Hadn't thought of eBay for a number of months, but last night I surfed over
there. I came across an 'ad?' for a basket case TD at $800. Piqued my
curiosity, especially when I learned that the seller is in the next town over
(Kingston MA). I went and looked at the car this morning. Lots of rust,
including the frame box sections. The car is a '52 (TD/186**) and was last
registered in '65. It was in a garage fire but shows no fire damage. One of
the firemen bought it from the owner and put it into a garage in Revere, Mass.
That's one of our seacoast communities with lots of salt air. The engine is in
the car put partially dismantled, head removed, all accessories removed. The
rear piston is virtually welded to the bore due to corrosive electrolytic
reactions. The gearshift won't even budge. There's rot along the bottom of the
tub, one running board looks as if it's a piece of Swiss cheese. It appears
that virtually all of the parts are there, in a garage plus various boxes. The
only part out in the elements is the gas tank, sitting on the ground ..."... it
has a leak...". The owner wants to reclaim the garage space that it's taking up
and would like to get his money back, however much that is. He's had calls from
people who want parts of the car, but he doesn't want to part it out.
Having been through a complete 'off-the-frame' with Lazarus, I can just
picture what kind of money sink this car would be. But I hate to see a TD go
the way of the parts car, though it doesn't have a lot of really good parts on
it. I'd probably stick in a bid for it myself but the auction ends next week
and I'm going to be in Scotland from mid-week until Sunday. If there's anybody
who'd like to save a 52TD and wants more information, I'll be available until
early afternoon tomorrow, i.e., Sunday.
--
Bud Krueger
http://home.ici.net/~bkrueger/
52TD
77MGB
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