up for the conversion.
  2. How badly is the body cracked?
    • This is a very common problem with the acrylic panels.
    • There are both NOS acrylic panels and fiberglass reproduction body panels available. The acrylic panels all fade at a different rate. So getting a matching panel is difficult.
    • You can fix the acrylic panels (cut out the cracks and repair) but then you have to paint the car. Paint requires special preparation of the body. You can't just shoot paint over the acrylic panels. They need to be sealed with a water based sealer before painting.
    • Or you can look at having new fiberglass panels installed. A new body is about $5,000 for parts plus labor.
  3. Does the engine turn over and run? Before trying to start the engine that has sat for a long time, you should:
    1. Pull the plugs, squirt some oil down each cylinder to help lubricate the cylinders walls and piston rings.
    2. With the plugs out, try to turn the engine over by hand using a socket and a ratchet on the main crankshaft bolt. If you can turn it over, you're ready to try using the starter to bring up the oil pressure.
    3. Check the fluids, oil and water. Is there any in there?
    4. If there is or has been gas in the tank, it's probably bad and the tank is probably rusted. Don't try and start the car with old gas. Get a small 2 gallon gas can and fill with new gas. Disconnect the fuel line from the gas tank at the fuel pump. Get some rubber fuel line and insert it into the gas can, and connect it to the input side of the fuel pump. This will assure you of good gas, and that you aren't pumping crud from the tank into the fuel pump and carburetor.
    5. Remove the low voltage wire to the coil, turn the ignition key switch to the start position. As the engine turns over watch the oil pressure gauge to see if you get any oil pressure. Don't crank on the starter for more than about 30 seconds. Wait for 10 seconds and try again. If no oil pressure observed after 2 minutes, don't keep cranking. You need to check to see why there is no oil pressure.
    6. Once you have good oil pressure, the bearings, etc., will have been lubricated. Reinstall the plugs and go for it. Don't forget to prime the carburetor. You might want to have some starting fluid on hand to help things along the 1st time.

    4. HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER HAND JUST IN CASE. Hopefully you won't need it!

    Let the engine come up to temperature around 160 or 180 degrees.
    Check for leaks. If the engine starts to over heat, shut it down and determine why.

    You can figure that you should do the following work since the car has been setting for quite a while:

    1. Pull the gas tank and have it cleaned and lined/sealed. While that's being done, you might want to have a drain plug installed.
    2. Pull the carburetor to clean it and put in a rebuild kit.
    3. While the carburetor and gas tank are off, flush the fuel lines with compressed air and possibly alcohol or acetone.
    4. Since the cars are known to run hot, pull the radiator and have it cleaned and flow checked. Replace the thermostat, and the fan clutch.
    5. Change the brake fluid and replace the rear wheel cylinders and brake shoes, the front calipers and pads and the flex lines.

    Another thing to check for is rust.

    Again the FAQ addresses the basics, and for a little more detail see the article: "Rust, Its not supposed to happen to a Bricklin"

    Jacques Le Clainche of Elbert, CO offered the following tips:
    What exposure to the collector car market taught me:

    1. If you can afford to buy a collector car which has been restored properly (emphasis on properly), do it. It will cost you less in the long term than buying one which needs repairs.
    2. Do not acquire a "fixer upper" unless you have the time, the tools, and the skills to do the work, or unless you are ready to spend more than the value of the car to have it done. That does not mean you are financially stupid, as there may be personal reasons why that particular car is worth it to you.
    3. Finding a good shop for restoration is very difficult, and good shops are always expensive.
    4. Restoration will always take longer than you think (I forgot that one when my Bricklin was in the shop).
    5. Never buy a collector car for investment, but because you want to own/drive it.
    6. It is worth traveling a long way to acquire the right car. The problem is there might be a huge difference between what the buyer and seller call "very good condition", so a long trip might end up in wasted traveling money.

    BI