60FlatTop

Fascinating? Yes, fascinating. At 1:02 Bernie

I have recommend allowing a deduction of $1,000 per year for the personal enjoyment of owning a car. It really helps with the sale of ones own car as well as the decision to purchase a car. But, then, there was the last owner I told that to. He said "Most of the years I didn't even drive it!" I said "Oh." I agree with Matt. Each $4,000 increment opens a whole new array of options to the buyer. Bernie

Home office here, although a couple may have visited a remote job site on the way home from a show. I like those Graham/Cord body cars a lot. It is surprising how low they are when you stand by them, kind of like the first Lincoln Continentals. Be careful about parking by those louvers. If it's an air intake or exhaust there always seem to be a lot of little black flies around them. If it's an emergency generator radiator exhaust and you get some glycol spray on the paint you will have to claim it is acid rain. Bernie

If you mean the banner ads, it is a waste of digits on me, electrons better spent elsewhere; where, I don't know. I can't remember the last thing I bought from advertising influence. I do get a lot of entertainment from TV ads. Most recently I have been shaking my head at that poor little mousy guy in the Tru Car ads. The balding guy with jacket sleeves too long. I always picture him at the bottom of the hierarchy of a dog pack. And darn it, he's got that app on his phone and he's not getting screwed again. Ads are fun. My kids say it doesn't take much to entertain me. Bernie

I bought these to rebuild my Packard assemblies. I knocked out the old Bakelite and they fit right in. All I had to do was stake them: https://scoutparts.com/products/?view=product&product_id=14108 I did use cloth wires and contact buttons correct to the car. I bought three, one to screw up and two to use. Had to "scout" around a little to find them. Bernie

I'm so happy with the stuff do I can't remember asking anyone's opinion on anything. Bernie

The closest thing to reality I have seen in the media is reruns of The Music Man, Makes me remember selling cars and meeting my wife. Yep, she's a librarian. And I'm kinda...... Bernie

Here's a little secret about me. Cars are discretionary things in my life, bought and maintained with extra money outside family requirements. I could walk away from any of the cars with no money and be happy with the total experience. I have given quite a few cars away to people who needed or wanted them; and the same has happened to me when I was a kid. Just be a little careful if you are a man giving a car to a woman... So, when I put a price on a car it is objective and based on what the car will do; steer, start, and stop for basics. The price may be high because I value those attributes. However, when the sale is in progress I am in tune with the buyer and understand that they set the final price. If I get two serious offers that are close yet under my asking price, the car goes to the person who made the second offer. I only think I know what they will spend, they know. Now you have a bargaining edge. If you see I have a car for sale send a friend first. I'll be waiting for you. I always ask the salesman or the buyer if they can play pool. When they answer no, I take the first shot. Bernie

The car is supposed to be the survivor, not the driver. Mufflers and suspension parts are important life safety items. Good advice on the poly suspension parts. Just read the first step of the installation: Using a torch, burn the original rubber out of the bushing. Bernie

From time to time I see forum topics started by owners with value questions that almost appear the be digital media plants targeted at this group of "old cars guys" whom will jump all over that rare and desirable car. Sometimes they are a question. Sometimes they are just a picture of an uncommon car with some gibberish question attached.I don't see a lot of shock and awe, but there are level headed replies. One thing I don't see is the scramble from forum members to buy or send PM's to snap that bargain up. This one was good. And it does continue to answer the question of an asking price for the non-hobbyist. Darla hired a "professional" and figured out quick something was wrong with his thinking. Bernie

There is a good chance the person you buy the car from will not be the one who took it apart. They will most likely attach a dream price compared to an unrealistic restoration cost, unrealistically low restoration cost. They are pretty close to the "make me an offer" misinformed. When I do, rarely, try to negotiate with these people it is a discussion sitting on the back step with a tone of empathy for their predicament. Questions like "How did you arrive at this price?" "Have many people looked?" "Have you turned down any offers?" asked in a nurturing, coaching manner help. Don't forget, you are talking about relieving a burden with only an intangible value (unless you are buying by the pound). My best results have been to ask "If you had some extra cash right now, what big ticket item would you like to buy?" If their house needs a $4,000 roof say "I'll buy that for you." I knew one guy with a brick house who needed three new wood windows. Target the value. The first time I realized this concept was in 1984 when I responded to a Hemmings ad for a 1935 Nash at $3500. The owner was a computer VAX operator who really wanted a 30 meg hard drive for his Apple system but his wife needed a washer and drier. The $1700 I paid got both and I think they had an extra 50 bucks to go out for dinner on. (Remember how much a 30 meg drive cost back then. My office had a whole row of 1 meg Berouli Boxes I was proud of.) The point is, there isn't much value and it is only subjective. Just be careful, in the moment, I once offered an owner a price for his Cadillac and spent a 90 mile ride home praying he wouldn't accept it. Bernie

I have had chances to get a set for mine over the last four decades, but the vertical chrome line in the middle of the body seems to take away from the flow of the lines. Bernie

I thought all those changes were made because they couldn't fix their cars and had to follow a formula, kind of like writing a country music song, to re-engineer them. I think sometime they get pushed on and off the trailer, too. Cars do tend to be more of an indicator of peer group than mechanical skills in a whole lot of cases. OK, I'll be the first to ask. What do the headlights do if you turn them on in a no start condition? Bernie

Over the last few years I have been taking my plugs to the parts store and asking for an NGK that looks like the one I brought. Although I don't buy many my system is working. Through the years, from working on my own Buicks and other owner's GM cars, I amassed a big bag of fouled 44's from collector cars. My choice has always been a 45 heat range. The plugs in my '60 are 45S and been in there for 15 years and about 12,000 miles. Maybe I look at them this year. I think you have to shut it off to pull them. Seems like a shame not to be driving it. Bernie

Booster Dewey did a great job for me. Fast turn around and nice plating job. I would use him again and have recommended him. Bernie

The brake booster on my '60 Electra had a lot of brake fluid in it when I removed it for a rebuild and plating. I'm not one for hard braking but I bet there was enough the feed through the vacuum line. Bernie

I have posted here a lot of times and written that you can buy $4,000 worth of someone's work for $1,000. There is a group of buyers for every car and they find the cars as soon as they are offered. Asking too much on the first go around can scare them off and they never come back. That old "ask high, you can always come down", from my observation, has always ended with "Ask high and they will pass you by." My Impala SS is a great example. It is an exceptional example and the dealer put it in his front line for $13,900. I drove by and thought "He's nuts.", kept going. A couple months later it was sitting next the the building on a Sunday with an $8500 sign on the windshield. I took delivery on Tuesday. That was 40% less. I was an informed buyer. Two months time made him an informed seller. I don't play games to get the money and I don't play games to spend it. The more you want, the smarter the buyer has to be just to have the cash. This valuation reminds me of a funny story out on the edge of town. An old High School friend had a mid-'50's car stashed in his garage since school. In divorce proceedings the car was claimed as common properly and given a value by the lawyers of the wife. They ended up confiscating the car when he was not at home. Then the brilliant lawyer was unable to find a buyer for the neglected clunker at even a small percentage of the estimated settlement value. The wife filed a suit for the estimated value, confiscation, and storage fees as the car deteriorated more at the impound lot. I understand the judge ruled in favor of the wife and lawyer keeping their valuable find to sell for the amount due. In this instance the '59 Caddy is a nice car. Licensing the car and exposing it to the car crowd at shows and cruise ins is probably the best marketing scheme. Bernie Oh, I may be one of the very few people on the forum who writes how much I pay for things. With many it is a very hush, hush thing. I am usually quite entertained by the steps people take to avoid telling. THAT is a prime reason your appraiser lacks credible numbers. The real deals are secret. Shhhhhh. That $8500 Chevy I bought five years ago and lavished collector car care on; that's $7,000.

einreB

If an appraiser told me to double his estimate of value as a selling price I would probably only give them half the fee they asked. Did the appraiser make you n offer before giving that advice? Getting an appraisal is your best bet. Try using the AACA local chapter list for a reference. AACA is OK but don't look in the yellow pages for AAAA 1 Appraisals. And be prepared to pay at least $300 for a good appraisal. In your position I might contact Matt Harwood who uses this forum. Remember, everyone on the forum has a car, or a pretty good reason why they don't. It's not the very best place to market a car, think Eskimos and refrigerators. No one owns anything without having some idea of what it is worth. Even on the antiques Road Show reruns you can tell. When you got one price for the cars and then were told to double it you knew something was amiss . What are the models and the numbers? The base or the doubled would work either way. If the appraiser said $3,000 and told you to ask 6, well, that's not outrageous. If they told you $30K and said to ask $60, then you have a problem, but you knew that.. Right now it's two vanilla Caddy's. What's a plain vanilla '59 Caddy worth? Oh, $6500, maybe 7000. How about a plain vanilla '74? Three grand. Oh, sprinkles and a sugar cone? Well, that's different. My wife has two prices for my cars; one if I'm alive and one if she sells them without me. The price on her own is low. The last thing I want to leave her is a curse. Bernie

I have been noticing the Predator look on quite a few cars since Chevy chrome plated the mandibles. I have always preferred the '64 Riviera in the first series. I had a '66. If I had bought the '66 first I might not own the '64. The styling was a big shift and dropped the Mulliner S Bentley knock off look. The elbow room in the '66 was a little more generous and makes it a bit nicer to drive. The fake scoops create a vertical line at the point where the Bentley has a rear wing bulge. It is pleasing to the eye and only loses desirability when a person is conscious of then being non-functional. It is a character thing, like the blonde. I kinda like the blonde who has slightly prominent front teeth because she sucked her thumb until she was 14. It's in the eye of the beholder. I like the '3 and '4 rear bumpers, more sculptured and less of a slab. I like the bombsight over the button. The hidden headlights on the '66 had one central motor with a torsion bar connector. It was trouble free for me. I like the unclad rocker panel's clean look, although they blend well with the '66 body. I like the first series reversed Corvette hood and the Vette razor front fenders. Right now I sand a little on my Riviera roof each time I go out to the garage, kind of farting around and not being aggressive. I removed the incorrect vinyl top and getting ready to paint it a last time. The incorrect top will be replaced by an incorrect two tone paint job. If I don't like it I'll scuff it and make it all maroon. Bernie

A couple of years ago my wife and I left the house in my '60 Electra and took a nice leisurely ride from Lake Ontario to Olean on the Pennsylvania border. We used Route 19 and from Olean we cut over to Randolph and caught Route 62 heading north to Buffalo. It was noon, hot, and windows open time when we headed north through the Amish country. Lots of horse drawn traffic, too hot to roll the windows up, and definitely an experience for the Greenies who say the cars are polluters. It may not be the buggy you are riding in, but the one that came before. My house was built in 1853 and has no AC. Some pines and a few Maple trees keep it decent. And I've been in that business all my life. Just got back from lunch at the China Buffet. I have been joking about the Harbor Freight store going in next door. Today they painted the handicapped parking. Wow! I think there are expecting a LOT of return customers. Bernie

I have a 30 pounder of R12 for my cars as well and a jug of 134a for the modern stuff. The specific heat per pound of 12 is about 15% higher than 134a. If you look at a 1950's refrigeration textbook you will see that almost all the chemicals and blends were available then. R12 was chosen because it had all of the best characteristics. The price has changed. The 30 pound jug that used to be 30 bucks is now 30 bucks a pound. Most charges are 2 to 3 pounds. I'll use the best choice. If I lose more than a pound a year I need a repair. I don't have AC on my '60. I did have a '62 and it had a flooded evaporator. You might want to confirm that it really is a hot gas bypass valve and not an EPR (evaporator pressure regulator). Bernie

Just got back, no appointment, $10 tax, $5 tip, and Caesar has what he is due for a year. I even stopped for coffee with the old farts at that end of town. The $50 minimum on a $10 inspection is pretty standard at a dealership. Most dealerships and some large shops pay the service manager a base pay with a bonus for sales beyond the original service request. If the manager doesn't make his quota he loses money. If a mechanic does not find added service he loses his job. The ratio is calculated monthly. Even $50 is a good investment if they find a bulb out. If one is ticketed for such a violation there can be a mandatory State surcharge of $120 to $150 upon conviction of the crime. You know how the indigenous peoples have been exploited for their wealth by intruding governments. We are the new indigenous. Bernie

I am heading up to town in 10 minutes to get my 30 year old Park ave convert NYS inspected, no appointment. I'll just get there when Joe pulls in with his '56 Studebaker President. I like the idea of a second pair of eyes looking objectively at the car once a year. This is the same shop that put a new Monroe exhaust system on my car in the Spring of '78. And my Son has developed the same kind of relationship with them. While others wait for appointments and suffer the mandatory bump for extra work we just skirt the system and get our job done. A few years ago I bought a Jaguar in for inspection, Scott, the other mechanic, looked at the car and exclaimed "How'd you get this far up the alphabet!". After years of Buicks and Cadillacs they get to know you. BTW, when my son was born I became encouraged to get inspections in a place where they checked, instead of the old "lick 'em, stick 'em" shops I used to use when we had the car lot. Bernie

We had a grease monkey who specialized in brass cars. We called him our brass grease monkey. But he only inspects cars during the summer, since he accidentally got locked out of the garage one winter day. New York is a brutal place in the winter. An inspection of a brass car would be the same safety inspection given to any pre-1994 cars. Later ones need codes read (through a dial up network link! ). It is an objective inspection allowing for the judgement of the licensed inspector.If the car has lights most mechanics look at them as a binary device. If they don't light you fail. If you tow it in leaving a trail of water and oil, showing dry rotted tires you will probably go home unhappy. I don't know of any NYS politicians or lawyers who have an inspection license. If ran into one of those and said "this is a brass car" you'd get the "what does is mean" tactical diversion. Wait till the weather gets above freezing, the brass monkey will take care of you. Oh, and NYS has replaced all the inspection stickers with bad adhesive. They stay on now. I never did figure out if that was because they were from a low bidder or if it seemed like the state took 160 days to pay for the first batch. Bernie