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Originally Posted by The Boss

Good colors!

Merry Christmas Scott!

Thanks, Chris. I think the Nordic Blue will really pop with a new white top and parchment interior.

Scott

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Originally Posted by Darth Menace

seem like you and I are pretty similar. I have a 69 custom s convertible, but it was cloned to a GTO. You seem to be able to do the work with your eyes closed though, and I need step by step Congrats on the ride though

Taking something apart is easy (and fun). That I can do with my eyes closed. Putting it back together is still fun, but a lot more difficult, time consuming, and eyes wide open. I don't recall exactly how long it took me to disassemble and rebuild the TH400, but it was far from an afternoon job. Engine took a while, too.

Scott

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Originally Posted by Vol

I have sold two of those two speed trannys to local racers. There is a class that runs them. Worth $100 around here for a working used tranny.

Also on that 350, I believe the water pump and timing cover are one year only. Worth keeping those for resale.

Couldn't give the transmission away.

Engine was the same way, but I did strip it of all the components before I sold it for scrap.

Thanks,

Scott

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Big Rick has been making some progress on the car; time to post more pics...

Body primed



Nose is looking good



Hood is ready for paint



Jambs

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Reassembling and getting the gaps right.





DONE!!! Just kidding. This is what it will look like, minus the hood tach...

[Greg Reid]

That's going to be a beauty. Looks real good so far.

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Originally Posted by Greg Reid

That's going to be a beauty. Looks real good so far.

Thanks, Greg. The guy who is painting it is an old friend. He painted my '66 Fairlane GT convt; it's black and razor straight. Needed a lot of work, too.

The bad news is that I added up my receipts recently and I'm into the car for $25k. Figure I'll end up with $30k invested, and the plan is to sell it. Going to be real tough to break even.

Someone please smack me in the head the next time I decide to buy an old convertible to detail, get running right, and sell for a profit after a few weeks of work...

Scott

[north]

The only cars I ever made money on had all of the following common factors;

....I bought them from a motivated seller who didn't know how to prep, present or advertise a car properly.
...I only cleaned them up with lots of scrubbing
...a bit of rattle canning to cover old overspray or crustiness
...raid my stash of junkyard and part out parts to fix a few weaknesses (broken door handle, missing emblems etc)
...never spend more than a few hundred.

Every car where I varied from that rule was a blood bath. If I liked the car and kept it who cares.

In other words... Don't fix or repair, just clean and detail.

Of course I never follow my own advice. I'm brutally upside down on all the cars listed below!

[Darth Menace]

Originally Posted by bulletpruf

Ok, here are a few pictures...

oh what id do for a black convertible roof on mine

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Originally Posted by north

The only cars I ever made money on had all of the following common factors;

....I bought them from a motivated seller who didn't know how to prep, present or advertise a car properly.
...I only cleaned them up with lots of scrubbing
...a bit of rattle canning to cover old overspray or crustiness
...raid my stash of junkyard and part out parts to fix a few weaknesses (broken door handle, missing emblems etc)
...never spend more than a few hundred.

Every car where I varied from that rule was a blood bath. If I liked the car and kept it who cares.

In other words... Don't fix or repair, just clean and detail.

Of course I never follow my own advice. I'm brutally upside down on all the cars listed below!

Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Think my best money maker was a 1972 Chevelle SS454 that I sold in 2006 or so. Bought for $7k. Dropped the gas tank, got the build sheet, cleaned it up, took some pictures. Sold it on eBay two weeks later for $15k, I think.

Also pulled a '73 Trans Am 455 out of the woods for $500. Sold for $3500 or so, also on eBay. Also in 2006. Think I washed it, but didn't even take it off the trailer. Just took pictures and documented it. Was a good parts car for someone, but that's about it.

Forgot about the 68 Firebird that I bought in Hawaii for $3500, I think. Had a 427/4 sp. Beat on it for a few months and sold it for $6500 in 2005. Blue, white guts, power windows, had some body damage, but amazingly solid for a Hawaii car. Salt air rusts most stuff out over there.

Parts cars usually put $ in my pocket, but once you pay the eBay fees, shipping, time invested, etc, juice isn't usually worth the squeeze.

I recently made the mistake of adding up what I have invested in my 70 RAIV GTO. Not a good idea...

[north]

My winners:

70 W-30 with 30k miles and original paint (but crusty underneath), got it from the original owner for 5k, spent a week cleaning and rattle caning and sold it on eBay for $12.

70 GTO judge, beautiful rust free original owner 50k miles. Had a nice reprint on virgin steel but overspray everywhere. A week of over spraying the overspray and a fresh set of tiger paw radials turned $17k Canadian into $24k us (about $32k Canadian back in 2001)

Losers:

Countless!

[The Boss]

I made money on mine...loaded & ready to go to it's new owners. It was nowhere as nice as yours will be.

[bulletpruf]

Originally Posted by The Boss

I made money on mine...loaded & ready to go to it's new owners. It was nowhere as nice as yours will be.

That was a nice car, Chris.

Big Rick has 2/3 of the car ready for paint. Should have it sprayed in the next week or two.

Then it's on to the interior. Got a reproduction dash and seat covers/foam on the way from Legendary. Figure I will ditch the idiot lights and go with reproduction gauges. Need to order carpet and door panels next. Maybe some Dynamat, too.

Engine should be pretty much done except for the exhaust; want something quiet. Might have to upgrade the fuel line/pump to keep up with the 455; we'll see.

Drivetrain is in good shape but need to swap out the 3.90 gear for the 3.55's that I have.

Can't have a crusty trunk; will get Rick to redo this as well.

Almost forgot about the top; that will take some time/labor to install.

Rear suspension should be pretty good; have aftermarket control arms, poly bushings, etc. Just need a rear sway bar and shocks.

Front suspension will probably get a rebuild w/poly bushings.

Looking at the numbers again; think I'm at about $30k now. Sure is going to be one expensive clone. Maybe I'll be too upside down in it to sell it, which would be mighty fine by me.

Will have lots of parts to sell when it's all said and done, but that won't put too much of a dent in what I've spent...

Scott

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Here's Big Rick hard at work. You can see some of the guide coat he sprayed on the car. Now he's blocking it. FYI - we don't call him Big Rick for nothing; he's 6'6" and 300+. I'm 6' 4" and 230 and he makes me feel small.

[JLHarper]

^


Big Rick is taking a Big Risk sitting down in that plastic chair at his stated size.....

PS: How's it going over there Scott...?

[bulletpruf]

Originally Posted by JLHarper

^


Big Rick is taking a Big Risk sitting down in that plastic chair at his stated size.....

PS: How's it going over there Scott...?

Yeah, I hope someone has video rolling if he decides to take a seat...

On a related note, you can't see it in the pic, but Big Rick is wearing a cast on one arm. Slipped on some black ice. Told him to wrap the cast in sandpaper and use it as a sanding block... Apparently has a nasty gash on his head, too. Air compressor belt caught on fire yesterday and he was sprinting to the compressor room with a fire extinguisher and ran into a metal door. I'm thinking the door looks worse than he does...

Things are going fairly well here. Killing me to be without my cars or tools, but I bought a beater 99 4x4 Yukon for $1,000 so I've got something to wrench on.

Working my tail off. Currently down in the southern part of the country (Daegu) for a 3 week exercise. Taxpayers are certainly getting their money's worth.

Momma and I get out and about periodically; headed to Japan in a few weeks and back to the states (Indianapolis - Mecum Auction for 70 GTO) in May. Abigail is 11 months old and hell on wheels. Maybe I can convince momma that we need to keep the GTO convt. so Abby has something to drive to high school...

[bulletpruf]

Should have some paint on it by now, but waiting on an update and pics from Big Rick.

Tried to do the math on what I have invested and I'm just shy of $32k, but hard as heck to keep track of everything. Somewhere in the mix, I bought a 68 GTO parts car, bought and sold a few hideaway setups before I decided to go with fixed headlights, and I have two 10x30 units filled with cars (71 Javelin, 66 Fairlane) and parts. I also have a bunch of spare parts at Rick's.

Scott

[The Boss]

Your daughter is a better story than the car.......and priceless!

[bulletpruf]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Your daughter is a better story than the car.......and priceless!

Agree 100%!

Scott

[JLHarper]

Nice looking family Scott....your daughters a doll.

I bet she gets a lot of attention from the SKs....arnt they especially crazy over little Caucasian kids?

Thanks for sharing..!