what's the biggest turnoff for you when looking at a car or project?

I just thought of a good one:

People that cut the roof off of a car to get a "Roadster" or "faux 'vert"! They never finish them, they never brace them so the body goes all wonky, they basically screw up an otherwise perfectly good car! And they always toss the roof so you can't weld it back on!!!

 

B&M shifters

 

Hell yeah, the most solid body I can afford and a straight chassis. The less body work the better.

 

People who claim air bags are not traditional just because they don't like them. This would be a good read.
http://www.motorera.com/history/hist08.htm

" Air suspension, which Lincoln ballyhooed for some models in 1984 was introduced in 1909 by the Cowey Motor Works of Great Britain. It did not work well because it leaked.
Stout-Scarab

Stout-Scarab

The first practical air suspension was developed by Firestone in 1933 for an experimental car called the Stout-Scarab. This was a rear-engined vehicle that used four rubberized bellows in place of conventional springs. Air was supplied by small compressors attached to each bellow. As you might imagine, the air bag suspension was an expensive setup -- still is, in fact. "

Or claim they are not "safe". So unsafe that GM put them on production cars in 1958. Here's another interesting bit of history for the "traditional police".

Air suspension is a type of vehicle suspension powered by an engine driven or electric air pump or compressor. This pump pressurizes the air, using compressed air as a spring. Air suspension replaces conventional steel springs. If the engine is left off for an extended period, the car will settle to the ground. The purpose of air suspension is to provide a smooth ride quality and in some cases self-leveling.

While not using high pressure mineral oil, the system aims to achieve a result similar to the hydropneumatic suspension arrangement introduced in 1954 by Citroën.

With a "leg up" on other companies, GM used its experience with commercial busses' air suspension to introduce systems for its car lines, beginning with the 1958 model year. Air bags at each wheel replaced the standard coil springs, and had sensors to keep the car level under load and in turns. It was too slow to react in sudden maneuvers, however.

Period reviews rated the air suspension somewhat superior in ride quality, but not dramatically. Some reliability issues plagued these systems, as well. Thus, as an option, air suspension was short lived in that era.

Vehicles that use air suspension today include models from Maybach, Rolls-Royce, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover/Range Rover, SsangYong, Audi, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Lincoln and Ford, among others.

The air suspension designs from Land Rover, SsangYong, Subaru and some Audi, VW, and Lexus models, feature height adjustable suspension controlled by the driver, suitable for clearing rough terrain. The Lincoln Continental and Mark VIII also featured an air suspension system in which the driver could choose how sporty or comfortable they wanted the suspension to feel. These suspension settings were also linked to the memory seat system, meaning that the car would automatically adjust the suspension to the individual driver. The control system in the Mark VIII also lowered the suspension by about 25 mm (1 inch) at speeds exceeding about 100 km/h (60 mph) [1] for improved aerodynamic performance. Unfortunately, however, these systems turned out to be unreliable and in many cases ended up being retrofitted with aftermarket replacements [2] or conventional steel coil springs. [3]

In addition to passenger cars, air suspension is broadly used on semi trailers and buses, which are both transportation sectors that helped pioneer the use and design of air suspension. An unusual application was on EMD's experimental Aerotrain.

 

Guys that drag an old completely covered with rust car out of the woods and just primer the $hit out of everthing including the windows, etc. As far as small block chevys, go check out the world of outlaws in sprint car racing, if the sound of there engine's don't do anything for you there is always viagra...
.

 

rear wheels set too far back on a fenderless pickup.
Seen too many trucks with this problem and it screws up look of the whole truck.

 

Air conditioning systems
Power windows
Power this
Power that
Shiney metallic paint
Fuzzy dice
Those stupid azz rag dolls sticking out of a radiator grille
Big stuffed animals in the back seat
Billet wheels
Engine covers - really, WTF are these things all about? People leave their hoods open to show their engines, and what do you see? An engine covered with a sculpted sheetmetal thingy. WTF???

All of these are my turn-offs

Here's a pet peeve of mine; open hoods at car shows. I wanna see the architecture and lines of the vehicle, not the stupid engine compartment with all the bolt-on billet garbage! Shut that damn hood!!

 

Having someone invite you to see his valued treasure,,a decent looking old car from 40 feet but closer inspection shows dents,dings,drips,overspray even paint over grease and road grime on the frame and under the hood.
You're supposed to OOooh and Aaaah over the shitbox like it's the best you've seen and your supposed to envy the damn thing in front of the owner.
I also hate when you look in between the outer surfaces and theres rust and flakes and holes.
There's a guy here locally who "restores" cars,,just a few miles from Petit Jean. He won't touch any rust that is covered or can't be seen easily. I don't know why it bothers me so much but I like to know the whole thing has been stripped and repaired and coated correctly.
My buddy just spent $3000.oo on a paint job that looks like it should've cost $1000.oo. I didn't play the game just pointed out the rush job flaws.
SIGN:
If you want a cheap rushed paint job, please slow down to 25 mph as you drive through the paint booth. I'll shoot it the best I can as you drive though.

 

Crappy wiring, sh!tty looking welds and the wrong stance. Seeing this makes me shake my head. Almost forgot, overhead radio and crappy consoles with cup holders.....

 

What if it came that way from the Factory?
I have Power windows,Power Drivers Seat,P/S and P/B.

 

price is only thing I really care about, and maybe location..if it's really far away I may lose intrest but other than that everything can be changed..I'd never buy a car and not change atleast 1 thing to make it my own

 

Rude owners.

 

Cars where the owner has 'restored' the car underneath by badly brush painting the chassis, suspension, bushes, everything he can see, over grease and dirt, but only the bits he can get to with his brush.
I don't much care for cars that are one colour on the outside and another (though covered in overspray) under the bonnet/hood.

 

Bullet hole stickers
Vinyl stickers of somebody pissing on something
Don't touch signs
Bozo repairs

 

Well then that wouldn't be a car or project that I would be looking at.

 

this drives me nuts.. not all my cars are hot rods some of my cars are econoboxes too.. im in the market for a new one. find a car thats overpriced on a dealers lot and the damn thing has a cracked winshield!! I F'n hate that...

 

Bondo and the bling bling rims.

 

Work done so poorly that you will have to redo it. Bad 'body work' covered by primer. The ad will say 'ready for paint.' Um, no its not....

 

A plastic clad tilt column in an early car is the worst.

 

OK my rant would be...Locar shifters! Gennie, never were!!! the B&M and the hurst style shifters at least made the seen in the '60s


Isn't the thread about project cars?
a car built in the '20s-'50s has seen a lot of change, you look past the strange '70s add ons, maybe hi back seats, CB radio, 8-track player, cut dash,ect. you drag it home and cut this stuff out and build the basic frame/body into your vision.. maybe the next trend will be back end jacked up w/L60's and CD antennas!!! OK, now thats funny! I don't care who you are!!!!!

 

I don't even think it's legal for a dealer to sell a car with a busted windshield. basic safety stuff, laws are different for dealers then private sellers.

 

White lettered tires on any car unless it was oem

 

Amen!
"Ford tough, with chevy stuff"

 

The tired old 'don't touch' signs with worn out slogans. "A classic car is like another mans wife....", "security by Smith and Wesson...", You toucha my car I breaka your face.." etc. At a show and shine last year the organizers went around and put the 'classic car is like another man's wife' signs on everyone's dash, I flipped the one on our 60 Ventura over and with a sharpie wrote "A daily driver is like a slutty girlfriend, every time you come back to it you find someone else has had their greasy hands all over it".
Oh yeah, and 'time out kids'. I want to get one for the next show and put it face down under the wheel in a puddle of blood.

 

Ha ha!..that used to be my signature line up until last week ..trying to pedal these 2 cars for a gal pal of mine

 

Yeah that sure stinks.

 

Big diameter wheels and rubber band tires - especially on classic rods. I can't wait for that sensless fad to be over.

 

I'll promise to temper this, but digital gauges, the latest big rims, the latest steering wheels that match the rims, ball-milled valve covers, braided stainless for everything, and high-back buckets. On project cars, poor workmanship declared as done and ready for paint, "no rust" claims that should mean "no metal", wrong information like model and options, original engine, and my biggest of all is when the owner/seller/builder says, "...oh you'll never see that..." when I'm fuckin lookin at it.

 

Through rust, bad floors, knowing I will NEVER find the glass for it. Also immense amounts of shitty chrome. And finally when I am expected to pay tons of money for something they treated like shit for 10 years.

 

1 Rust
2 curved glass
3 Car or truck full of cat and rat shit
4 tank full of nasty fuel
5 owner hovering around
6 No title or paper work
7 4 flat tires
8 Being lied to on the phone and making a 5 hour drive to see shit!!!