Over the past two weeks my neighbor has been having some remodeling done there have been contractor trucks trucks parked in front of their house and it has been a beehive of activity, on several occasions I have been in my garage and one of the workers a guy probably in about his mid twenty's has been admiring my Olds he finally asked if he could come in the garage and take a closer look of course I obliged, he was amazed by the vacuum wipers and how they worked, amazed that the radio took a minute to warm up before coming on and also the fact that the shifter was on the column !! he said all the cars he grew up around the shifter is on the floor !! he then told me he plans to purchase a vintage/classic car in the near future and asked me if I had any suggestions ? I asked him if he planned on buying something completely restored or if he wanted something to work on ? he said something in between because he thought he had enough mechanical skills to complete a restore. I asked if he was set on a manufacture or a year he said no I said good and offered this advice for a first project (having completed a restoration of a 1964 Belair myself)
I advised be patient and do your homework inspect thoroughly and don't buy a rust bucket (that's not usually a problem here in AZ.) I cruise Craig's list a lot and there are bargains out if your willing to look past the trendy cars like Chevelle's, Camaro's I pointed to a Craigs list 1962 Falcon 2 door 6 cyl 3 on the tree that was in driving condition and very straight for a very reasonable price he said something like that was cool
as he was not interested in performance just something from the 60's he could tinker with (smart kid) I cautioned him on one thing I said before you buy check on the availability of parts as this will be crucial to the restoration process.
my recommendations for a first project if he can find them at a reasonable price (needing restoration )were 65-66 Mustangs or 62-64
Impala/Belair's, the reason I advised these vehicles was the availability of used and aftermarket parts anything you want is available for these vehicles at reasonable prices, I also advised if he wanted a nice driver he may look for 4 door versions of the Chevy's as they will be more reasonably priced. Do you think I gave him good advice or steered him wrong ?
he asked me if I wanted to sell my Olds I said no my hope is my Grandson will be driving it some day!!!

 

The advice seems reasonable to me. I have a nice '66 Rambler he could buy :-D

I'd suggest he start lurking in forums like ClassicOldsmobile in order to learn more about things to watch for on particular models. Most marquees are well represented on the net through enthusiast pages and forums. Best to educate oneself prior to slapping bucks down for something you'll wind up kicking yourself for later.

 

It's solid advice. I'd be impressed if he follows through. Hopefully, he wasn't casing your joint. I'd lock it down for a few months.

 

This^!!

I refuse to allow my wife to have a garage sale at our house. I’m always worried about the stuff that ISNT in the sale.

I guess my statement isn’t entirely true. She did have a sale when we first moved into the house, but that was before all my tools and equipment was moved on. The stuff that was there was hidden under blankets or otherwise out of view.

It really sucks that you have to think like this in todays world. People will steal anything that isn’t nailed down.

 

My advice, that I don't generally follow, is take your time and don't get in too much of a rush. Look for something that frees up a car, you know about the four D's they are the deal makers that normally don't happen without one of these in play, Death, Debt, Divorce, and Desire.

Seems strange that he doesn't have a marque in mind, but only a year range, but that's me, I guess...Tedd

 

All excellent advice. Years ago there was a visitor to the NTOC that took pictures 0f the cars from the rear only. Seems like some parts started missing from the members cars. At that time the Texas DMV would give the owners name and address over the phone based on the license plate number and that certain rare and valuable parts started missing from their cars. Don't know how he got caught but he rapidly moved out of the state.

 

Good advice. 👍

Hopefully he finds a cool classic and keeps it on the road.

 

Tell him to familiarize himself with some cars from the '60s -- read Hemmings and regional trader rags -- and find out what he really likes. If he gets a car he's really attracted to, he's much more likely to follow through on any work it may need.