I'm sorry if the subject of my earlier posting was unclear. I thought it
was implicit in the notion of doing a "pre-purchase inspection" at all
that it was in reference to CARS rather than "projects", "parts collections
hanging on chassis", "yard ornaments", "DIY boxed kits made from former
cars", etc.
There are some people out there in the world who actually want to buy
these cars whole, driveable, and in a condition that doesn't immediately
require major service. i.e. they want to buy an lbc that they can,
at least during the get acquainted and fall-in-love period, treat like
any other used car. While I've never gone that route myself, having
fallen in love before ever being in a position to buy, I can appreciate
how those people feel. Given the appropriate advice, they often get
hooked with their first purchase and become lifelong SOLs. Those who
get caught by all the hidden gotchas often end up driving Toyotas and
telling all their friends to stay away from lbcs.
Yes, the doors were on my car when I bought it, and yes it had sills
(if you count carefully sculpted bondo), and yes it had carpets (not
original, but surplus scraps that were cut to fit so as to hide the
absence of large portions of floor), and yes it had an ammeter (the
only guage that still worked), and yes the ammeter did deflect so as
to indicate shorts (on almost every circuit). And yes the leather
had been dyed (but you could tell without lifting the rubber -- the
stain on your seat gave it away), and the paint-job was fresh
(rattle-can primer gray). However, it did smell mostly like a car,
with only a faint whiff of rodent (the nests in the sills were
pretty old).
Chip
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