84 vfifth ave $500 michigan

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Aspen500

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If it's been sitting where it is now for years, can you imagine what the underside looks like (if there even is an underside left)?

Kind of a side story. A couple weeks ago we had an '84 Lincoln Town Car get hauled in. The plates had expired in 1997 at 41,000 miles and has been sitting ever since. It was indoors but from the looks of it, the floor of the building was damp gravel or dirt and remember this is Wisconsin on top of it all. From the outside, the car didn't look too darn bad actually, the interior was decent but smelled really bad (mouse piss I'd guess). The guy wanted us to get it running again, fix the brakes (had none), put new tires on, etc. We had to drag it into the shop with a tow strap (doors on both side of the building) because both rear wheels were locked tight. Put it on the hoist and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,JUNK! Frame at least half gone, the trans x-member was hanging down because where it attached to the frame,,,,,,,,,,wasn't. All the brake lines and fuel lines were basically non existant. I don't mean rusty, I mean completely gone. You could literally look into the transmission through the gaping hole in the pan, one guy touched the engine oil pan and a huge chunk fell out, the rear axle cover was almost completely gone, probably could have changed the fuel pump without taking the tank out which wouldn't have been too hard since only one strap was left,,,,barely, etc, etc, etc. Never did get the hood to open. It had to be one of the worst I've ever seen anywhere. Didn't think it was even possible for a car to rust that bad. I think he got whatever scrap goes for per ton. It got picked up by one of the local yards. Turns out it was his fathers car and he passed away in '97 so it did have some sentimental value I guess.

Sorry for going off topic! lol
 
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Jack Meoff

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I've seen so many cars parked on grass or wet dirt just die.
Body doesn't look so bad but you crawl underneath and it's just dust.
 

furyfrank

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That is what is nice about Arizona most of the cars sitting on dirt are not that bad because of the dry weather.:eek:ccasion14:
 

Jack Meoff

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That is what is nice about Arizona most of the cars sitting on dirt are not that bad because of the dry weather.:eek:ccasion14:

Very true.
The difference between there and here is....down there the cars last but the interiors get toasted and up here the interiors are usually good but the body and frame are toasted. :sunny:
 

Aspen500

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Reminded me of a car that was very nice, ended up in the scrap yard.
Back in the late '80's there was a guy with a 1971 Charger, a real 440+6, 4 speed car. Something happened to the engine and he parked it next to his garage,,,,,,,,,on the grass. Wouldn't sell it because "he was going to fix it". To make it even worse, the moron covered it with one of those blue tarps. Let's see how much moisture we can trap, shall we? Anyways, the car sat there for like 20 years. Then one day I happened to spot it on a roll back from "Yaeger's Auto Salvage". I knew the people there and went to see the car. I almost cried, seriously. The underside of the car was GONE. It was sitting on the snubbers front and rear, t-bar x-member rotted away, spring shackles viewable from the trunk............ Engine locked tight, interior molded, mildewed and eaten by mice, the 6 pack carbs were nothing but blobs of corrosion, 1/4's, rockers, fenders, doors,,,,,,all rotted to hell. When parked, the car was 100% rust free (aside from normal Wisconsin surface rust on the underside bare steel parts). A total waste of a rare car because the guy was an idiot. He absolutely refused to sell it and many tried to buy it. In the end, he got $35 for it.
 

Jack Meoff

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Reminded me of a car that was very nice, ended up in the scrap yard.
Back in the late '80's there was a guy with a 1971 Charger, a real 440+6, 4 speed car. Something happened to the engine and he parked it next to his garage,,,,,,,,,on the grass. Wouldn't sell it because "he was going to fix it". To make it even worse, the moron covered it with one of those blue tarps. Let's see how much moisture we can trap, shall we? Anyways, the car sat there for like 20 years. Then one day I happened to spot it on a roll back from "Yaeger's Auto Salvage". I knew the people there and went to see the car. I almost cried, seriously. The underside of the car was GONE. It was sitting on the snubbers front and rear, t-bar x-member rotted away, spring shackles viewable from the trunk............ Engine locked tight, interior molded, mildewed and eaten by mice, the 6 pack carbs were nothing but blobs of corrosion, 1/4's, rockers, fenders, doors,,,,,,all rotted to hell. When parked, the car was 100% rust free (aside from normal Wisconsin surface rust on the underside bare steel parts). A total waste of a rare car because the guy was an idiot. He absolutely refused to sell it and many tried to buy it. In the end, he got $35 for it.

Don't even get me started.
There's a clown I've already bitched about a block away from me with a 76 Cordoba platform Charger SE rotting away in his driveway. It was possibly salvageable five years ago. Now it's toast.
 

gray07

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around here, there are a lot of cars driving down the road with no floors or badf frames, they love there salt here in town.
 

furyfrank

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On the 81 lebaron I have for sale you could go underneath it and loosen every nut with a wrench. But I guess people would rather replace floor pans and have to heat nuts so they come loose than pay for shipping OH WELL.:eusa_wall:
 

jasperjacko

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On the 81 lebaron I have for sale you could go underneath it and loosen every nut with a wrench. But I guess people would rather replace floor pans and have to heat nuts so they come loose than pay for shipping OH WELL.:eusa_wall:

Yeah Frank, that makes no sense to me either. I was happy to pay $ 1000 shipping to get a totally rust free car. Modoba still had the original exhaust system in excellent condition.
 
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