Southfork
12-20-2003, 08:43 PM
It happens sometimes when you are least expecting it --- the thrill of finding a rare piece of iron, I mean. I was test-driving this 66 Buick Riviera on a winding stretch of blacktop in the Junipers and lava outcroppings near Yellowstone National Park today when I stumbled across a bitchin piece of vintage iron!!!.
I had about decided to fork over the $1000 that the guy would take for the Riv, but wasn't quite sure because the Buick tranny wasn't consistently shifting into 3rd at the proper RPMs in making that final shift. Anyway, I was stopping and starting on the blacktop after each RPM run-up to verify the number and timing of the shifts, when this big logging truck comes out of nowhere right at me, so I quickly backed the Riv up off the blacktop into the trees and up this narrow dirt side road to get out of the way. Turns out I had backed right into an old logging camp that i didn't even know was there.
Parked there at the edge of the trees at the back of the logging camp was this 1939 Chevy Cabover in choice condition (it still had 1948 Idaho plates on it, but had no serious rust or dents, and appeared complete --- even the Guide 682 C headlights on it were nice).
It took me all afternoon to learn the identify of the owner of the logging camp and track him down, but find him I did! He wanted half what I would have paid for the '66 Riv, so I quickly made the deal. In exchange for my $500 I get the truck and title, and even delivery of the 39 Cab-over to my home, which is more than an hour's drive away! Maybe the Riviera won't still be waiting when I get bucks-up again, but I'm pretty stoked right now about my '39 Chevy Cabover purchase! I'll post some pics of it when the guy delivers it to my shop in a couple of days.
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BTW, any of you Buick gurus got any ideas of why the 425 inch Nailhead has to rap up to high RPMs before the ST-400 shifts from 2nd to 3rd? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Riv hasn't been diven except around in the guy's yard for the last 10 years???
I had about decided to fork over the $1000 that the guy would take for the Riv, but wasn't quite sure because the Buick tranny wasn't consistently shifting into 3rd at the proper RPMs in making that final shift. Anyway, I was stopping and starting on the blacktop after each RPM run-up to verify the number and timing of the shifts, when this big logging truck comes out of nowhere right at me, so I quickly backed the Riv up off the blacktop into the trees and up this narrow dirt side road to get out of the way. Turns out I had backed right into an old logging camp that i didn't even know was there.
Parked there at the edge of the trees at the back of the logging camp was this 1939 Chevy Cabover in choice condition (it still had 1948 Idaho plates on it, but had no serious rust or dents, and appeared complete --- even the Guide 682 C headlights on it were nice).
It took me all afternoon to learn the identify of the owner of the logging camp and track him down, but find him I did! He wanted half what I would have paid for the '66 Riv, so I quickly made the deal. In exchange for my $500 I get the truck and title, and even delivery of the 39 Cab-over to my home, which is more than an hour's drive away! Maybe the Riviera won't still be waiting when I get bucks-up again, but I'm pretty stoked right now about my '39 Chevy Cabover purchase! I'll post some pics of it when the guy delivers it to my shop in a couple of days.
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BTW, any of you Buick gurus got any ideas of why the 425 inch Nailhead has to rap up to high RPMs before the ST-400 shifts from 2nd to 3rd? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Riv hasn't been diven except around in the guy's yard for the last 10 years???