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you arent listening.

Let's try again. there is NO SUCH THING AS A 'CHEAP PROJECT CAR'.

I strongly advise against anyone of modest means getting involved in trying to bring back from the dead ANY old car, ESPECIALLY something as expensive to fix up as a Packard, ANY Packard.

For the simple and SAD reason, that so many of them dont have the GUTS to see it thru, and we wind up with still another SALVAGEABLE car torn apart and lost to the world forever.

Of course there are exceptions to that, and hopefully, this fellow who is looking to duplicate his grandfather's "120" will 1) find something AND
2) STICK with it thru the hard, frustrating
and obscenely expensive process of getting
it to the point where he can enjoy it.

All I can do, as someone with just a BIT of experience in these matters, is to HOPE he will consider the ideas he has seen in here (ALL of the ideas), and wish him the best of luck !

Pete,

You have stated your point multiple times. Lets move along, and let Hank have his thread back. Sometimes people enjoy the processes of bringing a car back from the dead. It's not the destination, it's the journey.

John - work on your reading disability. Let's try it again, slow. I dont want a 100 point car. I dont have the money for a 100 point car. If I had the money, I wouldn't spend it on making my car a 100 pointer!.

If I had one, I would only mess it up! The last couple of miles to my ranch are on dirt roads that are little more than cow-tracks (the kinds of roads our pre-war Packards were designed for).

And where in HELL did you get the idea I brag about my car? Again, work on your reading disability. When I am invited to old car shows, mine is usually the "doggiest" one there. Now, my personal prejudice, is that we who drive our Packards have the most fun with them...but that's been discussed before.

Got it now ? How many times do I have to repeat that before you "get" it ?

Except for a high speed rear axle, a paint job that I did myself about thirty years ago (tried to do it like the Packard factory - tore it all apart, upholstery panels off the doors, fenders and hood off, used nitro lacqueer, colors from 1938 Packard paint chips, used a 1930's era type spray gun) some re-chroming and an engine over-haul, IT IS BONE STOCK AND AS DELIVERED. Upholstery, dash, etc, is all orig. (radio and clock work) Makes for a fine 20 footer ! Now that the paint is getting a bit on the "ratty" side, some people think it is an "original"! Makes me feel good about that..(that I "did it right"). Some of these fancy show cars have modern paint finishes..MUCH shinier than possible then with 1930's paint chemistry and paint technology - but, heck, it's a free country.

I dont know this Miller fellow, but from what you tell me (that he actually drives and enjoys a high pointer) THREE CHEERS FOR HIM !

by cheap i meant cheap to buy initially....as in cheap to buy....project car to work on over time....as in i can give you 500 bucks or whatever for your beater....and then i can start my journey that Kev is talking about......maybe YOU should work on YOUR reading disability....

good grief!! i feel bad for even opening up this thread....

Cli55er, I'm afraid this may have happened to you:




Good luck on your search for the coupe, I wish you lots of luck, and damn what anyone says!!

Cli55er, I thought Kevin said it eloquently when he said "it's not the destination, it's the journey". If you're got the wherewithall, find your car try to fulfill your dream - there are a million wonderful stories like that in this hobby.

Turbo is SO right - getting involved with a project car IS a "can of worms". He "said it all" far better & simplier than I did.

Turbo and the rest of us have given this fellow our best advice on what he is getting into, and if he STILL wants to take a shot at it, more power to him! Many guys HAVE "pulled it off", and after MANY years and LOTS of money, have gotten what they want out of the hobby.

I forgot to add something - RELAX, guys - if John needs to pick on my particular car - that's fine. I have no problem with that IF it helps bring out useful info. for the initiator of any given "thread".

Fact is, as I have noted earlier, I wasn't financially able to take my own advice when I bought my Packard ! Yeah, I paid twenty five bucks for it. But by the end of the year, (and working hard in a construction job), I'd spent well over another hundred bucks on chrome and paint.

So there is plenty of truth on both sides. DAMN..do I ever WISH I had seventy five bucks to play around with - would have bought that MINT MINT MINT '35 Packard Twelve LeBaron town car. A year or so later, I DID have seventy five bucks, and bought that MINT MINT MINT Cad. V-16 discussed elsewhere. Made a TREMENDOUS profit on it a year after that-sold it for FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS!

So you can make money on buying cars, but again, better to start out with a nice one. (oh, by the way, my Cad V-16; it is now back east somewhere, on the "auction circuit" - someone told me it went for close to a quarter million dollars!).

Buying, restoring a car is like any other hobby it cost money takes time and is enjoyable. If its what you want to do then by all means do it. Any hobby or leisure activity takes money you are the best person to determine how much is the right amount for you. The good thing about any old car is you will more than likely spend a lot of time at home or wherever the project is located. With that part of the project you will be close to your family maybe only a wall or two seperating you from them. Your better half will be close by. Your children may or may not enjoy your hobby / habit. You will be remember as the guy who had the old Packard or whatever long after you have completed it. You will have the memories of having done all the little projects that happen during the work. You will be able to pass that information on to sites like this and others. Its a learning experience which will cost money but has rewards you can't put a price on. All hobbies cost a lot more money than you think they will in the beginning. My opinion is that I'm worth what it costs. The bottom line is ask others opinion but do what you think is correct for your situation.

Here are a couple of project cars, both appear to be at the same place in Canada:

1935 Packard Coupe w/rumble seat, $3,500:http://www.oldride.com/classic_cars/606169.html

1938 Packard Club Coupe, $6,000:http://www.oldride.com/classic_cars/911314.html