vermontboy
-
Posts
722 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by vermontboy
-
-
"The front floor pan is removable."
That is all well and good on a car from the NW and is the reason for the question regarding rust vs rot. Here in the "rust belt" where cars may have been exposed to 5 or 6 months worth of salt every year early in their life it is pretty meaningless. I helped a friend start to dismantle a similar Mopar back in the early 60's and along with removing the floor you ended up with layered chunks of rocker panel along with the floor - sort of a homogeneous lump of oxide. Glued down carpet plus moisture and salt leaves very little left to do anything with. Tar paper and roofing cement (an alternative to carpet) was a bit better and offered additional stiffness.
-
Are the floor pans, rockers and lower body rusty or rotted - there is a huge difference in the cost of restoration. If they are rotted and require replacement rather than minor patching (especially the floorboards) it is a major project requiring someone with a lot of skill and knowledge of how to keep a convertible "square".
-
And that lovely orange and black speedster in the early 60's. Wish my memory was better
-
"they are non-porous, aren't they, so no water can wick itself into a tyre? When you drive the car, they are on the pavement and you don't protect them then."
Sounds reasonable - not the same thing but battery cases (old style) are non-porous and a battery that sits on a concrete floor all winter will be dead in the spring.. One placed on a board will be OK.
-
They advertise in Hemmings - it certainly wouldn't hurt to file a complaint with them.
-
So the only reason you bought this car was to flip it? Nothing wrong with that, mind you. I think that thought is always in the back of most of our minds when we are out looking.
But it brings up the first obvious question which is what do you want to end up with to sell? A correct and properly fully restored car? A fully refreshed older restoration restored so that everything is authentic? A refreshed older restoration that looks better than when you bought it?
The costs (and eventual sell price) of those options vary widely. And the path you take in preparing the car to sell differs a great deal from the path most of us take when we buy a car to enjoy. Once you tell us what condition you want the car in when you sell it people can give you better advice as to how to proceed and what things need to be changed and perhaps even how much they might cost.
By the way - there are two pictures on page 4 that show 3 screws across the bottom of the picture - where on the vehicle were those taken?
-
"When I drained the oil pan and removed the oil filter there was only about one quart of oil in the drain pan. That's very surprising to me because the dipstick showed it as being about a quart low."
Somewhere along the way it might have aquired the wrong dipstick - fairly common occurrence.
-
How times change - I was looking over my dad's old records the other day for the total expenses for his 1933 Pierce Arrow back in the 60's. It covered 9 years Gas, oil, repairs, parts, painting and plating, gas for around 10,000 miles, etc.
He kept it in the glove box along with a pen - it was one of those little Jiffy pocket notepads you could carry around in your shirt pocket. .
-
Alcohol was readily available at gas stations in the late 60s and early 70'x. I used it in my Model "A" Ford Ford at temperatures as low as 20 below zero. You did have to check it regularly for evaporation but it was cheap and you weren't in danger of destroying your bearings should a leak occur.
-
NAPA will have master cylinder and booster - they were used for a number of years but it might be a good time to convert it to a dual master cylinder., An Imperial has enough weight to go a long way without brakes (I know from personal experience with a 1964 - the emergency brake only worked with the pawl in Park .(pushbutton transmission).
-
50 years of trying has convinced me there is no "miracle micro repair". It will always look like a micro repair to you, even if others don't see it (at first). Because you can never get a perfect color match better shops insist on spraying to geometric or perceptual borders. Reputable shops got their reputation by turning out only quality work - trust their judgement.
-
If it were mine I would suspect the carburetor. Very easy to miss something in rebuilding a carb. Perhaps you can borrow a used carb from someone local (a lot of people keep them rather than return the core).
-
Dexcool (the orange stuff) will turn to jelly all by itself if it gets too old - in my 2004 Impala it "spoiled" every 3 to 4 years.
-
I'll let someone else address the gas tank issue - there are short cuts to at least see if it will run and what I might do might be "iffy" in some people's opinions. You do need to check the oil - and the pan should be dropped and the sludge taken out before you do more than just make sure that it runs,
But why do you want to change the plug wires and other wiring? It looks pretty good in the pictures. In any event - make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy.when you first start it up and when you try all the lights, bells and whistles.
In all honesty I helped "retrieve" a lot of old cars back in the 60's and 70's that had been stored for up to thirty years. We took along some gasoline, ether, water, oil, tire pump and a fresh battery and there was only one we couldn't get started and had to push (and lever) onto the trailer. The combination of old gas, ether and fresh gas creates a LOT of black smoke for a couple of minutes .. OK, like I said - I will leave it up to someone else to explain how things are done now. But I sure don't see the need to do anything to the wiring to get it started, or for local driving for that matter.
Just my two cents
-
Looks like they have both been sold
-
The simple ascwer is yes but please search the forums for "anti-freeze" as it is very important to use the right type. You will find a lot of information available and a bit of reading may save problems down the road.
-
The only way you are going to know what car is "right" for you is to get out there and look at them and drive them.
Mopars, GM's and Fords all drive differently. Steering, brakes, ride and handling, responsiveness and general "feel" are different. I think a lot of people who have owned cars from all of the big 3 could tell which company produced a car within a quarter mile of driving, no matter what steps were taken to camouflage it.
You need to see which manufacturer feels best to you.
-
If there is a reason you want to maintain the original lock just call a locksmith - they can make a key in a few minutes as long as the have a blank.
If you don't mind getting a new lock cylinder just drill it out and be done with it.
If the latch bolts are visible just use a couple of long extensions on a ratchet.
-
"Optima RedTop 6 volt Battery that I have not used for several years"
How many years has it been sitting there ?? Evem Optimas have a shelf life.and if it has been a few years it may not hold a charge.
-
A bit if civility can go a long way when requesting assistance.
My two cents.
-
".....and a full body/upholstery restoration"
Restoration is "a return of something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition." The car has been "built" or "modified" - it has not been "restored".
My two cents
-
I've always just removed the battery and set it on a workbench for the winter. If it was going to hit 20 below for a few days I would check the charge - it was always OK. Put the battery in come spring and it would always start. Never put a battery on a concrete floor. No trickle chargers - I think they are highly over rated.
-
Here is one from the Rochester Craigslist - nice looking clean 90K original under $5K. Think this was the twin turbo engine - busy engine compartment.
-
The only problem with HEI is that it either works or doesn't work.. There us no limping home, no roadside repairs. When it breaks and you don't have a spare you are stranded. Looking over the original owner's receipts for my 1991 Blazer I see 3 trips to the dealer over the course of a month before they finally replaced the whole distributor. Attempts at just replacing the internals were unsuccessful.
Just my two cents
The future of everything
in General Discussion
Posted
In Vermont every once in awhile they would have an unofficial "even up" day. Everyone got out their little books to see who owed what to who and they would cross off items of similar "worth". Came in handy during the depression when my grandfather kept the mill going to keep the men going but couldn't pay them in cash because no one could pay cash for the lumber.
There is a rather long old tale that explains local economics better than I can:
It starts with a fellow arriving in a small resort town and parking his car at the main hotel lot. He goes to the desk and registers for a suite of rooms saying that his wife and children will be arriving later that afternoon on the train. He puts a $100 deposit down, gets the key and uses the elevator to take a look at the rooms.
The hotel owner breathes a sigh of relief and as soon as he can leave an assistant at the reception desk scurries out crossing the street to the butcher shop. He hands the butcher the $100 that he owed him for the meat he was serving at the hotel restaurant and quickly leaves.
The butcher quickly removes his blood stained apron and slips out the back door. He drives his station wagon to a farm just outside town where he is greeted by a local farmer/rancher. The butcher gives the farmer the $100 to pay for the chickens, the pig and the side of beef that he had bought on credit a week or so ago, thanking him profusely.
The farmer quickly slips the money into the pocket of his overalls before his wife sees it and as soon as the butcher is out of sight, fires up his old Ford pick-up and drives into the town, parking at the back of an otherwise non-nondescript building. Using a back door he enters, smiles, hands the $100 to a painted lady, thanking her for trusting him. She smiles back and as sooner as the farmer leaves, she rises from the comfortable divan she had been sitting on and walks over to the hotel to hand the owner the same crumpled $100 as payment for the short time use of some rooms by her young associates the previous weekend.
About that time the businessman returns to the front desk and says that he had a phone conversation with his wife. Due to a late start from home, the family missed the early train and will not get to this town today so he will not be able to use the room.
" ..Can I have the deposit back ?.."
The hotel owner shrugs and hands the five $20s over. Easy come easy go, right ?
And yet, everyone in town is happy.