Inheriting a '64 Parisienne CS Hardtop Coupe

GForceJunky · Member

Inheriting a '64 Parisienne CS Hardtop Coupe

ABC123 · Uber Guru

Welcome !

There is a lot of company here for your 64.

Pictures please !

When you can.

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

Sounds good .

-- Edited by 427carl on Wednesday 11th of October 2017 07:54:36 PM

Double D · Addicted!

Carl That's not a CS!

Double D · Addicted!

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I was just gonna say yes it is (because of the cowl tag info) but now I get what you mean, the picture Carl posted is a Parisienne, not a Custom Sport.

Urban_suburban · Poncho Master!

Welcome from the gta, cant wait to see some pics. Pm me if you wish, depending on where I may be able to assist

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Good stuff G-Force! Welcome to the CS club! I can't physically help you, do to the distance, but I do have some CS parts if needed.

GForceJunky · Member

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the warm welcome! It seems like a very tight-knit community on here and I'm happy to be a part of it. For all those itching for some pictures - I will have them for you guys this weekend :) Hopefully I can get it back to looking like the one in Double_D's picture!

Urban_Suburban, I will send you a PM.

What should I be looking for on the X-Frame/underside of the car to determine how far gone (or not) the car is? Also, how hard is it to find replacement front and rear windshields? Do I just ask for '64 Chevy Impala glass? Are all the mechanicals/underpinnings the same parts as a '64 Impala?

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Yes, if you lift the body off the frame, you have an Impala. Make sure that any parts you order for the chassis are ordered for Impala to avoid confusion. Some parts guys know it, and some sure don't!

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

GForceJunky wrote:

What should I be looking for on the X-Frame/underside of the car to determine how far gone (or not) the car is?

The back third of the car is the most rust prone. Look at the trunk floor/rear body mounts/wheel housings/rear frame, they are the best indicators of how solid the car is.

GForceJunky · Member

Thanks for the advice - will check all those spots out.

Here's the vehicle report:

64 Parisienne Build Specs

Looks like it was a pretty bare bones CS Coupe. One thing I noticed that stands out is that this car originally had power brakes, it does not as it currently sits.

-- Edited by GForceJunky on Tuesday 10th of October 2017 01:43:22 PM

-- Edited by GForceJunky on Tuesday 10th of October 2017 01:44:01 PM

-- Edited by GForceJunky on Tuesday 10th of October 2017 01:49:53 PM

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Floors, floor braces, rockers inner and outer, and what Darryl said. Check for bondo in the rear quarters and door bottoms. Nice car potentially.

norontcan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Another Rumble car.
This certainly has lots of potential. Keep your fingers crossed.

GForceJunky · Member

DonSSDD wrote:
Floors, floor braces, rockers inner and outer, and what Darryl said. Check for bondo in the rear quarters and door bottoms. Nice car potentially.

Thanks, will check all these spots. From my quick check last weekend, the entire body (that I could access, so half the car) seems solid - will take a magnet to it but I felt around and looked (I was trained professionally to look for body imperfections in a previous job) and did not notice anything. From inside the car (interior, trunk, etc.) all the floor/trunk pan sheet metal seems solid and the seams where they join the body are showing relatively rust free on the interior. I do believe at least one of the floor braces is rotted/rotting out but I'll see more this weekend.

norontcan wrote:
Another Rumble car.
This certainly has lots of potential. Keep your fingers crossed.

They've been crossed since this all started! Was Rumble known for selling a lot of Parisiennes/CS Cars? We're local to Rumble, so my dad/family all remember it - it was gone before I ever came around, or at least before I can remember it.

norontcan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Both 73SC and I have original Rumble cars with the dealer emblems still attached. Mine is a 65 Parisienne Custon Sport hdtp.

I also have the original bill of sale etc from there.

-- Edited by norontcan on Wednesday 11th of October 2017 10:07:17 PM

GForceJunky · Member

Hey guys,

So I went to check out the car this weekend - you should be able find the album of pictures here:

imgur.com/a/QIQ5u (let me know if this link doesn't work)

Upper body looks good (poorly done paint job) but underneath it's pretty rough in areas. Although most of the floor is/looks solid, you can see a lot of the braces are rotting out and the drivers side floor where the brace is/was is rotted out and exposing the carpet. The frame seemed relatively solid though rusty but I didn't probe too much as I was pressed for time and the weather was turning so I wanted to get in and out quickly.

Engine bay seems fine as does the suspension; note the lack of a brake booster and the single brake line MC. The front wheels rotate freely when the car is jacked up, so that's a good start. The interior seems to be fairly intact albeit dirty.

Forgot to take pictures of the trunk but that's where any missing trim pieces are/should be.

Let me know what you guys think and if it's worth bothering with? Is it better relegated to becoming a parts car or would you guys save it? Time, more than anything else, is my limiting factor (although money is a factor as well) and given that I already have a few project cars I only want to head down this path if it seems reasonable.

jmont64 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

So I guess my question to you would be "Is this model and make of car one of your favorites?" I think how you answer that will determine how much you want to put into this car because it definitely needs lots of time and money thrown at it. Sometimes if a person gets a real good deal or in your case an inheritance you feel somewhat obligated to fix it up but in the end it can add up and unless you are really excited about that certain car it may not be worth it.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Unless you do your own body work, that's a very expensive car to repair. It likely needs most of the floor, most floor braces, inner and outer quarters and rockers, likely a lot of trunk work and the lip under the rear bumper. Bottoms of front fenders, and how are the trunk lid and the bonnet, likely rusty?

I wouldn't buy it judging by your pictures, its likely a parts car IMHO.

Pritch · Guru

At the risk of sounding negative, I strongly believe that Don and Jerel have said what needs to be said. I have owned my '64 CS ragtop for 42 years. As Don said, it is "a very expensive car to repair." Judging by the pictures, I would suggest that you are looking at a minimum of $50,000 to make this car look great. These figures are modest to say the least. Remember . . . there are two kinds of levers - - - Lever A and Lever B.

norontcan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Certainly not for the faint of heart
.
One would need skill, lots of parts and even more money to bring this one back.

Unless it has special meaning or sentimental value best left for its parts.

GForceJunky · Member

jmont64 wrote:
So I guess my question to you would be "Is this model and make of car one of your favorites?" I think how you answer that will determine how much you want to put into this car because it definitely needs lots of time and money thrown at it. Sometimes if a person gets a real good deal or in your case an inheritance you feel somewhat obligated to fix it up but in the end it can add up and unless you are really excited about that certain car it may not be worth it.

DonSSDD wrote:
Unless you do your own body work, that's a very expensive car to repair. It likely needs most of the floor, most floor braces, inner and outer quarters and rockers, likely a lot of trunk work and the lip under the rear bumper. Bottoms of front fenders, and how are the trunk lid and the bonnet, likely rusty?

I wouldn't buy it judging by your pictures, its likely a parts car IMHO.

Pritch wrote:
At the risk of sounding negative, I strongly believe that Don and Jerel have said what needs to be said. I have owned my '64 CS ragtop for 42 years. As Don said, it is "a very expensive car to repair." Judging by the pictures, I would suggest that you are looking at a minimum of $50,000 to make this car look great. These figures are modest to say the least. Remember . . . there are two kinds of levers - - - Lever A and Lever B.

norontcan wrote:
Certainly not for the faint of heart
.
One would need skill, lots of parts and even more money to bring this one back.

Unless it has special meaning or sentimental value best left for its parts.

This car won't cost me anything to acquire besides what I've spent on the paperwork from George and my time, at least thus far, so that isn't an issue. There is definitely some sentimental value, though not a huge amount because I had never even seen this car before my uncle passed and it was always his Corvettes (he had a few) that we bonded over and chatted about most. In general, I am all about recovering and restoring things as much as possible and hate to see things (not limited to just cars, but cars especially) go to waste but my resources are a little limited right now. I do have at least some of the skills and most of the tools necessary to do the work and am developing more and better skills as I go through the rigours of a nut-and-bolt/rotisserie restoration on my '69 Malibu, combined with all my experience building and racing cars, but I am VERY short on time, somewhat limited on funds (new house in the works, multiple project cars, etc.), and also very short on space. I don't even know where I'd put this thing, let alone have the space and time to actually dig into it.

Do they make replacement sheet metal? Are there half-decent floor pans, rockers, etc. out there or would this all be custom fab? I definitely do not have the time for this much custom fab work...I could maybe consider keeping it if there is reasonable aftermarket support available. I enjoy the process and would take it on if I were further on in life and had more time (I'm only 27 and spend my time back and forth between Michigan and Ontario) available. As far as CS Couples go, it is also a pretty bare bones/basic car, and not as desirable as say a convertible or a big block car or a manual trans car, etc.

If it were to end up being a parts car, what would some of this stuff be worth? The interior is in fairly good shape, the hood, trunk lid, doors, side glass, most trim, etc. is also in fairly decent shape. The motor isn't anything special but it ran. The tranny and rear end were working when it was put away. Pulling this thing apart wouldn't be an issue, though it would be a little sad...but if I can help keep other cars on the road and in good shape then I'm definitely open to it!

Thanks for all the feedback everyone - really appreciate the openness and honesty. =)

-- Edited by GForceJunky on Monday 16th of October 2017 10:30:11 PM

-- Edited by GForceJunky on Monday 16th of October 2017 10:30:33 PM

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

After viewing the pictures, I would agree with norontcan's closing sentence. This car is only a good project to do if it's special to you.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

The floor pans are reproduced (all 1 piece with braces installed, or separate pans or separate braces), as they are Chevy (61-64), likely anything you need for trunk work too and rockers. Quarters are not reproduced, you'd need to fab them or find good used stuff, which you likely can. Drag it home and clean it out, see what all the parts are like for say chrome pitting, seats, door panels all usable, etc. then you can get an idea about parts value.

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

In New Brunswick, where I grew up, a lot of these old girls looked that ruff in 1967-70 .