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Always the correct decision! :lol:

Well I have a gun to put on the rack, but Wayne lives in Illinois.
 
so he stole the gun :p
 
I'm watching this LHD converted S15 Silvia for a while now.

Now while it ticks a lot of UK-JDM boxes it looks well done to me. I'd change the body kit back to stock aswell as the taillights and wheels but I think it's a very good car to start what is basically a nearly finished project, at least in my eyes at least. :lol: And it's god damn purple. Not sure who has done the conversion but theres a czech company who is doing these kind of conversions for the Silvia models and R34s.

I think the price is also rather good for what it is. It's a very rare car for European streets ... now it only needs an RB straight six. :mrgreen:

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One could wonder about the interior material though.
 
Hot damn, that seat looks great.
 
I knew these cars from the 40s aren't really loved because they all look the same and barely anyone can identify themselves with them, but I like 'em.
I'm just curious why this '41 is quite so cheap. Ok it's not perfect but similar cars can go for quite more than that.
For a bit more than 9 grand? Yeah!

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9 grand? I'd buy it. I'd probably stuff a LS2 + modern oily bits in it, but, would totally get it.
 
I knew these cars from the 40s aren't really loved because they all look the same and barely anyone can identify themselves with them, but I like 'em.
I'm just curious why this '41 is quite so cheap. Ok it's not perfect but similar cars can go for quite more than that.
For a bit more than 9 grand? Yeah!

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My first guess would be that it?s being sold to settle an estate or facilitate elder care. Someone spent a bunch of time and no little amount of money getting this car to look like it does.
Why is it so cheap?
(1) It?s a Buick. I love the old sleds, but they?re not that easy to find parts for?
(2) It?s a 4-door. Among the 30-and-under set, 4-doors are generally accepted as the norm. The old guys, however, love coupes and convertibles.
(3) It?s a standard shift. How many people do you know who are really comfortable operating a 3-on-the-tree?
(4) It?s a twin-carb car ? and anyone who knows older Buicks knows how finicky those can be?
(5) It?s a nice driver ? not a show car. Getting this car to a level where it could compete in judged car shows would probably require at least a 5-figure commitment and a lot of work on the part of the owner. The price of the needed chrome work alone would take your breath away!

All that said, the real charm of ?40s and ?50s cars is driving them as they were meant to be. Yeah, a lot of people turn them into street rods, but those generally drive like modern cars. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but it?s not the same as enjoying a slower-paced drive in an old car on a two-lane country road! I certainly wouldn?t kick this one out of my garage for leaving a few drops of oil on the floor.

SL
 
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(3) It?s a standard shift. How many people do you know who are really comfortable operating a 3-on-the-tree?

It is not hard to learn if you already know how to drive a manual trans. But most won't even try.


(4) It?s a twin-carb car ? and anyone who knows older Buicks multi-carb setups, knows how finicky those can be?


There, fixed that for you. Although, I am sure those old carbs are even worse.


(5) It?s a nice driver ? not a show car. Getting this car to a level where it could compete in judged car shows would probably require at least a 5-figure commitment and a lot of work on the part of the owner. The price of the needed chrome work alone would take your breath away!


Not everyone is looking to make it a show winner. There is also a new appreciation for survivor cars these days. Although chrome restoration is mindbogglingly outrageous.


All that said, the real charm of ?40s and ?50s cars is driving them as they were meant to be. Yeah, a lot of people turn them into street rods, but those generally drive like modern cars. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but it?s not the same as enjoying a slower-paced drive in an old car on a two-lane country road! I certainly wouldn?t kick this one out of my garage for leaving a few drops of oil on the floor.

SL


There is room between leaving it stock and making it a hot rod. I agree with Jay Leno on this. If you are going to drive the car on a regular basis, it should be modernized to improve safety and drive-ability. That may be as simple as a brake upgrade and switching to a fuel injection system, but those two things can be a big improvement to an old car.


With that being said, I also appreciate what Icon does with the Derelict series they do. It may be overkill in most cases, you can't deny the results.
 
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Thanks for the answers. I really do like something like a 41-47 Buick coupe but I wouldn't kick that four door sedan out. It just seems like a genuinly nice and honest car.

I also reckon disc brake upgrades aswell as an injection system wouldn't hurt a car like this. If you want to put it into a museum, it can quite easily be converted back to its original state.
If it helps keeping the car more on the road than in the workshop, why not? :)
 
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except for maybe the brakes, i wouldn't change it at all

right now it's a cool era-correct car which probably is a bit fiddly to keep running, just like it should be
put an LS2 or even just and injection kit in there, and it'll have lost all its appeal...
 
In my opinion, it is more appealing when it can be driven.


Also need to swap out the points for a conversion kit. I forgot that earlier.
 
In my opinion, it is more appealing when it can be driven.


Also need to swap out the points for a conversion kit. I forgot that earlier.

Folks, please don't think that I'm trying to start an argument here, but people who don't own/drive older cars regularly seem to think that they can't cope with today's traffic without upgrades. I own several older cars and while I don't drive them every day, I do take them on tours and longer trips.

Drum brakes are only a problem if you either don't maintain/adjust them properly or if you're driving in the mountains or in traffic so dense that you have to make repeated stops on very short notice. The old car I drive the most is a box-stock 1951 Chevrolet. No, you can't drive it like a Honda. When I'm driving it, I'm almost always at or below the speed limit. If I see that I have cars following me, I pull over at the first convenient spot and let them pass. As for actually stopping, I just give the car ahead of me twice the room that I would in my Focus or WRX. If someone passes and cuts in, I just drop back a little more. The point here is that most of us who are driving older cars just aren't in that much of a hurry to get somewhere... the trip itself is the reward.

Points and related items fall into the same category. Cars and trucks have been on the road with points and condensers for around a century. Points adjustments, once you learn the process, are easy and quick. A dwell meter and a screwdriver are usually all that's needed. If you really want to go retro, a 'feeler gauge' works just as good as a dwell meter. Once you 'adjust' a set of points, you can generally expect to leave them alone for at least 5,000 miles - unless you have some sort of problem with the distributor. Points and condensers are relatively cheap, so most of us curmudgeons carry an extra set in the glovebox. :rolleyes:

If you want to know about the one single problem that causes old-car-owners the most grief, it's ethanol 'enriched' gasoline. Cars built since the early-'80s have fuel system hoses and diaphragms designed to withstand ethanol. Older cars don't. Just when you think you've replaced that last older rubber part, you discover that there's one more hiding somewhere that will fail at the most inopportune time! Both my '51 Chevy and '72 Chevelle are 'living' proof of this - having had to be towed/flat-bedded home after the failure of relatively minor parts!

What else can I say? Be adventurous! Try driving an old car the way it was meant to be driven!!:p

SL
 
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