Another detour onto the logic train, if a guy really wanted to do something during college to help offset the cost of tuition.......he'd snag that car for the best price possible with the 350/M21.......get it running real simple without big splurges.........do the 2 door conversion & a low buck paint job......... At the end of school you'd have something to knock a big chunk off the student loan, or a decent downpayment on a first house. good luck
Lots of info on the net, parts are easy to get and if you take your time you can do it. Good luck. Post pictures as you work on it.
If you really like the car for sentimental reasons than buy it. But I know of a few places where you can pick up a two door 55 for less money. Lots of people are dumping cars real cheap now. I picked up my running 56 for $2000. With replacing the front fenders, the floors, wiring kit and dropping in a new crate motor with a rebuilt******* Im still under $4,000. My first old car was a 57 buick roadmaster completely mint. I paid $7,000. It ran like a top and the two tone paint was nice and shiney, but it was a four door. Eventually I wanted a two door (got tired of people saying "nice car two bad its a four door") I sold it for $3500 and lost my a$$ on it. All im saying is if you decide to stick with this hobby you will be kicking yourself in the**** if you dont start with a 2 door.
I can't believe the number of guys advising to buy it, and convert it to a two door to make it more valuable. This kid doesn't know anything about cars! He's got good intentions, and enthusiasm, but, good intentions are what paves the road to, well, we all know where. He hasn't said if he has ANY place to work on it, whether he's got any tools, any help, anybody in the family who's into cars that could even help him get the thing running, let alone cut it up and make a 2 door out of it. Good lord...it's 4K! That, in case anybody hasn't noticed, is quite a chunk of money for a kid in college. That's still enough for a semesters worth of tution, and hey, first things first. I'm sorry, but you can buy running, driving collecter cars all day long for less than that. Do you have a job? Is this going to be a daily drive/only car? Don't remember if it's this thread or another, but it's been pointed out that if a person with no mechanical skill is going to use any old car as a daily driver, you'd better have a reliable back up vehicle, 'cause it's gonna let you down. Now it's two cars to support as opposed to one, and education, and on and on. I don't mean to rain on this guys parade, but I hope he doesn't get all jazzed up reading all this pie in the sky "advice", and end up with an expensive garage ornament. It happens all the time.
I have a 2 car garage that my parents are fine with me eating up, access to a machine shop, a beefy air compressor available to use, and a set of mechanic's tools (from the USSR, but that's as good as Craftsman to me). My father and grandfather were both car mechanics and I live in my parent's house, with my grandfather living 10 minutes away at most. EDIT: My daily driver is a 2003 Mazda Protege5. The Bel Air would be a weekend car/time sink for when studying is done, and it gets done with the minimal workload in community college.
This is exactly what i was saying on the 4 door versus 2 door thing .Take his and my advise kid and find you a tudor to build .Its a buyers market right now.You will be thanking us one day .If your cool with 4 doors great ,but when you go to sell it one day you will see how many people arent .If it was a 4 door wagon id say do it (they seem to bring decent money) ,but not a 4 door sedan ...
Well, that answers my question(s). You should STILL pass, and look a two door, a hardtop, or better yet, something the top goes down on! When my son was only 14, he bought, with his own money, a '64 Corvair convert. I helped him fix it up, he drove it for a year, and sold it for enough to buy a then new, but totalled, Chev S-10. He (with minimal help from me) put new frame under it, replaced the wrinkled front sheet metal, and I painted it. He drove it for a year, and sold it for enough to buy a '68 Mustang GT convert, EVERYTHING we needed to fix it (a totalled, but freshly built Pro Touring style car) which he still has AND put 2K in the bank for college. He's now 30, and has the the 'Stang, and a '62 Impala. So, please don't take my concern as being negative, but be VERY careful that what you buy will APPRECIATE in value. You've got a good support system, and sounds like the place and enough tools to get the job done, but a 4 dr sedan might not be the best choice. Don't let emotion alone be the deciding factor. As an aside, I've made 2 doors, and 2dr converts, and 4dr convertible sedans from 4 doors, and it's a HUGE job, even if you're a very accomplished builder. Brian
Brian this kid has been looking at this car for about half of his life since 4th grade. I dont think its about a 2 door or 4 door or money. The kid has just been dreaming about this car for along time. If he buys it and cant finish it well its a good lesson learned. I think if he gets the car and works on it thats a dream come true.
Wow, lots of responses, i'm not too convinced on this two door conversion, sounds like a can of worms. As I said before drive it as is, the car is what it was born as. With its history and condition, the gaps look friendly, floor pans ok, floor pan braces are a must to check, it looks like a go. Wheels and tires are key, opt for originals on a four door, too many people just can't get that combination right. I swear if somebody put *****head in raised white letters you would see them on a car. Hey, if you are interested I have a fresh 55 265 on the stand complete pan to carb. There is good advise on pricing, it wouldnt hurt to make a lower offer. Thanks for reading my 2 cents worth.
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