Rough road ahead . . .
- Thread starter Rick
- Start date
waco
Springfield, Oregon
That’s very cool Rick! Ever get to meet the cast?
uncle jimbo
Well-Known Member
I met the man who went around the country and procured all those cars. He pulled up in front of the shop one day with a whole auto hauler trailer full of them. OMG that was a long time ago.
Oh sure, 34 years in that business and more shows than I can remember.
Fender supply? They had crews all over the country buying every one of them cars they could find. There were two model years used with the only difference being the tail lights. They kept a running stock of around 80 cars, whenever they "flew" one they salvaged whatever parts they could and the rest was off to the crusher. There were two fairly nice cars that were the main "picture car". Most all the rest of them were junk painted orange
RBHarter
West Central AR
Now you can buy the whole car ala' Johny Cash from Year One .....
I fell for the 70 Challenger/Cuda' . I owned several B's . 73' Dart sport and a 78' Volare' ........ The Dart had the same torsion bars as the 900# heavier Volare' , outside of the worn 3 speed shift lever bushing wear I miss the Dart some .
I fell for the 70 Challenger/Cuda' . I owned several B's . 73' Dart sport and a 78' Volare' ........ The Dart had the same torsion bars as the 900# heavier Volare' , outside of the worn 3 speed shift lever bushing wear I miss the Dart some .
Ian
Notorious member
We went through the mechanicals of a 68 GTX for one of our customers, I did the dash and replaced all the wiring harnesses myself. The steering, suspension, clutch linkage, and brake systems are a joke. After going through all that, fixing switches, instument cluster, getting the dash cover and trim clips sorted, and generally getting the feel of what a total pile of garbage they are, my heart doesn't even flutter when they launch one 200' into the dirt. I also went through and completely restored the interior and air conditioning system of a 78 Firebird Trans Am, which involved pretty much replacing every wire and switch, and sending the dash to Florida to have the foam and vinyl re-cast. That car was at least as poorly designed and made as the GTX, and wvery bit the rattletrap going down the road. At least the Firebird had some good suspension under it and would handle well.
RBHarter
West Central AR
Road cars are spelled Cadillac or Chrysler .......at least in the past .
If you want to cover 1760 feet as fast as possible you have different needs than if you're a rally or SCCA guy . I just like to feel the push , get a little wheel spin on occasion and not feel every pebble and pock in the road when I decide to have a 500 mile weekend for dinner an a show .
If you want to cover 1760 feet as fast as possible you have different needs than if you're a rally or SCCA guy . I just like to feel the push , get a little wheel spin on occasion and not feel every pebble and pock in the road when I decide to have a 500 mile weekend for dinner an a show .
I'd put good money on my wife's first car,'72 4 dr small Plymouth as having more "bondo" than those Gen Lee's.
She got it from her Gma. Who took out both sides in two separate incidents. Every square inch of that car had at least a 1/2" of filler. Wife didn't know changing oil was a service item? Mobile one "intervals" ain't got squat on that ole 318. Think wife put 20k on it before changing it?
She got it from her Gma. Who took out both sides in two separate incidents. Every square inch of that car had at least a 1/2" of filler. Wife didn't know changing oil was a service item? Mobile one "intervals" ain't got squat on that ole 318. Think wife put 20k on it before changing it?
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
RB, My dating and road car in 1964 was a 1951 Cadillac Sixty Special (in that beautiful Jade green), that I paid $200 for that had less than 50,000 miles. (I was hot rodding a 1952 Plymouth coupe with a Chrysler six and DeSoto running gear.) After school on Friday I could cruise down to Lawrenceburg, IN, and park the car. My cousin from KY would deliver me a case of pints of Old Forester for $80. I'd be back at school before the football/basketball game started. By the time the sock hop started after the game, I had $200 in my Levi's. If you drove the Caddy slow, obeyed all the rules and didn't do anything stupid, you could go anywhere and the cops never looked at you. I always have fond memories of the Caddy with the P38 tail fins.
RBHarter
West Central AR
My first car was a working truck ...... followed by a Tbird powered Galaxy bodied 59' Ranchero . I basically grew up in in big ol' sleds . A 49' Hudson sedan , Dodge wagon T&C I think about a 65' , 71' 300 , 69' Newport , 78' New Yorker at home . I had a few of my own too .
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
We did, or rather re-did a resto on a 69 Charger at work. I was the project supervisor for that one. Everything Ian said about the B bodies being cheap junk is actually rather gracious, and even a bit charitable. This one had been "restored" by a previous owner who had owned it for perhaps 20 years. It sat in his garage untouched for most of that time because his wife wouldn't let him spend any money on it. She passed away, and since they had no children to leave an estate to, he threw a huge amount of money into the car but did the work himself.
Subframe connectors, a reman 440 with first generation Holley Projection FI setup, all of the toys. Electric exhaust cutout, Gear Vendors overdrive, a full boogie 727 "Race" Torqueflight, the works. The guy painted the shell himself and did all the bodywork and wiring. The downside was that he apparently was not (ahem) skilled or qualified to do these things himself, and the car simply didn't work. To make matters even worse, from what I've been told he developed cancer partway through his project, and rushed to complete it. I believe he did live long enough to drive it in a limited fashion before passing. His estate was left to a friendly neighbor who sold everything off.
Our client bought the car for a song at an auction, and brought it to us to sort out. He spent somewhere around $20,000.00 on it with bodywork, rewiring, and engine work (stay away from the early Pro-jection). We were able to make the car run and drive, start and stop, be safe, and look good doing it, but is about another ten grand from perfection. The original body work was really that bad, and the guys budget didn't allow him to consider a rotisserie job. However the car is a beast to drive, and quite a workout to drive in traffic. It wants to run like the race car it is, and nothing else. 'Tis a beast, and the guys ready to sell it and buy something more pleasurable to drive. There is a potential problem with that, he has followed similar era Chargers on Barrett-Jackson, and wants a Barrett-Jackson price for it, and the car just won't carry that kind of money. I think it's going to his son on the West Coast where money seems to be a lot cheaper & looser to be sold.
Subframe connectors, a reman 440 with first generation Holley Projection FI setup, all of the toys. Electric exhaust cutout, Gear Vendors overdrive, a full boogie 727 "Race" Torqueflight, the works. The guy painted the shell himself and did all the bodywork and wiring. The downside was that he apparently was not (ahem) skilled or qualified to do these things himself, and the car simply didn't work. To make matters even worse, from what I've been told he developed cancer partway through his project, and rushed to complete it. I believe he did live long enough to drive it in a limited fashion before passing. His estate was left to a friendly neighbor who sold everything off.
Our client bought the car for a song at an auction, and brought it to us to sort out. He spent somewhere around $20,000.00 on it with bodywork, rewiring, and engine work (stay away from the early Pro-jection). We were able to make the car run and drive, start and stop, be safe, and look good doing it, but is about another ten grand from perfection. The original body work was really that bad, and the guys budget didn't allow him to consider a rotisserie job. However the car is a beast to drive, and quite a workout to drive in traffic. It wants to run like the race car it is, and nothing else. 'Tis a beast, and the guys ready to sell it and buy something more pleasurable to drive. There is a potential problem with that, he has followed similar era Chargers on Barrett-Jackson, and wants a Barrett-Jackson price for it, and the car just won't carry that kind of money. I think it's going to his son on the West Coast where money seems to be a lot cheaper & looser to be sold.
Only fancy auto I ever worked on was bro's early 300SL roadster (street version of W196). A tank to drive, but lots of torque. Heavy steering, shifting and brakes. Think they used the Cad/LeSalle/Packard shift linkage and no syncho. Mechanical FI, semi-dedion diff and dry sump. Long and low, hard to find the curbs. He didn't keep it long but now would be worth a bunch. School friend had a Challenger (grad present) when first out with all the 'fast' options. Run that junker hard! Ran good but stuff fell off. Kinda like the Olds 442 HO of the 70s. Another had the older 442 HO version and it was a beast that held together. Another buddy had 427 in a Nova. Lots of fun stuff then, like the stude Lark with the BIG motor.
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
I still remember when all these six-figure muscle cars were broken down pieces of junk in the back rows of car lots. I passed on a 70 or 71 Challenger convertible with a 440 Six-Pack and a four speed because the top was really ratty. And a 62 Impala SS409 four-speed because it smoked a bit. The list goes on...
RBHarter
West Central AR
My Dad drove a 35 5 window with a 256 Dodge and a 3/2 speedo error . His brother had a 34 3 window with a Barris chop to 9 1/2" of windshield . Equipped with a 39AB , 3 Strombergs , Offy heads , and Kong ignition .
A friend of the family had a 36' 120 Packard . Beautiful car ! It was a bone stock convertible , in 84' it had an insurance value of 26k .
A friend of the family had a 36' 120 Packard . Beautiful car ! It was a bone stock convertible , in 84' it had an insurance value of 26k .