Hello Everyone,

Two days ago I scraped up enough to purchase a locally owned 1972 P1800E. I paid two grand for her. Its in pretty good condition. Paints not too bad, interior is nice, I am going to have to attack an undercarrige rust issue before it gets too bad. Probably need new rockers, a couple of spots on the floor pans, and if fortune is not smiling on me it may likely have a soft right front frame rail. Overall I think its a solid nice car that I can drive a lot hopefully. I am not the most experienced man in the world in terms of cars and I definately am not the richest so I thought I would run a few questions by all of you to see if your insite could help save me some trial and error dollars.

First: I have read that the engine is not known for being quiet but it seems a little loud to me. Exhaust all seems fine. I may have a bit of a valve cover leak so I am gonna replace the gasket this weekend. Could that have anything to do with noise. I was thinking about buying a new sound dampening valve cover but im not sure if it will help enough to make it worth it.

Second: My locks seem to be wonkey and I live in a city so securing the car is going to be a must. I also noticed that even if the doors locked right then it would be easy to open the vent window. Any suggestions on how to fix the doors, secure the vent windows more, or suggestions for a good security system?

Third: I have an automatic and while I know everyone loves their sticks and the auto p1800 is not that desirable. I am an automatic kind of guy and dont plan on racing my car anytime soon so is there anything I should know regarding maitenence for my tranny? What kind of fluid should I use?

Thank you everyone for reading this book I just wrote but I am a little nervous that maybe this purchase wasnt the best idea financially but I do love the car and if I can get half the performence that Irv Gordan has then I have made the right choice for a fun little driver. I probably will have a few more questions in the future. Thanks for any help you can give.

-T

Hi T,

Congratulations on your purchase. These cars were built to last and are pretty rugged. As you know, rust is a major concern. If you can, paint over the rusted floorpan areas to keep them from getting much worse. Just keep reminding yourself that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When you say that the car might have a soft right front frame rail, if you are talking about the right side 'jack strut', they are readily available, relatively inexpensive, and probably one of the easiest body parts to replace on the car.

As for your questions:

1) While these engines are of a old design, I don't notice them to be particularly loud. I don't think that a noise dampening valve cover is necessary on a properly tuned / running engine. But I am sure some of it comes down to personal preference. Frankly, I'd bet that your Valves aren't adjusted properly and that is the source of most of your noise.

2) The factory door locks work fine and even the vent window locks should work fine. Of course, if someone wants to break into your car there really is little you can do to stop them. Studies have shown that just having a blinking red LED on your dashboard will keep most thieves from breaking into your car. I am not saying that you shouldn't buy an alarm system, but I am saying that more money spent doesn't necessarily mean better protection received. I am not sure what you mean by 'wonky', but realize that to lock the doors (from the inside of the car), you push the door handle 'down'.

3) The Borg Warner 35 transmissions are very rugged. They aren't the most efficient or most sporty, but they don't require any special maintenance that I am aware of. Here is a link to the Wikipedia page for them. And, while 5 speed swaps are very common, you can always consider going to a 4-speed auto trans. Here is a link to a pdf describing the parts needed. I know of a guy who makes the adapter plate to install the later AW70 / AW71 trans into the earlier cars. He is active on the Yahoo 1800list and might be the guy who wrote that pdf. From what I have read (which isn't much) your trans uses 'Type-F' fluid. We all use our cars differently. I'd never suggest that you change your transmission unless you were unhappy with it or it needed replacement.

Unfortunately, I don't visit this great website as much as I used to. I do stop by every now and then though. If you have a specific question and someone doesn't respond quickly enough, fee free to send me an email (I usually check my email one a week).

-Ken

BTW: You might benefit from joining an active group of owners. Check online and see if there is a chapter of VSA or VCOA in your area. Join Yahoo and subscribe to the 1800list and you will learn a lot of information that is specific to these cars. While the clubs charge about $35 a year for membership, they offer a bi-monthly magazine. The website membership is free, but doesn't offer any access away from the website or email.