I was told of a person who passed who tried to build up a junkyard/salvage lot on his property that had an old ford truck. The person who takes care of the property just wants stuff gone, there is decades of crap built up, and it might be possible to get these for free. I like old vehicles…so the mutt and I went for a trip.
We found mostly 70’s to 80’s vehicles which I’m not that interested in. However there were 3 that looked very nice to me.
I have no idea what the condition was when they were parked, nor any history at all. They are sitting in marshlands for who knows how long. I was wearing the wrong footwear so I couldn’t really get to close to open doors and such.
I believe them to be:
1954 Ford F-100
1949 Chrysler New Yorker
7th (67-72) gen 3/4 Chevy Surburban/Panel Truck (I didn’t see if there were 2 doors on the right)
The New Yorker looks like it would be a fun cruiser and who doesn’t love the old effies?
And a 3/4 ton chevy panel truck?! Talk about a fishing rig! Throw the kids, the mutt and gear in the back and get it on!
My questions to mechanics/restorers/tinkerers:
At what point do you consider a vehicle not worthy of saving? What would be your determining factors?
I know this is a loaded question with too many variables to get a definite answer, but any input is appreciated. And please let me know if I have the years wrong. I plan on going back to get a closer look so if I should take specific pics lemme know.
I’d suspect none of them are going to be an easy fix. How are your mechanical skills? Your tool collection? nearest junkyard? Bank account balance?
The Ford looks OK. The body looks reasonably rust free. I wouldn’t trust the brakes, and the engine probably needs a lot to get it running (if it CAN run). There are tons of little things that would need to be gone through, but the 50s Fords are popular and parts are available. (If it was mostly complete, in your shoes I’d take it.) Slap a small block V8 in there and go to town!
The Suburban is missing a lot of stuff. Plus the body is rough. How bad is the interior? It’s only worth it if you love that vehicle. It’s better off as a parts car for someone else restoring a Suburban.
Don’t know enough about the Chrysler to be helpful.
Anything can be restored, IF you are willing to spend.
[ol]
[li]Do you have the time?[/li][li]Do you have the money?[/li][li]Do you have the skills?[/li][li]Do you have the patience?[/li][li]How does your wife/partner/SO feel about this?[/li][/ol]
If any of the answers is “ I don’t know”, “I’m not certain” or “No” then I would suggest taking a pass on it. It’s easy to buy something with the intent upon restoring it; it’s harder to maintain traction if/when things come up and interfere your plans.
In some cases of vehicles that are worth a shit-ton of money, people have been known to take just the parts that have VINs on them like the motor, transmission, rear end and the part under the windshield and build a complete car around them using better parts. This would be for things that are really rare like hemi 'Cuda for example.
That’s an extreme example of how far some people are willing to go.
I’d forget the suburban. The truck looks like it could be ok. The Chrysler would be my top choice, it has the most potential to me.
Of course the major factors in considering restoring or not:
Big bucks if you want to do it right.
How much do you love the car you want to restore? Easy to get bored with it if you aren’t stoked about it.
How much do you know about restoring a car? Can you actually do it? It looks quick and easy on TV, it isn’t.
If you can get the two older vehicles for almost nothing grab them. Even if you don’t think you want to restore them you should be able to sell them on eBay or elsewhere as is for a profit.
The Ford and the Chrysler may have parts you can sell. You can also try to restore one. Every guy should have a car he wants to restore. Actually restoring isn’t all that important, you just have to have the car and intend to restore it one day.
Rust is the big thing. Just eyeballing them isn’t enough, you need to crawl under the car to really ascertain how much the tin worm has been at work-- it’s not uncommon to see cars where the body panels look fine but the floor pans and frame are dangerously rusted. I’d say the Chrysler and the Ford could be worth someone’s time to fix up a bit if they’re not too bad underneath, but I’d wager that’s a big “if” if they’ve been sitting on wet ground for who knows how long.
With the 'burban, I’d mostly agree with the others that it looks a little too picked over, but on the other hand that '67-72 Chevy truck body style is getting pretty popular and it wasn’t until the '73 and on body style that GM really sold a lot of Suburbans. So that might be just at the right point of rareness and popularity that some Chevy truck enthusiast might be willing to put a little work into it.
Lots of truth here. Rust is the thing, and hard to quantify form the pictures. The Suburban is, IMHO, the coolest of those three, but it does look a little picked over. On the other hand, lots of GM truck parts are going to be a direct cross fit.
I was trying to remember where I had seen this bodystyle Suburban before. It was in MIB 3.
The New Yorker looks interesting to me, it appears from the pix to be pretty complete, hard to find stuff like the chrome trim around the rear window is all there. Interior likely has mice, radiator may have bees. If the floorpan is good I’d pick that one. Engine in those is pretty simple to work on, parts can be had if needed. If you can get it running (engine turns over freely) and don’t mind some upholstery work it would certainly be something different to drive (says somebody who has owned (and resored) two Corvairs, a Morris Minor, a 3cylinder SAAB and a 2CV)
How much does the vehicle you want cost to buy in the kind of condition you would like it? How much would it cost to have a professional put the car you are looking at in the condition you want it? A real junker is useful for parts for a car that is in much better condition, not as a restoration project.
I’m restoring a 48 Chevy so therefore have some background.
First, there are vehicles that are worth a good deal of money when restored, or even sitting in a field. Those aren’t. If you’re looking for profit, part them out on eBay or message boards dedicated to restoring those models.
99% of people restoring vintage cars are doing it for the car and know they’ll never sell the end result for much more than it will take to bankroll the next project. And some more tools if they’re lucky.
That said, it’s a helluva lot of fun and a fantastic way to unwind on afternoons and weekends. Work related crap just kind of fades away.
You don’t say where you are, but odds are that there’s a resto group somewhere close by to give advice, share war stories, and point out that you mounted the coil upside down. Warning though, groups generally fall into two groups. Great people, and pretentious pricks. If there’s only one group, I hope it’s the former. But given enough time, a single group will invariably divide into one of each.
Lastly, if you do take the dive, get yourself a good digital camera. Not just your phone. Document everything from every angle. Both for the scrapbook when you’re done and so you’ll know what that blasted blue wire was connected to.
Are you sure the Chrysler is a 1949 model? I owned a 49 Chrysler coupe; I remember the tail lights weren’t the same as the one you have the picture of.
The basic Rule of Thumb: If you love the car and are prepared to lose ALL of your money in terms of value, then you should go for it. Otherwise, look for a different car until you find one where the RoT applies.
Acquiring ANYTHING of collectible value, but especially those that require work, must be approached this way. When I first started collecting first edition books, I only spent $30 or so until I got more comfortable knowing what I was doing. I made mistakes along the way, but given the amount I was spending, it was fine - you need to think of those mistakes as the “tuition” for your education in that area.
I stopped with books after we had kids, but a few years later started upgrading the couple of guitars I had, which led to me pursuing some old guitars. Many of these either need work, or had the work done already, which made them more playable and affected their value - some increased, some decreased, based on the work required and the quality of it. If I hadn’t taken baby steps, I would’ve been screwed many times over. Instead, I was careful, chose pretty well, and have been able to flip and trade guitars to get into even better ones. It has been so fun and rewarding - but only because I knew my limitations every step of the way.