My stepbrother inherited an '87 Vanden Plas back in '92 from his late father, it has approx 32,000 miles and "pumps oil all over the garage" when it is started. He says it is coming from the top of the engine and that he replaced the valve cover gasket to no avail. He is a Microsoft softwear engineer, and I have doubts about his mechanical abilities, the upshot is that I traded an '87 Honda VFR750 motorcycle for the car. The bike was a non-seller at 2000$ so I figured: what the heck! I am a certified aircraft mechanic so I will be doing the repairs myself. The car also has 5 wire wheels and is in like-new condition in and out. The problem is that it is in Austin Texas and I am in Los Angeles. My questions are: is this car worth fixing? What is the probable cause of the oil leakage? what would a good independant shop charge to fix it and what is a good shop in Austin. How much would it cost to ship the car to LA. I was planning to take him the bike in a van my Dad has given him along with my tools and fix the car on my Xmas break driving it back to LA afterwards.
- posted
20 years ago