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Customs which car would you have saved?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by tb33anda3rd, Sep 3, 2017.

  1. i ran into a dilemma last week. i friend told me about a collections of car/trucks being sold and he had a few 1950's Buicks. i have wanted to find a nail head to use in my 1931 Buick coupe and thought this would be a way to get one and maybe, either sell ,part the rest of it out, or build a custom car with a small block.
    heres the scene: dirt floor barn, kinda dark but i had a flash light cars are down the far end. first car i come to, after weaving by an assortments of mack trucks, Autocars, ambulances, rescue trucks, and other interesting old trucks needing restoration , was a '57 roadmaster. 2dr hard top. car had a scrape on the passenger front fender, the back bumper on the driver side was pushed in enough to crack the tail light trim. the rest of the body was in amazing shape. i did not see any rust holes. open the hood and the motor is rusty, hoses are off and i could not turn the engine by hand. interior was a mess and someone had started to remove the dash board and all the little pieces were piled in the back, where the back seat bottom cushion should have been. ps, pb, automatic, with factory radio and power windows.
    second car a '54 century , did not have a ding or dent, interior could have been cleaned up and despite a few rips could be nice. no rot that i could find although the white roof had surface rust showing through. trim and chrome looked good. the "small" early motor looked complete but i could not turn it, flat tires, soft brakes etc....ps, pb, automatic........but it's a four door.
    third car, referred to as "a parts car" '58 century road master 2dr hard top. the motor looked complete but would not turn, chrome and trim [and there is a lot of it] looked good interior ok and the dash was complete, all the power options......... body was a mess, rot spots with ugly patches, broken windows but the car was complete.
    the deal: he would rather scrap them than sell them cheap and refused any price less than what he wanted. prices were higher than i wanted to pay and i know the guy who is doing the clean out....... they would be scrapped.
    which one do you save? decent 4 door '54 with the early nail head? gorgeous '57 with the bad interior and disassembled dash and engine? or the rare optioned '58 with the patched up body?
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2017
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  2. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,822

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The 57 hands down. Dad had a white 57 Roadmaster 4 door hardtop that I got to ride in when I got to go visit him when I was in 6th grade. 54 more doors aren't that good looking and a 57 with boogered up body work is going to be a real headache.

    Find a 94 Roadmaster with the LT1 in it and you still have a "Buick" engine in the 57 if you put the nailhead in the older Buick.
     
  3. that was my first, and what might seam like the obvious choice and i must have looked like a one of those crazy homeless guys walking back and forth from one car to the other, mumbling as a weighed the pluses and minuses of each car. remember i am looking for an engine and that was the one engine that looked the rustiest.
     
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  4. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,822

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I wouldn't worry too much about rust on the outside of an engine you were going to tear down anyhow. It's rust on the inside that is a problem.
     

  5. belair
    Joined: Jul 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,013

    belair
    Member

    57 without a doubt. 54 had too many doors, and 58 is ugly as a man's butt.
     
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  6. eeek:eek:,......... i think the fifty eight is cool looking...............but the man butt thing.....no.
     
  7. i wish i had taken photos when i was there, but forgot my camera.
    i think it is pretty cool looking 57248512-770-0@2X.jpg
     
  8. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    Too bad the '58 was so rusty......low production volume, not often seen...worth saving IF it's a reasonable amount of body repair.

    I have always liked '57 models very much........that is probably your best bet, if any of them are worth your money, time and effort.

    Ray
     
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  9. i googled this photo, but i do not remember the three piece rear window. maybe this isn't the same model. the car i looked at had four port holes and he told me it was a road master. black_57_1.jpg
     
  10. upspirate
    Joined: Apr 15, 2012
    Posts: 2,299

    upspirate
    Member

    If the price was higher than you wanted to pay,(your words) walk away
     
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  11. yeah, higher than i would have liked to pay. at the prices i would work hard to get the parts i wanted and recoup some of my money. in other words a cheap engine and get paid for my time to fix up or sell off the parts. i am a car guy so the profit would be, in my eyes, the saving of the car.........maybe that is weird?
     
  12. I love these cars! HRP

    [​IMG]
     
  13. fyrffytr1
    Joined: Dec 20, 2016
    Posts: 820

    fyrffytr1
    Member

  14. ahhh that's it.
     
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  15. Corn Fed
    Joined: May 16, 2002
    Posts: 3,277

    Corn Fed
    Member

    How much does he want for them? If its a sky high number, then you will be hard pressed to recoup your investment. Ive saved many a part over the years because I couldnt bear to scrap them. But after years of storing and moving them around, Ive finally scrapped some of the roughest stuff. Ya cant save them all.
     
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  16. F-ONE
    Joined: Mar 27, 2008
    Posts: 3,271

    F-ONE
    Member
    from Alabama

    You know, after seeing true loving generosity with the free car.
    I would have a hard time over paying to that S.O a B.

    It really gripes me with these bitter miserable SOBs who will scrap something if their unrealistic price is not met.

    Let the dumbass scrap them. The value of existing 50s Buicks goes up a little more.

    White that said if the price he is asking is reasonable....it may be something to consider.
     
  17. Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Joined: Apr 20, 2008
    Posts: 4,668

    Hot Rods Ta Hell
    Member

    The '57 by far, but it sounds like the guy is being a Dick, holding firm at his price or he'll scrap them.
    You could gamble that he'll sell them to a scrapper and then try to buy the lot (or just the '57) from the scrapper after he picks them up.
    All said, If you were able to get the 57 running, is the car solid enough to sell as a running project car and make enough $ to go shopping for an engine or is it not titled?
     
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  18. If it was me, I'd wait 'till the cars hit the scrapper and buy the 58 for cheap. I'd grab the engine and sell off the low production trim pieces. I'd hang onto the drawer-pull grille for a future custom.
    Actually, if I wanted a nail head, I'd settle for nothing less than a 1964, 401 or 425. 64's came with the turbo 400 trans. Unless you're planning to use a manual trans, the 400 turbo is the far superior transmission. Remember, the 50s buicks used an enclosed driveline.
    Buying a siezed engine is a crap shoot. Piston rings can rust into bores, sometimes so deep the bores have to be sleeved. Who knows why the cars were retired...maybe problems with bearings and crankshafts, broken pistons etc. I wouldn't pay more than scrap prices for any of those buicks...after all, they're really only scrap.
     
  19. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,583

    The37Kid
    Member

    Tell us more about the Autocar, they are smaller than Buicks. Bob
     
  20. the prices are reasonable , just higher than i would like to pay to make an easy "profit".

    the car ran when he bought them and put them in the barn. the car is really in solid condition. it came from out west somewhere.

    this barn that the cars where stored in was one of three he had full of cars/trucks. this one did not have a cement floor and all the stuff needing restoration where parked. he said they all ran but they have been in there for 25[?] years or so.......
    i wasn't sure how i was going to handle the "torque tube" issue. is there an adapter to put a later automatic behind one of the early motors?
    i know i could get the '54 running and moving easy enough.

    ha, the auto car was a former cement truck. the engine/nose of the truck was almost as big as the buicks.......and that hung out in front of the wheels:eek:. it now has a tow truck boom. walking around it was a chore, little bobby would have just walked under.
    the barn is so big i can pull the car trailer in one end, turn it around a pull back out the same door...........with 30+ trucks still in there.
     
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  21. xpletiv
    Joined: Jul 9, 2008
    Posts: 938

    xpletiv
    Member
    from chiburbs

    You know your phone had a camera....forgot that, too, huh?

    Sometimes you really just have to tell others the price, maybe he's willing to sell to others?

    sent from my toilet
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2017
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  22. fuzzface
    Joined: Dec 7, 2006
    Posts: 1,645

    fuzzface
    Member

    If it is the barn i'm thinking of we have pictures on here already in a different thread. Not quite sure which one but I remember a few weeks or maybe a few months back about someone buying cars out of a barn that also held Macks, Autocars and cement trucks besides cars . Nice coincidence if it is a different barn selling stuff off at the same time..
     
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  23. ha, not my phone........
     
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  24. if you can find the thread i could tell.
     
    els likes this.
  25. as far as price goes, i left a deposit the other day and said i would make my decision. the price was X for any one car, but if i bought two it would be X minus 30%, if i bought all 3 the third car was about 50% of X...........................
    so i bought all three. ce81eeb5f73e79bf9718e49ec67298fe--wishful-thinking-black-beauty.jpg
    this is not the car
    i really liked the 54 too.
    pictures of the actual cars when i pull them out of the barn this week.
     
  26. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

  27. fuzzface
    Joined: Dec 7, 2006
    Posts: 1,645

    fuzzface
    Member

    yea, I looked earlier through past threads but can't find it right now. for some reason I wanted to say it was one of them wanting to know what is it worth thread about some car sitting many years in a barn. They posted pictures and you could see the bigger trucks in some of them. the real old chain drive Macks were sold already but the others were still there and available, maybe from the 50's? they had the more rounded front look to them.. if I remember correctly wasn't their some old railroad cars too in one building? Also an old vending or bakery type truck too. Damn! wish my memory wasn't so short and the older I get, the shorter it gets.
     
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  28. no rail road cars but lots of oddball trucks.
     
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  29. [​IMG]
    For al the good they are at my age, I WOULD trade my left nut for a nice 57 Buick. Love my Chevys but these are just classy...
     
  30. so it seams i have bought a car with too many doors, a car that looks like a mans butt, and another car that i can trade for an old left nut............i am starting to rethink this decision...........
     

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