Putting a new top on a convertible is not cheap. You want a good body and top. Mechanics are fairly easy.

 

You are 100% correct there .... at that time while I had the car ... pretty sure I paid $500 to R&R the engine and have it delivered to the machine shop.
The engine rebuild cost me $2200. Think I paid $600-$800 for the car ... needed tires, shocks, brakes, fuel pump .... I easily had $3500 tied up into it.
But it ran just like a new car and was very dependable.

Then it needed a new top .... that was over $3K for a professional to do it ... kicking it around I was thinking about doing it myself ... And would have eventually.
Still I think the new material or kit for the top was over $1K .... great little car, but what a money pit.

This was all 15 years ago in 2010 and when I was injured at work .... to me it was a fun project and was the wife DD.
After I could no longer work, my wife still drove the car to her job A hostess at a restaurant a few blocks down the road.
One day on her way to work and it was snowing, the rest of the top blew off. ... The convertible was sitting in the parking lot with no top and full of snow .

We call that life ... I kept my work truck and we lost the house .... I think I sold the Shadow for $500-$600 on craigs list for a quick sale.
Great little cars.

 

I'm not sure when I bought my Lebaron, I think it was early 90's. I believe the top was replaced because it looked to nice to be original. Glass window not plastic, That's what kills the price! White tops show dirt! I used to work with a lady and she had one also, She asked me how I kept it looking so clean(hers was pretty dirty). Looking back it probably wasn't the best thing to use but it worked! Ajax with a brush.

 

I had to hunt for your post but I found this;

https://nashville.craigslist.org/cto...849705797.html



It's in Nashville, TN so it may be too car. However, they pop up so rarely, I thought I'd let you konw.

 

I actually talked to the consignment dealer. The history of that particular car is pretty cool, but it’s got issues, the biggest is rust from Michigan winters.

 

Another one popped up recently. It's a little closer to you and the ad SAYS it's rust free.

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/d...851442596.html


It's not Lebaron or even a Chrysler, it is a Dodge though. I'm not sure what engine it has though. It may have the Mitsu engine.

 

Thanks for keep an eye out for me. I found one that’s got 80k on the clock and I had it inspected. Needs a tie rod and the engine mounts need to be replaced, as well as all the other basic maintenance you’d expect (timing belt, water pump, etc). Inspector said it was in amazing shape and no rust. Gonna see if the owner will negotiate the price, hoping to get it down, I’ll update you if I can pull this off.
By the way, the inspector said that the heat valve is manual and it’s under tue hood, is that normal? And if it isn’t why would they do that and is it hard to connect it back to the temp controls?
thanks,
lloyd

 

Chrysler used them on quite a few vehicles. If it has one it's because the heater box doesn't have a way to shut off the hot air from the cab.

 

So my Chrysler Woody fell through, by the time I added up all the repairs it got too expensive for what it is. I'm gonna check out this yellow one...can you believe they even made a yellow car. By the way, I checked it's the Mistu 2.6 engine. If you see anymore of these please give me the heads up.
Thanks!

 

Up until the early 90's, colors ran in cycles. By the early 90's, it dawned on Detroit that white and silver are easy and cheap colors so that's what was pushed at the dealers and why there are so many on the road now. White disappears in the rain but it's cheap so more profit. I've seen worse colors than yellow. There was a pale green at times. For a long time, Mark Kay reps that sold a lot got a bright PINK car.

K cars are fairly rare due to age, but I'll keep an eye out.