So, I traded my broke down 1974 GMC C-Fifteen Hundred Sierra Grande (Not joking, it actually said that on the fender) for a 2000 Hyundai Accent with (Allegedly) 165k miles on it, though the title says not actual. I need to hose down the engine one day to get all the oil off so I can see what shape everything is in, she had a valve cover leak. The car came with new brakes, a Pioneer stereo and speakers, and not a whole lot else going for it apart from the fact that it moved under it's own power and my truck did not.

Not sure what trim level mine is, but its' a 1.5l and a 5 speed, and judging from the fact that I couldn't' find a 1.5l to get a valve cover off of in the junkyard, every single one was a 1.6 DOHC engine, I probably don't want one of those. I've had the car since Saturday the 4th of January, 2020, and I've replaced the following:


Valve cover gasket
spark plugs and wires
2 185/65R14 tires, need 2 more 14 inch wheels, back ones are 13's, dunno why
entire radio bezel with climate control, everything was painted red by the previous (Or twice previous owner), and the control for selecting where the air blows out, there was just a cable sticking out of the dash... No seriously... Just a cable...
Glove box (Also painted red)
Sun visors (Drivers side painted red and broken, passengers side missing)
Upper corner defrost vents (Also red...)
Rubber mat things in console (Red... Now not red...)
Gear **** (Not red but not screwed on either)
Rear hatch handle and hatch uh, bezel thing above the handle
Rear speakers (Old blown disintegrated Pioneers, got some cheap ones from wal-mart, forget the brand, not Dual or Boss, they'll do for now, they where only $29)
Upgraded gauge cluster to tach unit from automatic car, plugged right in and worked!
Replaced dome light, hooked drivers side door switch up, gotta find a way to kill that dinger when the door is open.

So yeah, I've been busy, still gotta give the car a good cleaning but it's not too dirty, not too clean either however. I've been working too much to do much other than drive the car aside from spend a couple hours on Friday at Pick N Save to find some parts and spend too much money. I'll upload a few pictures of Basket so y'all can see the mess I've inherited... I won't show the wiring for the stereo, some of us still have to sleep at night and yes, it's that bad...







She's seen better day's for sure, but she's a good running car





No front plate 'cause the holes are stripped.





Before I un-pimped my ride.





Back to stock, simple and clean, mostly. The wire is for a cheap dash cam.





Factory non tach, from my car with a 5 speed





Factory with tach removed from automatic car with only 39k miles on it





Junkyard donor car, silver painted gold like mine. No one must've liked that yellow gold very much!





Ouch! At least the engine got pulled to live on in something else!





I didn't leave much behind of use.



So, that's basket, I like the car enough to spend half a day at a junkyard fixing things like the hideous red interior. She still needs work, but I'll get everything sorted eventually. Exhaust manifold gasket is next on the list, I do plan to do a little exhaust work, no rice cannon or anything, just something a little louder than stock, the car makes fun noises being she's a stick shift. Probably go for a 2 inch "Turbo" style muffler or something similarly cheap. This car is a fun solution to a daily problem for me, I work security and I'm the one of the people who helps fill empty posts, so I need something economical and reliable. That 1974 GMC was never economical, and and I think it forgot about reliability some time before Clinton left office. Anyway, that's all for now, thanks for reading, I'll be around with my oddball little car. Never daily driven a stick before, never even owned a stick shift before, only driven other peoples cars. It's an interesting change for sure.

 

Congrats, and welcome to the forum!

Nice job on de-pimping this abused car. I have a lot of respect for beaters of that kind and people like you that take care of them. This one reminds me of our '98 Mazda protégé, 5sp MT and 1.5L engine. Thanks for showing us your Basket!

 

Wow, you had your work cut out for you and you did a nice job. Stick shift is nice as long as you always start out in 1st gear.
Glad to see you are making progress, keep us informed.