OK, get ready for another one of my "short" stories.....
I had a pretty bad case of the "blahs" this week. Things were just not going well. However, on Monday our parts manager mentioned to me that he had seen an old Nova listed in this weeks salvage auction. (For those who don't know, Manitoba has government insurance and all written off vehicles are sold by auction in Winnipeg or by tender around the province) I checked it out and it was a burned 65 Nova SS, a Chevy twin to my Acadian.
I am able to take days off quite easily this time of year so I booked Wed off after 10:30 AM. I went there not really expecting to get it because this auction is usually well attended. However, the serial number gives it away as a factory V8 car and many of the pieces for a V8 conversion on this car are unique, hard to find and expensive. Looking at the hood I assumed most of that stuff would still be good since the hood is not badly burned.
When I got there I looked the car over on the outside and decided it was time to look to see how bad it was under the hood. That is when I did one of these Do you see what I saw?
It's only the second time I've ever seen a 65 with factory air in Canada. The first time was when I gassed one up from Minnesota when I was pumping gas. I was about 17! For those who don't know, the complete compressor mounting bracket set is 67 and older Chevy II only and it's all there and all good, even though it looks horrible.
Yes, I bid till I got it!!! I had to. Plus the entire front sheet metal appears to be rust free and these fenders are always rusty as well. Add to that the trim piece around the outside of each headlight is almost perfect and these are impossible to find in good shape (65 only) unless you want to pay over $200 Canadian for a pair of repro's.
Next dilema was how to get it home. My trailer is in our shed 50 miles away, Acadian sitting on it, waiting for an engine. I make a couple of calls but nobody has a trailer easily accessed. I call our local shop owner with deck truck. Sure, he can do it. $265 plus taxes for a total of $298
The roads are wet from all our rain of late, and it's supposed to cool off. I drive 50 miles home, spend about 2 hours unloading the Acadian with no brakes and getting it into the garage to make room for the trailer and Nova when I get back. Hook up, head back to the auction, all is good, roads are wet. Get them to load it for me with their 16' forks which takes all of 2 minutes. Tie it down, head out of the parking lot to find the wet streets have now frozen and are a total sheet of ice. My 2WD truck will barely climb the slight incline up onto the street from the parking lot! Well, it's only 50 miles, it's 6 PM and I have all night so let's get at 'er! It all went good, slow but sure.
Problem is, when I get home I have to figure out how to get the trailer backed up the slope into the shed as it's a sheet of ice from all our rain. Get home, back up as much as I can till I spin out, then park it. Pull out the little 16 horsepower diesel 4WD tractor, hook it onto the trailer. I find I can pull the whole approx 10,000 pounds of truck, trailer and car into the shed with this little tractor! It's now home, safe and sound and I am delighted.
This Chevy will make a great parts car for a Canadian sort-of-Pontiac!!!
-- Edited by Carl Stevenson at 18:03, 2009-02-15
-- Edited by Carl Stevenson at 18:04, 2009-02-15
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
I have no idea. It is originally an American Nova. The serial numbers on them have a letter in them, Canadian cars are all digits. It is now a Manitoba car however as evidenced by the front end photo taken last summer, I assume when the car first burned.
I have never seen this car at any local shows or cruise nights and I have been a first generation Nova fan since the mid 70's. I may try to track the history of it.
The car appears to have been a very solid, straight car. The driver quarter has some rust right at the bottom rear, the passenger quarter appears perfect. It has never been patched and had no bondo.
I agree it is a shame. It would have been a very neat car. I decoded the cowl tag and it had tinted windshield, padded dash, radio, rear speaker, passenger side mirror, power steering, power brakes and air. Pretty loaded as far as Novas go.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Don't laugh!!! 700 bucks. Everyone at the auction had a good chuckle, thinking I was nuts. The auctioneer even scoffed a bit saying "That one will need a safety inspection before it's on the road!" He hadn't commented on one car the whole day! I didn't say a word. I know I could double my money on ebay. All the V8 underhood stuff that is still good. Nice pair of fenders, straight as an arrow and never been rusty. Grille, bumper, bumper guard. Power steering setups are $200-$300 US.
Oh and yes, it was a powerglide. Not one good piece left in the interior, it is completely gutted, firewall back.
-- Edited by Carl Stevenson at 18:37, 2009-02-15
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
No idea about the theft part. If I had to guess I would say no because the kids likely don't even know how to steal the cars that are easy to steal.... (like this one!) They only know how to break the theft-proof steering columns!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
worth the $ in parts for sure carl,I may know someone looking for a few swap parts soon..............!mabe.
So far I won't be parting out anything on it. It's a long shot but there is this 65 Canso SD project car off in the distance that has no engine.............. (not mine, another one) I won't likely end up with it but someone I know might.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
I would have bought it too Carl! I almost paid 700$ for a rusted out 66 Grande Parisienne (with a bench seat yet) this summer. The only good parts on it were a couple of little Grande emblems, which I still need. Thank God there was a guy there more desperate than me. However just to fill the sadly empty trailer we had bought I bought a 72 Chev parts truck and a pallet load of NOS GM shock absorbers (none of which I can actually use)
However just to relate this to Chevy II's is anybody out there interested in a 62 Chevy II that I last drove in 1983? Its a four door and the grille is actually gone but the rest is there including a manual tuning radio. It had a 194 with a power glide. It pretty much has no future in my life but if any of you guys need it let me know.
Good day today! I found a spare set of keys taped to the windshield washer bracket in my 66 GP. Saves me a fair bit of trouble
I noticed the insurance company pictures are from last July so I am guessing there was a fight over the value. Normally a car is up for auction within a month or so after its' totalled.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Boy they sure made you wait almost the last item of the day. My buddy and me were going to go should of given me a call. I'm sure the boss would of let me off lot no 454 1965 CHEVROLET NOVA BURNT - Unable to confirm mileage. 118375 N104454 8/A
Irreparable 25000MI as of 07-13-08 $700.00
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1957 Pathfinder deluxe 4 door wagon 1961 Pontiac Parisienne bubble top Traded for a Harley sorry guys.
You did good Carl, Alot of parts you can use or sell on there. You did better than the guy who bought the 71 Lemans wreck, he paid 1200$ ! and hardly any parts are salvageable, your engine alone is worth that much in parts.
I knew you'd find it interesting Steve, being the resident first gen "X" body guru.
Amazing, eh? A factory V8 SS in Canada... I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. And I almost missed it. I look at the sale listings almost every week and had not looked at this week's. Our 14 year son saw it in the list, looked at the pics but never told me because he thought it was too far gone to bother. I told him to never do that again. He now has instructions to tell me about any and all cars that he or I may have an interest in........
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
i take it the acadian is getting air and power steering then. ref the decision to tell or not. my instructions always have been let me make that one. congrats again.
I would have bought it too Carl! I almost paid 700$ for a rusted out 66 Grande Parisienne (with a bench seat yet) this summer. The only good parts on it were a couple of little Grande emblems, which I still need. Thank God there was a guy there more desperate than me. However just to fill the sadly empty trailer we had bought I bought a 72 Chev parts truck and a pallet load of NOS GM shock absorbers (none of which I can actually use)
However just to relate this to Chevy II's is anybody out there interested in a 62 Chevy II that I last drove in 1983? Its a four door and the grille is actually gone but the rest is there including a manual tuning radio. It had a 194 with a power glide. It pretty much has no future in my life but if any of you guys need it let me know.
Good day today! I found a spare set of keys taped to the windshield washer bracket in my 66 GP. Saves me a fair bit of trouble
ken
That's neat, finding spare keys. Now if you'd just sell me that car........
Sent you a PM, by the way.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
i take it the acadian is getting air and power steering then. ref the decision to tell or not. my instructions always have been let me make that one. congrats again.
Ironic thing is, I just pulled the air out of the Acadian and welded up the holes! I had decided when I put in the 327 and the Muncie I was going to make the car plainer again. I had the air in it for close to 20 years with the 427.
Power steering is under thought. I think likely I will but still pondering that one. It seems to be an easy bolt on setup. Likely need to re-seal the cylinder as I imagine the heat from the fire will have cooked the seals.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Do you see what I saw?
