Rusty_OToole

Might be worth getting as a parts car, if you really want a 2 door Nash bad enough to seek out a good one, or at least one with a rust free body. And if you have space to store it. After a lifetime of the old car hobby I am bored with 57 Chevs, Road Runners etc and the odd and unusual intrigue me. I can totally see why someone would want a car like this even though most people never heard of it.

Here is Jay Leno's take on the 1950 Nash Ambassador

Nash was the first unibody car in the US with the Nash 600 in 1940. By 1949 all their cars featured unibody construction.

Engine is a 235 cu in 115HP OHV six with seven main bearings. An excellent engine for its time, one finished in the money in the famed LeMans 24 hour race, under the hood of a Nash Healey.

If you can find a similar year Nash that needs work this one may furnish some good parts, I don't know. the 2 door Brougham body style is rare, maybe 10% or 20% of production, the rest were 4 door sedans. There was a similar rusty 2 door for sale near me about 10 years ago. I briefly considered buying it, shelling out the body and putting it on a newer platform but gave up the idea.

You don't need to worry about the frame - there isn't one. Nash was one of the first cars to go with unit construction, maybe the first. Have a mechanic or body man look it over, under the hood, in the trunk and under the car. I hate to say it but it looks like you were given a parts car. Incidentally the Ambassador was top of the line with seven main bearing OHV six cylinder engine. Hydramatic is the icing on the cake, a rare and expensive option back then.

There was a green 1968 Volvo 144 sedan that came back 3 or 4 times. I don't remember the circumstances but I kept selling it and getting it back. Then there was a 1984 Renault LeCar that I bought when it was 4 years old, and bought back 3 or 4 years later. Those are the only ones I recall.

It's very hard to improve the value of a car without spending more than you can get out of it. Best plan, if it is clean and in good repair you should get a decent price. You mention door panels, if the interior is in good shape except for a ripped door panel it will pay to fix just the bad part. I don't know about the legal requirements in your area. But here, a car must pass a safety inspection before it can be registered for the road. Having this inspection certificate can add a lot to the desirability, and price while it does not cost much if the vehicle does not need any repairs. Therefore, if the car is good it pays to get the safety inspection. Don't try to squeeze every penny out of it or you could be waiting forever for a sucker to buy it. Don't put too much into it, price it on the low side and it will sell. It is a big mistake to spend a lot of money then think "I have to get my money back" maybe you do but the buyer doesn't have to give it to you. As for the price look around the ads in your area and see what similar units are going for.

Young people today don't care about cars. Many don't even bother to get a driver's license. Cars just don't mean anything to them. Then there is the employment situation, many can barely afford food and rent and owning a home is an impossible dream. This means the demand for collector cars in future will be limited in many areas.

Someone spotted this one in Cuba

I bought a tube of speedo cable lube at the auto parts store for 79 cents in 1968. Still half full, you don't use a lot of it. The usual method of lubing a speedo cable is to disconnect at the transmission, pull out the inner, wipe it off and smear on some lube. Do not lube the top 6" to 12" of the cable you do not want the lube to work its way into the speedo. Slide the inner back into place and reconnect. Recommend you do this every 20 to 50 years. The cable should hang in easy curves. You do not want it to be bent or kinked. The inner must be able to spin freely.

I would use light synthetic motor oil.

Gas here in Ontario now $1.80 a liter (quart). Six cylinder, and even 4 cylinder cars looking more attractive.

Look around for an upholstery supply shop. There should be one in your area. They have the cotton padding and other supplies upholsterers use. Fabric shops have the cloth, it is not special, about like what shirts are made from. On second thoughts, I would use something like the Tyvek used on houses, to cover the wooden slats then put the cotton over that.

Here is a video on replacing this type of top.You will see it is slightly different from what I described, for instance, using modern synthetic padding in place of cotton. Also, I would use butyl rubber sealer rather than silicone. But it will give you the idea.

Most likely the top was originally covered with an inch or so of cotton padding with muslin tacked on over the padding. Then the upholsterer adjusted the padding with long needles, pushing the cotton around until he had a smooth even rounded surface. Then the waterproof vinyl type material went over that . They did not have vinyl back then but a fabric that resembled it, I forget the name. Was it oilcloth? I think I would go with cloth, cotton padding, more cloth, then vinyl.

Have seen ads for buggies from the 1890s that had red rubber tires. Have seen all white tires off twenties or teens car, and heard of "blue streak" and "red streak" tires. It does not surprise me that different colored tires were tried, since there were probably a hundred tire manufacturers.

Can you still buy tire paint in black and white? If so, you could mix any shade of gray you like. This would work as well as any tire paint which would mean it would have to be redone periodically. On the other hand it might protect the tires from light and air and make them last longer without cracking.

More on the Fargo engine. Fargo trucks were made in Canada for sale in Canada and certain export markets. Canadian made engines are a bit unusual. Chrysler Canada got its engine foundry in 1938 but it only made 1 engine, the large flathead six from DeSoto and Chrysler. To get engines suitable for Plymouth and Dodge they reduced the bore from 3 7/16 to 3 3/8, then adjusted the stroke to get the same displacement as their US counterparts. This means, for example, that US Plymouth and Dodge head gaskets etc. won't fit but DeSoto and Chrysler will. OP does not state if he is in the US or Canada. Probably in Canada in which case, this will not be a problem ordering parts.

Could it be an FL2-33? That would make it a 1946 or 47 model 133" wheelbase 1 ton truck. Made in Canada by Chrysler Corporation, it has a special engine using the larger DeSoto-Chrysler flathead six engine block with reduced bore and stroke. 3 3/8 bore, 3 3/4 stroke for 218 cu in. See if you can find the engine number. It is stamped on a raised pad near the front of the block, on the left side, high up next to the head. Look behind the generator.

I don't know about the "Nova" in Spanish but I have seen "Ascot" chairs in a furniture store.

Would be interested to know what you mean by 3 singles work so much better. Do you mean with a progressive linkage? Which carburetors would you recommend for a mildly hopped up 261 ( mild cam, dual exhaust)?

Smokey Yunick said the slant six Valiant responded to a few simple hop up tricks, more than any other motor he ever saw. He was referring to the Hyperpak kit that took the 170 cu in engine from 101 to 148HP. Nearly a 50% increase from a 4 barrel carb, intake, dual exhaust, cam and kit, and heavy duty clutch. If you have a spare slant six and a light car to put it in (like a Valiant, Dart or early Barracuda) you could have a lot of fun with the parts you already have plus a reground cam and one more forgotten speed secret, a shaved flywheel for whippier acceleration

Ha ha ha 15 years ago if anyone wanted a 911 it was the early chrome bumper jobs, or the later high powered ones. The early seventies, 130HP models were a drug on the market. I bought mine for $2750. Yes it is slow, early smog era Porsches are the slowest but still fun to drive on a nice sunny day. I cut my teeth on Corvairs and VW beetles, a rear engine Porsche doesn't scare me, unless it is one of the hot ones like a 930.

Here in Canada six cylinder cars were far more common when new. We even got sixes not available in the US, like full size Pontiacs Dodges and Mercuries. A lot of them survive. They make easy to own collector cars. They don't break the bank to buy, and upkeep is very reasonable as is gas mileage. Compared to the newest performance cars, even the muscle cars of the sixties and seventies are slow. So why not take it easy with a six cylinder car you can drive to your heart's content? 3 out of 4 of my collector cars are sixes. 1942 Chevrolet, 1966 Dodge Coronet, 1974 Porsche 911, and the one V8, a 1980 Cadillac Eldorado.