if you know someone who owns an older muscle car....

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
if you know someone who owns an older muscle car, that has it sitting in a garage, in a car port or under a tarp in the back yard or is just not doing much with it, you may want to ask them what they want for it and DON,T GIVE UP, stop by and ask again every few months and let them know your interested , and even if you can,t afford it let them know you would like to be informed if they ever decide to sell the car.
I had a guy several blocks from where I used to live with a 1965 GTO sitting up on jack stands in his carport for over 10 years, I stopped by every 6-8 months to ask if he might consider selling the car because I could see it was just sitting and never worked on, I always go the same answer....."no I am going to restore it when I retire!"
Id gone over and looked at the car,and I made an offer, of $5K, but suggested that he name his price if he thought that was un-realistic and Id try to meet any reasonable price, ... the body was great, the engine needed rebuilding and the tires and interior were pretty much in need of replacement....
I went by one day and the car was GONE! I stopped to ask, and the wife said the husband had passed on, and she had gotten $150 from a local salvage yard for the car!
"she said it was just an eyesore and taking up parking space"
I was SICK!

now I,m not a big ford or mercury fan, but I knew where a rather nice dark green 390 4 barrel, 1968 cougar was in a guys garage, and I knew he rarely worked on the car or did much more that stack boxes on it after he put a large tarp on it.
he kept the garage door open and you could see the car every time he mowed the yard, so I stopped by and asked if he wanted to sell it, he said he was thinking about it more and more as he realized he did not really have the time or skills or cash required to do the job.
the car was in great shape, and I know he rarely drove it, the only thing he said was wrong was the battery would not stay charged!
I kept stopping by about every couple months if I saw the garage open....one day I saw a sold sign on the front lawn, the guy had moved ... his neighbor had stated he had gotten laid-off, and lost the home, the guy sold the car to a local used car dealers ship, for $1800.......again I felt like banging my head against the wall, the car was obviously worth several times that amount (and even I would have found some way to finance it) and I'm not even a mercury guy!

 
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BTW, if you ever get in a financial bind or for some reason decide to sell a car you,ve built,
don,t actually expect to get it back from some "FRIEND" at a later date!

even when I made an firm agreement with "friends," before I sold them a car,
that if the car was ever going too come up for re-sale,
I wanted first option, too match and beat the price someone else offered, too repurchase the car.
it never happened,.... and that was very important and was repeatedly stressed prior to the project cars sale.
I asked one guy why and he basically said he was ashamed to let me see how badly he had let the car condition slide.
of the other two,
one guy never contacted me, that one moved out of state with a car I sold, him,
I only found out through a title search when I wanted to buy the car back after I found he had moved out of state!
one guy just said he forgot! when I saw my old car being driven by a complete stranger.




any time you've purchased a new(too you) used muscle car,you need a good understanding of what your working with too start off.
you should start by carefully inspecting a car,s basic systems like brakes, cooling ,suspension, alignment, tires , power steering, hoses,belts, after all you'll generally have little or no idea how the cars been maintained, that's easily 45 plus years old in most cases,
its will generally save you some potential problems if you take the time and effort,and without a close inspection you can,t reasonably know what needs improvements or repairs.
if you change out the fluids,radiators can and frequently are filled with either plain water,
( which caused corrosion, or old anti-freeze that can cause particulates to form and clog the radiator interior tubes)
Id especially change the oil, and filter, and slap a big magnet on the base of the oil filter
51794.jpg

clip on a decent magnet to the base of a long oil filter helps it trap metalic trash more effectively, and while $29 may sound high its good extra insurance that potentially reduces the chances of metalic debis from getting to the bearings and valve train.
consider the cost of bearing replacement?
filtmag.png

http://www.magnet4sale.com/n42-3od-x-1id-x-1-2-neodymium-rare-earth-ring-magnet/

change the oil, and filter, and slap a big magnet on the base of the oil filter
http://www.magnet4sale.com/n42-3od-x-1id-x-1-2-neodymium-rare-earth-ring-magnet/
3ringmag.jpg

and a couple high heat tolerant magnets,
near the oil drain back cylinder head drains in the rear of each head , and its smart too change the brake fluid
(which has a nasty habit in older muscle cars of absorbing and holding moisture in suspension.)

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...himmer-in-the-oil-catch-pan.11397/#post-52207

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/magnets.120/#post-49771

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-with-fuel-in-the-lines-tank.4111/#post-72082

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/oil-filters-related-info.2080/#post-54352

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/c3-no-brake-pressure.10261/#post-41225

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/brake-fluid-info.1848/#post-16080

RELATED THREADS WORTH READING

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/my-first-fast-car-combo.678/#post-8945

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...you-regret-selling-the-most.13116/#post-68396

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-school-buddies-are-missing.13512/#post-69958

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...s-back-you-owned-years-back.12118/#post-58268

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/back-in-the-day.9768/#post-50644

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...r-do-your-research-carefully.8312/#post-42407

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...can-t-always-tell-by-looking.9950/#post-38333

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...e-you-ever-just-started-over.9154/#post-32677
 
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Was this all in Florida. If so, then maybe there is something in the water.
Or is it that with old age comes stupidity?:rolleyes:

It's no wonder telemarketers target the elderly.
 
wait till your close to 70, and look back at all the mistakes and " LEARNING EXPERIENCES"youve gone through...
and then, honestly tell me you've never done a few things, along life's path,
that you would now not do differently and I'll know your F.O.S.
we ALL learn by occasionally making mistakes!
 
Yes we all make mistakes - only some learn from them. I see most repeat them.
The comment was not directed at you personally, Grumpy, . Don't be mad.
I'm really glad you still have all of your marbles. That's why I come here. Be proud.

65 GTO - >$5K offer - let go for $150 - WTF?
 
I put that down to, the husband never telling the wife about that offer.
If he had I think my phone would have rung frequently
 
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While we're on the subject of getting older, I have a question that's been bothering me for a little while.
I'm 50 now, but my mind feels like 20. And sure, the body sometimes has trouble keeping up with my brain.
And I believe that my mind will continue to feel 20 even when I'm 70, and 80, and ???

I would like to know what the other members here think about their own aging. Or am I all alone in this?
 
I can only judge from my own experience, but I think at least in my own case I know a great deal more,
and can recall and use that info, but theres times when it takes me a few seconds longer,
than I think it used too, to recall, some of that info.
things you don,t use constantly get mentally filed and it takes your mind a few seconds to sort through those files and reclaim the data.

example (stuff youll rarely mentally access)
what was the first house address that you lived at?
what was the phone number there?
what was the name of the hotel,ship, or resort you last used, on your honeymoon?
whats your wifes shoe size?
whats the dwell setting for corvette points in as distributor?


It took me at least 3 seconds to think back and remember one of those answers, but I did remember all of them
so I figure I,m doing ok so far
 
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