What make a car a good donor?

Do any of you guys use the entire drivetrain from a donor car?

engine - transmission - rear end - electrical components - etc.
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What makes a car a good donor?​

Do you look for a running car, maybe one that was wrecked to get it cheap?
Are cars from the 70's a bad choice because of all the vacuum B.S.?

thanks!
- Joe

 

70s cars and light trucks are EXCELLENT donor vehicles!! All that vacuum and emissions crap comes right off...leaving you with an affordable, reliable drivetrain that was designed for use on unleaded fuel! Speed parts are widely available for those engines, too...and getting a whole, running car on the cheap is still fairly easy to do!

 

I used a 90 Lincoln Mark VII for my donor... engine, tranny, rear-end, & drive shaft... had a 5.0 HO in it and it is going into a Model A... emission crap just unbolts... so just about anything will work for a donor if you look in the right place... and I got this one for $300 and by the time I sold parts and scrapped what was left, I am about $90 ahead...

 

I'm using a '76 Maverick. Drove it home for $400.

 

How much stuff do you guys end up using? Carb? Gauges?

I know that there are a few car that pose problems... like Cadillac transmissions are HUGE..

I have a donor car now, it's a 63 Valiant with a 225 and a pushbutton 904 automatic - all slated to go into a 29' RPU. I'm having doubts.

thanks for all the good info...
- Joe

 

Depends on what the donor parts are going on. For a Ford...Mustangs,Maverics,Galaxies,Rancheros,Cougars,60's and 70's Pick-ups. For a Chevy...Impalas,Camaros,Novas,ElCaminos,Pick-ups. Most 60's and 70's cars make great donors. I wouldn't use anything from the 80's or 90's.

 

If its a Mopar. Dusters and Valients with the 318 are awsome. Great drivetrains.

 

I am just using the drive train... 302 roller motor... can't go wrong... besides, why put a non-ford drive train in a ford car??

 

Cause only Henry did that. LOL

 

It's a '29 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup

 

For me it all depends on what style of rod your wanting to build. My son and I are both into vintage style or 50's style or traditional style, whatever way you want to call it. For us than it is all about finding early Ford parts (we're building T roadsters). I have found that a good donor is 1941 Fords because they are cheap, plentiful and in my opinion butt-ugly to begin with. Those of you who have 41's please forgive me because I have seen some beautiful 41 leadsleds but for me they are nothing more than donors. OK, the point I want to make is this. If you want to get something together fast and not particular about sticking to a particular style of rod, than finding something that has the parts that can be repaired or built up the most economically and easily is a good start. I like being able to flip parts that can help defray some of the initial expense. If you want automatic tranny or manual or don't care.......v8, inline6, or 4banger or don't care, it's all up to you. One thought, find an old hearse to scavange drivetrain parts from because you know that they weren't hard miles on them. LOL.

 

My main concern is the stance. I'm not opposed to running a Chevy or a MoPar in my Ford.

My worries about using the Slant 6 is that the damn thing is really long, and the front assembly that I'm using is from a '40 Ford - suicide, straight axle. From the firewall to the back of the radiator it's 5" longer than a stock Model A.

I really dig on the pushbutton shifter, but the Slant 6 version of the 904 won't bolt up to a 318 (340, 360) without finding the proper bellhousing... and if I'm not using the Slant I'll just sell the car complete.

I think that there is a V8 in my future.

 

And if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

 

I used a 86 mustang with 5.0HO and an AOD automatic. used the complete wireing harnes with turn signal headlight and brake light wireing even used the steering column and cruise control. Put it in a 49 ford bolt pattern on the wheels was even the same. Brake master cylinder worked well with the front disc and rear drums from the mustang too as was mentioned earlier sold the rest of the car and came out ahead

 

A good donor car is a model that gives more than just the drive train. A great donor car is one that has popular front sheet metal, doors, deck lids and glass that can be sold to bring down the initial investment.

A couple of times I've made a profit while still getting a complete drive line and brakes. I paid a little extra to buy a Camaro instead of a big Chevy 4 dr but I was able to use the rear, front brakes and lots of other stuff that I would have to buy if I used the bigger car as a donor. Of course there was a bigger market for the remaining good Camaro parts so the total investment came back down to be a wise investment.

When you look at a donor car, ask yourself what parts can I use off of it and what parts can I sell to bring the total cost back down. There won't be a big market for 4 dr Caprice sheet metal.

Don't forget the little things. Those 10-20$ parts add up quick. The beautiful donor car approach will provide you with lots of parts for the junk drawer or bucket that will save bucks later.

 

Depends on the car to be donated to, and what you can find!
Example, When I built my 54 Chevy (started building it for a co-worker who didn't have much cash) I had him buy a 1980 Monte Carlo that ran well. Knowing I could use a LOT of the extra parts off the Monte to help him build a low budget custom.
We used: front subframe, rear, engne trans, radiator (built a custom rad support), windshield wiper assembly (hid it behind the dash, using linkage, and all), steering column (but adapted a 58 Impala wheel to it). E brake parts, wheels, misc electrical parts, switches, connectors, even thought about adapring the AC to the car, but ran out of time to do so. I did use late model Chevy AC parts on my 55 Olds, so I knew it could be done. Booster and master cylinder, as well as the proportioning valve (put it on the firewall) so we used the swing pedal, too.
On other cars, you probably can't use as many parts as we did, but if you plan right, you can buy a donor with the most useable parts.

 

big old nailhead buick with aluminum front drums. thats what is use if i found one local anyway.

 

If the Valiant is a rust free a two door. Sell it to me cheap and start with another donor. A straight six is pretty long for a model A. Unless you are pushin' the front axle out some... Smokey

 

That'll be a whole tranny case. 225 and 273/318 used their own cases; there were some differences for cable shift (typwriterflite) vs 'normal' shifters, early trannies used a brake drum on the back like '30's-'50's cars; I'm pretty sure the first couple years ('62-4) had a rear pump inside the trans in addition to the front pump.

Hope this helps...

-bill

 

IMHO- If you're gonna use suspension parts from the donor car, the donor car needs to be easy to cut up into managable size pieces.

80's Jags are fairly common around here, and are interesting donors.

 

When it comes to the mid 70's - late 80's stuff, I'm not worried about the emissions/vacume stuff, I'm worried about the crap compression ratios. That's more expensive to work out.

 

Have an extra laying around??

something like this would probably be perfect, huh...
http://ww2.collectorcartrader.com/d...torcartrader.com/ad-cache/10/5/4/90137054.htm

- Joe

 

no extra here but i see them pop up online everywhere but whithin driving distance for me.

 

I'm using a 66 Buick Electra as a donor. Got lots of stuff I want like the nailhead, big finned drums (that car is huge and stops on a dime), rear end that was designed for the engine etc.

I'm a cheap ass so I plan on using as much other stuff as I can like ignition switch, lights (gonna modify them so they fit the look of the truck), and whatever else makes sense to use.

I think it's cheaper to buy a whole car and use what you can. The rest you can sell on ebay to people unwilling to deal with stripping a car out.

Might even come out free that way.

 

Don't forget S-10. It make good donor. Me get. Me do frame swap.

Makeum nice ride, Kemosabe.

 

Donor cars gan be a great deal. Here is the Z-28 I used for my Model A. I was able to use the engine, trans, driveshaft, and rear end. I then sold the car for $50 more than I bought it for. Even after that transaction, I know that the buyer still made money though eBay. He sold the wheels for $300, the gauge cluster for $120, and then ended up scrapping what was left of the car for $130.

 

"me fail English... that's umpossible!"


thanks for noticing!
- Joe

 

Hey Jeff - is the Model A that you are talking about the one on your Photobucket??

- Joe

 

i see that most of you are talking about undesireable cars as donors... BUT don't ya think that scrapping what's left isn't necessarily the right thing to do ? for instance, would you be happy about the z28 lover trashing a '53 chevy just because someone had swapped a good motor into it and that was all he wanted? just food for thought....

 

free!..those make really good doner cars