I just wanted to see what you guys think of the question "Is this car to far gone to save?". All my life I hear people say" that car is to far gone", or "you can't save them all". What are your guys definition of "too far gone"? I have seen pictures of people restoring some pretty bad shape cars. I wanted to see also if anyone has pictures of cars that most people would consider "to far gone" that you saved and put back on the road, or are in the process. I understand money is probably the biggest factor, but I know it can be done. Thanks for any input on this question.
I also ponder this exact same question. I have a 53 Bel Air thats supposed to be a donor car but as I'm pulling parts off of it I can't imagine myself EVER letting it be crushed. I really want to save it and have 2 of 'em.
From my experience after fixing 2 or 3 really rough ones you might not be as excited about them. You start thinking half way through the build that maybe you should have started with a better one and maybe you could have been done and driving rather than pounding more dents and fixing more rust. Although I really do like the build and having the person that sold me the heap see it when it is done and not believe me that it is the same car.
It's a moving scale. What's too far gone today may not be in a few years. If you like it and feel comfortable with what is required to restore it go for it. It's like an escalator...if you never get on you never get to the top. Check out some of the ongoing posts here to see what can be done. Many of them would have been parts cars when I started in the 60s but the nice ones are mostly used up.
When a fellow carclub member came by my house shortly after the transporter dropped off what was remaining of a Jet, and proclaimed; "aren't you supposed to at least start with something that resembles a car"...it gave me the incentive and drive to rescue the poor piece of shit. The bottom third of the car was either completely missing and/or rotted beyond recognition. I think he was more than a bit surprised to see a nine page feature of it in TRJ when it was finished.... Sometimes we just need a wise-ass to us get fired-up enough to see the potential in something...
On this board I've posted pictures of stuff that wasn't bad and just looked ugly and was told it was shit and to scrap it, so just once on purpose I posted a pic of a car that looked like a giant took a bite out of it and had people saying save it, because it was a 2-place T-bird. Bottom line is a lot of people let their skill level, or lack thereof, dictate what they think can be saved. The same car that a guy in Arizona would part out, a guy anywhere in the rust belt would be grateful to have one that good. And I'm told guys in the south have fixed cars I would assume are junk because of where they were rusted. So there is no definitive answer to this question. Probably the best way to evaluate is to look at how common the car is and how easy it would be to just go get a better one as opposed to fixing what you already have. If it's a mega-rare car, you're not going to replace it, and even if you can't build it, there is someone who will. If it's a '53 Chevy 4-door, even now those are still pretty easy to come by. I've also noticed Chevy guys will take on bigger projects than guys into Fords and a number of the orphan makes, between my buddy and I we have at least half a dozen vehicles that if they were Chevrolets, I could sell them a dozen times over and half of them would be done cars by now, but because one is a Studebaker and another a Ford, they sit and rot with supposed car guys declaring them junk that's not even worth what it will bring over the scale.
The big factors are how rare is the car, and what the market value is. The remains of the 1929 INDY 500 WINNER were draged out of the dirt in Pennsylvania two years ago. That is worth restoring, it is what it is. Building a Bugatti GP car from an original radiator cap is another story.
I'm of the opinion that VERY VERY few cars are truly beyond saving. As I own some British cars, I go on a few UK forums, and what some of those guys will restore would put even the most ambitious northerner off. We're talking rebuilding pretty much the entire lower half of a car that, when finished, MIGHT be worth $3-5,000. Heck, my Avatar car was restored by the PO, and it was BADLY rotten, it's had new floors, trunk floor, rockers, lots of patches in the engine compartment, front frame rails, rear window channels, etc. I may sound corny, but I think that if a car has managed to survive for 50+ years it deserves another chance to live. I have one that's just as bad that I am starting on, it too will be saved.
I brought this one back from the dead when it probably shoulda rested in peace. Only reason I took it on was I always wanted a 37 Club Coupe and so hard to find, but could never find one I could afford. I "afforded" this one at the time but don't think I will ever do this again.
That's a question that involves much personal reflection. The car may have some latent value to you, however real that is to you may have no value to someone else. Market value, demand and scarcity also play a role. The personal challenge of doing what was said to be impossible The availability of the project, for example a good collision man can weld the two good halves of two totaled cars together and turn a profit if he gets them for free. Costs the same to weld a cavalier door bottom on as it does a nomad door bottom on right?
I think pretty much everything can be saved. Stuff people were stepping over 15 or 20 years ago is considered primo project material now. Lots of people threw rocks at this one.. But she just needed some love. This one would have been ditch filler years ago, but it's pretty cherry where I come from. Not done yet, but you get the idea If you think my cars are rough, you should see some of the stuff Jim Sibley drags home... See ya, -Abone.
I have to agree, the tin thatwas being scrapped years ago or being ignored is the stuff we are after now. I guess your talent and drive is what is going to be the deciding factor if a car is too far gone or not. There are some guys on here that their metal working skills are beyond the average guys and I don't think they feel anything is too far gone.
It's all going to vary from person to person. If you're comfortable with the challenge and feel that you have (or can develop along the way) the skills to save it,k then it's not too far gone. I have had a few kind souls here advise me that my Chevy was too far gone when I started. And I took their advice- as a challenge.
Prior to my time on the HAMB, I passed a cars I thought were too far gone but now realize some of you guys would have thought they were GEMS. I am still amazed at the accomplishments that I see here on this site. Keep up the good work.
I think it depends on how much you love it and where it is.I can't see scrapping anything really old because of the history. And on a visit to California and New Mexico I saw rust free old cars in junk yards and being scrapped. Back here we would never scrap a car that wasn't rusted away. Western rodders just don't know how great they have it.
Time, money, and the desire to do the work (or learn the skills) are what I see in these threads: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331191 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=559892 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428737 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=466490
My '36 broke in half when my buddy and I lifted the body off the frame. We didn't have to unbolt anything, he and I just lifted it off the frame, which stayed where it was. The front half of the frame I drug up on the trailer, as I wanted the headlights, their mounts and the front inner fenders. We tied the doors shut with bungee cords and put some 2x4's under them to lift it, but one almost fell off when the body twisted as we lifted it, the upper hinge and a chunk of the door post fell off. The back half of the frame, what little was left, stayed in the dirt, and is probably still there. The only parts that were even reasonably intact were the door tops and top sections, and I cut those off and threw them away. It was a little rough. Brian
Thanks for all the input guys. I think that is the coolest thing, to be able to take nothing and make it something. I remember when I was a kid at a car show, I saw from what I can remember was like a 58 chevy or something like that. It had a whole story about how the guy dug it out of a river bottom and restored it. He had pictures start to finish, and let me tell you it was hardly even a shell, and when it was done it looked like it could go to Barret-Jackson. That always inspired me that all old cars deserve a second chance and its all a part of our very own history that is'nt ever going to be made again. With scrap prices going up and the EPA on everone's case, we are losing more old cars then I care to know about, and it makes me sick to see video's of an old time junkyard sell out to the scrap man and they all get crushed. No car deserves to die by way of a crusher, so as all of us being dedicated car guys and faithful HAMB'Rs lets get out their and save as many cars as possible. Just as my signature says " REMEMBER, ONCE YOU CRUSH 'EM THEIR GONE FOREVER". That's what I always think when I see a old car and think "Is she to far gone".
This is my next project it looks decent bodywise in the picture buuuuut it is a Midwest 1962 truck. I will be building all new floors, cab mounts,bed floor and some new sheetmetal on the body itself. There is " some of the bed left " but whats there is so dented and dinged it will be easier to build a new bedfloor and such. There is not alot of metal left under the cab from the firewall back . Guys in Texas and Arizone wouldnt even take a second look at my pile right now buuuuut in the " rustbelt " it is about as good as it gets for a 50 year old project truck. Oh yeah I am also going to have to build a tailgate for it as I cant find one around here and the repops are chink garbage . Rick
After afew years of parts gathering on a budget. I Now have a bonded title and am restroing the chassis. Still looking for origianl floor wood that I can make new floor from. Rod
After seeing what the Up North USA and European/English/Scandanavian crowd are doing with stuff these days that we, in my day, wouldn't even have bothered to load for FREE I'd have to say that nothing is too far gone for someone who can't find anything better.
it all depends upon the person. what mountain is too high to climb? somebody out there will tell you no mountain is too high.
Nothing's too far gone..... When you get an afternoon to spend, read Skim's 61 Impala Convertible Resto http://www.impalas.net/forums/showthread.php?t=686
I once bought an o/t '69 L-78/M-22 Camaro SS for 650 bucks that had a real bad case of cancer.. It was missing the original motor and it had busted front coils on it.. I ended up stripping it of all the good parts and had it towed away.. Guess I gave up on it the day after I bought it... I'm sure someone could have restored it if they had the cabbage.. ($$$$.$$)
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