When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I will say over all it looks clean enough to not be a rot box. Nice start for a serious body off frame resto.
Way Too much work needed here for 45K. Especially if it was hit hard enough to cause that gross fender misalignment.
One could drive a cement truck through that hood to fender gap! Has to be a 1/2" wide. The core support is likely tweaked along with a twisted fender. No panel test fit before paint for sure.
Lets not discuss the exhaust tips, alternator, spare tire, dash paint and missing stripes et al...
What do you all think? I see a ~$20-25K car... IF the major numbers match, metal is good and frame is straight. You'd need that extra $20K to make it right.
And what's up with all the "floating" digits on the 4-4-2 emblems. They all are out of alignment.. I can't comment on anything except the exterior. When I clicked the link a few moments ago, there are no interior, engine, trunk, etc., photos. Or did I miss this as being your point?
Well, the fact that the car is in Florida explains everything - it was done by Mickey Mouse................LOL (did they take enough unnecessary pics???)
Anyone here old enough to remember the car commercial bragging about fit and finish, they rolled a BB down the hood/fender body gap. I think it was for Lexus? Maybe Land Rover? Anyway, instead of a BB, for this car they used a bowling ball. 😎
There are a lot of "issues" with this car that bring workmanship into question, but consider the source. The big items have been noted above, A few others are the really crappy Buick steering wheel, the repro heat stove that is just shoved over the exhaust manifold, and the questionable bodywork on the INSIDE of the trunk lid. For $45K you couldn't take the time to find the right screws for the power top switch? And what's with the lamp cord on the alternator wires? I'm not going to disagree with the 50% number.
Check the bottom of the speedometer. It was originally a column shift automatic speedometer. The Park R N D S L letters were polished off. I've scrapped better steering wheels than the one on this car. What as mess.
Check the bottom of the speedometer. It was originally a column shift automatic speedometer. The Park R N D S L letters were polished off. I've scrapped better steering wheels than the one on this car. What as mess.
Good eye. I think they were just painted over. Of course the triangular turn signal indicators are the giveaway.
These dealers are masters of the 20 footer, 50 similar exterior photos, shot from distance - drill down into the details - you see more issues. The keen eye sees them at 20 feet as well. Sadly representative of our superficial world, fortunately knowledgeable people run from BS like this, especially at trumped up prices.
There's your answer right there. Gateway Classic Cars. Cut the price in half and it might be worth it, might.
Funny you should say this. Just a couple of weeks ago I exchanged a few emails with one of their salesmen over a '77 Toronado XS they had come up for sale. They wanted $10,000 for it. There were many problems with the car, not the least of which was a damaged passenger side front fender left over from an incompletely repaired front end collision that also resulted in this '77 Toro getting a '78 Toro grille. I pointed out all of these problems and more and why the car was worth less than half what they were asking. I was interested in it until I dug deeper and saw the collision damage up close. Anyway, the guy did not disagree with me. But he didn't change the price, either. He said that they're selling the car on consignment for the owner, and the owner set the price. Of course, Gateway could always refuse the car if they think the seller's asking price is so high that the car won't sell. But they didn't refuse it. Like you said, cut the price in half, and the car MIGHT be worth that much.
Since floor shift cars didn't need the PRNDSL on the speedo, the turn signal indicators were enlarged into crescents.
Wow, I learn something new about every time I visit this site, never noticed this difference before. The little arrows look better and make more sense. Weird that they weren't consistent here. So either that speedo was replaced, or this car was originally a column shift. That makes the mileage 100% suspect too. I can't believe they even took a close-up of that fender gap, holy cow, that knocks $10G off the value right there.
Right, Joe, my point was that they could have used the same ones and saved parts.
I understand, but the reality is that the speedo faceplate would have been different in either case, since one has the embossed PRNDSL and the other doesn't. Since the stamping dies are different anyway because of this, the different shape of the turn signal indicator cutout didn't change parts count or production cost. The little green celluloid windows behind them are the same in both cases. And actually, there were THREE different faceplate stampings, since the Jetaway required a unique one for the PRNDL two speed indicator. Also keep in mind that the base transmission configuration in the A-body line was the column shifted three speed manual, which also would have used the MT/floor shift speedo face.
More to the point, and the real reason for this difference: the 67-68 B/C body cars actually used the same gauge pods as the 68-69 A-body cars, and those 67-68 B/C body cars have the PRNDSL indicator in a different window in the dash and not in the gauge pod. The blank speedo face with the crescents actually was the first design used in all 67-68 B/C body cars. It wasn't until the 68 A-body cars were designed that Olds realized they needed to add the shift indicator to the speedo face, which is why the turn signal indicators needed to shrink to make room for the PRNDSL. The rectangular opening just above the steering column notch is the location of the PRNDSL indicator on this 67 Delta dash.
Ok, I understand. I was thinking if the pod was the same minus the cuts, they could commonize since the printing was on the face, but I was incorrect. That shift indicator on that dash reminds me of the 66/67s A bodies, which, for trivial knowledge, all come with a 2 speed auto lens even when covered up by the block off plate (excepting column shift TH400)
October 27th, 2020 | 12:00 PM
