I found this car http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/4086266988.html Haven't seen it in person yet, but wanted to get some thoughts from the group.
Welcome. Yeah that's a whole lot of money for that car. I'm a cheap ******* and that's about a $4, 000 car tops. Be patient and don't get excited there are lots of good deals to be had. And some of the best and most honest I have seen are in the HAMB CL***IFIEDS. I've seen much better cars for much less. Sent via Illinois Bell Telephone Company's Car Radiotelephone
Welcome, In my opinion, its over priced. disclaimer! "Free advice is, sometimes, worth the price you paid" Take your time looking around and decide on what type of ride you want, cruiser family rod, hot rod, street rod, traditional style, etc. Again IMO, its a great time to buy, I see alot of nice rods, for sale, very reasonable all over the net. John
First I will say it's not my car. I have been scrounging craigslist for a 4-door sedan from that era for a few months now, but I'm looking for one that has a new engine and upgraded features (power steering, breaks, etc.). I really appreciate everyone's advice I want to make sure I get the right vehicle for a good price. I'm obviously having trouble determining price on these vehicles, how do you guys handle it. I ***ume it starts with the model/condition then the extra's are added on?
fist, do an intro and tell us something about yourself. that way knowing a little about your skills, etc others can offer advice that applies to you. Ryan does not promote craigslist ads here. just the way that torsion bar suspension sticks out under car says it is something to p*** on.
I built one car with a volari front suspension and I'll never have another one! I'd run screaming from that one.
Sorry. Hello everyone! My name is James, I live in Cary, NC and have very little experience with automobiles. My parents always sent their cars to the dealer and so I did the same. For the past couple of years I've begun doing the maintenance myself on my Honda Civic. I've always loved the look of 40's style cars, especially 4-doors with suicide doors and that curved fastback rear. Looking at new cars it's obvious they are m*** produced and just don't have the character or soul as a cl***ic automobile. I'm hoping to obtain that look, but with modern features. The car I buy will not be a show car and there will be no attempt at keeping it original, I hope to drive it regularly. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and work on the car, but given my lack of experience I would rather find one close to completion rather than a project car. I wasn't trying to promote craigslist, I found this group on google and saw that it was an active community with a ton of excellent information. I was just hoping to tap into the huge knowledge base to steer me in the right direction, and after reading the many replies I obviously need the help. If it's allowed I would love to continue learning from this group on my hunt to find a great car.
James, do yourself a favor and read around alittle to get the gist of what this site is all about. You sound legit and you could probably learn a lot here if you took the right approach ... the stickys on the "Introductions" section is a good starting point. BTW ... I just lost my lunch when I read about jap **** in your post. ... oh, and welcome.
Yea - edit your post to say you do maintenance on your OT (Off Topic) car and spare us the make details. One thing about that '40 - Fibergl*** fenders will be pretty straight with no rust or bondo issues probably. But they will star crack. And yes - those wheels have to go after you buy it for 4 grand.
God forbid you bought that car. If so you would have it for the rest of your life. Its not a desirable body style with a suspension nobody wants.
Thanks for the nice intro fyzbo. There is a wealth on knowledge on here and to be honest this may be the best place to shop as most people are straight up. What ever you purchase , just remember one day you may want to sell it so bid low if possible .
If you buy that car for anywhere near asking price you better really love it cause you will own it for a long time or take a bath on it. I'd recomend you try and make some friends in a local car club and learn the ropes a little before buying anything. Nothing will turn you off from old cars faster than being frustrated and loosing a bunch of money. I wish you the best but I don't think this car is the best.
Tough crowd. A little blood in the water and the sharks circle and bite. I personally don't think it's a bad looking car. My problem is with the front clip job and the negative possibilities. When you weld on the front frame and suspension from another car you have to make sure you have many measurements and angles correct, not to mention good welding skills. It does look like the front wheels are properly centered in the wheel wells (which I've seen many that weren't, one of my pet peeves) I've also seen many brake components improperly matched and, as a result, leaving much to be desired in the performance category. If you bought this you would have to get a detailed list of the various different parts used because, for example, you will have to do a brake job one day and need buy the correct replacement parts. The electric fan will fail, usually on the hottest day of the year, in traffic. I've had all sorts of problems with the many types of thermostats, too, that control them and have seen fans installed without any at all; the fan would simply come on with the ignition switch. I prefer to run a belt-driven mechanical fan myself but it's not always possible in a tight engine compartment. But I have to admit the first thing that jumped at me is the lack of a front bumper and with many clip jobs there's no provisions to mount one because of the extra effort and fabrication necessary for some strong bracket mounts. A front bumper would certainly help hide the unsightly sway bar and ugly frame stubs in your face. A rear bumper would be nice, too, and it looks like the bracket notches out back have been filled in.
Wow! This place is brutal. Brand new guy who wants to get involved in the hobby asks a few questions. First he gets berated for not introducing himself ( not actually required, but still a good idea) then be gets *****ed at because his intro is too informative??? Crazy!! This might come as a news flash to some people on here, but not every one was born building hot rods. I myself have a background building several OT trucks from junkers. Trucks I still love to build. I have always wanted a pre 30's car. I finally got one and came here to learn. I have found a ton of useful info, but also a lot of jerks. I think I'll find my info elsewhere.
Some people don't appreciate honesty or constructive criticism,BTW,,calling people jerks can get you banned but obviously you don't care.,, HRP
I think the guy is pretty smart, in the modern market Honda is arguably the best car on the road. (at least right up there with Toyota)
He asked for opinion, and here's mine: For a family four-door, I like that body style (suicide rears doors, bustle-back trunk). I like the overall look of that car. Re the front clip and driveline work: Make sure it was done well. Is there a rod shop you can have look it over? Check it out carefully -- stopping, steering, driving. If everything mechanical looks good, work on the price... Around here I'd say $6 - 7K would not be out of line.
It also says that the fenders are fibergl*** and the fender seams are rough, my guess was this was a fairly rough body to start with and it had some quicky, shoddy work to put it all together. If you like 4 door 40's cars, the world is your oyster, you should be able to get something like that car for half of what they're asking.
What he said ^, remember, it's real easy to buy a car, maybe hold out and see what else is out there.
I would be concerned about hidding rot. Chances of all 4 fenders being banged up from an accident are rare. Most likely to far in rust to mess with. Good luck. I do like the body style as a whole.
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