I am going to go look tomorrow at a 1951 Chevy. Here is the link and little information on the car that is has. http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/car/387233717.html The thing that scares me the most is that it has hydrolics. Now, it is only 2 pumps so it was not made to bounce high. The saving grace about that is that those cars are considered Bombs in the Lowrider culture. They are typified by having a traditional look, inside and outside, as much as possible. It has a 350 in it and the steering wheel is not original either so it may just have a different front clip which could make this very worth it if it was done right. What kind of things should I look for? I know cracks or bends in the frame are number one. How would I know if the front clip is different or stock? I am under the impression that this guy has no idea what has been done to the car when I talked to him. Any input would be great. This is a dream car for me and my wife and I would love to work on it (350 engine means lots of parts available). Thing is, it would need to be semi-reliable as a daily driven car.
Look under the car, the chevy frame is a top hat design, if its clipped you'll see where that frame ends and the newer box frame begins. Bring a flashlight and check over the joint, see how it is held together. The stock steering column and box is one piece so you should be able to tell if it's cut or has a newer column. Check out the rear, with the V8 someone did a open driveline conversion so see what all was changed. Biggest thing is drive it and see how it feels.
Yeah, and if it's a Chicago car, be on the lookout for RUST! THe interior looks like it's in pretty bad shape, and the steering wheel is kinda ugly. No telling how "pro" the hydraulics job was. I don't know your mechanical skill level, but it's always a good idea to take someone else with you that has had some experience working on old cars, even if you do. It's a 4-door on top of that. Not that there's anything wrong with 4-doors (right Aaron?) but they do typically go for less. I don't think that I would pay 3,500 for it, unless the body is incredibly gorgeous... maybe not even then. Offer him 2 grand (got cash?) and see if you can bargain from there. I don't mean to be a buz-killer, but I often get real fired up on things and pay too much for them, so I'm just looking out.
no, 4 doors aren't worth as much as 2 doors, but that doesn't matter as much in the lowrider scene... plus it has a v8 and hydraulics. It looks like it's in decent shape, but if it has that steering wheel, then it is not the stock column... which probably means it was clipped. It also looks like it has a center console and modern buckets. You can always gut or change that crap. It looks like it has a velvet upholstered dash, too. since it "needs paint and body work" it probably needs a lot of body work. They do make quite a few patch panels for these cars. Check out the wheel wells, especially in the rear and the rockers. The fact that it doesn't run sounds like he got it in trade or there's something really wrong with it... but if all the work has been done to drop in a v8, then you could easily drop in another. Not having a choke would not keep it from starting. Where in Chicago is it?
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