How do such cool cars end up like this?

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On 2004-02-25 12:25, AlanCasida wrote:
It looks like a real one to me. They came with a painted open element air cleaner, but that one is so nasty it's hard to tell. It also has the disc brake master cylinder and it just says galaxie 500 on the side and not 500xl yet it has the bucket seat interior. It also has the unique to 7 Litre wood type steering wheel. You can also see the remnants of the body line pinstriping that was unique to 7Litres. I don't know if they are worth enough to justify bringing it back, unless you just want one. If it's from up north the frame is probably rusted out too.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AlanCasida on 2/26/04 12:27am ]</font>
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I agree with Alan....it's seems to be a real 7 Litre car......It's going to take some pretty good $$$$$$$$$$ to bring her back though.......prolly not a good investment to do so......if it was a 427 car than it would be different I think?

Do you agree Alan?
[addsig]

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... for a good price but I wasn't too nice to them either! Hauling trees and couches on the tops of them and everything else. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] They were just a car back then and nothing special.

Deb
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When my wife and I got married back in 1980, I had a 79 Trans Am. Wish I had pictures - first it was a couch hauled all the way across Ft. Worth sticking up through the T-Top, then a mattress and box springs propped on the spoiler and tied through the "T". Oh, and I guess the dresser when like the couch. Imagine that going down the West Freeway in a bright red T/A.

The Falcon still has wrinkles in the roof from hauling lumber. Gotta use what ya got.

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On 2004-02-24 20:49, AlanCasida wrote:
It always amazes me how such a neat(and rare) car can end up this way. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...;category=6233

I took a closer look at this and the interior really is pretty intact though faded and a little dusty. If the body wasn't bondo'd too much and it seems to have spent it's life in dry climates, it could be brought back for under $100k, right? Hell, it even drives/runs[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

I look at the trunk and wonder...how much would that trunk spear in NOS form cost? The 7 Litre emblem looks newer than the 500 so it may have already been replaced(added?).
[addsig]

I believe cars were made to be driven. I drove my '67 and '68 Galaxies through the winters and everything. No big deal. I would usually walk around the car after getting out and kick the snow out from around the wheel wells, and try to clean it off every now and again to keep the salt off it.

I'm just like that though, I don't have a problem driving my 'nice' car in the snow or rain. After all, it's been through 30-some years of it already and it just fine. I think it looks pretty darned good for all those years on winters and such. Admittedly it was garage kept up until the past 10 years or so, but still, it's in great shape. Under the vinyl top is two small spots of cancer around the rear window, but other than that it's rust-free. Was painted about 3-4 years ago.

The worst damage to the car is probably the dent in the roof which happened the day after my great grandmother bought it. My lousy uncle (was a little kid then) knocked over a ladder on the roof. When they took it to the dealership they estimated a really high cost to fix so they never got it fixed. I don't think it looks too bad though.
http://www.geocities.com/corydunkle/68/PassRear.JPG

The second worst part would eitehr be the cancer, which you can just barely make out near the window corners in this pic. http://www.geocities.com/corydunkle/68/RearPass.JPG

Or perhaps the tweaked front left fender/cracked parking light bezel from when it was tapped by a schoolbus. You can see it in these pics...
http://www.geocities.com/corydunkle/68/Front.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/corydunkle/...riverSide3.JPG

All in all I'd say it's held up pretty darned good for 36 years of being a daily driver. When the new shortblock goes in I'll be driving it daily again and I'll give my Olds I picked up for cheap transportation this winter to my girlfriend. I've got 3 days in a row off from work this weekend so I plan on getting the car ready and hopefully pulling the engine, maybe even start putting the new one together. All this warm weather has me itching to drive my Gal again.

I never said it wasn't a real 7 Litre, just that in the condition it's in &amp; s few details I've seen, I doubt the engine is still original.
[addsig]

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On 2004-02-25 15:11, ckelly wrote:
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When my wife and I got married back in 1980, I had a 79 Trans Am. Wish I had pictures - first it was a couch hauled all the way across Ft. Worth sticking up through the T-Top, then a mattress and box springs propped on the spoiler and tied through the "T". Oh, and I guess the dresser when like the couch. Imagine that going down the West Freeway in a bright red T/A.

The Falcon still has wrinkles in the roof from hauling lumber. Gotta use what ya got.
[/quote]

That would be a sight to see! There has been more than one time that my Galaxie looked like something from the beverly hillbillies with all my belongings, including the kitchen table stacked in there with the top down.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] But like you said, gotta use what you have!
In MD we had a Hyundai and had bought a king size mattress set. We bought it at the store on base so it was only about a mile or so to our house. They wanted 25 bucks to haul it to our house so we drove our purple puddle jumper around back to load it on the roof. The guy said there is no way you can haul that on your car. We just told him to stand and watch. Put the 2 box springs on the roof crosswise, then the big mattress, wrapped the rope around it through the car and off we went. Wish I had gotten a pic of that also. Looked like one of those pontoon planes or something where the wings go across the roof.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]
Moving here we saw a small car similar to a Honda or something carrying a big like 50" tv box on the roof. So even today cars get abused just like they did 20-30 years ago. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Deb

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On 2004-02-25 19:31, GregCook wrote:
Okay, here's the bottom line/real deal.

MOST people and I mean a very BIG percentage of car owners think of their cars like I think of my refrigerator. It's an appliance to make your life easier.

Most people don't have the money or space or desire or even understand the concept of a "toy car". IT'S A CAR! And cars were made to be driven , not preserved.....

There are VERY few people who even consider cars as "something special". Sure, many people wash and wax their "baby", but it always goes to the used car lot in the end.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: GregCook on 2/26/04 7:32am ]</font>
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You got that right Greg. Even though from day one I never had any plan of getting rid of my '64, it was my 'baby', it got waxed and cleaned every weekend down to toothpicks with thin cloth around them like q-tips to clean the grooves and the slots like where the heater controls go back and forth. But I still didn't really treat it like a classic or special car. Of course then it was only 11 yrs old. I still hotrodded and accidently put it in a ditch once and cut too short a few times from dirt to paved road which accounts for a few of the dents on the rocker panels from the rear tires dropping off in the ditch. But I didn't intentionally do things to beat it up. Although I didn't totally baby it like a person would today with a car like this I still love my car. I have a really bad habit of getting attached to my cars like they're the family dog or something. But even the family pet will get in trouble sometimes.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] At the same time there are the 'appliance' people out there who aren't warped like me, and I'm sure others, and think of their cars as their biggest love. We could think of this as a good thing though. Those cars that they didn't beat on for too long became our cars that we love later on down the road. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Deb

I don't mind people using or even A-busing their cars. What tends to P me off is the car sitting under a tree, bush , or whatever, rusting away and awaiting the "Restoration" that will take place " sometime". Most of these old cars will be total junk before they ever get touched. Fourteen years ago I saw a 66 Mustang coupe under a tarp. Of course it was "Not for Sale". It was awaiting a restoration. Five years ago a guy @ work asked me if I wanted a 460. I went to get it. It was @ the same farm as the Mustang. The Mustang had been drug into a garage for a "Restoration". He ended up giving it to me for hauling it away. It was so rusty the only good parts of it were the 289/C4 and the console. The rest was either gone or eaten by mice.

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On 2004-02-26 10:17, ShotRod64 wrote:
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On 2004-02-25 15:11, ckelly wrote:
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When my wife and I got married back in 1980, I had a 79 Trans Am. Wish I had pictures - first it was a couch hauled all the way across Ft. Worth sticking up through the T-Top, then a mattress and box springs propped on the spoiler and tied through the "T". Oh, and I guess the dresser when like the couch. Imagine that going down the West Freeway in a bright red T/A.

The Falcon still has wrinkles in the roof from hauling lumber. Gotta use what ya got.
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That would be a sight to see! There has been more than one time that my Galaxie looked like something from the Beverly hillbillies with all my belongings, including the kitchen table stacked in there with the top down.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] But like you said, gotta use what you have!
In MD we had a Hyundai and had bought a king size mattress set. We bought it at the store on base so it was only about a mile or so to our house. They wanted 25 bucks to haul it to our house so we drove our purple puddle jumper around back to load it on the roof. The guy said there is no way you can haul that on your car. We just told him to stand and watch. Put the 2 box springs on the roof crosswise, then the big mattress, wrapped the rope around it through the car and off we went. Wish I had gotten a pic of that also. Looked like one of those pontoon planes or something where the wings go across the roof.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]
Moving here we saw a small car similar to a Honda or something carrying a big like 50" tv box on the roof. So even today cars get abused just like they did 20-30 years ago. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Deb
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It's stories like yours that make it obvious that all this hysteria over pickup trucks, SUV's, etc... is misdirected anger from a bunch of whiners that want everyone to live the way they do, they never give any consideration to the needs of others. Then turn around and try to cloak their selfishness by accusing the other person of being the villain. Instead of complaining about Trucks, SUVs...let them complain about the Limo's and 1/3 or less filled city buses that only go to neighborhoods that don't ride them at all, the buses would be completely empty except for the "help" coming to clean their “Monster" houses.

Not everyone wants to pay $40-$50 delivery fees or rent a truck every time they need to bring home a household purchase. Then they say, “well, you can borrow one from a friend…after hearing them complain about you having a truck or SUV…I can really see them asking to borrow it….Yeah, Right!

If you have to strap a 'fridge to the roof of your car to get it home or to the next place you are moving...then go for it. If you have your own truck, all the better.

Sorry for partially HIjacking this thread...but it seemed to fit the topic...a little.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 2/27/04 11:59pm ]</font>

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I don't mind people using or even A-busing their cars. What tends to P me off is the car sitting under a tree, bush , or whatever, rusting away and awaiting the "Restoration" that will take place " sometime". Most of these old cars will be total junk before they ever get touched. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

To be fair, I think a lot of these 'future restoration' folks start off with good intentions. What probably happens is that other priorities come up in their lives and the restoration gets put on the back burner, sometimes forever. Some also aren't knowledgable enough to realize how badly old cars deteriorate sittin' in the south 40. This reminds me of a '41 Ford Tudor an old farmer had sitting in his barnyard for years. Some guy friends and I stopped one day to ask about it and the farmer ran us off with a shotgun. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] The '41 sat there deteriorating after that for quite a long time and finally disappeared.

I'm kinda pragmatic about the whole thing. Some old Fords, even valuable ones are still going to rot away. They're someone else's property and they have the right to do whatever they want with 'em. Even if I could afford to buy 'em, I'd have more 'projects' than I could ever complete. So I don't get too upset when somebody tells me 'no' when I find one sittin' in a back yard. As I said, everybody has the right in this country to do whatever they want with their property, thank goodness!

Jan