This isn't really a "new" project, since I bought it back in April of this year at the swap meet. No plans going into the swap meet to buy anything, but it is a swap meet, so you never know what might happen! I was just fine with my Austin gasser, and my '63 Falcon gasser. But then I walked past this '39 Chevy and began telling my buddy how I had a '40 Chevy coupe in 1968 that I'd built into a gasser, and how I regretted having sold it back then.
As we walked around this '39 an older gentleman (older than me even!) stepped out and said, "Real beauty huh?"
Well with most of the floors rotted out, no rockers left, door bottoms rotted away, and the tail below the trunk all gone, I asked him what was keeping the body from channeling itself over the frame? The car was perfect from about 4" up, and not much left from 4" down.
After a long discussion in which I kept telling him I didn't need another project, and at 69 was too old to start another this big; he asked what I thought it was worth? I refused to say because I figured he'd let me buy it if I did. So he tells me I could have it for $2500, and I laughed. No way I'd pay that for such an extensive rust repair project. He kept lowering his price, and began showing me all the extra parts inside the car. He finally asked if I'd buy it for $1500, and I asked if he'd deliver it for that price. He agreed, and we shook hands on it. So I was committed, or should have been committed for saying yes.
So here's what came home the next day:
Once it got in front of my house I began pulling parts out, and inventorying what I had. There were a lot of spare factory parts, plus some new parts of both steel and fiberglass. I decided to put the parts back inside that I'd keep, and the rest went in the "for sale" pile.
As we walked around this '39 an older gentleman (older than me even!) stepped out and said, "Real beauty huh?"
Well with most of the floors rotted out, no rockers left, door bottoms rotted away, and the tail below the trunk all gone, I asked him what was keeping the body from channeling itself over the frame? The car was perfect from about 4" up, and not much left from 4" down.
After a long discussion in which I kept telling him I didn't need another project, and at 69 was too old to start another this big; he asked what I thought it was worth? I refused to say because I figured he'd let me buy it if I did. So he tells me I could have it for $2500, and I laughed. No way I'd pay that for such an extensive rust repair project. He kept lowering his price, and began showing me all the extra parts inside the car. He finally asked if I'd buy it for $1500, and I asked if he'd deliver it for that price. He agreed, and we shook hands on it. So I was committed, or should have been committed for saying yes.
So here's what came home the next day:
Once it got in front of my house I began pulling parts out, and inventorying what I had. There were a lot of spare factory parts, plus some new parts of both steel and fiberglass. I decided to put the parts back inside that I'd keep, and the rest went in the "for sale" pile.
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