EStein
SILVER Star
Well after lurking and drooling for years, I am excited to be starting my own build thread. This isn’t my first 40 but it might as well be. My first car at 15 was a blue ‘74 that had been rolled. My dad said he would match what I saved knowing I couldn’t save much! I saved up $300 bucks and talked the owner into selling it to me for $600. No top, or windshield frame. My friends and I worked on that thing and drove it with our ski goggles on. Cops never cared about those things back then in a small Southern Oregon logging town! I actually got it fixed up pretty nice and sold it in 1989. Regretted selling the day it drove off...
Finally 30 years later I decided it was time for another. Midlife crisis thing. I looked at a bunch and drove a couple. None really grabbed me and the ones that did sold so fast I missed out. I placed a want ad on Craigslist and actually got a decent response. A few weeks into it, I was contacted by a guy in Central Washington (the dry part) who had a ‘78 parked in his yard. His brother in law bought it in the mid 80s and one day in 2002, it stopped running. I’m not sue why but he rolled off to the side and there it sat until it was given to the most recent owner in 2014. He brought it home, got it running (bad ignition wire) drove it around the block and parked it in the back yard. Was going to turn it into a crawler or something but just never got to it. That’s when hecame across my ad.
He contacted me and sent photos. I’m not sure why but I was really intrigued by it and after a few weeks of emails and photos, I pretty much agreed to buy it. Saturday I rented a uhaul trailer and drove 5 hours north to pick it up....and that’s the story.
When I first started seriously looking, I decided I wouldn’t buy anything with rust issues. Well this one has major rust issues! I also wanted one that ran pretty well. This one had been started once in 20 years! I wanted original paint. Well....haha! It’s mine now and I love it. My daughter and I will get this back on the road and someday pass it on to her. And I’d better become a damn good welder!
So here’s what we’ve got to work with. I’m pretty decent mechanically but I’m no mechanic! I’m looking forward to working and learning! With the wealth of knowledge on this forum, it’s going to be Okay!
when I picked her up...
Finally 30 years later I decided it was time for another. Midlife crisis thing. I looked at a bunch and drove a couple. None really grabbed me and the ones that did sold so fast I missed out. I placed a want ad on Craigslist and actually got a decent response. A few weeks into it, I was contacted by a guy in Central Washington (the dry part) who had a ‘78 parked in his yard. His brother in law bought it in the mid 80s and one day in 2002, it stopped running. I’m not sue why but he rolled off to the side and there it sat until it was given to the most recent owner in 2014. He brought it home, got it running (bad ignition wire) drove it around the block and parked it in the back yard. Was going to turn it into a crawler or something but just never got to it. That’s when hecame across my ad.
He contacted me and sent photos. I’m not sure why but I was really intrigued by it and after a few weeks of emails and photos, I pretty much agreed to buy it. Saturday I rented a uhaul trailer and drove 5 hours north to pick it up....and that’s the story.
When I first started seriously looking, I decided I wouldn’t buy anything with rust issues. Well this one has major rust issues! I also wanted one that ran pretty well. This one had been started once in 20 years! I wanted original paint. Well....haha! It’s mine now and I love it. My daughter and I will get this back on the road and someday pass it on to her. And I’d better become a damn good welder!
So here’s what we’ve got to work with. I’m pretty decent mechanically but I’m no mechanic! I’m looking forward to working and learning! With the wealth of knowledge on this forum, it’s going to be Okay!
when I picked her up...
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. Will get a hold of a gauge and do a compression test today
