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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | I Have just become the owner of a 1958 Dodge Royal Custom. This car is all original (minus tires, battery and fuel pump) with 45,xxx original miles. She is a California car parked in 1975 and resurrected in 1989 when I turned 14. since that time the car has had less then 1000 miles put on it, most of them being traveling back and forth between Salinas and San Francisco. The car was shipped here and is now in a storage building awaiting my schedule to allow me to start cleaning and standard maintenance. I have found a body guy to repair the 2 small rust spots with lead, (yes lead body work). There is one tear om the front passenger seat, (where you grab the seat to move to allow access to the back seat. paint needs a good polish, and i have a few leaks in the engine bay to be repaired. almost all the trim needs to be polished and some needs to be straightened. I have one of the hood ornaments is damaged and need to find a replacement or have a shop manufacture for me. The car runs drives starts and stops. as with any old car she has her issues, like once driven and the motor reaches operating temp the car must cool before it will restart. i will be posting pictures soon. I have a feeling I will be here often with both updates and questions. I am just really excited to have my car and enjoy using her. |
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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | i have two pics I took on my Blackberry. I will post more in a few days once I dig out the camera.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: CA | What motor does it have? Nice car, that's a regal lancer BTW. |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Oh Boy, .... here goes the Regal Lancer thread all over again !!!! 
Very rare car and one heavily discussed here already. I am sure the gurus will be all over this paint and other
issues momentarily.
Welcome aboard. Look around to find the earlier thread for lots of good information. 
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Expert
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| Hey, thats a nice ride you have, a rare one, you dont see any of them around. Post more pics when you can. |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Please fill in your location in the profile. Nice to know where our fellow Forward Lookers are.
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7206
Location: Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island, Canada | Jeremy, WOW - what you have here, in case you don't know, is NOT an ordinary Custom Royal, but is the Ultra-Rare Regal Lancer, a mid year high end addition to the Dodge lineup. They were originally painted two tone bronze and white or bronze and black, and the interior is an upgrade over the regular Custom Royal. The body side trim is also different from the Custom Royal - the Regal has a full color sweep which gets the contrasting color. |
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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | It has the 350 in it. I have a bunch of papers my father sent me with the car including a photo of it before and after my great grandfather had the eggshell color covered in 1959. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1115
Location: CA | That's really cool to have a car that old still in your family. Hang onto it, I can tell you if it were me I sure would! |
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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | I have already told my daughter it will be her car either when I die or she hits 30, at eight, she's not interested. She is excited about learning how to work on cars though. There is no chance of me parting ways with my first childhood crush to an outsider. |
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Location: Parts Unknown |
I want to see more 
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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | I have a pic I took today, I will be getting interior, exterior, and motor shots tomorrow. |
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Member
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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | I have a pic I took today, I will be getting interior, exterior, and motor shots tomorrow.
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Expert
Posts: 3967
Location: DFW, TX | Wow, what a car! Many serious Mopar collectors would consider a '58 Regal Lancer a real prize. That looks like a beauty there!
I suggest documenting the trim tag on the VIN-discussion forum on this board, I'm sure that will be interesting.
Also, you might have it documented with Chrysler Historical. The service is $45 and there is no telling how much longer it will be available, as it seems to be run as a small operation.
Thanks for sharing! Your daughter is a cutie and will surely appreciate those amazing fins when she gets older.
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Location: somerville mass | he said earlier his grandpa didnt like the regals special colors and had it resrayed in 1959.
im sure the rest is all orig... 350's are rare as well 1 year only i think.... 1163 built...
he didin't know what he had... it'll be pricey to repaint and restore to orig... |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Every Firesweep built got a 350, so they aren't that rare. Besides, a 350 is nothing more than an underbored 361-383.
All parts are the same beyond that bore.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: CA | Forget it Doc, I tried to explain about the supposed "rarity" of the 350 in another thread but people only consider the golden commando 350 which is "rare." |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 636
| I think maybe there were 1100 or so Regal Lancers made, but the 350 engine is not really rare. More than 60,000 were made.
Sending for the IBM card is a good idea. But when I sent my $45 in for my 58 wagon, I got my un-cashed check back in the mail
a month later, along with a letter asking me to re-submit my request with just $25. They did not have anything for the 58 Dodges
except for the IBM card. It was up to me to "decode" the microfilm image. Luckily mine was very legible. I have a "dealer code"
on the card but it's just a number so I have no idea where my car was sold/delivered.
If you have a 57, or a 59 Dodge . . . you need to send them the full $45, but for that you get at least some decoding and dealer
info. on a Chrysler letterhead.
Sparky
Edited by sparky7 2010-08-22 3:07 PM
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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | I just dropped my daughter off at home and stopped at the storage facility to take more photo's.
... so with out further adieu,
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Expert
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Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | Welcome to Forwardlook Jeremy! Congrats to a great car not only for it´s rareness but for it´s great shape. very nice car to do a rolling resto on! keep those pic´s flowing Morgan
Edited by mogge65 2010-08-22 7:17 PM
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Expert
Posts: 2612
Location: Parts Unknown |
Yea, that thing is cool for sure - I'd be tempted to just drive it as is - I LOVE IT !!!
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 636
| Since Neil has not chimed in yet . . . your car should have:
Torqueflite
Accessory Group 2
Clock
Some kind of engine option (361?!)
Stone Shields
And whatever else the IBM card reveals (such as radio delete!)
And . . . built on April Fools Day!
Sparky |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 13045
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | Welcome home Jeremy - that's a mighty kool kar you've got! For sure, you wont stand in a line of the same cars in a car show. |
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Location: Chesterfield, Virginia | Good for you!Welcome to the club.  |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | How in the WORLD did I miss seeing this thread????
I decyphered the P/T plate over on that board, yesterday.
A NON-radio-option REGAL LANCER...????
1-of-FEW/one, there, boy.
The radios were pure options, until the 70's(??) , so your car is not "radio-delete", it, merely is a non-radio-option car, but,
the 58 Regal lancer was THE highest-trimline and least produced Dodge model (including the 1965 Monacos?) from 1957-????
Over on the "Craigslist" message board, on the dedicated Regal lancer thread, 'we' guestimated the survival rate of the Regals
as being relatively high, compared to the 1,163 which were produced (only the 2-dt HT's were built--NO Super D500's
are known still to exist, but, there must have been several/many produced ).
SMS in Portland, DOES have, in stock, the unique vinyl and upholstery material that you'll need to restore the interior.
Your competent local auto upholstery shop can use your seat remnants as templates in order to stitch-up SMS's bulk material.
Does your car still have (any remnants of-) its OEM "Accoustafoam" headliner in it?
If not, then SMS's copper sheet vinyl can be cut/fitted to create a new headliner for your car (a reasonable protocol, to replace
an item of "Unobtanium").
A 'lot' of northern-state/CAN cars have been found to have no radios in them; why YOUR car has no radio (in a CA-
area??) is a bit of a nice mystery.
I would recommend that you NOT install a radio into the car, to preserve its uniqueness.
Edited by d500neil 2010-08-25 7:09 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Waitaminute!
Talk about a "mystery"....I just re-checked your P/T plate's info, on the Fender tag Decoding message board, and
your car IS coded as having the "Radio Accessory Group", which includes (duh-) a pushbutton radio (with a
front-fender antenna).
Your car, clearly, looks like it has never had an antenna installed, and, that IS a factory radio block-off 'plate',
on the dashboard.
You'd think that your car's original owner would have commented on the fact that the car had no radio in it, if,
in fact,he had wanted to have a car with a radio in it.
The remainder of the Radio Group (as mentioned in the Fender tag thread), is: heater/defroster, back-up lights,
left O/S mirror [your car's RT O/S mirror would be confirmed separately on the IBM card copy], I/S Day/Nite mirror
[looks like you've got that, in one of your pics] , and, the "Music Master" radio [and antenna].
All those years of service, and NO radio installed in the car----seems that your Great Grand-daddy, along with not liking the
OEM white paint, was not a music lover, either!!
But, your car "should" have a push-button radio installed in it!
Any evidence that the antenna-hole may have been welded-in?
BTW, just to give you a better appreciation for what it is that you have, there; it is worth around $25K-$30K
as-is !
Edited by d500neil 2010-08-25 7:15 PM
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | It's ok Jeremy, you go right ahead and install a CD/MP3 player afterall, it's YOUR car brother...Welcome to the F. Look...
May I recommend you install the "Super Rare", "Golden Commando", "Super D-500", dual four intake and carb's for the extra little "Wow" factor at car shows....
Edited by dukeboy 2010-08-25 7:21 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Originality is where the value is, Jeremy.
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | There isn't any value on anything automotive today Jeremy, so have some fun with your car...Hot rod it as you will....May I suggest you repaint the repaint with the same color..Looks great.. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | A mustache on the Mona Lisa?
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | Asking, quoting, or just plain speculating on WIW is just that...An opinion..Come time to sell, I bet one would have a hard time seeing upwards of $10K (Unrestored) in this economy...Only gonna get both yer feelings hurt Neil..BTW: A 1929 Model a fully restored maybe $10K....Hot rodded $50K- and up...Same with everything..people want cars they can drive and enjoy, not something that has plastic seat covers and sits in a garage scared to drive it afraid of what might happen to it...
Back to the car...Jeremy, don't know if the engine runs, or maybe if it needs a rebuild, but piston's are getting expensive for the 350...There are a few sources though. My own car came through with the antenna mounted on the driver's side. I've had people tell me it's "Incorrect", but I know it's right cause I left it on that side on purpose cause I haven't seen another like it....BTW: If I were gonna actually drive that thing in today's traffic, I'd recommend a disc brake upgrade. You won't regret it...
Edited by dukeboy 2010-08-25 7:36 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | We-all might be surprised at what this car might bring-in, from a collector/restorer, Chaney--it IS complete,
and that makes a big difference to a restorer, on a rare-car model, like this one.
The "Christine" market may be dead, but, there's still Smart Money out there, for a car such as this one.
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | Last I checked, He didn't mention he was wanting to sell it Neil..... |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | 10-4....that's what makes this discussion so much fun!
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1060
Location: Building incorrect cars since 2000!! | d500neil - 2010-08-25 7:37 PM
10-4....that's what makes this discussion so much fun!
Yeah, yeah what Chaney Said !!!!!
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1060
Location: Building incorrect cars since 2000!! | I figure if I keep posting I can get lots of pretty stars too
and by the way Neil.... Chaney has more stars so bow down.
Jeremy you got a cool car and my suggestion is do what you want with it your the one that gets to drive it
Edited by 60 Plymouth 2010-08-25 8:10 PM
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Member
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Location: Park City Illinois (north of Chicago) | Wow, there has been a lot of talk about this car on here I see. Well I plan on putting on some 24's, hydraulics, a metallic green paint job, and a Boomin' system.
No, i am actually plan on bringing her back to wonderful old self. The motor runs great, it shifts fine (the tranny was rebuilt about 8 years ago). The only major
mechanical issues are the brakes need to be re-done, and the suspension needs to be replaced, I will be pulling the motor next year to replace all seals and gaskets (all original)
I plan to sell the car once h3ll freezes over.
It's going to be my daughters when she is old enough. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 314
Location: Fairfield County, CT | Welcome Jeremy! Always great to hear from another Regal owner. I am an unofficial Regal Lancer record keeper. I don't have access to my data base right now but your car puts the total at around 32. I'm sure there are some duplicates in my list but I can safely say that your car is a new addition. Some observations: The broken hood ornament can be replaced with one from a '57 Dodge. They are the same as Regals and nice ones come up on Ebay all the time. No need to have one fabricated, they are plentiful. The non-radio I have only seen on one other Regal. I seriously doubt that someone would pay to have it removed, plug the fender and install the blank plate. The package shelf without any openings reinforces the non-radio delivery. The dash pad in your car looks to be in incredible condition. Maybe the best original I've seen. Your hot starting problem is probably a weak starter. Can't develop enough torque when it's heat soaked. If yours is the original (which it may be) I'd get it rebuilt to keep it with the car. Those rust spots may be the result of water leaking in at the c-pillar base or windshield. Have those areas checked by your body man. You may be surprised at what you find under the stainless strip at the base of the rear windshield. The passenger door fits really well. The beauty of having a solid low-mileage car. I'm envious. The Royal wheelcovers I've seen on another Regal and I thought they had been added, but seeing yours it's possible that was original too. I'd really like to see old pictures that you mentioned to see if they were on your car back in the day. The lancer shields on the fins have silver backgrounds. First one I've seen with those. All the rest have black. When you get the time, read the thread on Regals in the internet car sales area. There's a lot of good info on these cars there. Beautiful car you've got, thanks for sharing it with us. Post whatever questions you have, we'll do our best to answer. As someone said, it's your baby, do what pleases you, but if you ever get the urge to restore the eggshell over copper color scheme I think it would be money well spent. Just my 2 cents. Please post a picture of the back and driver's side of the car. I can't get enough. |
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Expert
Posts: 2679
| 60 Plymouth - 2010-08-25 8:04 PM
I figure if I keep posting I can get lots of pretty stars too
and by the way Neil.... Chaney has more stars so bow down.
Jeremy you got a cool car and my suggestion is do what you want with it your the one that gets to drive it :laugh:
Yeah since the 350 parts are getting to scarce and expensive I would suggest pulling the engine and dropping in a 413 or 440 with
long rams and a couple 750 cfm carbs.... that old 500 cfm carb is under powered and ancient like a roman chariot...... |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1115
Location: CA | People aren't and haven't been paying good money for "hot-rodded" forward look cars so that would suggest the value IS affected. Case and point, the two golden Furys on Barrett-jackson, both nice cars but both incorrectly restored neither of which broke 30K. A nice stock original car would have sold for more easily. True the investors seem to have backed off also affecting the value but they'll climb again. A nice factory correct car will be and IS usually worth more than anything incorrectly done this is especially true with our (rare) cars. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 378
Location: hampton mn | Very nice rare car, but why does this thread go on and on about the value? Or whether he should modify it? Jeremy did not ask for values or what mods should he do? You guys must just post to post. |
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Expert
Posts: 1530
Location: ZH, Switzerland | Hi Jeremy
Welcome abord. What a wonderful car you got. I guess you got goooood luck to get this nice and rare car. Congratulations.
Happy Motoring!
Dieter |
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Expert
Posts: 1728
Location: Fleetwood, Pa | You've got a very rare car there with tremendous potential!!! Enjoy it........ |
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Expert
Posts: 2996
Location: Sept. 1958 | Nice 58 Dodge you got there. With probably just a few dozen of these Regal Lancers left in the world, it's a scarce car. Good luck with it. |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Joe, Jeremy may have a very unusually outfitted car, here.
It has the non-Regal standard-Dodge dash trim, and the standard-Dodge Shield emblems, too.
As far as the non-radio is concerned, the plain rear package tray has no bearing on the car's lack of a radio; most cars
did not have a rear speaker; Regal-or-not.
The car is coded for having the Radio Accessory Group, but, there is no clear evidence that it ever did have a radio in it.
Maybe the lack of the radio has something to do with the car's Build date --lolol...
The original owner did not like the OEM 2-tone, so he had it be painted all-Copper-metallic.
He also, apparently, was not concerned about having a radio in the car (definitely VERY Olde School, as Grand Dad
came of age (probably) in the Depression, and the cars he grew up with probably didn't have any radios installed in them.
As far as the discussion about the car's current and future Market Value, Jeremy needed to understand the car's rarity and
its worth, in regards to his restoration work on it, as opposed to his possible hot-rodding (depreciation) of its value.
Jeremy---can't believe that this comment hasn't come up yet---please, carefully, check up/behind your car's glove box,
to see if the factory's Broadcast Sheet might still be masking taped there!
A copy of it might also be found, lying folded-up (sometimes), underneath the car's carpeting, on the floor, where a Line
Supervisor might have tossed it down, there, after confirming that the car's bodywork was constructed properly...right
before the car's interior was installed.
BTW, the car's dash-taped Broadcast Sheet (if still there), will probably confirm something about the
car's lack of a radio, or not, as that Broadcast Sheet specifically addressed the issue of how each car's
dashboard was to be assembled, and painted.
Edited by d500neil 2010-08-26 8:32 PM
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Jeremy, as far as the car's brakes are concerned, the largest OEM brakes which will fit your car are the 12"x 2 1/2" drums,
which were fitted to the Chryslers, etc.
Until recently, there have been 12 x 2 1/2" drums for sale on the 'Pay. For brake shoes, you can score some nasty 2 1/2"
shoes and have them be re-lined with FF/FF rated linings, or send them to Firm Feel company, where modern Carbon-Metallic
linings can be bonded onto them.
You may also score these brake drums/brake assemblies off of various cars, including station wagons, at one of the large
nationally advertised salvage yards; just confirm with them that those drums' lining surfaces can still be adequately 'turned' .
Either way, with the big brakes, your car will stop like a champ--Ronbo, on this website, installed the 12 x 2 1/2"ers on his 58
Belvedere and really likes their stopping ability.
Of course, you'll need to install new wheel cylinders, too, but they are commonly available.
While you're at this job ( a good winter project), you can have your car's master cylinder be overhauled, to prevent any
possible leakages from it.
If the power brake booster is NOT acting normally ('hissing' when you apply the brakes), you can send it 'out' to "Booster Dewey",
in Portland, for an overhaul of it.
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Building incorrect cars since 2000!! | Jason413 - 2010-08-25 11:58 PM
Very nice rare car, but why does this thread go on and on about the value? Or whether he should modify it? Jeremy did not ask for values or what mods should he do? You guys must just post to post.
Exactly!!!!! But everytime a car is put up here comes ole d500 with he wealth of what you should and should not do
Hell look at his post count |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | ..You're welcome!
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1060
Location: Building incorrect cars since 2000!! | d500neil - 2010-08-26 9:34 PM
..You're welcome!
Not Thanking you  |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | For any interested person (too bad that this has to play out on Jeremy's thread, but anyone reading this thread
will realize that Aaron rudely butted in on this discussion), Aaron's intellectual capacity and maturity and role models
are well documented in his avatar.
I apologize to Jeremy, and to the other members of this website.
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New guy here
