New Chevy in the house
 

My son sold his Scion TC last month for a decent price, and set out to buy something different to drive. So we've spent countless hours scouring the internet looking for a decent driver / project for him to own. We found a nice looking '49 Plymouth business coupe in San Diego and came to a prospective agreement on price, but then my son's financing fell through. He still has the old loan on his credit report, and even though his own bank acknowleges it's paid off, they won't loan him any money until it reflects as paid. :confused: So we looked around locally some more. Looked at a severely rotted '68 Ford Fairlane GT for $5k, a '65 Plymouth Satellite with enough bondo to give Andy's '69 a run for the money, and a few others.

Last weekend I spotted a single ad on Craigslist that was about to expire for a '78 Z/28, 350, 4 speed, 3.73 posi. The car looked really clean in the pictures. So I called to see if it was still available. Yes, but he couldn't show it until the 9th about 4pm. Okay, got an address, looked it up, then set it aside for a week. Yesterday we hopped in the Firebird and took a drive to town to get a K&N oil filter for the 'bird. I'm going to run it on the dyno on the 30th, need to get some fresh oil in it first. So we get done in town and head down there to see the car. Get to the address, no car outside. Drive down the street, turn around, and there's the car, just pulled out of the garage. That's when I started to believe there might still be some deals out there. Pull up, and a quick scan tells me this could be original paint, as the original gold/dark gold striping on the car is all there. Car is white. There's one small 2"x3" spot of rust in the passenger door, rear corner. Easy fix. Confirmed with the owner, this is the original paint. He's the original owner. Car is number's matching, has a Lakewood blowbell installed, headers and dual exhaust, intake and carb, etc. Then he pulls out a Crower cam card to show me what's in it. The cam card is clean, neatly folded, and has an ink stamp dated 1984. Nice! Wheels are late 80's Camaro Iroc 16", with some really new looking Goodyear Eagle GS-C's. Although it's a somewhat dated design, they were the original run flat tire for the Corvette back then. Interior is in great shape, although it was missing the visors and armrests. Door panels are a custom diamond tuck design, seats and carpet are original. No headliner sags. Took a test drive around the block, since the car isn't tagged, plates are in storage, so no back taxes. Other than a loose belt that finally warmed up and grabbed, it felt real good. I looked at the mileage real quick, I believe it's in the high 70k range. The seller said he has a 2" 'glass cowl induction hood, brand new, that he'd like to sell for $500. We made a couple of offers to include the hood into the deal, but he didn't bite. So we offered him his full asking price on the car.

$3000.00

We're going to get the insurance on it tomorrow (Monday) and go pick it up in the evening. I'll have the wife follow me close behind, so there shouldn't be any problems with the short drive home with plates missing. It's only about 6 miles. :)

I did forget to take the camera, so everyone will have to wait for the pics. :p

Great find! I would imagine it is hard to find old iron on the islands.

Definitely want to see some pictures of that when you get it home Darren, sounds like a very good find. That car around here would be a $10,000 car.

Jeff

That's why I was surprised too. It's one of those cars people probably thought the pics were old, or it was a scam. I don't think anyone ever actually looked at it. He mentioned someone had offered $2k, but I doubt they did in person. This car here is more typical of a $3k car around here.

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/cto/1521504001.html

Everyone thinks their junk is golden.

My buddy Mike paid $7k for a nice '78 Trans Am 400 4 speed t-top last year, and I thought he made a decent deal, seeing as the seller wanted $10k. I think he's gonna be jealous. :D

Sounds like great find to me. If your son doesn't like it I'm sure you could have fun with it.

Oh, he likes the car, Hank. He warmed right up inside when he saw something not covered with rust holes and bondo for once. And a 4 speed car to boot! When I was his age, my El Camino had a 327, M-20, and a pegleg 3.08 out back. Not to mention, I paid $8k for it in '87. How lucky is he? I tell you what, if he'd have turned it down, I'd have bought it for myself for a daily driver. ;)

That's what I was thinking, I would have bought it, fixed up the little rust and had some fun with it. I need to find something like that with an auto so Lynda can drive it. She always says I bought a 4spd Chevelle because she can't drive it. She probably could but she's pretty short and I don't think she wants to try and learn. Yesterday Ray Barnes offered to let her drive his Chevelle this summer, he has an auto.

I have to.....


:worthless:

Sounds like a great score, Darren.

PS, where's the beach cam ?

John, Hank laid down rules, no Beach Cam until it's warm enough for him to be comfortable outside in his Speedos. :D

Went and got the car this evening, brought it home uneventfully, except for mistakenly turning off the hidden electric fuel pump switch when I started it up. The belts need some serious help though. Squealed for almost a mile before they shut up. They're running on some really old chrome pulleys, so I think I know what's in order. ;)

Here's a few pics. The camera isn't all that great at night shots, so the colors are kinda funny. My son has a Nikon D40, I'm sure I can get some better pics from him tomorrow. He's still at work, and I've been tinkering already.

http://i46.tinypic.com/35bv0xk.jpg

Check out this spare tire, with the original co2 inflator. Sweet!

http://i50.tinypic.com/ayoakg.jpg