Car Dealers

[JimNolan]

Guys,
   I thought on EBay if you sold a car you had to list if you were a car dealer. I inquired about a 57 Fairlane Sunliner I saw on Ebay because the guy said he might consider a possible trade. There were things about the car which I saw that would give me concern on the quality of restoration. I sent him the particulars of my 63 Galaxie and he sent me back an email wanting to know how much boot I needed. That really concerned me. I told him I had already done a frame off on my 57 and I would need to inspect and drive his car first. Also, I needed to know how long he had owned it and what type of restoration had been done on the car. That did it, Game Over. I then looked at his feedback and he had somewhat good reviews but they were mostly on selling cars. He's probably a nice guy too. Jim PS. If you guys haven't got anything better to do, go on Ebay and look at the Blue and White 57 Sunliner and tell me the one thing that would give you concern about the restoration quality.
   

[gasman826]

Cool!!!!  A contest.  What do we win?

- missing parts
- gauges hanging under the dash
- the sides waving as you go by
- no license plate
- more pictures than most sellers put on
- Yep...its Michigan and I'm waiting for spring and I'm tired of block sanding

Mentioning gauges under the dash...have you ever seen the modified instrument cluster the Bob's Speedometer does.  His cluster changes out the warning lights for little gauges.  It looks like Henry made it!

[Ford Blue blood]

Jim it is hard to tell if there are any detail problems because the photos are too far and too small.  Did notice there is no horn relay in the stock location.  The little cover on the cowl on the drivers side looks to be missing. There appears to be no seal under the cowl vent.  The heater hose bracket is not there and the heater hoses don't look to be run correctly.  The drivers door is out slightly, latch alignment?  There is no door weather strip on either door.  The paint lines are correct, given the paint on the inside of the quarters it could be a color change?

[gasman826]

Oh...and the drivers door fits poorly!!!!!

[JimNolan]

You guys caught more stuff than I did. The next time I look at a car I'm getting you guys to go with me. The one thing I saw that automatically gave me concern was the speeometer bezel. For anything other than a Restomod like Rich's or Bob's, the 57 Sunliner is the most sought after high end Ford at this period of time. Why would you paint the speedometer bezel, you know it took time to do it. The finish items on any car will enhance the restoration, but the restoration is degraded by saving money on the finish items. The first thing you see when looking at a car is the finish items. When Rich gets through with his interior I doubt if anyone would even consider crawling under the car to check for rust. You might if you were buying it, but I bet you'd take it for granted it was perfect. Jim

[RICH MUISE]

Well that put a smile on my face...thanks Jim. Funny, I was just sitting here playing games and checking in on this site thinking I really need to be out working on my interior...80 degrees here!

[RICH MUISE]

LOL...or were you talking about the other Rich...I'll be so embarassed if I wrongfully assumed you were talking about me.
Rich

[Lou]

Certainty not a $38,000 dollar car, more like a $22,000 to $24,000 driver.

[JimNolan]

No Rich, I was talking about you. Although my personal preferences lean toward a more conventional appearence with performance updates, I too can appreciate the labor involved and the appearence presented by a restomod. Jim

Lou,
   Go take a look at my 63 I just put on EBay. I'm not looking to sell it. It isn't even finished yet. I just thought I'd compare it to some of the others listed to see what the bid went to. Give me your opinion when you're done. I can take it. I've dished it out myself when asked. I'd value your opinion with the background you've got. Jim

[RICH MUISE]

I agree with Bill...photos are not good enough to take a close look....interesting though....click on the sellers name and check out the other listings he has for sale...the same sunliner will come up with a 24,548 price tag??...so what is the asking price.
I don't like to knock anyone's car, but I will knock the ebay listing he has done for this car: not enough info on the car, poor pics, not private seller, conflicting pricing info
mho, from what I can tell from the pics it would make a great driver quality car you could have a lot of fun with, but the seller has not provided enough history and info to determine if the resto work was properly done. I sure would have liked to have seen a pic of the trunk with the floormat removed. This is for sure a car I get the feeling needs a hands-on inspection because of it's presentation.
Jim..I would think you're at a point where you need to ask yourself what you are looking for. An undocumented car is apt to leave you in the same situation you were with your '57 when you had it redone...that being a really nice car that wasn't quite nice enough to meet your standards. With the high standards you have set for yourself, are you going to be happy with any car your going to find in the 20's? My point is if your going to end up redoing everything to your standards anyway, why not buy a project car rather than paying that middle-dollar-amount for something your going to redo.

[JimNolan]

Rich,
  You're right. I'm too picky when it comes to my stuff. I can look at someone else's car and see nothing but the good things. But, if it's mine or I'm going to own it the attitude changes. I'm going to go ahead and finish the 63. I took the seats down to the uphosters this morning. I'll put the dash pad in this week and then have the upholster fix a wrinkle in the headliner. When I'm finished with the 63 I'll look for someone that has finished the body work on a 57 convertable and wants the 63. The body work is my weakest area of expertise. The drive train and appearance is my strongest. I just can't own three classic cars, I'm not going there, they cost too much. Jim

[Ford Blue blood]

The bad part of your own stuff is you know where the "hickies" are and you eyes go to them right away!  Many folks will never see them, concours judges might but not the average guy.  If you really want to get the sweat glands going do your own paint.  As many times as you go over the car and strive for perfection there is always a "spot".  You know exactly where it is and you can't keep your eyes from going to it and you know in your heart it is like a wart on the tip of your nose and evrybody that looks at the car will see it and exclaim.....OMG....

[RICH MUISE]

Bill...I hear ya on that one. When I finished my paint, like you said, I was always looking at that little flaws that seemed to be jumpimg out at me every time I walked by. After a few months I don't even notice them.(well, hardly) This past weekend I was at a local car show...pretty big for Amarillo, a lot of really top notch cars there. I was bound and determined this time I was going to take a CLOSE look at some of these great looking cars, and I was really glad I did. I can honestly say now I think my paint and body work will stand up with at least 90% of the cars there...and I probably would have been estatic with 50 or 60% when I started the project....but I still see those little flaws once in a while.
Rich

[JimNolan]

I know I'm pickey. But, the 57 keeps going down hill. I've got 30K on the restoration and you can tell it if you look. The undercarrage isn't shinny black any more. The A-Arms and frame rails don't look as nice as before, The red on the door panels are beginning to fade a little, the door welt is fading, etc. And, for some reason that don't bother me that much. I've got so used to driving it the car washes get less frequent and it don't seem to bother me as much as it did. I don't want to make it new anymore. I'm more interested in driving it and having it mechanically perfect. Go figure. Jim

[Lou]

Jim, please post a ebay link to your car.