4.03.08

I found a 1950 Chevy Sedan on Ebay that is located in Madisonville, KY, about 60 miles away. Last night over a phone call I arranged to meet the owner's father at their shop to look over the car today. The seller said that the car was a driver and had a hell of an engine. It was on Ebay with a Buy It Now Price of $4000.00 A little more than I had to spend but if the car was right then we might be able to come up with it.

I checked Ebay before heading out and saw a notice that the seller had lowed the Buy It Now Price but there was no price listed. I emailed the owner and asked what the new price was and he would not give me a direct answer but said to go look at the car and we could talk afterwards. So I headed out into the thunder storm to drive to Madisonville.

I got to the buyer's fathers shop where his father was to meet me but no one was there. I called the father and he said that he had forgotten about me coming and that he was just south of Nashville. He said "Let me call you back in a few minutes." He called back and said that "Smooth" would be there in a few minutes and let me in the shop to look at the car.

Smooth arrived and we ran into the shop to get out of the down pour. I looked the car over and the body was primer gray and was straight except at the back were it had been customized. The door glass was missing but Smooth said it was around there somewhere and included with the car. I opened the hood and knew something wasn't right. I then started to figure out what it was. The air cleaner top was level with the cowl. It only had a 4 inch filter so then I looked at the intake. No high rise, just a standard dual plane. Then I realized the engine was mounted this high. I looked over the front end and saw that the car had a 1970s era Camaro front clip and that the engine had been mounted so high to clear the steering box and linkage. Also the angle the engine was installed was way off. The engine leaned backwards way too much. When I looked under the car the bottom part of the transmission tail housing was almost level with the back end of the pan. The rear end looked to also be out of a 1970s Camaro but there were no rear shocks installed. There was however about 6 inchs of lowering blocks stacked up to get the correct ride height. Also the pinion angle was way off. This car was done by strictly a body guy. The body looked very straight and done well but he must not know anything about correct engine, trans and rear end placement. I took some pictures and left.

I called the seller and told him about some of my issues and asked about a straight answer on the price. He said that it was at $3250.00 on Ebay right now and that the drivetrain alone was worth that and he had many interested people. Obliviously he had decided since posting on Ebay that he had a gold mine. I think he had so many interested because the body looked so straight and nice on the Ebay Pictures and there were no under the car or engine pictures. I didn't really like the sedan anyway and would prefer a Business Coupe.

Well this is how shopping for a project goes, especially if you can not afford a high up front cost car. This wasn't the first such trip to look at a car since selling the Wayfarer and will not be the last. We will keep looking. The car for us is out there somewhere.

4.04.08

I found a listing for a 1949 Business Coupe on Crag's List and talked to the seller. It is located in Normandy, TN which is about 110 miles away. I told him that I would travel there to check out the car. Heavy rain greeted me as I set off on my trip. This was the fourth day of constant rain and I wished it would go away. I thought that I had left early enough but I still got stuck in Nashville traffic. I think the traffic might have started backing up early due to the rain.

I got to the Wartrace exit and went into the small town. I ate breakfast at a local diner called the Iron Gait. I could tell that I was in a rural town and knew that I was a little out of place there. The food was very good and the people very helpful in telling me how to get to Normandy.

I found the seller's house and saw the car in the front yard. I went to the house and garage and knocked but no answer. I braved the down pour and checked out the car and took pictures of it. I got completely soaked while looking the car over. It was a rough looking car but had several things already done that I wanted. It has a Mustang II front end, power rack n pinion, small block V8, Auto Trans, a different rear end, power brakes and basically all the major parts were intact. For the money I had to spend (Very little.) and the fact that the seller said it was drivable, I figured it was a possible buy. I would of liked to have seen under the car but there was about an inch of standing water where the car was and I didn't want to lay down in it.

I sat in my car and tried to wring the water out of my clothes and went over the pictures on the digital camera when the owner drove up. We went and talked for about an hour in his garage. The reason he wanted to sell the car was to get the funds to finish buying parts for his 1960 Thunderbird that he is restoring. We talked some about price which I thought was still a little too high from what I saw. He told me that he had driven the car around for about a year and that it was still a driver. The rain had slowed and I asked if we could start the car and that I would do the work of putting a battery in it. We took a battery out of a 1980s Camaro and put it in the Coupe. It started and idled but very rough. It had a quick puff of smoke that was gone in just a couple of seconds. I noticed the grommet for the vacuum line into the brake canister was torn, so I pulled out the hose and plugged the end with my thumb. The idle smoothed out with just a slight miss. I noticed there were other cracked vacuum hose on the carb and other places. The engine seems in good internal condition, it just needs some minor outside repairs. I put the car in reverse and went back about 6 feet then went forward about 20 feet when the car started to get stuck in the mud so I stopped. I said that the price still seems to be too high for me. The seller said that he would consider my lower price. I told him that I would show the pictures to my wife and we would let him know.

This car was at least better than the one in Madisonville. The engine was at the right height and angle. But like the one in Madisonville some custom work was attempted on the rear of the body. I will show the pictures to Sharri and we will think about it.

4.06.08

Sharri and I have looked over the pictures of the 49 in Normandy. We know that buying a project that is just partial done could easily turn into trouble. We don't have a lot of money to acquire our next project which means that we need a relatively solid base to start with. We can repair most items if we have a decent frame, glass, body, V8 Engine, Transmission and Rear End. This car may satisfy these requirements if we can get the price down to at least half what it is advertised for. Otherwise we think it is just not worth it.

I called the seller and talked to him for about an hour. In the end he did agree to our price and terms. Also on our conditions that we look under the car and drive it before the deal is final. We made arrangements to get the car on the 12th.

4.07.08

I reserved an auto transport trailer from U-Haul. I also talked to a friend about using a truck to haul it with. Dustin agreed to drive his truck to go get the 49 Coupe on Saturday.