Want some opinions...

[crazyhorse]

AAAAAHHHHH , now that is more like it.
Can't tell you what to do.
For me IF every thing on the Fairlane checked out,
I would TTTRRRAAADDDDEEEEE

[averagef250]

Go for the Fairlane!

[Calfdemon]

Thanks for the opinions... Yeah, I am going to pull the trigger on this trade if everything works out. I have been speaking with the owner and he was selling it for financial reasons, but is also selling a Mustang and another car... He is very excited about the Firebird and wants it, but he has to sell one of his other cars first to fix his financial situation. Just like me, he is excited to have something different as he has had the Fairlane for a while and got it to where it is.

Anyway, we live 2 hours apart and are going to meet halfway next Wednesday with both cars so we can both check out each other's ride and test drive them. I won't be coming home with a Fairlane that day, but at least I will have a better idea of what I will be getting, as will he. If he cannot sell his Mustang, then he is going to hold the Fairlane for me as long as he can and I will try and sell the bird to buy the Fairlane from him. But hopefully, we can just do the trade.

Anyway, keeping my fingers crossed that this all works out!

[ezernut9mm]

one of my favorite small fords. i hope you get it!

[67 Camper Special]

Put a supercharger or turbo on the Bird. Then it will be exciting again. Or get the Fairlane, and put a blower on it.

The world needs more boost!

Larry

[Bob]

Glad you didn't swap for the roadster. The fairlane... if it's really as good a shape as it looks... would be a fine trade.

[ezernut9mm]

actually, i would have done the roadster swap as well. it would be just as much fun to drive as the firechicken. and probably get as many thumbs up and waves. as long as you get what you want, who cares about book value or money spent. you already know how far that flies. get what you want.

[Calfdemon]

I got the VIN number and verified it. It is an actual S code car, so it is an original Fairlane GT 4 speed car with the 390. It is not a numbers matching car, but I dont care. The owner and I are meeting at a halfway point on Wednesday to check out each others cars and test drive them. So I will have a better idea come Wednesday as to what the car is all about.

[michael69]

Hope everything goes your way

[Calfdemon]

Well shoot... I drove over an hour today in the bird to meet the Fairlane guy halfway. Nice enough guy, and the car looks just like the pictures, so no problem there. The 390 also had a lot of power and drove very strong! But... there are a lot of little things that the pictures dont show. And that is what has me wondering what I should do now.

As for body and paint, that is all done on the Fairlane. There is also no rust. So the major part is all done. I dont know how many miles are on the 390, but it runs strong, so that is good too. There are a lot of hoses that need replacing and minor maintenance things that need to be addressed. He keeps clogging fuel filters when he gets low on gas which means that the tank will need to be pulled and cleaned. There is no speedo cable hooked up and possibly not present. The car has a Hurst shifter that the linkage keeps jamming. When I was trying to drive it, I could not get it into ANY gear several times and he had to wrestle the shifter to get the linkage unstuck. When it was in gear through, it drove strong, so I dont think that is a major trans problem. I think it just needs some new linkage and maybe a different shifter.

The car is missing parts like a rear view mirror, sun visors, shifter boot, radio, and various other odds and ends. He did have a box in the trunk of extra parts and I did see some sun visors in there, so he might have what is not installed, but there are a lot of small new parts that will need to be bought. It needs new door rubbers and felts, both of the inside kick panels are cracked and broken and the vents are missing. The heater is not hooked up and I am not even sure if the blower works.

Now, none of this is major. In fact, it is just all small stuff that I can pretty much work on and fix myself over time. But there is probably several thousand dollars needed to get the car to the same condition as the bird. And that is assuming that the transmission issue is minor.

Based on everything that I saw today, I do not feel that a straight across trade is the right thing to do. Especially since I would be throwing in about $3000 in extra parts and accessories with my car. I do not care about value so much as I do about condition and the Fairlane is not in the same condition as the bird. CNM67 and I figure that the Fairlane is probably a 16k-18k car as it sits. I lowball mine at 20k, but after checking the market recently, I am probably closer to 25k now.

The way I see it is I could try and sell the bird for $25k and then offer him 18k cash. That would give me $7000 to put into the Fairlane and get it to where it needs to be. Or, I could keep the bird and then when I am done with the truck, I could just start putting money into it again and get a new paint job and add the parts that I have wanted to put on it.

If I put the car up for sale though, I will then entertain trade offers on 66-67 Fairlanes and 32 Ford hotrods and see what offers might be thrown my way. But if I can get the bird sold and the Fairlane is still available, then I might go that route. I really didn't want to go through the hassle of selling the bird and then chance not having the car available to me to buy after I sell mine. But looks like I might go that route and see what happens.

[crazyhorse]

Mr Calfdemon, sounds like you have it about right.
That Fairlane has got some problems.
Makes one wonder why the owner has not done the needed repairs ?

[Calfdemon]

Mr Calfdemon, sounds like you have it about right.
That Fairlane has got some problems.
Makes one wonder why the owner has not done the needed repairs ?

My personal opinion after talking to him a bit is that he really does not know a lot about cars. I think he wants to, and is willing to learn, but I thinks he buys them and pays for work to get done and just enjoys them. I really don't think he has a lot of mechanical know-how. Nothing wrong with that, but that is probably why a lot of little simple things on that car had not been addressed. I just don't think he has the confidence or know-how to do it.

[67 Camper Special]

Too bad, but that is usually how these things fly.

Me, I have always wanted a T-Bolt clone, so if you end up with one of those I can live vicariously through you.

Larry

[sargentrs]

That's a shame. She shore is purty! But we all know how it's the little details that wind up costing the most and the biggest headaches.

[Calfdemon]

Well, I am bringing this thread back from the dead for update reasons.. I got the bug to start shopping for Fairlanes again and still had the guy's number in my phone. I called him and he still has the car and is still willing to sell. He has not listed it since we met as he has been hanging on, but the economy is killing him and he needs the cash more now. I haggled with him a bit and have him down to 18k right now. I am going to try and squeeze another 500 out of him and see if he will sell for $17500, but either way, I am going to pull the trigger on this deal and I will be owning this Fairlane in the next few weeks.

Since I am going to buy this car, I have to let the Firebird go, but the market has climbed quite a bit over the past year and I should have some decent cash in hand once I buy the Fairlane and sell the bird. Anyway, I will post some pics of the homecoming when I finally get that Fairlane in my driveway. In the meantime, here is the Craigslist add for my bird: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ct ... 22259.html

I am pretty damn excited to get this Fairlane!! The only "downside" is that now the Fairlane and my Crew Cab are going to be the same color because that Dark Highland Green is the same color my truck is being painted!