whtbaron

Man, I thought you must have missed a decimal with that Grumpy Bill Jenkins car, so I Googled it. $577,500 in 2007. Ouch. Looks like $3500 to $5000 is the norm for the rest though. http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/default.aspx?carID=10222&i=8

With $4k obo on the 2nd ad, maybe you can get him down around $3.2k.... even at $3.5 it wouldn't be a horrible deal for a runner. What's it worth today? It's worth what someone will pay for it and if the body is decent it's probably not out of line. As noted the Cosworth Vega had a lot of issues. They rusted, the motors burned oil at low mileages and like a lot of small cars of the time, just weren't exceptionally well built. If this one is running good, it was probably sleeved years ago. They were also very popular with street racers and drag racers for V-8 conversions which is another reason any good bodies are getting cut up. I would hesitate to call this car rare today because there was many built, but in a few years they very well could be if they keep getting cut up and crushed. If the upholstery work has you worried, take it to an upholstery shop before you buy it and get a quote for the work. Then ask yourself if that is what you are prepared to put into it. If you think it's an investment that's going to make you money, very few old cars actually do. If you are looking for a low cost 70's car that is very recognizable to the era, this one isn't bad. Pony cars are hotter commodities, but you won't buy a running muscle car for under $4k, not around here anyway.

I missed that discussion on the HAMB... did anyone there have any better suggestions than we do?

It is a good looking car. I can remember back in the 70's there was a publication called Rod Action that did an art pictorial on cars modified like this to make them look like a classier type of hot rod. Possibly this car was inspired by the pictures. The back bumper works ok, but I would either remove the front one or go for something older. The fenders would be good tapered, but maybe not all the way in with a very narrow running board. I can see the body in charcoal or maroon with black fenders.

And a later shot of the pig....

I believe the terms you are looking for are chopped, channeled and sectioned. Chopping refers to the roof... which this one may or may not have been depending on the original body. Channeling is done by moving the body down on the frame, sectioning refers to the mid-section that has been removed from this car's body. Pay attention, there will be a test later.

LOL...be worth more if it was. I'm wondering if it's a movie prop or someone's attempt at a homemade car. The design seems to suggest the 50's, despite the early chassis.

That does look good. We can all sit at our computers and nitpick through someone else's work, but at the end of the day we are all just amateur designers so there really is no wrong. Sure we can list the things that might make a car look better, but does that improve the car of just make it mainstream and lacking the imagination our amateur input gives it? I do agree with many of the comments about larger tires, moving the battery box and changing the exhaust, but there really is no wrong way to build it. It's still a cool old speedster built to one person's specs and budget.

Those are the cars we call "practice". You can always rip it apart again, or sell it and start over. Plenty of ugly cars have come from mainstream manufacturers so you wouldn't be alone. AMC was famous for selling butt ugly cars, and yet they still sold to someone that agreed with the look. Of course, if you spend some time on the plan, the likelihood of that happening goes down. The early speedsters are so basic it really is hard to get it wrong.

That is a beauty! I ended up with the sad remains of a 28 4 door somewhat by accident... I saw the embossed visor and thought it looked like a Plymouth or Desoto. It's another one of those "some day" projects that is sidelined until I get my heated shop completed. 42 Cady, if the 27 is like the 28/29's I believe that VIN # tag should be right on top of the right rear frame rail ahead of the bumper bracket. If you can't see it from 5 ft. away, it's likely gone.

Another variation is to just sand the paint off with a sanding block and leave exposed metal, but unless it's something like aluminum it is also exposed to rust. I did the raised letters on a large truck once by just outlining the raised portion with a pinstripe. I've also done that on truck tailgates and it looked alright. I seem to recall some Dodge pickups came that way from the factory and others just used decals without the embossed metal. I did just restore an old RAE vise built in Canada, but the raised lettering hasn't been touched yet.

Well, it is a speedster and not a restoration. If that is the case and it were me, I'd cheat and replace the sprockets with something I could get a chain for. It sounds like that might be the cheaper route, and keeping multiple ratios and chains handy wouldn't be as big of a problem. If someone was able to source useable chain from Diamond, that suggests to me that there is a mainstream size that will work. I can't see a foundry working in a bulk commodity that like taking the time to make a custom one-off.

I knew of a wrecking yard full of old cars near a small city. The owner had actually quit selling off parts and was making good money selling whole cars (or what was left of them) when he unfortunately passed. The family was going to auction off the remaining cars after his death, but the city stepped in and put a stop to the sale. They didn't want the "derelicts" all over the city. When I lived there I had to sign annual affidavits that my unlicensed cars were being worked on. Those cars were all crushed.

Nobody has listed the original chain specs yet. I'd find it hard to believe that between all the SAE and metric sizes that there isn't something out there that would work.

Just a variation on the roller theme, but if you go to the $1 store, you can find disposable ones for interior house painting really cheap. Just look for the ones with very short bristles. The secret is to use something like One-shot so you get good coverage in one or two coats. If you want to get really anal, take some med. thickness gasket material and tap it into place with a ballpeen hammer. Peal away the mangled high part and blast it with an airbrush. I've wasted more time and money on sillier ventures.

Hmmm....it is fuzzy but that truck looks like it could be 36-38ish. I think the farm implement is likely a stationary engine mounted on a trailer so the horses could move it around. It appears to be a flywheel on the side. Farms without steam engines would use them to run threshing machines and other implements prior to the takeover of the common tractor. Going back to horses wasn't uncommon in the dirty 30's, nor up here during the war years for that matter. I'll take the Overland Roadster for $450 though...

Tried a google search....something like this? http://oldroads.com/2005_0709july9bikes0001.jpg

Is that just regular #50 or #60 roller chain, or something odd that was made especially for them? As noted above, any parts supplier or bearing shop should have access to the normal sizes. Avoid the cheap Chinese chains as they don't last and often don't mix and match well with other connectors or half links. Take a sample of what you have to your local parts store and tell him you want good quality chain. Most places will stock the cheap versions as well as the top quality products. Something like ANSI comes to mind as one of the better ones. If you are in an agricultural area, any John Deere dealership would have good quality chain as well. If it's oddball, we could be looking at a totally different scenario though. Maybe one of the other ALF owners can chime in here.

If it was destined for a local garage that ordered the part, the last 2 letters might stand for "auto repair". Or if it was a signature for the wrecker, perhaps "auto recycling".

Too bad things didn't go better, I was starting to like this car! Better luck next time.

I know both of my 52's were run with tubes back in the day, but those were bias ply tires. There are tubes designed for radials as well. I have never heard of tires spinning on the old rims ( I doubt you have either the horsepower or braking power to make that happen). I think the bigger issue is going to be how the rims were welded and the shape of the sealing bead at the rim as to whether or not they will seal properly.

Cool.. I live in farm country so most of the older cars are "plain janes" without many options. I've never seen one with the built in signals.

I have both a Cranbrook and Cambridge in the yard and there isn't much difference in them, mostly minor changes in the trim. If that steering wheel is the original (I still question that selector in the column) it has the more deluxe trim with the horn ring so Cranbrook makes sense. Mechanically the cars will be identical.

Hmmm..... now that you mention it, that just might become my next screen saver if I can figure out how to flip the negative.

Good sleuthing Keiser! I would have thought that shape to be newer rather than older... live and learn.