I'm excited to report that we'll be posting our first user generated ad soon. Just waiting on photos.
Hopefully this will encourage some of our other readers to start submitting as well. I have high hopes for this service, but ultimately it's only going to be as successful as you, the reader, want it to be.
Please, share this blog with your friends and family. It only takes one view for someone to say "Hey, I know where that car is!" and then you're on the fast track to being reunited!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Slight Progress Today
So after two weeks of battling with a mechanic. Big Bird, my 1981 C10 pickup is running quite nicely. I ended up taking it to a mechanic because the carburetor is a 1978 Q-jet core that is just barely hanging on, and I'm not all that confident with carburetors to begin with. So I decided it was safer to let someone with experience try to work out the kinks.
He replaced the thermostat and adjusted the A/F and found that the vacuum advance has all but crapped out, so he road timed it rather than hit it with a light. He was supposed to convert it to electric choke, but I can understand why he didn't. When I start my new job I'll probably pick up a new carburetor and replace the distributor.
As far as the El Camino goes, I'm waiting to hear back from the current owner. I'm content to be patient, and I'm just happy to know where it is, and that it's still on the road. Apparently it hasn't been altered all that much from when I owned it, which is fine. It ran really well when I sold it. All it really needed was body work and an interior. It was missing a headliner and the rugs were pretty rough. The rugs were replaced, but I don't know if a headliner was put in it or not.
He said he did a roll-on bedliner and put a tonneau on it, which is awesome. When I sold it, it had a garish white fiberglass camper cap that was missing all of its hardware and didn't even have a handle or latch. I had it held on by some rope and a few well tied scout knots. It looked terrible, but it kept my camping gear dry, and that was all I wanted at the time.
He did mention a warped flexplate which I found a bit odd considering everything was newly rebuilt and perfectly straight when I bought it. He said he planned on fixing it, so I'm not too concerned.
I am happy to report that I used all of the resources I posted here in my search for the El Camino, and that my search was a complete success. All in all it took about 2 weeks to find it. Keep in mind that I'm unemployed until the 15th of this month, so I spent nearly all of my free time searching. Your mileage may vary and I don't believe my quick success is at all typical for this process.
At this point, my game plan is to get back to work and situate myself financially. If the current owner is willing to sell, I plan to buy the El Camino and quickly try and sell my 81 C10 as I don't have space for two vehicles. If he isn't willing to sell right now, I'll invest a bit further with the C10 and then try and sell it to get something a bit more economical with 4WD. I figure then I'll start a savings account and set aside funds for when he is willing to sell. That way I'll have money ready to buy, as well as start work on the Elco to restore it as I had once intended to do.
FCR has lots of new followers on Twitter, although the facebook page is still a bit slow to grow and we have 8 members. The blog is also getting a fair amount of traffic. I'm hopeful people will start coming forward with cars they want to find so I can populate the blog with ads for those vehicles and aid in the search. This blog is meant to be one more tool in your arsenal to find your old car, please use it.
You can either comment here directly, or you can send me an email at firstcarreunion@gmail.com to get started.
Best of luck to all of those searching. I'll continue to update here with information and resources as they become available.
He replaced the thermostat and adjusted the A/F and found that the vacuum advance has all but crapped out, so he road timed it rather than hit it with a light. He was supposed to convert it to electric choke, but I can understand why he didn't. When I start my new job I'll probably pick up a new carburetor and replace the distributor.
As far as the El Camino goes, I'm waiting to hear back from the current owner. I'm content to be patient, and I'm just happy to know where it is, and that it's still on the road. Apparently it hasn't been altered all that much from when I owned it, which is fine. It ran really well when I sold it. All it really needed was body work and an interior. It was missing a headliner and the rugs were pretty rough. The rugs were replaced, but I don't know if a headliner was put in it or not.
He said he did a roll-on bedliner and put a tonneau on it, which is awesome. When I sold it, it had a garish white fiberglass camper cap that was missing all of its hardware and didn't even have a handle or latch. I had it held on by some rope and a few well tied scout knots. It looked terrible, but it kept my camping gear dry, and that was all I wanted at the time.
He did mention a warped flexplate which I found a bit odd considering everything was newly rebuilt and perfectly straight when I bought it. He said he planned on fixing it, so I'm not too concerned.
I am happy to report that I used all of the resources I posted here in my search for the El Camino, and that my search was a complete success. All in all it took about 2 weeks to find it. Keep in mind that I'm unemployed until the 15th of this month, so I spent nearly all of my free time searching. Your mileage may vary and I don't believe my quick success is at all typical for this process.
At this point, my game plan is to get back to work and situate myself financially. If the current owner is willing to sell, I plan to buy the El Camino and quickly try and sell my 81 C10 as I don't have space for two vehicles. If he isn't willing to sell right now, I'll invest a bit further with the C10 and then try and sell it to get something a bit more economical with 4WD. I figure then I'll start a savings account and set aside funds for when he is willing to sell. That way I'll have money ready to buy, as well as start work on the Elco to restore it as I had once intended to do.
FCR has lots of new followers on Twitter, although the facebook page is still a bit slow to grow and we have 8 members. The blog is also getting a fair amount of traffic. I'm hopeful people will start coming forward with cars they want to find so I can populate the blog with ads for those vehicles and aid in the search. This blog is meant to be one more tool in your arsenal to find your old car, please use it.
You can either comment here directly, or you can send me an email at firstcarreunion@gmail.com to get started.
Best of luck to all of those searching. I'll continue to update here with information and resources as they become available.
Monday, August 1, 2011
News and Developments
It's only been a week, and already big things are happening here at FCR. I do a great deal of posting and research in the automotive industry, but had no idea what good would come of it.
Hot Rod Magazine had posted a quick photo on behalf of a former cover car owner, he was trying to find out what became of that car after he sold it in 1979. I posted a comment to let HRM know what I was working on, and that I'd be happy to aid in the search.
Turn out they sent the owner my email, and hopefully I'll have an ad up here for him shortly to help him find his lost ride. Generally I would just post an ad, but due to a 3rd party involvement I'm waiting to here back with permission from the former owner, as well as try to get some background on the vehicle.
I also located the owner of my old '81 El Camino, the car that started it all. Spoke with him briefly by email, and hopefully we can iron out the details about my purchasing it back from him. It was definitely a positive experience, and I'll update as negotiations proceed.
I feel the need to reiterate that this blog is going to thrive on user generated content. That means I need you to comment or email me if you're looking for one of your old cars. I'm here to help you look and network within the automotive community in the hopes of reuniting you with your car.
I was able to make my search a success with a little time, effort, and creative investigating, and I'd like to do the same for you.
Hot Rod Magazine had posted a quick photo on behalf of a former cover car owner, he was trying to find out what became of that car after he sold it in 1979. I posted a comment to let HRM know what I was working on, and that I'd be happy to aid in the search.
Turn out they sent the owner my email, and hopefully I'll have an ad up here for him shortly to help him find his lost ride. Generally I would just post an ad, but due to a 3rd party involvement I'm waiting to here back with permission from the former owner, as well as try to get some background on the vehicle.
I also located the owner of my old '81 El Camino, the car that started it all. Spoke with him briefly by email, and hopefully we can iron out the details about my purchasing it back from him. It was definitely a positive experience, and I'll update as negotiations proceed.
I feel the need to reiterate that this blog is going to thrive on user generated content. That means I need you to comment or email me if you're looking for one of your old cars. I'm here to help you look and network within the automotive community in the hopes of reuniting you with your car.
I was able to make my search a success with a little time, effort, and creative investigating, and I'd like to do the same for you.
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