Things you would like to say to the PO

[Cranky]

Took some time and came back to read all of this. Man, I've seen just about all of it but have been fairly lucky in not getting cars that were butchered up. My 71 Cuda did come with shag carpeting but it wasn't glued and nailed down lol. Geez! Did buy a lot of cars for parts that were butchered though and is where I saw a lot of this kind of stuff. Did some work on a guy's car a couple of years ago that had wire nuts on some of the wiring but it also needed to be totally rewired. It sat for 30+ years and no telling what all got into it.

 

[Fran Blacker]

It's wonderful that you were able to update the 904 to a 727...
But driveshafts aren't spliced and shortened in the middle.

AGREE! Saw it done and it worked ok for a driver. They laid it on a I beam and welded it. Don't remember if they welded some one side and flipped or just welded it.

 

[moparedtn]

I've read through all these - and recognize most of them as being familiar -
but one thing I've sure been chastised about on this forum over the years comes to mind, too:
"It's his car and he can do what he wants with it..."


Yeah well, a lot of folks did just that apparently over the years eh?

As far as my own "PO" with Fred is concerned, he and I are still in communication and rather friendly
with one another, so I gently rib him about this or that occasionally - he's admittedly a terrible mechanic
(his best friend for decades, John, was the professional mechanic of their "team" while alive).

Charlie (the PO) was/is quite the gifted tin man and is the reason Fred is so straight on the alignment
rack and rust-free - but some of his mechanical exploits are downright hilarious.
John (God rest his soul) was actually Fred's previous owner, though - and the car came up for sale in
no small part because John suddenly fell ill to cancer and was gone within the year.

Charlie inherited the car and immediately lost his job of 30 years and got in financial trouble and was
forced to sell the car...and I wound up the new steward, not knowing any of that story until some time
afterwards.

So - did Fred have several of the maladies described already in this thread?
Oh yeah....
May I have corrected a lot of them? You bet.
May I also have left a few "surprises" for the next steward?
Bet yer *** I did.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Last but not least, I know I will be incredibly thankful this summer that the last owner completely restored the factory A/C from under the hood to under the dash. This on a trailer queen that saw 1000 miles in 28 years. When I test drove the car, the A/C was blowing cold before I pulled out of the garage. I knew then, I was going to buy it.

I have avoided the nightmares described in earlier posts by holding out for really nice cars, and not parting with them until a better one came along. My wife's one car on site policy forced me into this decades ago, making me extremely picky. There is another thread going right now on the "nosebleed" price my fifth GTX was bid to at auction this week. I paid what would have been considered a lot when I bought the car in 2015, but I put next to nothing into it during six years of ownership, and drove it 1300 miles from Iowa with no issues.

 

[Cranky]

I've read through all these - and recognize most of them as being familiar -
but one thing I've sure been chastised about on this forum over the years comes to mind, too:
"It's his car and he can do what he wants with it..."


Yeah well, a lot of folks did just that apparently over the years eh?

As far as my own "PO" with Fred is concerned, he and I are still in communication and rather friendly
with one another, so I gently rib him about this or that occasionally - he's admittedly a terrible mechanic
(his best friend for decades, John, was the professional mechanic of their "team" while alive).

Charlie (the PO) was/is quite the gifted tin man and is the reason Fred is so straight on the alignment
rack and rust-free - but some of his mechanical exploits are downright hilarious.
John (God rest his soul) was actually Fred's previous owner, though - and the car came up for sale in
no small part because John suddenly fell ill to cancer and was gone within the year.

Charlie inherited the car and immediately lost his job of 30 years and got in financial trouble and was
forced to sell the car...and I wound up the new steward, not knowing any of that story until some time
afterwards.

So - did Fred have several of the maladies described already in this thread?
Oh yeah....
May I have corrected a lot of them? You bet.
May I also have left a few "surprises" for the next steward?
Bet yer *** I did.

Oh man, my Belvedere will have a LOT of surprises for the next owner....after all, how else do ya get a B body down to 2950 with the factory AC still on it. Wish I had kept that part though and hope I get it going before exiting the earth.

 

[440 PHIXX]

Why did you paint the engine bay BLACK ?

I think everybody did in the late 70’s.

 

[Cranky]

I think everybody did in the late 70’s.

No....think anyone that did that was a Chevy or a Ford guy.

 

[padam]

No....think anyone that did that was a Chevy or a Ford guy.

Well I did it in the ‘80s and I guarantee I’m not a Chevy or ford guy. More like an ignorant hillbilly.

 

[#41]

Throttle return, vacuum advance, engine swap, shift linkage, rubber hose transmission mount, brake hose clamp repair... all supposedly done by an independent "mechanic" per the previous owner.

Just for laughs. I have no ill feelings. I knew what a cheap turd I was buying

 

[Fran Blacker]

Throttle return, vacuum advance, engine swap, shift linkage, rubber hose transmission mount, brake hose clamp repair... all supposedly done by an independent "mechanic" per the previous owner.

Just for laughs. I have no ill feelings. I knew what a cheap turd I was buying

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Man I feel for you.

 

[DeltaV]

To PO#1: Thank you for ordering the car with the options I like too. R.I.P. S.J.L.

To PO#2: Thank you for selling the car to me. R.I.P. M.D.S.

 

[Triplegreen500]

Well I did it in the ‘80s and I guarantee I’m not a Chevy or ford guy. More like an ignorant hillbilly.

When the engine bay is all hogged out, and a black rattle can is cheaper than mixing up a batch of F8....my wagon may have had a black engine bay back in the day.

Possibly.

 

[threewood]

The PO I bought my car from just stored it away until I bought it. The prior PO, I'm sure he bought it as a project car and realized he was in over his head. No questions for him. I sent a letter to his last known address to just ask about the car and if he had any old paperwork or stories about it. It was returned undeliverable.

Why did you make straight pipe exhaust out of thick walled 2" steel conduit? That **** was heavy duty.

 

[Budnicks]

Hell when I was a kid I didn't give a RATS *** about originality
I hung out with a bunch of MoPar people that had both or all out racecars
some purist cars & some with mods/Hot Rods (what we call resto-mods today)
"MOSTLY" nobody was looked down on US for it, not in my crowd anyway
almost nobody on the massive cruises, races & shows we all did,
cared or talked down to us & those that would... I really didn't give a **** either...

To each their own...
My mantra was always
"build yours how you want (that doesn't mean butcher it up)
don't tell me what to do with mine
& who cares what someone else thinks, as long as you like it
or it makes you happy"...

I've modified some stuff, even rattle can black'd an engine bay or 2
in a MoPar especially on repaints, that wasn't org. colors,
I usually did it because of a blacked-out treatment or semi-black fiberglass hood etc.
people were NOT all so ****-retentive back in the day
or matching #s crazy either,

Yes there always is someone, we had our share of vin & fender tag snobs too
mostly everyone just got along, it was just a old car
All were just used cars, gas guzzlers, old tank, you name it I heard it
people really didn't give a crap about that **** (or very few)
when they were just 'old used cars', they just wanted to get rid of them...

I'm on car #112-#113 lost track
a few dozen were 68-70 real RRs & Chargers, mostly R/Ts too
a few Sport Satellites & Satellites too,
about the same a couple dozen in Power Wagons
they were all dirt cheap, they didn't get the respect they get now
not by a long shot or resale value they get today...

I attempted/tried not to butcher anything or make it unsafe
**** happened in the late 70s & early 80s,
no muscle car was exempt in my mind...
I made a racecar/resto-mod (we just called em' Hot Rods)
out of almost anything...
I built & modified them to my taste
I couldn't care less what someone else thought
as long as I liked it, it ran, it was fast & was safe...
I'm still sort of like that...
I do respect the cars a bit more, they are worth a shitload more now too
& I'm not 15-25 y/o either, they are far more rare now...

I'll admit I did some stuff
I would NEVER EVER do today
but never hurt me to sell a car
or left me stranded on the side of the road
sometimes my budget wasn't the best, as a young man
I did what I had to do...

I never butchered a harness
I never did a shotty brake job
I never did an alteration that made it unsafe
almost always got rid of the stock rims & tires
usually 14" & hubcaps, with in the 1st week
almost all had aftermarket wheels & tires
It may be not so to 'some other person's, own personal taste'
but it was to mine, to do with what I wanted to
they didn't fund any of my projects, to have any say...

Still like that today in many ways, just a bit more less opinionated on it...

hell I cut up a perfect 68 Charger R/T hood to put a
Grumpy Jenkins style 5" Pro-stock scoop on it, in like 1978-79ish
so my in-lne 2x4bbl Holley would clear the hood & have a fresh air/ram air effect...
(one of the 5) 68-70 Charger R/Ts I had at the time)
I cared more about the extra 10 hp of ram air effect than that damn hood...
I also cut a hole in an org. N96 hood off a 69 RR, (what would that be worth today ?)
(one of the like 3-4 RRs I had at the time)
There were a tone of them back then & a bunch of them, in the wrecking yards too...
Out here anyway (again it wasn't a collector car then either)
Just to have 1st my Tunnel ram w/2 660cfm Holleys
or later a 6:71 blower & 2x4bbls Dbl pumpers stick out of it
would I do that today ?,
hell no, I'd buy a flat Sat. fiberglass hood, to cut up...


what's the old adage (?)
Young dumb & full of c---

 

[Cranky]

I bought my 70 Challenger in 80 from the OP (original purchaser) and had no complaints and the car was really really nice even with 100k on it! Never researched any of my cars though but did run the numbers and build date on the Challenger. It was built on my birthday but still sold it many years later. My 66 Belvedere came from someone that passed away and the car went to a relative who painted it yet again (it had SEVERAL costs of paint) and then sold it to me. The only thing bad about it was the seat was totally worn out to the point that it hurt my back to drive it so I stuck in a set of buckets that were in my road runner race car. The AC even worked after pulling a vac and charging it up. It had a little bit of pressure on it before hand so figured it would work.

This thing had ALL the paperwork and maintenance records on it and even a lot of the old parts etc. Who does that with a /6 car lol? Drove it for 10 years before tearing it apart figuring it was time since the front end was getting pretty sloppy. Bought it in 88. My only question to who ever painted it would be why did ya not do a decent paint job on it.....because it was just a /6 2dr sedan? IIRC, it had 92k on it but now it shows 28.5k. 36,000 miles of driving in 10 years. Well, had several other cars to pick from and usually picked the one that had gas in it.

 

[Budnicks]

No....think anyone that did that was a Chevy or a Ford guy.

I ain't no Ford & Chevy guy not at heart anyway
I did have my share of them too thou, some fast freaken' Chevys
got rid of my last Ford (02 F350 dually diesel dog 4x4 & 22 Maverick Lariot)
a couple months ago
all MoPar family now, Jeep, Dodge & Plymouth

 

[Cranky]

I ain't no Ford & Chevy guy not at heart anyway
I did have my share of them too thou, some fast freaken' Chevys
got rid of my last Ford (02 F350 dually diesel dog 4x4 & 22 Maverick Lariot)
a couple months ago
all MoPar family now, Jeep, Dodge & Plymouth

Pretty much said that as a jab lol

 

[Budnicks]

Pretty much said that as a jab lol

I know... same here too,
mine (either posts) was a jab at several of the comments...

 

[747mopar]

Referring to my 69 Charger... Why in the F would you blast a car without removing the mirrors, door handles, wing window frames and widows??? Who does that? Referring to my daughter's Satellite.. if you didn't have enough electrical troubleshooting skills to understand what a neutral safety switch does why did you think you had enough to add a separate starter pushbutton???

 

[Curiousyellow71]

The car with the driveshaft spliced in the middle was a 73 roadrunner and the sb 727 didn't have a flange on the tailshaft for the floor shift. PO idea was to take the factory bracket with the bushing in it and weld a 2 foot strap to it and bolt it to the passenger floorboard with two 3/8 bolts a couple inches apart. It was a success! It held the shift lever in place....until you started the car...it would move the shifter all the way from low to reverse when the engine rocked.
The dude also said the engine was a strong runner...We drove it a mile the timing chain broke and had to walk home. It was interesting shifting the car with the accelerator pedal.
When we got it home we thought at least we got a good driveshaft...looking at the ends it looked great. Then we saw the ugly stick weld right in the middle.