The whole idea was to have a cool daily driver while I got my Camaro roadworthy for next year, and allowed me to park my Pontiac, in preparation of it's own restoration in the near future. As the possibilities, and more importantly, realities, raced through my head, I managed to talk myself outta the car.
It wasn't that it wasn't a sweet ride, it's simply the fact that I didn't need such a ride at this time. Had my Camaro been back on the road, I would have bought this car in a heatbeat! Instead, I ran the numbers, and the seriously impacted the likelyhood of the Camaro getting finished by next year. I was gonna use a 0% courtesy check, then pay payments of around $300 for the next several months until the car was paid for. Then, I had to consider any maintenance could run me a few $100's to repair. Ad that up, and you have $500-$600 that could have been put towards the Camaro, as opposed to a 45 year old daily driver.
The car was about as perfect condition you'll find in an unrestored state, when the car has seen a life of being used. The paint was faded, though not rusty, as proof the car came from down south in recent years. The only serious rust is in the pictures below: Passenger side floor pan corner, inner fender near the passenger hood hinge, a small spot on the firewall, and some minor surface rust with a small hole from where the car apparently hit something on the passenger side. Other repairs required were: new carpet, seats needed reupholstered, new dash pad, and a left rear tail light lens.
With those repairs, some black primer, and lower this baby to the ground, and you have a ride that would attract quite the mob scene at car shows! Powered by a 287 w/3 on the tree, the car came equipped from factory with A/C, though a few lines were missing and the owner stated he never had the system charged. If only the timing would have been better, this would have been the unique/different ride I was looking for as a project later on down the road. Instead, I enjoyed my road trip and chat with a fellow gearhead, while learning a thing or two about AMC's.
