DR Rocketman… Great idea about the seat belts. I didn’t even think about that.
Bing… You might be right. I am estimating If I buy the one down the block (that is running) for 2700, the paint job and parts will end up costing me about 7k-10k. If there are engine problems then that will add a whole new world of cost to this project. Hopefully my mechanic (he is checking it out this Saturday) will be able to shed some light on what problems I will be facing. There are 2 pluses to purchasing the $2700 car. 1) I won’t have to pay 10,000 right off the bat. i could do it gradually. 2) My son and I have worked on projects before. Whether it is a model battleship, a pinewood derby car, or building a cabinet…etc. We enjoy doing things like this. Obviously this is a little bit out of my comfort zone (I am a cabinet maker), but I think we will have a blast. Maybe I will buy it and we will start it, and get discouraged and never really get anywhere, and end up junking the car. But there is a possibility we will start it and work on it, and as we complete step by step be further motivated to complete more steps. And we will talk about life, and growing up and all of the challenges we face both good and bad. And in a few years it can be awesome!!! Both our relationship and the car. Now maybe I am being a little unrealistic, but my dad who has since passed once told me if you don’t try you won’t succeed. If I am being a bit like a little girl let me know. I don’t want my son to think his dad had gone soft. Ha-Ha.
@gman86–Ford motor company began offering seat belts as an option in 1956. If seatbelts weren’t standard in 1962, I am certain that the hardware is in place to install them easily.
There is a salvage yard in Arizona called “Desert Valley Auto Parts”. They have a website and list the inventory of the cars in the yard.
As you have guessed if you read my posts, I like cars made through the mid 1960s. The early 1960s were an interesting time for the auto industry. The country had been through a recession. Through the 1950s, the cars had grown in size, but not necessarily in passenger room. The recession changed all that. The AMC Rambler models which had been available starting in 1950 and the Studebaker Lark introduced in 1959 were the right car for the right time. Ford followed with the Falcon and Mercury Comet in 1960. The larger Ramblers offered more room than the Ford Falcon, Mercury Comet, Chevrolet Corvair and Plymouth Valiant compacts. Ford understood this trend and brought out the Fairlane and Mercury Meteor in 1962. The Studebaker Lark was more intermediate size than compact size at least as far as passenger space was concerned. GM was behind in this trend and came out with the Chevy II in 1962 which was a compact car. In 1964, GM joined the bandwagon and had a whole line of intermediates–the Chevelle, the Pontiac Tempest, the Oldsmobile Cutlass and the Buick Skylark. Ironically, the intermediates were about the same size as the 1955 cars before “bigger is better” trend.
One thing to check out–on some Ford products in the early 1960s, the top of the gas tank was the floor of the trunk. If this is the case with the Mercury Meteor, be sure that the trunk floor isn’t rusted and be careful about putting heavy items in the trunk.
That car sold for about $2200 brand new…If it’s 6 cylinder 3-speed, it’s worth considerably less than a 260 V8 automatic. The car is unibody construction, there is no “frame”…So when your mechanic checks it out, have him do a careful rust damage inspection…Heavy rust around the suspension mounting points is the kiss of death for an old unibody car…Doing major rust repair is usually beyond the abilities of Father & Son restoration projects…It requires a metal fabrication shop and lots of money…
This is all great stuff.I am learning a ton of info. Both on the history of the cars, and what to look for when restoring a car. Caddyman… I will definitely check the integrity of the suspension mounting points. Thanks. Hopefully on Saturday the car checks out ok, and i make my purchase.
If there are engine problems then that will add a whole new world of cost to this project.
I’ve done quite a few restorations. The least concerning to ME is engine or drivetrain issues. That’s because I could care less about originality. If you have a strong desire for original numbers matching stuff, then maybe it adds a level of complexity and cost. But by and large, engine issues pale in comparison to the time and money spent on the frame and body work, especially if there is rot. The next most expensive thing can be trim.
Engine work is easy, everything lines back up without much trouble at all and you can do most of the work yourself. Body repair is ART and nothing lines up without coercion and lots of patience.
I didn’t think of it that way. I thought like buying a used car the engine/tranny were probably the most important things. A couple of people mentioned rust, but i thought why would rust be such a big deal? But now I understand that these cars are built on the body. If you have a rusted rotted, out body the whole project will have major difficulties.
I can’t overemphasize the rust problem potential on cars like this. These can be real rust buckets. If it has any pass.
It’s easy to gloss over the amount of work that’s going to be required when you’re standing there imagining yourself tooling down the highway in your newly restored hobby car. Then reality sets in when it’s in your garage and you start digging in and find…rot. Then you end up stripping it down to the frame and have a 10 year project that sucks up all your time and money. Don’t mean to rain on your parade but people who have been through this will want you to understand how important it is to go in with eyes wide open.
Determine what you’re trying to accomplish first. It’s almost always better to start with something solid that someone else sunk their hard earned time and money into and are now just looking to get rid of it. You can drive it around while you dink around with improvements.
Unless you have the time, money and inclination to deal with it, you want to avoid any structural rust issues. Tearing down an engine, having the block and heads refurbished by a machine shop and then rebuilding the engine can be done with a fairly rudimentary set of tools. Fixing a rotten frame, body mounts or the main body of the car is going to take specialized equipment and expertise that if you don’t have it, you’ll have to pay someone big buck$ to do it for you.
Some rust is to be expected and can be dealt with. What you’re looking to avoid are structural problems. Each car can have specific areas to watch out for that may not be obvious to the casual observer. It would be good to have someone knowledgeable there to look it over or at leasst do some research first so you know where to look.
Today was the big day. I was to go inspect the Mercury Meteor and possibly purchase it. I called the owner yesterday, and he told me forget it. the car was already sold. Someone offered 2700 for the car(asking price) and he immediately took the offer. He didn’t even call me to let me know. But I have to say I have learned quite a bit about meteors, and restoration in general. Thanks for all the posts!!
Don’t think poorly of the former owner. He may have gotten several calls. Anyone that is serious will call back as you did and find out. And the work you’ve done to get ready for the Meteor will serve you well as you look for your classic. You didn’t get a thorough inspection of it so this could be the best thing that could have happened.
My late father used to have this line for an aggressive auto salesman when the salesman would say, “At this price, the car probably won’t be here tomorrow” my dad would reply, “Well, there will always be cars”.
Pick up a copy of Hemmings at the magazine section of the bookstore. You will see all kinds of old cars advertised.
As others have suggested, bodywork is expensive. You stated that the Mercury Meteor needed a front bumper. Mercury Meteors were not real common, so that part might have been hard to find. I would recommend a complete car as far as the body is concerned.
I like old cars, particularly from the 1940s and 1950s. However, I don’t like them well enough to want to own one again.
Jtsanders. I don’t think poorly of the guy at all. The car was sitting outside for months before i even bothered to call him. I was too late. Although I am a little skeptical about how it was sold even though he knew i had made an appointment with my mechanic to look at it. Maybe there was something wrong with it and he wanted to unload it asap?
Triedaq. Thanks for the tip. I will pick up a copy of Hemmings today. Then I will have a better idea of what the price ranges are.
@gman86, it’s hard to gauge how you feel with just a few written sentences. I’m sure your good attitude will serve you well as you look for your next car.