Advice on where to start for Kustom

[KingKron]

Hi,

I've finally got some cash together and I'm in search of a 54-57 Special/Century/Roadmaster. Ultimately I want to do a bunch of customizations (not myself - not really a technical person) and I'm wondering what sort of thing I should start with.

Should I get a wreck in a yard somewhere for as little $$ as possible, or start with a complete original with no missing parts? There must be a sweet spot here somewhere for this?

Here's the car I'm envisioning:
- Good interior, if the original is fine I'm not dying to change it.
- Disc brakes all around
- Tighter suspension and steering

Actually, that's the main ones. Ultimately I can imagine doing some engine work, mostly to get more performance out of the Nailhead, but I'm not really anticipating dropping in a crate or anything. I've thought about having it bagged, frenching the antenna and shaving the handles, not sure though.

Mostly I want to get to a great 50's Buick, with a solid body and updating safety (brakes) and drivability. Oh yeah, might want fuel injection too for these Vancouver winters. (Not rainy, just cold.)

Thoughts?

[Bob]

I always say, buy the best car you can afford. You don't want a rust bucket. From you description, I would buy something that doesn't "need" any work and start from there, perhaps and older good restoration.

[chub chub]

I do restorations for a living and I agree with Bob. Especially in todays market. There are great deals to be had. Restorations are very expensive. Most people don't understand how much work is involved in a total restoration. There are ALWAYS surprises when you start to tear apart a 50 plus year old car.

Get the best you can afford and plan to make the changes you want after you've driven it a bit. However, if money is no object, it doesn't matter as much. If you have the money and are willing to part with it, you'll get the most bang for the buck by starting with the best car you can afford and then doing all the work at one time. It saves starting and stopping on a project. A project that is worked on consistently will cost much less than one that is done in stages.

If you want to get your work done in Portland Oregon let me know.

[Special_Deluxe]

Hi,

I've finally got some cash together and I'm in search of a 54-57 Special/Century/Roadmaster. Ultimately I want to do a bunch of customizations (not myself - not really a technical person) and I'm wondering what sort of thing I should start with.

Should I get a wreck in a yard somewhere for as little $$ as possible, or start with a complete original with no missing parts?

Answer: Neither of the above.

You want a straight rust free car, period. If you're gonna paint the car, get one with bad paint. Re-do the interior? Get one with an interior ripped to shreds. Engine, suspension, brakes- why pay for good parts when it's all going to ripped out anyway?

The desert boneyards out west are full of straight, rustfree body-and-frame combos just waiting to be brought back to life. Or buy someone else's incomplete, half-taken-apart resto or Custom project; as long as the bodywork has been (correctly) done, it's a perfect "blank canvas" for whatever you want to do to it. Either way, it's one more neat old car back on the road, and one less "clunker" sent to the crusher

PLEASE try not to start with a nice original, there's not many left and they'll not be building new ones any time soon My 2.2 cents.

[nailheadnut]

Buy the nicest (most complete) '57 Century Caballero you can find that needs motor, transmission, and interior.

[chub chub]

Or buy someone else's incomplete, half-taken-apart resto or Custom project; as long as the bodywork has been (correctly) done, it's a perfect "blank canvas" for whatever you want to do to it.

Buying an "incomplete, half-taken-apart resto or Custom project" can be a disaster. You never know what's missing and you don't know what materials were used or if they were used properly. People will do the strangest things to cars to save time or money, or just because they don't know how to do some things correctly.

We had one customer bring us a 34 Buick that he had taken to another shop before ours. I don't know the whole story, (it came into our shop before I started working there) but, from what I understand the owner had over $80,000 dollars into this thing at the other shop. It was completely blown apart and in pieces and boxes. The thing was a disaster and the customer was always upset with us over how much this restoration was costing him. We got the car about 85% done when he finally threw in the towel and sold it to his brother, or at least that's what he told us.

Start with the best car you can, but always expect to find things that are unexpected. Pick a shop before you get the car and if you can, have them look at it prior to buying it.

However, I also agree with Special Deluxe about not chopping up a nice original. I like to see cars that have made it this long in stock condition stay in stock condition.