Braggin' Rights--Your Special Car

Mr_Shiftright

I'm sure we'd all like to hear about your special
collectible car. Could you tell us how you came to
find it, what difficulties you may have had in
restoration, if any, what you like and don't so
much like about it, and what your plans are for
other cars, trades, "upgrades", shows, etc.

GTRocks

I got my '66 stang in '85. Was my first car. Sat in this guys garage for 10 years. Only had 21,600 miles on it when I got it. 289 2V coupe. Interior was awesome, paint was shot, engine/tranny were great. I was the 3rd owner. I used it as a daily driver until about '90 when I went away to college. Bought a Probe upon graduation and have been trying to get that garage built ever since. It has 75k on it now, new paint (although that's shot now, again). When I was in high school I showed it. Got 2nd in one show. It really is a great car. I have had my engine trouble and tranny too for that matter. I thought that getting it with such low miles was a great deal, but as it turned out all that rubber had just sat there and dry rotted. I have now replaced just about every piece of rubber on the car. I just had the suspension upgraded, and the interior is next. New headliner, carpet, kickpanels, upholstery (front buckets only). I am dying to swap the tranny out and make it a stick. I redid the brakes and they are great now. Well, great for '66 technology. Once all that is done, she'll get new paint and I'll be showing her again. Garage goes up this spring. I can't wait.

carnut4

I'm envious of the guy in #1 with the 66 Mustang. I remember my first car-a 55 Chevy Belair 2dr-265 V8 with stick and dual exhaust. It was a 29000 mile original in showroom condition. A rare find-even in 1964. Now get this- I paid $475 cash! I had it for 2 years, put in a 327, then sold it to buy a 1965 Plymoouth Belvedere 2dr with the hot 383 and 4 speed. Anyway, my collector car now is an original 55Pontiac Starchief 2dr hardtop-the bronze and white with matching leather interior. The original headliner and vinyl is flawless I had some of the leather redone, and painted all the interior metal-dashboard, window sills, etc. I tell you stripping and reassembling the dashboard was a job! I found the car in 1989 with 105000 original miles-has the original invoice, dealer bill of sale, and all records since new. I am the third owner. The car is a gem. It feels tight, and is a real cruiser. Has the Hydramatic, with the rare Powerepack V8-[287cid,200HP]. If I had room, I'd have 10 more collector cars. My current desire is another 55-57 Chev, and a 34 Ford Street rod. Glad to see this new conference!

GTRocks

It is really neat to take these old babies out on a nice day ain't it? All the stares...smiling ear to ear. Ah, spring...

Yeah, me too carnut4. I think I could put up 6 garages and fill them all....mustangs of course

Maybe a '55 T-bird....

Can ya tell I bleed blue?? LOL

guitarzan

I'd bleed the same thing if I had a GT-40 MK-V, street edition of course.

cnwmr

Is anyone building their own dream car, either kit or heavy custom? I'd like to hear about them and some of the trials and tribs you've gone through.
I bought a Ford Festiva in 1991 as a mail room car for our business. By 1996, it had more miles on it than Gun Smoke's Kitty. So I decided to turn it into a custom. While some personal stuff held things up, I've got it about half way to my goal as a small, v-8 powered Ranchero pickup. You can see it at WWW.CNWMR.COM under pictures ("Chickie" file).
Yes, it's wierd, but my goal is to have it completed this summer and drive it back to Detroit for the annual Dream Cruise up Woodward Ave.
Questions for anyone who has had any kind of experience with customs...
1. Best way to restart the engine after it's been sitting for a couple of years.
2. If you have any tips on building a Barris type of tube grille, such as the type of tube to use, where to get it, etc. I would appreciate it.
3. Does anyone have experience installing neon accessories who can tell me if they're prone to short out or break?
Thanks and please let me know if you have pix of your custom. I'd like to see them.

Mr_Shiftright

Here's a quicker link to that sweet little truck!
thanks for the post!

Chickie

As for starting an engine that hasn't run, I'd suggest first of all removing the plugs and squirting some cylnder top oil or ATF into each piston (a few teaspoons worth in each hole). Let it sit overnight, then see if you can possibly turn the engine by hand or with a socket wrench on the crank pulley nut. Do that for a few turns, then hook up a battery and crank it without the coil attached, so as to build up some oil pressure on cranking speed only. After that (presuming you've checked the oil level), give it a try but be sure not to rev it up too high. Let it run until the oil is warm, then drain it and add a cheap 30 weight oil...run that at fast idle for 1/2 hour, then drain that and add your good oil.

The idea here is to gently free the engine in case the rings have rusted to the walls of the cylinder bores. Just cranking it dry may break those rings...

good luck with this, and take your time.

bcathcart

DREAM car .A 53 caddy to tow my 3.8 MK2 coombs jag. Cheers from bagpipe land.

vman

I can't claim to have been around as long as some of you, but I must admit there was no greater feeling than terrorizing the road with my 1967 Olds 98. I got it in the mid 90's from the original owner for $800 w/108k original miles. That was a bad machine! 425 c.i.d. with Quadrajunk 4bbl. My brother also had a 1967 Delta 88 (about the same). My late father was an Olds man. I have fond memories as a kid riding in the rumble seat in his 1968 Vista Cruiser wagon (just like the one in "That 70's Show"). The engine on the 98 did eventually sieze on me but my brother had acquired another 98 for parts. I ended up rebuilding the spare motor and transmission. I put about $5000 into restoration and then the wife ended up in 'the family way'. I had to sell it (back to my brother) who runs it everyday. It's definitely a labor of love but it's nice to stand out with your machine. It's getting hard to find parts, however, and the specialty aftermarket stuff is expensive. It's hard to justify unless you have the funds to spare. I also had a 1971 (back in '85) Cutlass Supreme. I bought that restored for $3500. That was a sweet ride! Boy I miss that one! I'd love to be able to get another one of those to restore someday.

cobra98

Rather than turn the engine manually for oil pressure, I'd suggest removing the distributor and placing a (allen/tor-x/whatever bit) into the distributor hole and using a drill to spin the oil pump. This will get the oil pressure up and get the oil circulating without any other parts moving around (without oil).

Once you do start it, don't rev it, but also do NOT let it idle. You should hold it at a steady but 'fast idle'. At normal idle, it will take too long to get good oil pressure.

Mr_Shiftright

Where did you read about turning the engine manually to get oil pressure...not from me...that would be a tad difficult, unless you really had a pair of arms on you...(warning: do not aggravate any individual who can get 40 lbs. of oil pressure using a socket wrench)

cnwmr

Thanks to both you guys. Engined fired, ran at fast idle and oil pressure is normal. No smoke. All is well in the world. Again, thanks.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, good to hear! Congrats....

fredly

This is my special car.
47k orginal miles
Metallic Blue(original paint in good condition too)
Black vinyl top
305 Automatic
My First Car -still own it.
(not currently for sale, but like they
say anything is for sale at the right price)

Thats about it
F-

Mr_Shiftright

Well, you're not the fickle type...that car will probably run forever, they're sturdy.

fredly

Thanks,
I like it, I'd love to get it out of my garage sometime this summer and take it to our local show.
I think I just might. Its fun to drive too, although its front bench seat doesn't like to hold anyone in it when going around corners

Mr_Shiftright

Well, sometimes you might WANT someone to slide into you....

carnut4

That's what my girlfriend likes about riding in my '55 Pontiac Starchief-she can sit right next to me. I think back to the old days, when I was just starting to drive, and we used to prefer a front bench seat for makeout reasons. My '55 Chev spent many nights at the drive-in movie, with me and my girlfriend enjoying that big, bench front seat...

fredly

I agree, and the bench is definitly made for one
reason, and its not to keep you upright. It'll be a stark contrast when I slip into the buckets in my new cougar. I think Chevy should re introduce the Nova I can see it now the Nova2000, the way it was meant to be, it should have never turned into the Sh*@ Can car it is today(not sure if still in production), its as big as a chevette.

greencar

Our car is a resro 72 chev malibu 2 dr-built 4 main 350 ci-factory disc brakes-air cond.- built the trans-has the deluxe everything-w/only 31,000 miles on it.i purchased it about 5 yrs. ago. it was owned by a little unmarried lady who drove it to work-1 mile a day-she kept the oil changed every 90 days-her dad taught her how to take care of cars- no one ever sat in the back seat-all the interior was perfect except for the front seat-had a tear in the fabric-the body had the usual dings and a ugly faded gold paint job. she told me that when she retired that i was first on the list to purchase it. well-time went by-and several summers later-i got a call to come on down and pick it up. i asked her how much she wanted and with a smile on her lips-she said $50.00.she knew that i would take care of "her" car-wanted to be the first to ride in it when it was finished. well-3 yrs. later-it was done. i spent 1 1/2 yrs. working on the body- 10 coats primer-$$$ premium materials-sanding till the cows came home-I designed sanding tools for all the curved body parts-god-not a flat surface on it!!! the paint job is worth about $8,000-saved lotsa money doing the labor on it-i took about the same length rebuilding the rest of the car. many dollars later-finished.(you never really finish) what a beauty-hunter green w/a hint of silver flake to accent the curves-when i stopped by her house-she cried when she saw it-loved the car ride and esp. the dual exhaust . said she felt like a teenager!!!her mother was 84 years old and loved the ride-so-another great car adventure.
when i drove it to vegas for a car show-driving over to san diego-the car was in a dust storm-sand storm(wasted my front window)-sleet storm-snow storm-and finally-a rain storm(all in one day). only real damage was the window-i had a bra on the front-that saved the paint job. car drove like a champ--thanks for listening.....

67Birdman

Well guys my car is a red 1967 Firebird 400 convertible. I have had the engine bored 0.030 over have a competition cam, heads are ported with 3 angle, intake is Edlebrock Performer RPM with an Edlebrock 750 carb. The car is not show, but is very, very clean. I ahve also installed a shift kit in the TH350 transmission. Had my fist chance to test the engine after breakin the other day and smoked the tires all the way to 50 mph, but still had enough to blow off a modified 911. Need to investigate rear end and wider rear tires as I am trying to keep it looking dead stock on the outside.

Im my book you can't beat the muscle of the 60s-early 70s especially in convertible form...