Hi all. My grandfather has an 84 Aries 2 Door. It may (HOPEFULLY) be mine if I can do enough persuading. he is convinced it's "garbage" Well, one man's trash is another man's treasure, right? see the full story here with pics: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2312644

Like I stated there my grandpa says its problems are:
-Blown head gasket, burns a lot of antifreeze
-He says brakes, though I'm not convinced
-Exhasut system, again I'm not convinvced, its just noisy
-Has an overheating problem which is somewhat under control
-Front seat will not adjust

The body has tiny speckles of rust all over it. It's been hit twice or three times in the same spot on the fender, though that's just cosmetic.

Did I mention it has 53,000 original miles? I'm not sure how all these problems can happen when its been driven so infrequently. It spent most of its life in the Thumb of Michigan and much of that time locked up in a garage.

Is this car worth fixing? how much would it cost for each part, and would it be somewhat easy for a beginner with some help to do? I'm really excited for the opportunity.

How much would a head gasket cost to replace? Is it an easy job? How much would the shop charge to do it?

I'll have to ask my grandpa about the exhaust and brakes. He claims they have problems but I'm not sure. My uncle is a car shop teacher and he would know if he looked at it.

I'm not sure of the extent of the rust to the underbody, though I don't think it's bad. This car had almost no rust when it came here (Detroit) from its former home, the garage in Port Sanillac in Michigan's thumb. Over the past three years it has gotten 70-90% of its current rust. The rust appears oddly, in small dots all over the passenger door and in small dots less frequently over the whole car. The worst rust is on the passenger rear wheel well and a 4 inch hole in the passenger door.

This car has had a thermostat replaced and also a power steering pump. The thermostat helped with its overheating problem. The pump has a story behind it: the car has been backed into by the neighbors twice in the fender. My grandpa was trying to pound out the dent somewhat from the inside. Later, he backed the car back into the street and out comes a spalsh of power steering fluid. The pumps lines were rusted and the pounding caused the lines to rupture. Another theory is that I was taking pictures ( a different time) and the wheel was positioned oddly so he jacked the wheel around. This may have contributed.

What can I tell him about this car that will convince him that this car is worth saving?

Can someone tell me a bout their own experiences with head gaskets and Aries maintainance in general.

Again, theres pics and additional info on this Cardomain: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2312644 Notice the door and wheel well pic. THose show the worst of the rust.

 

The head gasket is probably part of the reason the car overheats now, but you should check the coolant flow through the radiator to make sure the radiator doesn't need to be replaced.

Here are some prices from Advance Auto.
Head bolt set ~$20
Head gasket (just the head gasket)~$20
Valve cover gasket ~$20

Head gasket set (this has the head gasket and a bunch of other gaskets & seals) ~$50
New coolant $10-15

You might as well change the timing belt ($15) while you have the engine apart.

The headgasket job will cost $50-100 with you doing the work. Plan on atleast a weekend to do the job if you don't really know what you are doing.

It is almost always better to fix a car then to junk it. That aries doesn't look too bad, I would say fix the head gasket and keep it.

Brakes lines are pretty easy to replace bending them to fit is the hard part, calipers/drums/discs/pads/shoes are all pretty simple to change.

Pull the front seat out of the car and clean the seat tracks so they adjust, or just get another seat from a junkyard.