Learn me something old from Detroit

This would be my choice. I like the roof line of the 4 door better than the 2 door.

I really want to find a 38 dodge brothers sedan or one of its stable mates. Put it on a 2wd 5-speed dodge cummins diesel chassis and be happy man. Bonus points if I could make the 3 on the tree work as 5 on the tree.

Well, if you could go 1960's automatic, I've got a '65 Olds Delta 88 sedan I'm willing to part with. Bought it early this summer with the exact same intentions you listed. Summer cruiser to take the kids to the ice cream shop. But it just never worked out. We never found the time to run it around. I think we used it twice, the rest of the time, it just sat in the garage. Big enough for 6 inside, and another 13 in the trunk... 425ci, 310hp/425tq. Original owner had it from '65 to '08. Only thing I've done to it since I got it was have a local mechanic put 5 seatbelts in it. I've got a bunch of misc parts with it too. Kids really want me to keep it, even the wife wants me to. I just don't see the point in letting it sit in my garage though.

In reply to Klayfish:

One of my favourite non-Cadillacs of the 1960s. If I had the space I'd be all over it.

Everything else from the 50s pales IMO. Unfortunately, 2-door versions are real hard to come by.

Is there any hope for the stock suspensions on 50s barges? Or is the chasis swap the only way to go to make them turn?

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: This would be my choice. I like the roof line of the 4 door better than the 2 door.

Agreed 100%. All the big sixes, 308 in particular, sound fantastic uncorked. I'll take mine with twin H power and patina, please! Link.

Klayfish: that really is a neat rig, I wish I were a buyer with a LOT of room. God help me if I ever strike it rich.

Paging patgizz for kreb's Q about handling, I'm curious as well. Modern radials, good shocks, and maybe a sway bar or two bastardized from something else should go a long way. Then what? (Lawd, I do love me some Panamerica classics...)

ValuePack wrote: Paging patgizz for kreb's Q about handling, I'm curious as well. Modern radials, good shocks, and maybe a sway bar or two bastardized from something else should go a long way. Then what? (Lawd, I do love me some Panamerica classics...)

i went aftermarket. for a while i ran stock and did not care for it. the 49-54 leaf sprung gm's are same width perch to perch as 2nd gen f bodies and the rear literally bolts in with 2 holes to drill, and any sway bar for same f body is easy to adapt.

i'm probably going to be working with stock chassis on the next one unless i can't sell the 96 blazer i'm fixing to resell, otherwise it'll go on a stretched blazer chassis with a 4.3 vortec and fuel injection

heres next under my deranged knife

oh ya, i vote for a hudson hornet too, so cool.

Another! What's the plan for this one?

I don't think I'd do a chassis swap on either a Hudson or a Studebaker. The Hudson was known as one of the best handling cars of its day and the late 50s Studebakers were likewise much better than the big three for chassis.

'55 Studebaker. '55-ish Crown Vic. '64 Impala I already have a "mid year" Corvette :).

Chassis swap on a Hudson??

The reason it was so fast (even with it's 6 cylinder) was it is unibody. Chassis swap is a great way to destroy the best thing about the car. What would it be?- hack the body off the pan and drop it on a modern chassis? Yuck!

Hudson Hornet- winnningest car in Nascar history!

Chassis swap on a Hudson is about the equivalent of adding 500 lbs to a Yugo, or stretching a Mini, or putting 22's on a Miata, or hydraulics on a Lotus. Ruins the best thing about the car.

Mmm, a Miata donk.

Completely agree about doing a chassis swap on a Hudson. It would be super hard AND ruin the car.

But if you needed to replace the 308 or other L head 6, I hear Ford made a torque monster big 6 that sounds pretty epic uncorked.

ValuePack wrote: Another! What's the plan for this one?

right now i'm thinking - aussie ute style conversion...

That reeks of awesome, your build threads always read like the Penthouse forum.

Klayfish wrote: Well, if you could go 1960's automatic, I've got a '65 Olds Delta 88 sedan I'm willing to part with. Bought it early this summer with the exact same intentions you listed. Summer cruiser to take the kids to the ice cream shop. But it just never worked out. We never found the time to run it around. I think we used it twice, the rest of the time, it just sat in the garage. Big enough for 6 inside, and another 13 in the trunk... 425ci, 310hp/425tq. Original owner had it from '65 to '08. Only thing I've done to it since I got it was have a local mechanic put 5 seatbelts in it. I've got a bunch of misc parts with it too. Kids really want me to keep it, even the wife wants me to. I just don't see the point in letting it sit in my garage though.

how much? where?

In reply to ValuePack:

Here is your car 1952 Hudson - $3500 (santa rosa)

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/2720084315.html

Go older, Cord 810/812

lThat one's been for sale for a while. The "minimal rust claim may not be acurate.

I know there's the race pedgree, but they look pretty massive. Any idea of weight?

In reply to GTwannaB:

Yes! Yeeeeees! Now where the hell's my briefcase of large, unmarked bills?

I dig Cords too, of course. It's just hard to justify the buy in price when I'd rather own a home.

In reply to kreb:

From what I can find, the four door Commodore 8 auto was the porkiest of the bathtub Hudsons at around 3800lbs., about what you'll see from a '59 Impala V8. Subtract weight accordingly for straight six, manual transmissions, and fewer doors.

3800 sounds a little light for a '59 Imp.

I've got a '60 Elky ( similar to the Imp wit smaller wings, no back seat, and the back of the roof cut off). It weighs 4008 lbs. It does have a V-8 and auto, but only 2 doors.

Fair enough. The crap thing about finding weights online for anything this old is the variety of conflicting information and lack of equipment included between sites. "Roundabout" seems to be it. I find everything from 3550(I6 3spd Biscayne) to 4150(348 powerglide wagon) for '59. So uh... ~3800lbs +/-300 for '59.

Pics of this Elky? If I have a soft spot for anything of the late '50s, it's for the '59 Chevys, a close second for '60. It's something I gleaned from my mum, who was a Chev nut up through the '70s. She loves to tell the story about putting one of those beautiful fins from the family '59 through the front porch of her parent's house in driver's ed.

Understood. Wasn't criticizing, just feeding a little more info into the mix.

Pics of my Elky are in my profile.

SVreX's profile

I'm probably getting close to the point of being prepared to sell it, if that soft spot is really itchin'!