Faults:

When I got the car, it ran really poorly. After taking it on a road trip from Las Vegas, NV to Concord, CA, roughly 560 miles, I found out it only needed a tune-up. It was running on 3 out of 6 cylinders, which caused the poor performance and mileage.

The starter gave out and needed to be replaced, probably because it was stock.

Same with the alternator. Though I didn't find out it was the alternator until three batteries later.

Lots of cosmetic damage, but I think it gave it character.

It had no muffler. While this could be construed as a fault, I loved the sound it produced.

The front disc brakes had to be replaced after a while; the left ones wore faster than the right for some reason...

The suspension was shot all around. Driving over the slightest bump caused a roller-coaster-like effect.

The tires were all different sizes, had to be replaced before the trip.

The power steering had a massive leak, had to add fluid almost daily or resort to strong-arming it.

Speedometer / odometer didn't work, so I don't know how many miles it had... stuck at 69,709.9, which was probably more like 169,709.

At the end, the transmission died (because of my own stupidity).

General Comments:

I paid twenty dollars for the monster. That's right, $20.

Man, oh, man. After I got the tune-up, it was like a new car—in a word, wow. Doubled the performance and mileage.

Got probably about 20 mpg, not sure since the odometer didn't function, which is good for being that old and carbureted.

It had power driver seat and power door locks.

Very comfy seats for up to six.

And the sound of the engine—apparently the muffler had been cut off by a previous owner, giving it a very unique sound from the back. I got a funny comment one time: A guy asked me first how big the engine was, then if I was running dual exhaust, and said it sounded like a 5.0 (Mustang). I was very proud.

I ended up killing the transmission through stupidity... tried to replace the filter and gasket, unknowingly bought the wrong part and tried to force it in, then drove it... it ground itself to pieces. Poor thing.

Faults:

The gas tank, fuel pump, fuel line and carburetor needed to be replaced.

The front driver side coil spring broke.

The rear brake line broke.

The speedometer sounded like an ice cream truck bell.

The heat didn't work well.

The car stalled often in winter.

The engine exploded once.

The engine mounts broke and the engine fell out once.

The exhaust manifold gaskets rotted out.

The windshield wiper motor broke.

The power steering rack broke away from the frame.

A rear shock broke from it's mounting and punched holes into the wheel well.

The engine compression was bad.

The front brake lines broke.

General Comments:

The alternator and battery were excellent.

The car was very heavy to push and needed to be pushed often. The car sustained only cosmetic damage from hitting three deer at highway speeds.

I learned to repair cars because I purchased this vehicle. I can't believe that I purchased a car with 180,000 miles on it. It did get 20,000 miles out of it by fixing the problems I could.

Even when it did work right it was very poor to drive. It was dangerous to myself and others when there was snow on the ground.

When purchasing a used vehicle I will heed the lesson I learned from this one. On the bright side I have many nice shiny tools I never need to bring out for my Bonneville.