Finding a Project

[DrewFace]

Anyone have any advice on ways to go about finding a project vehicle? I've been religiously searching craigslist, ebay, etc... for months now. Posted a couple want ads here and there and no luck so far finding the project i want within my budget. I'm not acquainted with anyone in my area who really does any sort of car building/customizing either, especially classics.

So are there any good websites you always check first? Magazines? Printed traders? Car shows? Or do most ppl find their projects through the grapevine?

Does anyone know anyone around the central FL area I could get in touch with for some help?

Thanks for the help guys! Hopefully this can help me and others find their dream project.

 

[Crossfire]

project find

I find deals on craigslist all the time,what is the budget you got to work with? the Sumter Swapmeet is the 2nd of Jan and you should be able to find something there.Another thing that helps is look on different cities on Craigslist and also just punch in on the computer Hotrod projects for sale and you will be surprised at the deals you will find.remember this is Fla. so make sure whatever you get the tilte is legit,bill of sale doesn"t cut it at the DMV.PM me if you need directions to the swapmeet.

 

[Blue Eyed Devil]

What are you looking for and what's your budget? Realistically of course...

 

[earthman]

Unfortunatly you probably live in the state with the least amout of old tin available. I'm with Crossfire on Craigs. Check the listings for cities in GA nearest you.

 

[PhilJohnson]

I've found a metric crap load of project cars on craigslist. I got 5 cars made before 1965 in my driveway right now that I've bought on craigslist all for under 650 bucks. They all run too I use search tempest and search mulitple areas at once. That seems to give me the best results.

 

[Mike S.]

I know you said you're not acquainted with any car guys in your area but word-of-mouth can be incredibly powerful. Are there any hot rod or auto body shops in your area? If so, drop by and ask around. If you see a dude in a custom or muscle car at the store or gas station strike up a conversation and tell 'em what you're looking for. You never know. I've found crazy deals on Craigslist. As Crossfire suggested, check CL in different cities around you. Look for estate sales in the paper, online or CL. Running want ads on CL as you've done is a good idea too. I never pass up photo shoppers or other free papers at the grocery store. The funnest way is to gas up your rig on a nice day and start driving around and looking. Check rural areas and alleyways. It's usually safer for me to have my wife drive since I tend to swerve off the road a lot when looking for old cars. Also, I've found that it's best to have cash ready to roll in case you find your project on CL and have to chase it at a moment's notice! And when trying to convince someone that they need to sell you their old car out of their side yard cash is usually convincing! Keep your eyes and ears open and keep searching; when you least expect it you'll find it. Good luck!

 

[Shea Laking]

Geez, it sounds to me that living in FLA has nothing to offer the car guy except bikinis and no snow in February...

All kidding aside, where there is civilisation, there are old cars, trucks and machinery. Even here, in the rustbelt hell where I live, you still occasionally see old cars or trucks parked right out where you can see 'em, even in people's driveways or sideyards. Sometimes, even left out in plain view quite near the road, where they stopped for the last time.

I would agree that the most "fun" way to find an old heap to rebuild would be to burn some gas and just go looking. There's no real magic to it, mostly just luck and educated guesstimation. For example-If you live in a highly developed urban centre, you certainly aren't going to find a '57 Bel Air rusting away at the curb on three flat tires, or a Deuce Coupe lounging in the side yard of your next door neighbour's bungalow. Most city centres nowadays have by-laws which force car guys to hide the good stuff, or it gets towed off for scrap.

So, what are you to do? Drive around the more economically depressed areas of a large city. Look in the outskirts, where development has passed the world by. Look in the industrial and small business areas, where frequently small, long-time private garages and towing companies have lived for decades. The remains of a stripped-out '52-'53 GM 2-ton firetruck sat behind a small strip mall with a body shop and a couple of mechanic's shops in it not two minutes from my house...It sat there for close to two years, before it finally disappeared one day. The cab was MINT, I'm STILL kicking myself I didn't go and ask who it belonged to...

Get a little outside the city, if you can. Rural areas often offer a MUCH better chance of finding old tin, simply because more space to spread out and (generally) more relaxed by-laws and regulations mean folks just don't have to get rid of stuff "right this second." On the other hand, don't expect Farmer Joe to give away that low-mileage old sedan beside the barn for peanuts. Country don't mean dumb and in many cases, country fellas are more savvy to the value of mechanical things than city folks.

Best of luck with your hunt. Try to enjoy the journey of getting that old car as an experience and remember, "good things come to those who wait."

Regards,
Shea

 

[skull]

project in florida

l found these in about 5 minutes on jacksonville CL and charleston craigslist l also looked all over in the florida CL and found a LOT more, priced from almost give away to way to much..


32 ford roadster project - $4000 (lakecity)

1964 Chevrolet Chevelle SS ***PROJECT*** - $6000 (Camden Co.)

1948 Dodge 2 door sedan rat rod project - $1000 (op)

Dec 21 - 1928 FORD COUPE V8 PROJECT CAR $16,900. OR OFFERS, - (ORANGE CITY

1953 Chevy Sedan Panelwagon (PROJECT) - $2800 (NORTHSIDE)

65 mustang project car - $500 (wellborn,fl)

1966 Mustang Coupe Project - (Jax)

Dec 7 - 71 CAMARO DRAG PROJECT - $2500 (SOUTHSIDE)

57 bel air project and more -

Project Corvette, eleanor,rollback ,fairlane - $1 (nc)

1950 FORD F-1 1/2 TON P/U - $2000 (RIDGEVILLE,SC)

***52 HENRY J. - $3500 (MARYVILLE TENNESSEE)

1950 MERCURYS PROJECT CARS - $1 (CHESTER SC)

project cars (moncks corner s.c.) 59 ford panel,1950 2dr pontiac

hope this helps. theres a lot of stuff out there, also ask to trade if you have something of value, worst they can do is say no.

Later

 

[CR55]

I know this sounds crazy, but check in the yards of any big constuction company's. We have a few up here and they all have at least 1 old truck sitting in the yard somewhere. Go to Ebay motors and type in project car or truck....many to choose from there. Good luck with your search!...CR

 

[Willowbilly3]

My advice would be to get out of the house and away from the computer and go look for something. I know I am blessed to live where there's lots of old tin but I don't find it on the computer or in the want ads. I find it where it's sitting. Good luck.

 

[darkk]

Well, I lived in Florida for a few years. There are no good cars lying around there for sure. Try downloading this program. CraigsPal_FREE_v4.5.1_win At least it will enable you to chose what states and cities you want to check in all at once instead of individually. I found lots of stuff in surrounding states down south. 2 days ride for me each way. Only a day or less for you. good luck.

 

[Torch]

Good car shopping involves hunting skills, a knowledge of how people thing and act, and a predatory instinct.
Remember this... no matter how little you have to work with or how bad you want something, other people have alot of blood and sweat money tied up in their cars.
If it's something nicer than you can afford it's most likely at some point they worked harder and longer and wanted it more than you do. It's expected that they're going to want to get some of that back when they sell it so don't let it get you down.
Most often it takes awhile to find a good deal on something someone has had enough of.
I have rarely found a smoking deal by going out to get one. opportunity is one of those things that happens right now and you have to be ready for it.
so the best advice I can offer is to have an idea of the KIND of vehicle you want without having a firm decision made on what make or model. look at alot of cars and know what you like so you don't end up like "meh...wish i wouldn't have spent my money on this thing, that's what I was really wanting".

Making money on a sale or taking a loss is a decision that spins around a few questions
Do I need to sell it, how soon, am I trying to make a little on this or free up cash I can use on something else more profitable?
If you have that money on hand you'll be in a position to take advantage of that guy who was selling high and decided to take a loss to get on a better deal or sometimes just to pay bills.

Taking advantage isn't a bad thing if it's an honest exchange all on the table no lies. Your just taking advantage of his need and providing him with what he needs, that's a good thing.
since everything we might want or need doesn't just fall in our lap, every aspect of life is exploiting a need. It's only a bad thing when it's a shady deal, lies are told and a man's word is not kept.
A deal is a deal and only what's in the open and on the table is part of the deal.

$2,000 taken for a $5,000 car...that $2,000 is worth a lot more right now to the seller than that $5,000 later if it means keeping the house out of foreclosure one more month.
The value of a dollar or anything is relative to how much you want it or need it.
the more ready you are to pounce on a good deal(that yo really want), the richer you will be.
The higher you keep your aspirations, the more respect you'll have for your own money.
when you start throwing it around on petty things or things you haven't planned on you stop valuing it and it runs through your fingers and does less work for you.

 

[Willowbilly3]

And make sure you buy something with an open clear title that is in the sellers name. Don't hand over any money if the title isn't in your hand.

 

[acourtjester]

more info please

Hi Darkk
I goolged the link you posted and this is what came up
your post only????? Please supply more info!

have fun

 

[Torch]

It will come up if you search for craigspal.
but anyway id your running firefox there are several craigslist searching add ons
One gives you a pre fetch of the images with thumbnails in the list and another gives you a sidebar with other cities to check for the same search and there are others all for free. forefox is opensource and works in linux and windows and lets you do alot more with more freedom than the commercially oriented internet explorer. windows likes to give you the basic critter and then license out to third parties to write all the fun stuff that works with it then they get royalities.
Linux is open sourced and community driven. people are free to write any software they want, sell or give it away to anyone and make it work even to modify other peopels software and sell it or give it away. Microsoft prevents that with windows and internet explorer... control means privileges,exclusivity, scarcity and $$$ revenue $$$.
copyright not only insures Microsoft will profit from everything designed to work with windows...it insures you can only use the software as bill gates and the government think that you should.
it keeps the back doors open for the man and keeps the money rolling in the front door for the Bill.
Open source is what they call copy lefted. the license says everyone is free to copy modify distribute and enjoy the software and they cannot restrict anyone elses rights to do the same concerning anythign they create out of code protected under that license.
It is more free...free as in beer and free as in speech.
Actually Bill gates and other capitalists took what was previously open, community developed, but not protected and changed it enough to call it their own and take it over.
These languages were developed out of public and private effort involving public money, private investment, and volunteer effort.
The internet started this way. Public money was used to create the net which was publicly owned but not available to the public because it was defense related.
When they opened the internet to public access they allowed private industry to invest and add privately owned networks tot he public network so long as they did not discriminate on content or who or where the traffic was going to or coming from.
This is original Net neutrality and it already exists since the creation of the internet. some telecoms ignore the rules and the rules are not enforced.
The recent regulation being pushed called net neutrality is the opposite of the protections of original net neutrality. what they are calling net neutrality legislation opens the door for corporations to censor, discriminate, and sell favoritism.
The reason "Net Neutrality" legislation has come tot the table at all is the telecoms were pushing for a complete privatization of the public internet and the "Net Neutrality" bill is a compromise between true neutrality and industry privilege.

The thing to remember here is that the internet was and still does belong to the people.
It was never private, it was developed with public money.
A great deal of private capacity has been voluntarily added to this network by industry, by our government and other governments but the ISP's only hold the privilege of charging for access to the public net, they cannot own it regardless the value or % of their investment.

The private networks have been trying to take control of the public domain or at least remove the restrictions requiring user anonymity and prohibiting discrimination.
It has already happened with computer code.
That's where Linux came from. the users got mad when their free (speech) languages they used to communicate with the computers got taken over by corporations and users got sued fined and thrown in jail for "violating copyrights"
It's not what you are being led to believe is really going on
I grew up in the telecommunications industry and I study it to some degree. I can't code but I kinda know how it works, My dad started out as a radioman on the Saratoga. He was a 3rd tier executive with Us West and retired out when Quest took over. that means his postion was 3 steps down from the chief executive level. If anyone knows anything about TIRKS he supervised the implementation.

 

[Crossfire]

Iron just waiting.

There is plenty of stuff to choose from here in Fla but 80% of it isn"t listed for sale,you just have to do a road trip every now and then,stay away from the big cities,bout all you"ll find there are gold-chainers and car-flippers.I know of at least 10 different cars and a couple of pickups within 20 miles of my house.Just stop and ask,hell if you get told no move on to the next deal.If you are on the east coast look on Daytona craigslist,there is a guy that has been trying to get rid of some descent projects for awhile. and there is a 47 Chevy 2-door,running car on the Gainsville craigslist for $3000 and its a driver.You still have not said what your budget is so all this is no good without knowing what you got to spend and what you expect.

 

[darkk]

craigspal sucks....craigslist reader is much better and easier to use.

 

[ratdog]

Some of the scrap yards have stuff sitting around, there is a very small local one that has 2 trucks from the 40th,several 50th cars and a 60 something 122 Volvo that looks great.So they got dropped off for scrap,but they will sell them .

 

[DrewFace]

Thanks for all the responses

Thanks everyone for all the responses....im gonna try and get back at ppl personally in a few days (I'm home for the holidays and only have Edge Internet acres via my phone, no 3G haha). Anyway I'll def try doing a little more searching, socializing, and keeping my eyes peeled.
For those of you who asked, looking for a early 50s chevy pickup project. But I'd really settle for anything in the late 40s early 50s that I like the body style of. I'd like it to be something thy already has some upgrade work done, new engine, rear end, power steering brakes etc... Cuz I want it to be a semi-daily driver. I didnt post it in the original post cuz I didn't want this to be like a "want ad" but if anyone has something like that, def PM me. Budget...if I could find something for a couple-few thousand dollars I'd be ecstatic but I could go up to $4K right now, more if I sell or do some trading my "old" car (96 Mitsubishi eclipse custom). Something tells me no one on here would be interested in that tho, haha.
Thanks again for all the help, I'm gonna def get in touch with some of you when I get back home. Merry Christmas!

 

[Willowbilly3]

It might be worth your time to hook up a trailer and take a 2-3 day road trip. Too bad you aren't closer, there are AD chevys all over this area. I know of one 49 GMC 1/2 ton shortbed that is a good straight old truck. It was running when parked about 25 years ago and the engine is still free. Clean title and it could be bought for way less than $1000.