MichaelRyerson

Guess not.

Did anybody ever talk to this guy?

Happened to talk with this guy last week about another car and we got to talking about this red '57. Seems as though the price has wandered down to a more reasonable $8,500. The paint looks very good and 'Steve' says it was preceded by a lot of prep work (the elderly current owner operated a body shop), radiator has been re-cored, while the upholstery needs some attention. Is also on youtube.

You guys can highjack my thread anytime. In the end it turned out to be worthwhile and informative (at least for me). Thanks. Matt got me into this.

Isn't this so funny, Ben? This is exactly what we were talking about this afternoon. Ha. Great.

Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate it. Fortunately, someone showed up and bought the Century out from under me. Mike Waller assures me it went to a good, Buick home. I was ready to take it on if no one else came along, in fact, had a deal in place and a check written when this guy showed up. Good luck to him. I went ahead with the Canadian car, a Special sedanette, an all original, U.S. built, dual carb car. Turns out the seller has a load of experience shipping cars into the U.S. and so he will help with the customs forms and getting the car to Houston. I'll post some pics when I take delivery around the 1st of August. Thanks again to everyone.

Thought the question was sufficiently stated. I'm buying a car that is presently in Canada. It is a '41 Buick. It was manufactured in Flint, Michigan. I'm asking for any advice which might be helpful in satisfying the customs officials. I've never done it before.

The 12v is not chipped in stone but I am going to resist building a points car. This will be a driver, pure and simple. I'll likely go 6v, with a new harness and generator to begin with but may opt for an electric fan, electronic ignition and maybe even a little ac (I live in Houston). We'll see. Appreciate all the great advice and insight from you guys.

Well, of course, with a 75 year old car, an engine rebuild is just the start but that's the point, got to start someplace. But it's likely (hopefully) the single biggest expense and before I commit these old bones to this kind of a project I wanted to know if I was going to need a marriage counselor before I was done.

$1,000 bucks a hole seems about right. Will wait to see what the compression check says, may get lucky. Not counting on it.

Thanks Robin, wish your garage was in the lower Midwest. I keep coming up with about $8,000-9,000. Doesn't make my wife all that happy but I can live with it.

Sent for the customs forms already. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks so much for your reply Ben. It's a '41 Century. The dual carb set-up is with the car so, at a minimum, I would be looking at rebuilding them both, but would seriously consider going to two primaries with straight linkage. The biggest hurdle seems to be finding a shop to do the work. I can buy a finished car (what fun would that be?) or I can try to bring this car back.

Looking for a good faith ballpark of what I might reasonably expect to spend on rebuilding a 320, going to insert bearings and including the dual carbs and a 12 volt conversion. Not looking for a ridiculous bargain, am willing to spend good money but really have no idea what I'm getting myself into here.

Talked to the seller about the sedanette. Been inside for literally forty years. Has the last registration and a clear title. Brought it out into the sunshine to get these pictures. He operates a 'classic' car parts business, been at it for twenty-five years. It's his 'storage yard you can see in the background. He's got something like 300 hundred cars in various stages of being parted out. Some complete cars, too. They're having an open house/sale this week-end. Seems like a decent guy. Very familiar with selling and shipping cars. Actually considered buying it myself (came frighteningly close) would love to bring a Century back but don't have the time nor the expertise to do right by it. I think it's a really nice opportunity for someone younger and smarter than I am.