Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

explorerx4

I think they were both 'Y' series engines.

fintail

I guess my mind sees 352 and thinks "350 small block".

The 60 Ford my dad had back in the 90s was a 352 car (I think), seemed like a decent unit. My 66 390 was a pain - neverending carb problems.

qbrozen

Huh. Ya know, while obviously a "refresh" rather than a "restore," for $10k, I like that alot, too. Shifty would know better, but $10k seems like a real fair price to me, as long as the undercarriage all checks out.

lemmer

My wife was looking for a roomy convertible but there is pretty much no chance she'd let me buy it.

qbrozen

funny. I was thinking the same thing about my wife.

Even more of a problem for me is that I don't think it would fit in my garage. At least not the way I currently have it configured. I have too many tools to accomodate anything too big. The saab fits with only about 2 feet to spare.

lemmer

Yeah, I can park the Miata with my Lexus behind it with room to spare. It worked well with my Lexus behind the 944 too. But I don't think that one is going to fit.

texases

I can't even tell how many cars are in this barn find auction - and look at that bidding with only those pics and about ZERO description!!

fintail

Weird, is it for all 3 cars? I'd hope so. What a description - and the other auctions by the seller are little better. I pick the Daytona.

qbrozen

pretty sure this guy doesn't know what "hermetically" means.

texases

I think that's a typo - they meant "hermitically", as in no hermits got in :P

Here's another discussion about it, including a guy who supposedly saw and bid on them previously.

xwesx

The Galaxie looks nice, save for the right rear which seems like it sags an inch or two compared to the rest of the car. At least to my eye, it gives the car a bit of a "twisted" appearance.

qbrozen

I think that's just the way he parked it in some of the shots. If you look at pics 8 & 9 when viewing in a scrolling list, you'll see 2 sideshots where he actually turned the car around and took them in the same location. Comparing those 2, the rear looks to sit the same on both sides.

Mr_Shiftright

Well hard to say what's going on here, but I would think if there is any "smart money" behind those bids, that the $275K is just about pushing the limits here. All these cars will need engine work and god knows what else, and if they were all cleaned up, serviced and running (not restored but nice) there might be $650K here, so the bidders are runnin' out of room here. The Bora isn't worth that much.

Mr_Shiftright

65 Galaxie --- looks like a somewhat tarted-up quickie resto for re-sale but nonetheless price seems about right for a #3 car. This presumes that it's not a gawd-awful mess underneath. There's a lot wrong about the car but for a driver the price seems in the ballpark.

lemko

I see two things wrong with it, aside from the aftermarket wheels, just looking at the first pic: the headlamp bezels shouldn't be blacked-out for one and the top looks like it sticks up too high. I liked how the '65 Galaxies had optional glass covers over the headlamp bezels that year.

fintail

That was almost kind of a Euro look, one our overpaid idiots at the DOT and related agencies would tell us were somehow unfit for American use.

Mr_Shiftright

That fuzzy dashboard cover doesn't inspire confidence in what is underneath either, and there's no shot of underneath. I would imagine when you see the car in person all kinds of little scrapes, bumps, chips, smears, scuffs, pits drips and stains will appear.

isellhondas

How people can place an Ebay ad like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1951-Chevy-Deluxe-Sedan-absolutly-amazing-restore- d-mint-/230606753406?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item35b13bce7e

In reading the description it was like he was talking about a different car.

The "desirable" paint combo is a non stock color and a crappy job.

The "rare" three speed transmission is actually an undesirable two speed Powerglide.

The "pristine" original interior looks like it was done in Tijuana.

The engine appears to be out of a 1954.

The master cylinder that is firewall mounted is totally incorrect.

Many more errors yet this guy has 100% feedback.

I don't have a problem with the car. It is what it is but it sure doesn't match the description!

fintail

Ah I know that seller, usually has some nice malaisey boats.

But the reality vs description of that Chevy annoys me too for the same reasons. It does look really clean, but maybe not correct. Paint and interior don't look right, an "amazing restoration" with incorrect tires, and did he put tire dressing on the treads of the spare?

isellhondas

Exactly!

I didn't want to blast him publicly but I would have loved to send him a private email letting him know he had totally misrepresented that Chevy.

I mean nearly EVERYTHING on that car was totally incorrect!

Hey, starting in May, the Gaslamp Bar and Grill in Issaquah (my hangout) will be doing an old car event on Friday nights!

omarman

"I don't have a problem with the car. It is what it is but it sure doesn't match the description!"

The seller has another listing for a very similar car with the same description. Maybe just a listing error.
I learned to drive on a 1950 Chevy and I can't say that it makes me feel nostalgic...but it's all pretty familiar. :P

lemko

...looks like it would be a nice daily driver if the seller doesn't want too much money. The tires look more appropriate for a late 1960s-70s car. The interior is completely wrong. Shouldn't the interior be all-cloth for one? I spotted the master cylinder. Not only is it in the wrong place but looks like a totally inappropriate aftermarket unit. That STUPID chrome air cleaner really detracts from the engine. It doesn't even look like a period performance upgrade but something an uninformed person would place on the car because it "looks cool." This car should have an old-fashioned oil-bath air cleaner. There's an alternator in place of a proper generator. Shouldn't there also be a cannister oil filter? The radiator cap and battery are also all wrong. To be brutally honest, this car looks like some 16 year-old kids restored it in their vo-tech auto shop class.

lemko

Wrong tires again on the coupe. Driver's inside door panel is very poorly done.Looks like they put vinyl over the warped and waterstained original. It has a super-stupid speaker box in the back. At least this one has the proper air cleaner, but the chrome breather cap is all wrong. Wait...is that TWO 6-volt batteries I see? I'd have to spend a lot of money un-doing what has been done here so I could embark on a proper resto. I'd NEVER get my money back, so I would really, really have to love '51 Chevies.

isellhondas

What is with this guy and '51 Chevies?

This one has a '54 engine too! What is with that? Also two six volt batteries mounted across from each other in series with the cables going over the engine??

Someone did call him on his engine this time.

Almost the same descriptions on both cars. This one is more accurate but still way off!

Mr_Shiftright

Is that '51 what they call a Skyline Sport coupe?

In any event, that's a strong bid for a high #3 car with some problems. I would think $9K was all the money here. Aside from the aforementioned warped door panels and silly speaker box (both easily corrected), I do see pits in the chrome and scratches and wear and tear on the instrument bezels, etc. Nothing serious but this is not a "total" restoration. Also lots of goop in the trunk linings, so that needs a look-see.

I agree, anyone who buys at the bid price is not going to see their money back anytime soon----unless they can run it back through eBay and get lucky.

It's not a bad car, though. Nice driver I would think.

isellhondas

This one also has the "rare" three speed transmission.

He's right about the transmission this time but since the vast majority of 51 Chevys were sticks I don't know how it can be "rare".

And that chopped off sport coupe was never a very popular model. I used to wonder why they ever even bothered making them. They made a FEW fastbacks too for some reason I don't understand.

fintail

I think both of those cars are good backyard restorations by someone who doesn't have period literature. Maybe even from the same owner - quite a coincidence one seller has such similar cars.

There was a MB club meeting at Triple X in Issaquah last Saturday - I was there in the modern car. Weather was pretty lousy.

isellhondas

Really? I didn't know or I would have been there. They always have cars there on Sat. nights in the summer and on most Sundays.

Both of those Chevys are nice cars but far from original and totally misrepresented. Like you say back yard "restorations" Mickey Mouse style.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm not sure a '51 Chevy coupe really needs anything more than that--a nice, backyard, or as we say "sympathetic" restoration.

This isn't a Duesenberg after all. This was a utilitarian car for the working man. Do we really have to authentically restore 1950s garden hoes or wheelbarrows? Of course not. I think some self-discipline is in order here, and common sense.

If it were a '53 Buick Skylark, sure, have at it.

isellhondas

Oh, I agree. I just don't think the description fit the cars. Not even close and it annoyed me that the seller thought anyone could be so dumb.

texases

Three questions on that first Chevy-
Is that an a/c condensor on it, or something else?

And did you see the 'special' mounting for the alternator? Threaded rod?

Finally, the rubber hose and hose clamps for the brakes? Really?

omarman

Found a slightly fuzzy pic of a Styleline Deluxe sport coupe which looks like a sympathetic resto -- replete with the fuzzy dice treatment.

isellhondas

I had missed those! I have no idea what the "condensor" thing is?

that master cylinder looks like it came off some British car and it's mounted where the voltage regulator belongs. And, yes, rubber hoses??

The alternator mount made me laugh! It looks like Mickey Mouse himself did that "pristine" restoration!

isellhondas

I'll bet that condensor is a transmission cooler for that "rare" three speed transmission.

The early Powerglides used an external transmission cooler that attached to the lower radiator hose. These would rust out and leak. I remember by the mid seventies, these were getting very hard to find. I had my beautiful 54 Bel Air at the time and I had a tough time finding a NOS one back then.

Most shops would jury rig an aftermarket cooler in front of the radiator.

Unless these are being reproduced I would guess they would be impossible to find now.

Mr_Shiftright

I've been trying to trace the origin of fuzzy dice, which remains fuzzy, but I can't find any reference to them prior to the mid-50s----apparently girls knitted them originally for their boyfriends to hang from the rear view mirror. Someone has speculated that given the innocence of "going steady" in the 1950s, this is where the expression "no dice" came from, but I don't think so, funny as it is.

It rather bugs me when car people get their time periods all screwed up. Boater (straw) hats in the 1940s and flapper dresses in the 1930s. I suspect in the future, that car collectors will be showing their 1990s Chrysler minivans, dressed like hippies at Woodstock.

isellhondas

Here is one on Ebay that looks unusable since it's all rusted out!

http://compare.ebay.com/like/220623801055?var=binlv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&- - - var=sbar&rvr_id=223835591828&crlp=1_263602_324952&UA=WVI8&GUID=269695b412f0a0aa1- - - 6e553a5ffce551b&itemid=220623801055&ff4=263602_324952

Maybe the 1950-1952's were different?

You can "Buy it Now" for only 34.95!

It won't work but you can certainly buy it!

texases

"car collectors will be showing their 1990s Chrysler minivans, dressed like hippies at Woodstock"

Already there!

isellhondas

Nope, that's a Volkswagen! Says so, right on the grill!
:P

omarman

Combat pilots carried lucky dice during WWII and a lot of returning GI habits influenced many postwar fads. Maybe the lucky dice became "fuzzy dice" to counter the sun exposure from hanging behind the non-tinted glass windshield of a typical postwar car? It's an interesting question to ponder...if I had to pick one though I'd probably choose the old "shrunken head" that some guys would hang from the mirror! Reminds me of all the old "Rat Fink" art! Funny stuff. :shades:

isellhondas

I don't think I could concentrate on driving with those dice flopping around in front of my face.

Anyone remember " Mirror Warmers"? They were a fuzzy elastic piece that fir around the rear view mirror.

Those and those tear dropped plastic dash knobs were the rage in the early 60's.

corvette

I always said the Routan should have been called the VW Voyager. Especially since there's no longer a Plymouth/Chrysler Voyager.

fintail

Yeah, there's something there every weekend. The big MB club show is in August, at a golf course in Mountlake Terrace.

It's cool to see things other than tri-Chevies and Camaros etc. Not much vintage iron at the little MB meet in Issaquah though, too wet.

fintail

It doesn't have to be nut and bolt perfection, but things like colors, tires, and upholstery aren't too much to ask for.

Oh yeah, speaking of that, the other day I saw an immaculate ~73 Continental, white on red, with wide whitewalls. Irksome.

Mr_Shiftright

ah I don't think those things matter on ordinary early 50s cars like that, or "stripper" 60s sedans, or even on a '73 Continental. I mean, paint them any color you want---does anyone *really* care? I don't think so. Of course I don't advocate *mutilating* them, but if you like pink, paint it pink. These cars will probably be regarded the way we regard many 1920s sedans now. We like 'em, but we don't bow down to them.

lemko

You think that's crazy, there's a guy in my neighborhood with a silver 1993 Cadillac Sedan DeVille with wide whitewalls that go all the way from the rim to the tread. I don't know where he got tires like that to fit a '93 Cadillac.

fintail

I'm just finicky I guess...I like some semblance of originality, even if the car is less than exciting. It's the same when I see 70s restorations of 20s-30s cars in color combinations like brown and cream, yellow and cream, etc...not right.

And tires, anything made after the very early 60s doesn't need wide whites.

fintail

I can believe it. I think some of the PT Cruiser nuts had something similar.

I remember the 68 Fairlane my dad had, bought it from an old man...it had like 2.5" whitewalls, which looked kind of odd. But the car was already white on white, so it blended in.

isellhondas

The one inch "narrow" whites came out in 1962.

NOTHING will ruin the looks of a car with wide whites that don't belong on them. Oh, wait....fender skirts and continental kits are even worse.

andre1969

Oh yeah, speaking of that, the other day I saw an immaculate ~73 Continental, white on red, with wide whitewalls. Irksome.

That's period-correct if you're an over-aged pimp, isn't it?

fintail

I think some Euros used them even later - I know MB used them into calendar year 1964, but had the narrow stripe tires by 65. As my car is in the older group, its next set will be wide whites - not the wheel-to-ground classic American style, but the period correct ones for the car.

Never could stand either fender skirts or continental kits.