If he doesn't need the gas cap. I could use it. I'll pay for
it.
anthony@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
At 08:14 AM 3/25/02 -0800, you wrote:
There was a rough but restorable 56
without AC, a 55, and another 55 or 56. I could not see enough to
tell. The guy who bought them offered the 56 to me for 1000
bucks. I'd probably have given 500. It is in unknown
mechanical condition and has a lot of rust repair needed. Also the
potmetal and chrome would all need to be redone. The guy bought
them for the Hemi's. There was a gas cap that I can probably get
for free? Did you ever get one?
A week or so back I posted that I was going up to check on a rumor
that the old guy who had some Imperials and a BUNCH of other stuff was
finally selling. Drove up Saturday after church only to find no one
there.
Wendesday while out cruizing in my greating running 73, I drove past
his place and saw the man in the yard. I quickly pulled in the
yard.
Here is this old guy, about 90, all bent over and grizzled with his
head stuck in the back seat of a K car. Looks up, sees me, puts his
head back in the car.
I walk up to his car and say, "Hello."
He looks up, and puts his head back down.
Not knowing quite how to proceed I say, "Rumor has it you are
selling some of your cars."
"Yep" he replies. He speaks I thought. Puts his
head back in the car.
Talking to his back, "Well, I'm interested in the
Imperials."
"Sold already."
"Dang" I thought. "The 54 is still available I
think." he says over his shoulder. "What will you give me for
it"
Now the 54 is ROUGH!. Valve train is off the motor, radiator
out, Ac compressor missing. pot metal shot, etc. Doors are
locked. Hood crunched, grill cracked. and cant' even get to the
back for the briars. The left rear door looks promising and I need
that to complete my 54 parts car which has a NY door on it with different
trim.
"Well, maybe a couple hundred," I replied to his
back.
After a minute or two he said, "Well, I cant make any decisions
now, I'm working on my taxes and I cant think about selling cars
now.. Call me in a week." Dang, almost a
conversation.
I did get his name and phone number.
Today, I convinced my wife to go that way, stop by the place in case
the old man's daughter was there and end up at WalMart. When we arrived
she was there and was very nice. quickly made a deal for the 54 and
a 55 Desoto Wagon with hemi engine. but pretty sad shape.
There was a guy there getting some cars that I recognized.
Turns out to be the guy I bought the 60 Windsor and two sets of 413 cross
rams from a few months back. He had a wrecker and agreed to pull
the 54 out of the weeds. Boy is it sad. Going to take a
rollback to get it home for stripping. The carcas will go to the
scrapyard. Steering wheel is locked to one side, brakes are locked,
sad sad. Stainless, glass look good as do a couple doors. The
left taillight bezel that Arron is needing is complete but pitted
although restorable. If I get the car, I'll give it to
him.
About this time, the daughter and old man come up and she tries to
verify the deal with him. He's deaf as a post and cant see very
well.
"Do I have to make a decision today? I just want to work
on my taxes..."
To make a long story shorter, I did not leave any money but did
emails and phone numbers for the daughter and her son who seem sane and
reasonable.
Inside this falling down two story building are a 54 Desoto and a 56
Chrysler that look to be in decent shape. Problem is that the
second floor joists have collapsed and there is no way to get the cars
out unless the building is dismantled from the top down which won't
happen while the old guy is living. To be honest, the cost of
extraction is probably more than the cars would be worth and it literally
would be a life threatening effort to extract them. I suspect they
will be bulldozed with the building when he dies. Too bad,
There are a bunch of 50's glass, bumpers, etc.
He's 93 and was apparantly an early electronics pioneer. While
literally crawling throught he ground floor and bypassing the areas where
the roof had collapsed, I spotted a couple pieces of metal working
equiptment I put a 'claim' on with the grandson.
My long suffering wife waited in the truck and couldn't understand
why I was having so much fun...
There was also a 56 Chrysler wagon minus motor/trans. Pretty
rough. shame about the other Imps, The guy is going to pull
the hemis and sell the other parts. I'll keep in touch and let
everyone know what is available. Stainless and glass will be about
it. The 56 would be restorable for someone who was VERY capable
with rust repair and willing to have a lot of pitted pot metal
restored. The grandson remembered riding in it and commented on how
fast it was..
Also a 54 NY with factory air that actually looked in 'decent'
complete shape.
I'm optmistic I'll end up with some of this rust.
Kerryp
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