Hatrack River Forum: Car Gurus, Hear My Plea

This is topic Car Gurus, Hear My Plea in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=049615

Posted by foundling (Member # 6348) on :

I need some advice. I'm looking into buying a 73 International TravelAll. It's a behemouth, with a V8 and 2 tanks. I want to convert it to biodiesel, and as far as I can tell, that should be fairly straightforward.

But, I dont know if I'm just deluding myself because I've wanted an International for a very long time, and this one is very, very affordable.

What I should know before jumping on this deal:
How easy are these things to work on? I'll be using it to teach myself how to work on my own car, and I'd prefer a straightforward, easy to handle type of deal.

How realistic is converting it to biodiesel? It's a diesel engine, but it's HUGE. Think old Suburban. Anyone familiar with these types of conversions?

The body is straight, with very few dings, and it's only got a little over 98,000 original miles on it. But for the price, I'm thinking there's got to be something else wrong with it.As far as I can tell, these things in good condition go for a couple thousand dollars. This one is $500. I haven't gone to look at it yet, because I have a horrible tendancy to fall in love with the idea of something and buy it right off the bat without taking the time to make sure it's a good deal. I want to be girded about with cynical knowledge before I go drool over this car.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :

pictures of 1973 TravelAll, for those unfamiliar (like me)

Do you have a trusted mechanic you can pay to look it over? For that price, it might be worth an expert opinion.

---

Some discussion on whether conversion really is needed at MercedesShop.com (my random googlage -- have no idea how correct, I'm sure you know much more than me -- not hard to!)

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

98k miles in 34 years? How?

Posted by foundling (Member # 6348) on :

Why thank you, CT. [Big Grin]

.

I know people who know people (if you know what I mean) who do conversions of all types. But talking to them about it wont do much good till I have the car and we can go over specifics.
Of course, giving little info and expecting specific advice is soooooo much more realistic on a forum. This I know.

Icarus, by owning lots of other cars? Using it for specific purposes only? Being a fuddyduddy homebody?

Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :

Is there actually a zero at the beginning of the mileage on the odometer? My 1970 Chevy pickup says 83,000, but I know it's 483,000 total and on it's third engine, which really has nearly 200,000. Back then they didn't need 6-digit odometers on most vehicles.

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

*nod*

Frankly, I would find 1,098,000 to be far more realistic than 98,000.

Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :

Sweet. If you can afford to blow $500 on a hobby, do it and treat learning to work on it as your entertainment budget for the next 6 months. If you need it to be usable as reliable transportation right away, forget it.

Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :

the biodiesel stuff is pretty easy if the rest of the vehicle is in good enough shape. i have several friends running homebrew.

Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :

I think you just need to put a heater in the bottom for cold weather, depending on your particular blend of biodiesel. You could even add a switch so when the temp gets hot enough, you can switch over to a vegetable oil tank, though a bohemoth like a travelall has got to use a lot of fuel.