Woodync87

Good evening all,


I've recently stumbled across a pretty good condition (at least from the Craigslist photos) '54 4-door Savoy. I've been wanting an older Mopar, and a 4-door will work great for me as my other classic is a 2-seater (280z).


I'm just looking for advice from other Mopar guys on what to look for aside from the normal things that come with older cars. The car has the 3-speed standard, but I'm not sure if it's a 217 or 230 engine. It's here in the California high-desert, so rust is minimal. It'll need tires, and other than the 6.70x15 specified on Allpar I can't find the exact tire size to get a good price estimate. The body is in excellent shape, though due for a respray on one quarter panel and a few chrome bits missing. I've done paint before, so this'll give me a chance to practice a bit more bodywork. The current owner replaced much of the normal maint. items like plugs, wires, pumps etc.


Price is $3,800, I'm hoping to negotiate in to mid-3's. Any advice from you all will be greatly appreciated, and any tips on good cross-country transporters will be appreciated as well. I'm in the Marines and stationed in Twentynine Palms currently, but will be headed home to N.C. around July. Thanks for your time!

RacerHog

First off... Welcome to the site!..... Next order of Biz is Thank You for your service's, And for the Freedoms you fight for.
Sounds like a fairly good deal and somewhat of a nice car... Almost sounds like you could drive it home...lol

I take it you have not taken leave and have gone to see it yet? I think thats a 1-1/2 drive from the base?

Sounds like about the rite asking price from what you have described. But I think I would want to test drive it to see if it even moves, stops, and steers myself. But maybe those are part of what keeping it sitting around... :0

Check with one of our Members here on the Site. (Or Maybe he will just jump in) Cargy Might know of a transportation company you might call for a long haul?

Keep us posted if you get it or not....

Woodync87

RacerHog, thanks for the kind words! It's not too far of a trip from base, around a 90 mile straight-shot. But with the type of terrain and nasty, pot hole filled roads of SoCal I'd rather tow it than risk the trip on old tires and an expired tag. I'll be making the trip this weekend and giving it a thorough test-drive.

Do classic cars in California require an inspection? I'll be doing mostly local driving, so if the tires aren't too bad I might get around on them for a bit, unless an inspection would deem them unsafe.

RacerHog

No... Not in Cali. like other states..We kind of get to police are self's in that respect. But it does have to be safe for the road.. One caution,,, Check for a clean title, will make it easier to transfer you as the new owner... Good Luck... Take lots of picture... Maybe can help somemore...

moe7404

i found a listing of the 54 ply . looks like the 3 ply models have the 217. engine. and did NOT have V8 that year. and putting a V8 in is not easy. putting a 60s carter 2 bbl on is not hard. but you have to make a custom adapter, and carb linkage. you cant bore out the stock intake, cause of heat pasages in the stock intake. and cold weather operation will be iffy, cause of no heated manifold.

Woodync87

I spoke to the current owner today (I've mostly been texting him), the only non-working things he mentions are that the radio turns on, but no sound (probably just the speaker) and that the gas gauge moves around wildly. I'm not sure how hard it'll be to source a fuel level sender for this, but I don't imagine it'd be too difficult to replace. I've done that before, and I managed to breathe life into the radio in my Z car so a speaker replacement isn't out of the ordinary for me.


Racerhog, here are some photos of the car from his advertisement. Given that it needs a fuel sender, some radio work and tires I'm hoping that I'll be able to negotiate with him a good bit. Needs paint on the drivers rear quarter, but he's supposedly got all of the chrome bits. I'm actually excited to practice some bodywork, I'll probably go with a nice emerald or British racing green on the car. We've got a paint booth on base, so one weekend might go towards throwing some paint on it. I had also thought about a nice solid black, but with the current increase in the "rat-rod" fad I'm tempted to steer clear of it. I like the look, but it feels overdone now.


He mentioned as well that it was a daily-driver up until the tags expired, with the lack of renewal being due to the fact that he's got another Plymouth he's working on, along with a 210 Chevy and a 50's Ford. Apparently his wife isn't a fan of all the projects, ha!

RacerHog

Appears and sounds like a good project.... I'd go for a drive in it...
Sound worth the asking price...
If you get the drivetrian all in order (Drive, Stop and Steer)
Get the odds and end...
Put it in the paint booth....
I think you will have a really cook ride...

Woodync87

So I bought it! I was a bit hesitant at first, due to the age of the vehicle, but once I drove it and after a bit of debating with friends at the local In n Out I decided on purchasing it. I was able to get the price down to a more reasonable level, so that helped the decision as well.


All in all the car is in good shape. If I were to go by NADA retail for condition it'd be somewhere in the middle of Average, which would put it close to $4,200 . The only things that really need to be worked on are like I mentioned earlier with the fuel gauge and the dash lights as well. Interior needs a headliner, and some odds and ends for trim. The exterior needs the passenger side chrome for the doors, and I'm going to probably just touch up the paint to the original teal/mint.


I'll post more photos tomorrow, and next weekend I'll start working on typical maintenance items like engine/diff oil, plug reading, cooling system tests and the like. Does anyone have links to service manuals? And what would be the most likely cause of a fluctuating gas gauge and the fix for it? Thanks again all for reading!


P.S. I've got 4 good condition chrome Desoto chrome hubcaps, if anyone would want to trade for the chrome trim I need for the door. They're dished multiple times and have "DES" in red cursive. I can post photos if needed.

Moparod

Check with Andy Bernbaum for your sender, I've found a lot of things for my '36.

http://www.oldmoparts.com/

RacerHog

Cool Beans... Welcome back to the 50's...

Hemmings Motor news might have a source for parts...

Here are a few other links
http://www.car-part.com/dealersaz.shtml

http://www.dvap.com/

Glad you went for it!!! So Did you and the guys Drive it back or tow it?
Sounds like you guys are ready to jump in and make some progress on the repairs already. Good plan..

Woodync87

Wow, thanks for all the links, gents! I've got a Hemmings mag, just haven't taken the time to look through the massive amount of vendor ads. There's a local pull-a-part yard that has some early/mid 50's Mopars here, so I'll be checking them out this weekend as well for trim and other bits. Anyways, here she is in my barracks parking lot, the truck that hauled her is the blue Dodge. Mopar towing Mopar!

RacerHog

Sweet !!!!