My car's history - original miles??
I recently made contact with one of the previous owners of my car. It was the second owner who was the one who restored it. I got some interesting information but still lots of unknowns.
He bought the car in 2001 from the original owner. According to PHS the car was purchased from a dealer in MA. The story is that the original owner had a minor collision in 1974 with damage to the right rear quarter and the car was taken off the road. For some reason, the owner decided to have it repaired by a local high school body shop program. The repair was reportedly poor quality and the car sat for decades at the owners home, not driven. At some point, it lost it's original motor. Then in 2001 it came up for sale. The car was stil in MA. The guy that restored it bought it then in 2001 and eventually restored it in 2012. He said it had no rust. He had to repair the rear quarter again, correctly. Then it sat in storage until 2016 when it was sold at a Mecim auction to the guy who I bought it from who also never drove it. So the only two people that have ever actually driven the car to any extent are the original owner and me. When I got the car the odometer was at 8165. I tried to ascertain (from the guy who restored it) whether the speedometer was replaced during the restoration but never got an answer on that question. Based on the story, as told, I'm wondering if that was the actual mileage on the car? Really, it's just a point of curiosity because there's no way I could ever prove that without some kind of documentation, but it is an interesting question to me. There are some problems with the idea though. First, if that is the real history of the car, why did it lose the original motor? Sure, it could have had a catastrophic failure. Or, maybe the original owner sold the motor because he wasn't using the car. Second, when I got the car it had a 4.88 rear gear in it. I suppose the original owner may have had a reason to do that. Maybe drag racing, which could explain why the original motor is gone. But, I guess a car that was just used for fun and drag racing may well have had low miles?? OTOH, when I got the car, it had a bent right rear axle. That would be consistent with a right rear quarter collision. Also, if that were the case, if the car had a bent axle and was being driven, that surely would have come to light. So the fact that it still had this bent rear axle when I got the car would suggest that it really hasn't been driven since the accident in 1974. Anyway, I just thought the whole thing was moderately interesting. It would be kinda cool if the car really is an 8000 mile car. I'd like to learn more about this but unfortunately, I'm probably not going to get any more information at this point. So that's that. |
Interesting. Was the original motor gone before the 'minor collision' or maybe tagged the wall while racing?
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Are there any restoration photos? That may shed some light. Is the interior all original?
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I'd say that with the 4.88 gear the speedo was disconnected.
Also if the tranny is not original, the new tranny may not have the correct cable or gear for the speedo to read correctly. Another thing is that the back of the speedo cluster may have a date. If the date is off it could have been replaced. :) |
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That is interesting. It's always cool to hear the history of an old muscle car, even if it's not one you own. I don't understand why it's hard to get a lot of "previous owners" to talk about them.
I'd be confident the 4:88's had something to do with the original engine leaving the motor compartment. Just curious did the bent axle cause a vibration? That's a good example of why one needs a professional making the repairs. The shop teacher never gave the axle a thought. |
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Then she says "I don't know, maybe it's supposed to be that way?". LOL. So, no it didn't vibrate which was a surprise to me. I had my friend drive the car down the road so I could see it and the wheel wobble was quite dramatic. I couldn't believe that I didn't feel it at all. But, just like it was pointed out to me, I don't think anyone could have driven a car around like that and not become aware of it somehow. |
Your car's backstory is similar to mine except it has allegedly 12k on it.
I haven't done any investigating and am highly skeptical but it was a pretty good deal even if it was 112k. There just isn't t/a's like this in my part of the world that weren't driven like hell over the years. I wonder if it was a drag car cuz the original motor was long gone as well. Do you have the classic cracks at the front/top of yer sail panel to indicate body flexing from drag racing? I still need to do the PHS but just like yers, shrouded in mystery so I will be watching yer investigation! |
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Also, no cracks at the sail panel. |
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Funny thing is the only reason I even knew the guy's name was because the guy I bought the car from never had it titled in his name. I got the title that was signed over by the previous owner. |
Having looked at many many low mile cars at the dealership only days to 5 years old, the first place I would look on a " low mile car" would be for retainer clips on the rear wheel studs. Then I may pull the rear drums. Having seen a ton of factory brake shoes., This is easy. Most these cars made it past the 5/50 warranty with original rear brakes. Obviously pedal pad wear is another.
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We never pulled those drums on cars under 20k miles but did test the ebrake. |
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If the car was involved in an accident attributed to a mechanical defect, the records may be examined by the state police. If the car was resold, and the inspection sticker was illegally affixed as determined by a state police officer, you as the mechanic that affixed that sticker are liable. Having a state inspection station, and being a licensed mechanic in PA has a lot of demands, and consequences, if the inspection was found to be illegal or fraudulent. Plus all the record keeping that goes along with the responsibility. In PA it's a necessary evil if you run a garage, or work as a mechanic. Without the inspection license, you stand to lose a lot of customer base. At least 50% of the work done, is generated from state inspections. Not living in PA since 1999, I don't miss the aggravation a bit. |
The classic signs of body flex from drag racing?! Or just a car without a full chassis driven normally.
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Almost all of these cars develop those cracks in the upper rear corner of the side window. Torsional loads into the body are worse just hitting a good single wheel pot hole than they would be from typical drag racing. |
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