So my landlord has this car and wants 1500 but I think I can get it for 500 after looking at it and explaining that it needs alot of work ... but today he bought another how's across the st. From me and hopefully we are going to trade work ... I'm going to fix up the house some and get the car in trade what I want to know is has any one swapped out rolling chassis on one of these.... I'm thinking of maybe an s 10 or something and dropping the body on it and make it a driver the Frame is ok... but floors are shot and same with core suport ... the only reason I would want to put the body on something else is so I can make it more affordable to maintain and the car is rough so I don't think it would be wasting a solid car and if I did it I would do it right no half ass job ... but then again I was thinking of making it a gasser and calling it bitch slap hahah just for fun ...Also it has a super red ram motor Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
It's already affordable to maintain, and the stock chassis is way better than an S10. Looks like a real solid, original car. Suggest you buy a factory manual and get it running, and keep it stock for the time being. The chassis and Red Ram motor are excellent. Get it running, and on the road, and think about mods after.
Hmm. I know where a guy has a '56 2-dr hardtop that has good floors and interior, but a weak frame (rot in the rear 1/4 of it or so) and the engine is in pieces and half in the trunk.
I'd pass on that. Its a four door and mostly rusted away. You can find a much better starting point for the same money or less. The 56 Dodge is a great body style and I've always had a soft spot for them as my first car was a 56 coronet, but that one is WAAAAY rough
is this a car that has been at high on your "want to own someday" list. if not, do not buy or buy to part out. lots of work and $$ will go into it to try to get it where you want it to be.
Some one may have the time and skills to restore this but.... If you can get it for little or nothing then I'd say part it out. The engine will net about $500 after you sit on it awhile and the trim may fetch another $500 after a thousand emails and ebay listings. How much is your time worth ? .
You guys must be from California. That car in the northeast would be restorable. I wish I had one that good for only 500.
Yeah this is far better than most old cars around here I got lucky on mine ... It's a 4 door yes but almost everything is there ... what I figured is drop it on a fame with a drive train and channel it and make it a cheap driver ... I can get it for just a little dry wall work so I think it might be worth it and now I have a wearhouse so I figured it's better than sitting out side and I got the room I know to restore it ....it would be way to costly for a car I could care less about but the idea of making it a driver on something I can get from my friends junk yard for cheap and maybe bagging it might be worth it ... that's very big in the area right now but the all I know is one day I want to build a gasser out of something random like this ... I'm just partial to 4 doors ... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Also I looking into parts for just basic repairs and they can barely even get anything even for brake parts ....that's goes for local part stores Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
A couple of thoughts... check Rock Auto Parts for some of the 50's cars, and if your local parts house can't or won't help you then find a new store. For some folks, the cost of brake parts easily justifies a disc install. Swapping to something like an a10 frame will be a nightmare. Nothing will line up, and I venture to say that you will be making or modifying everything. Take a look at the track and wheelbase to start. For the labour involved you could make a lot of repairs to the stock frame if, in fact, it is even needed. If the engine is dead then swap in a 318 and TF, it has been done many times. .
Idk if I'm getting it now he's being shady about the trade he thinks it's worth 1500 and told me he will give it to me cheap then I talk to him and he says 1100 ... I told him it's just not worth that and I would only trade labor for it and it's not worth buying unless it was 500 or less Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Remember your labor (time) you trade is not cheap, it is time you can never get back for from your life!
If you plan on replacing the frame, don't buy it. Parts are available, mostly from your local parts store if you know how to get them. Replacing the original good chassis with some cheap shit Chev pickup truck junk would be a massive amount of work and get you no place, plus cost more than fixing the original stuff. If I had that car here I would have it running in a day, unless the rod was sticking through the block.
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