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

stickguy

man, that trans sounds way over complicated to just save a small amount of clutch work. Just go with a straight manual, and probably get much better performance!

Q, that is slow. A nice modern Chrysler crate engine swap and tranny, upgrade suspension and brakes, and you got a barge you can use!

Mr_Shiftright

uplanderguy said:

The K.T. Keller models, nicknamed after the head of the Company who wanted to be able to wear a hat in the car.

The brochure for the '50 New Yorker only mentions the Prestomatic from what I could see (a quick look).

There was an earlier version of Fluid Drive, as I first described it. I've driven them, so you got it from the horse's mouth (rather than the other end as is sometimes the case with me) However, this may have only appeared in Dodge and Plymouth and not appeared in Chrysler after 1948. Needs more research if you're up for it!

Here's a Description of both types from a good source.

berri

My dad used to describe the tranny on his 52 Dodge as a small "h" rather than a conventional big "H" (including reverse of course)

Mr_Shiftright

It's kinda fun to try and take off in 3rd gear. The car barely crawls at first. Feels like a giant rubber band winding up, like those toy airplanes some of you might have had as a kid.

gsemike

Duster 360

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/plymouth/duster/1834363.html

Is a 360 duster even a thing? I'm used to hearing about 340, 4 speed being the Duster to have. The price is a pipe dream no doubt

qbrozen

Is it just me, or does this seem extremely reasonable?

stickguy

It looks cheap to me, unless the undercarriage siding nasty surprises. Not like many around in that condition.

Interesting, the eBay listing shows it's in my town, but I googled the dealer, and their location is in Pitts grove. If it was up here, I could easily pop over to eyeball!,

gsemike

qbrozen said:

Is it just me, or does this seem extremely reasonable?

It looks like a decent driver. Might have some rust bubbling on the rockers. If it presents decent in person, I've seen worse deals for a local cruise night car

texases

Is that interior stock? It's just a bit too RED and WHITE for me...

fintail

Definitely not a stock interior, modern velour.

I like the 4 door HT styling, but I think that price is just OK rather than a bargain.

texases

4 door?

uplanderguy

That's a two-door Victoria hardtop.

They're similar, but I like the '56 so much better, in and out.

That red is probably close to correct, but as fin says, reupholstered seats.

I always remember seeing '55 and '56 Fords when they got older, and those headlight extensions (brows) would always be missing on one side! The '56's had a chrome sort-of 'banjo' piece of trim in the center of the taillights that would always come off too.

A '56 is my very favorite Ford, followed by a '61 Starliner, followed by a '58 Fairlane 500 Victoria hardtop, followed by a '61-63 Ford pickup unibody-style.

fintail

Oops, I was thinking of the 4 door.

I have to think a really nice correct one might approach 20K, not a lot more.

texases

When did Ford switch to 12V? Not that it'd make a difference, it's not one I'd be looking to buy.

texases

Looks like 12V came in '56. I'd want that.
Just read 'The Man Who Saved the V-8: The Untold Stories of Some of the Most Important Product Decisions in the History of Ford Motor Company" by Chase Morsey, about how he convinced Ford not to ditch the V8 when they brought out the '49 Ford. Lots of interesting insights into Ford, then and later.

Mr_Shiftright

gsemike said:

qbrozen said:

Is it just me, or does this seem extremely reasonable?

It looks like a decent driver. Might have some rust bubbling on the rockers. If it presents decent in person, I've seen worse deals for a local cruise night car

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, might drive okay, but it looks like a down and dirty restoration---I can see overspray everywhere, rotten door seals, rough patches under the headlights, painted over interior beading, lots of non-stock items, pitted on window trim, windshield cracked, wrong wheels, sagging rear suspension for some reason, leaking radiator pressure cap, old wiring, wrong tail lights, missing original radio, wrong gas pedal, wrong upholstery, cracked upper control arm bushings.

You can buy a nice one of these for $25K, #2 quality, so I'd price this at about $8K to 10K, from what I can see so far.
Even then, you can't get from this car to a $25K correct example for $15,000.

I'm gonna vote "tarted up old dog"---Miracle paint, Tijuana upholstery, shade tree mechanics.

qbrozen

wow. Your monitor is far better than mine to see all that. Haha.

Mr_Shiftright

I do have a good monitor, but you know, just like all of you in your professions, I have trained eyes. My rule when looking at old cars for the first time is "go right to the details" because it's the little things that tell the story. A sloppy "tape-off" paint job tells you that nobody cared to take off the trim and glass; worn suspension tells you that this was a cosmetic resto only, and mickey-mouse parts tells you that we're on a budget here.

To be fair to the seller, he does say "driver quality" but he also says "well maintained" which obviously isn't so.

hpmctorque

uplanderguy said:

That's a two-door Victoria hardtop.

They're similar, but I like the '56 so much better, in and out.

That red is probably close to correct, but as fin says, reupholstered seats.

I always remember seeing '55 and '56 Fords when they got older, and those headlight extensions (brows) would always be missing on one side! The '56's had a chrome sort-of 'banjo' piece of trim in the center of the taillights that would always come off too.

A '56 is my very favorite Ford, followed by a '61 Starliner, followed by a '58 Fairlane 500 Victoria hardtop, followed by a '61-63 Ford pickup unibody-style.

The '56 Ford is my favorite too, uplanderguy. I also like the '58 Fairlane 500, but after that all mass market full size cars got too big and space inefficient for my taste. The '61 Starliner is nicely styled, but too large and unwieldy for driving enjoyment, in my opinion.

uplanderguy

I usually think the first year of a new bodystyle is the best, as the styling was done at one time and is integrated; usually the next year was changed for the sake of change. But I don't think that at all with the '55 and '56 Fords. The '56 had a better instrument panel IMHO, and the flatter roof of the '56 looks a ton better to my eyes. And I always liked the "Thunderbird" engine emblem on the front fenders when so-equipped, and the exhaust slots in the rear bumper.

Mr_Shiftright

My only complaint with a '56 Victoria would be the automatic transmission. Styling is tops.

uplanderguy

At the time, the '57 was considered a great sales success, but I like the '56 better. That said, I still like the '57 Ford better than a '57 Chevy, and I like '58 Fords despite their excesses, I think largely because my favorite, widowed aunt drove one, LOL.

Mr_Shiftright

Never liked the build quality of late 50s Fords. I always thought GM built more quality into their cars.

uplanderguy

My friend, a Hemmings Classic Car contributor, has felt that one reason the '57 Chevy has come out so popular over the years, even though it was outsold by the '57 Ford, was that it was a more-durable car, body-wise and mechanically. He worked on both back in the day and felt that the '57 Chevy really came around as a used car, with availability, durability, and the fact that hop-up parts were all over the place out there.

sda

fintail said:

After day after day of rain during a record breaking wet month, the sun came out today, and so did the fintail. Ran just as well as always, got a "beautiful car" comment and turned a few heads. And I got to use the horn a couple times again, which always makes me smirk. A couple gratuitous shots:

Always nice to see. How many miles on fintail?

fintail

Quite a few, the car has been enjoyed and not kept in a bubble. 5 digit odometer, and I have a 13 year gap in concise records, between 1976-89. It was either driven 10K miles during that time, or 110K miles. If the latter, it has about 256K on it right now. The second owner of the car put about 15K miles per year on it for several years. The car lived in the LA area until around 1980 (my first local receipt), which helped it survive. I usually lean towards the higher mileage, as the pedals have a bit of wear - the brake pedal is worn down to the metal under the rubber.

sda said:

Always nice to see. How many miles on fintail?

fintail

An old saying I heard somewhere is "Fords don't rust like they used to".

Mr_Shiftright said:

Never liked the build quality of late 50s Fords. I always thought GM built more quality into their cars.

berri

57 Ford or 57 Plymouth - wonder which had worse tin worm??? As someone already noted, while the 57 style may have looked old maid when it first came out compared to these two, it was better built, and looking backwards, perhaps a little simpler and cleaner in design as well. Although personally, I loved the looks of those 57 Exner designs and still do.

uplanderguy

I don't have any first-hand knowledge of them, but I've read the '57 Mopar cars, although considered great-looking at the time, were not the greatest cars, build-wise.

sda

uplanderguy said:

I don't have any first-hand knowledge of them, but I've read the '57 Mopar cars, although considered great-looking at the time, were not the greatest cars, build-wise.

uplanderguy said:

I don't have any first-hand knowledge of them, but I've read the '57 Mopar cars, although considered great-looking at the time, were not the greatest cars, build-wise.

That's what dad has shared with me. He said Chrysler products had great drive trains but the cars rattled, squeaked and rusted. He was not a fan..and still isn't. Primarily a Olds, Cadillac buyer with the occasional Ford/Mercury. Fast forward, they only have one vehicle now (dad is legally blind) and it is a Honda CR-V. Times do change!

uplanderguy

I wonder what my Dad would be driving now if he were alive (he died in 1995 at age 67). Probably still a Chevy,
where I got it. He was adamant against big-ticket imported stuff, and was all about buying local. My hometown's Chevy dealer is gone now; he'd have hated that. Service calls; they'd give him a ride home and pick him up when done, and when he was still working, he worked only two short blocks from the dealer and would drop the car off and walk to work.

qbrozen

I can't put my finger on it, but I really like this car. I know it is not valuable or powerful or any of those things, but I find it terribly stylish, especially in this color:
https://cargur.us/cK4Fd

uplanderguy

I like that car too, but it's actually a '62. Maybe there is new-car paperwork showing it was bought in '61 or something, but it's absolutely a '62 model year.

That is my favorite color on those cars.

In fact, on my "want" short list (dreaming only!), would be a '62 two-door LeMans in that same color, but with the optional Buick aluminum 215 V8, which was available but I've seen a source say that only 1-2% of Tempests had that engine.

I've said this before, but a friend of mine says you'd have to be a masochist to want one of those rope-drive Tempests! But he's always thinking about working on cars, LOL.

berri

I remember when you could buy one of those a few years old for under $500! They had a bad rap on the street back in those days. Clever engineering though.

explorerx4

Classic Kennedy era Lincoln.
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/lincoln/continental/1890874.html?refer=blog

uplanderguy

Love that era Lincoln. It's been reupholstered, and I've heard they can be an electrical headache, but what a bold move after the '60 Lincoln. Talk about a car that changed a lot from one model year to the next!

It was gutsy to reduce the size of your flagship car and remove all coupe models.

In '64 the Lincoln gained length and went back to flat side glass, although the general styling remained through '65. But to me, you just can't beat the purity of those '61-63 Continentals.

ab348

Nice enough, but I can never understand why people put modern-day fuzzy cloth into vintage cars when they are going to the trouble of having new seat upholstery sewn. To me that is an instant turn-off.

uplanderguy

When I had my white Lark restored, I had NOS upholstery put in--but then it was available and reasonably-priced. I hate non-authentic stuff that's very obvious too. I'm less fussy under the hood, but then the hood's closed when I'm driving or riding, LOL.

Mr_Shiftright

Those Lincolns are extremely expensive to restore, so you'd better really love 'em before you take one on.

gsemike

ab348 said:

Nice enough, but I can never understand why people put modern-day fuzzy cloth into vintage cars when they are going to the trouble of having new seat upholstery sewn. To me that is an instant turn-off.

I'd imagine that it's tempting to save a buck

texases

I guess using cheap fabric saves some $$, but what about some good quality pleather instead? Easier to keep clean, and wouldn't it be an option in most of these? I remember having the vinyl seating area replaced in my '72 Duster for not too much $$.

gsemike

Long Island Craigs Classics 1955 to 1990

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5851341134.html Actually not a classic, but what is the train of thought on these?

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5869580960.html Does the kitsch craze extend to this?

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5861883393.html Love the color. Hard to gauge originality

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5842658691.html 356 replica

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5874206982.html Looks gorgeous in the pics

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5833029437.html Is this save-able

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5869741794.html Looks decent but I expect that seller is using hyperbole especially for an AT car

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5834098873.html Not original but probably better than new. I still don't get these things

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5852664809.html 55 Pontiac. No price

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5858687325.html I don't even remember these

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5876826149.html Is 'yard find' a thing? Looks too far gone

Mr_Shiftright

gsemike said:

Long Island Craigs Classics 1955 to 1990

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5851341134.html Actually not a classic, but what is the train of thought on these?

Reply: Most people regard it as a fun used car. Horsepower is always collectible to some extent, although the automatic transmission might dampen enthusiasm on this one. And it's not the GXP, which has a much better shot at collectibility in the future.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5869580960.html Does the kitsch craze extend to this?

Reply: Yep, as in the Pacer-Gremlin-Pinto Milieu, for whatever that's worth.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5861883393.html Love the color. Hard to gauge originality

Reply: The VIN # (conveniently absent) and Data Plate would tell you a lot about that.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5842658691.html 356 replica

Reply: Dime a dozen, and not a particularly nice one.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5874206982.html Looks gorgeous in the pics

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5833029437.html Is this save-able

Reply: Not sure what they're selling. One? Both? In any event, with a car of this size and complexity and weight of chrome, this will be a long and painful road to completion, and not cheap.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5869741794.html Looks decent but I expect that seller is using hyperbole especially for an AT car

Reply: They are gaining in value although I'm not sure why anyone would want one.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5834098873.html Not original but probably better than new. I still don't get these things

Reply: That'll sell fast.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5852664809.html 55 Pontiac. No price

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5858687325.html I don't even remember these

Reply: V-6 Ford Cologne engine, an odd duck, not very valuable. Asking price is about market correct.

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5876826149.html Is 'yard find' a thing? Looks too far gone

Reply: Parts car.

texases

My guess on 'yard car' - they were able to get it on the truck once they cut down the tree growing up through the engine compartment...

qbrozen

A bit optimistic on that G8, although not as optimistic as I thought. $14k would be fair.

uplanderguy

At a minimum, that light blue '72 Chevelle SS has been painted as the front fender "SS" emblems are missing, and no sign of the holes that would've been there. That was before GM used adhesive for emblems and moldings (they made a big deal of this in the '75 full-size brochure, but I remember seeing two-year-old ones where the moldings had fallen off, LOL).

The pic of the back seat is a correct Malibu seat, so at least someone hadn't done what I have seen before--use a strippo base Chevelle and put Malibu or SS trim on the exterior.

texases

I'd be surprised if it was 'original' or 'numbers matching' on that Chevy, at that price.

omarman

The Yard Car doesn't have the batmobile nose so it looks more 76-ish than "1977." And the formula hood looks earlier than 1976. Hope the yard looks better now because the bird has flown on that "total restoration" dream.

Mr_Shiftright

uplanderguy said:

At a minimum, that light blue '72 Chevelle SS has been painted as the front fender "SS" emblems are missing, and no sign of the holes that would've been there. That was before GM used adhesive for emblems and moldings (they made a big deal of this in the '75 full-size brochure, but I remember seeing two-year-old ones where the moldings had fallen off, LOL).

The pic of the back seat is a correct Malibu seat, so at least someone hadn't done what I have seen before--use a strippo base Chevelle and put Malibu or SS trim on the exterior.

Well if it's an SS it has the wrong motor then. Should be a 402, not a 396.

uplanderguy

They never marketed the 402 as a 402--the model was still called an SS396 through 1970 even though the engine was really a 402 by then. In '71 and '72 they didn't call it an "SS396", just an "SS", but old habits die hard, LOL.