IML: How important is actual mileage? Not so much after a car turns 30.

[Kenyon Wills <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx>]

Good points, Paul.

Miles on new cars and miles on old cars are totally
different.  My biggest challenge on Imperials is
discerning the difference between 26k and 126k, with
the only real difference on some cars being the wear
to the right edge of the brake pedal rubber.  These
are well made cars that shrug off mileage better than
they  withstand being left to rot.  

You're mashing the two together anyway, so it's like
trying to define a car that's "american made" nowadays
with all of the foreign parts going into domestic cars
and foreign brands that have plants in the USA and all
that.

Fastest and cheapest?  Swap the 26K instrument cluster
into whatever car you will use and call that the
"ghost of mileage past" without making any claims to
anyone but yourself and be done with it.  It's hard to
tell a poorly cared for 26k car from a well maintained
126k car anyway.

My 64 is under 30k and I value it because it's so
original and nice, not because of the mileage.  I had
to redo a bunch of parts that don't do well when a car
sits anyway, so it's not a totally 30k car anyway.

Now that we've been through this discussion, I
encourage you to mentally keep track of how many times
the car's actual mileage comes up in conversation from
someone else first and how important it seems to them.
 I predict that it will be pretty low on the list of
questions and will fall more into the conversational
part of the spectrum than crucial facts (crucial facts
can include explaining just what the hell kind of car
it IS to begin with), and that you can likely say
almost any mileage figure you like and not have it
affect the opinion of the person asking by all that
much.   

If you do go to sell, your car will be bought on
emotion, not facts.  If someone likes it, and you
present the car's credentials as whatever they are
honestly (a 126k car with a 26k odo grafted in?), the
car will sell - supposing that it's also priced fairly
enough.


Good luck with the combining project.  My 1960
combination project sure hit the wall.  I'll finish it
one way or another, but make certain to steel yourself
and consider all of the time and energy it will take
before you defunct two cars and wind up with piles of
parts and no car to drive around.






--- Bob Hatten <bhatt39@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> While miles are important in a late model vehicle
> that will be sold and resold, I don't see the
> relevance in a classic car. 
> I am also the proud owner of a 58 Corvette with 38K
> that I drive every chance I get. When someone
> suggests mileage reduces the value, I answer (and I
> think it applies to any classic), that low miles are
> only valid if you are selling/buying; can a buyer go
> down the road and buy a similar vehicle at a
> comparable price with fewer miles? Of course not.
> Miles are not an issue.
> Put your best vehicle together and don't get so hung
> up on  the mileage difference. Unless you're talking
> Barrett-Jackson sales to movie stars and oil men.
> Our cars are to drive and enjoy. Put it together,
> get it on  the street and I guarantee no one will
> say; "yeah, its nice but you should see the one in
> Birmingham with only 26000 miles".
> Make somebody drool.
> 
> Bob Hatten
> 59 Lebaron 4 dr
> 59 Vette 
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Dennis 
>   To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>   Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 10:04 AM
>   Subject: Re: IML: Q: What to do with a 25k motor
> 
> 
>   nothing.  In California and probably most other
> states you would be arrested for fraud.  You might
> want to take as many parts as you can off of the 26K
> mile car and keep them or sell them.  If you can
> just keep the whole car in a shelter somewhere with
> a concrete floor, no dirt, then keep the whole car. 
> When you need a part down the road sometime, you
> know where to get it.  I'd especially keep the
> suspension, rearend, eng and trans.
> 
>   Dennis 
>   68 Omaha Orange FB 360
>   67 Imperial Titanic 4 door sedan
>   64 Dodge 880 land yacht w 413
> 
>     ----- Original Message ----- 
>     From: Pavlik, Eric 
>     To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>     Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 6:37 AM
>     Subject: IML: Q: What to do with a 25k motor
> 
> 
>     Hi everyone,
>         I'm new to this and would like to ask a
> question. To give a brief background:
>     The wife found this 63 sitting in some guys yard
> along with a host of other old cars (pretty cool
> actually). Got him to sell it to me - its a 4dr
> hardtop, blue with 26k original miles (yes,
> original). However, the body and some of the rear
> frame is shot, even though it was garaged (barn) for
> 25 yrs. Brought it home to start restoring and
> mechanically it is in great shape. Was actually able
> to get it running and drove it down the road before
> garaging it. My dad got excited about it and found a
> 'parts car' in Kansas that should be delivered
> tomorrow.
>         My dilemma - The parts car is in much better
> shape body-wise than this (at least from pics), has
> over 100k and was a daily driver (the guy was gonna
> demo it). I like the original one and color, etc. It
> seems the best route would be to swap parts to the
> 'parts car' and get it running. My issue is I want
> to keep the originality overall but would also like
> the 26k label on the title. 
>         Q: What can be or can't be swapped to keep a
> title with 26k on it and still be legit? Can I swap
> the plates to the other with the motor and
> drivetrain or does it have to stay with the frame? I
> want to keep as much originality as possible.
> 
>     Eric Pavlik 
>     X3327 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
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> 


Kenyon Wills
 
 






















 
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