55 Project Rewind-Found a Great 55 210 AZ body shell for $1800!

So, my 55 210 2dr has been collecting dust in a private body shop for a year, waiting to have new quarters, tail pan, etc. installed with no start date in sight. I don't think they really wanted to take it on, because I didn't either. That was just a start, since it had plenty of other issues with the floor, and roof too. It was going to get expensive to fix. Bought the complete titled car for $3000, and have since sold a few parts for $500. Bought $2400 of new U.S. sheet metal for the rear, which is now all for sale. Anyway, I literally stumbled on a CL deal 140 miles away in a heated warehouse that even has a fork truck to load it when I find a day to pick it up when the roads are not covered in salt. It is a very straight, solid 55 2 door sedan body from Arizona that has had some nice work done to it. New quarters, mini-tubs, flat trunk floor, recessed firewall, shaved drip rails, fuel door filled, and rust free for only $1800. So now I have a body ready for an initial drop onto my C4 chassis. It will have a few things to deal with like the front body mounts that were cut off for the new firewall, and how to get fuel in it without a door. Not sure about the hood hinge mounting point yet either. After that is will be ready to come off for clean up, and primer. This is going to be a lot more fun now I hope.
It's not picture pretty, but it's beautiful.
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Here is the now a parts car including title/VIN tags, and the C4 chassis. It was going to take well over $6000 to get this car not even close to what I just bought for $1800.
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Nice find. Not all Arizona cars are rust free. Not all Arizona cars spent their entire life in Arizona. That said, I got extremely lucky with my 56, a Tucson car all it's life. Absolutely no rust in the floors or trunk, but needs a small amount of work on the rocker panels.

Looks pretty solid from the pictures. Word of caution, most rust issues involving drip rails normally lead to shaved drip rails as an easy fix, so check carefully.. if headliner is out a flashlight and inspection mirror will tell the tale.

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Originally Posted by 55 Rescue Dog

So, my 55 210 2dr has been collecting dust in a private body shop for a year, waiting to have new quarters, tail pan, etc. installed with no start date in sight. I don't think they really wanted to take it on, because I didn't either. That was just a start, since it had plenty of other issues with the floor, and roof too. It was going to get expensive to fix. Bought the complete titled car for $3000, and have since sold a few parts for $500. Bought $2400 of new U.S. sheet metal for the rear, which is now all for sale. Anyway, I literally stumbled on a CL deal 140 miles away in a heated warehouse that even has a fork truck to load it when I find a day to pick it up when the roads are not covered in salt. It is a very straight, solid 55 2 door sedan body from Arizona that has had some nice work done to it. New quarters, mini-tubs, flat trunk floor, recessed firewall, shaved drip rails, fuel door filled, and rust free for only $1800. So now I have a body ready for an initial drop onto my C4 chassis. It will have a few things to deal with like the front body mounts that were cut off for the new firewall, and how to get fuel in it without a door. Not sure about the hood hinge mounting point yet either. After that is will be ready to come off for clean up, and primer. This is going to be a lot more fun now I hope.
It's not picture pretty, but it's beautiful.
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Looks like a really good start , Congratulations on your find.


Sid

I got my 55 and parts safely back home today after being held hostage for a year at the body shop. Talked to him 2 days ago, told him about the 55 shell I found and he seemed relieved. Back in July I put $200 in the trunk and told him he could have it when he got started on the car, which was completely surrounded by junk when I saw it. Told him he could keep the ransom cash if he could get it all back to my shop, for storing it for a year, and getting it back to me in 1 piece. It all worked out.
I also called the dealer on a whim, I had bought all of the rear sheet metal from, and since he has a couple people looking for some of the parts I have, he agreed to give me his wholesale costs back in credit for all of it! That is a much better deal than stumbling over it forever trying to sell it on CL for even less. Now I can by some shiny stuff I don't need yet, that is always tough to buy later when I want it.
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Finally caught a 40 degree day with dry roads for the 140 mile trip home with the 55 shell. Worked great on my 5 by 10 trailer. Had to back it into my shop with a 7 foot high door, but the car on the trailer was 3 inches too high, so with my son's help as a spotter, we flipped the hitch, let all the air out of the trailer tires, and it went under the door with only a 1/4 inch clearance. Freezing rain/snow on the way. It's probably been many years since this thing has been up to
88 miles per hour.
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Interesting trailer setup, RD.. :) I'm afraid to ask how you got the body up on there.. :)

Gary

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Originally Posted by BamaNomad

Interesting trailer setup, RD.. :) I'm afraid to ask how you got the body up on there.. :)

Gary

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The guy I bought it from had a fork truck, but unfortunately I don't have one to get it back off. Trying to come up with a plan to get the trailer out from under it. It's about 3 feet off the ground, so maybe I will get my undercar lift under the trailer first, then use 4x4's spanned under the body on top of 4 stacks of concrete blocks, 5 high, pull the trailer and pallet out, then I can get the lift up to the body. Or renting a fork truck might be a better plan. Or, maybe leave it on the pallet, go 4 high on the blocks, then using the lift to work out a way to get the pallet out from under it at a lower height.
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Using long landscape timbers or 4x4 will allow you to remove the trailer, and lower it down on the pallet, but the timbers will need to be long enough to clear the fenders/wheels of your trailer. I've removed bodies from frames, and reinstalled them several times using that technique, using a floor jack under alternate ends to add blocks (or remove them when lowering). Make sure if you use blocks to use good ones (no damage), orient them in a structural orientation, and use 2x8 pieces on top of the blocks to distribute the load on each stack of blocks... Once the get the trailer out of the way, and you get the body lower, you can probably lift one end of the body at a time to get the timber under the body. I use a 6' length of 2x4 under the rocker to support the body on each side before inserting the timber under the body...