Horn repair

[Guest]

RE: Horn repair

>A bit off topic, but is there a reason you are so attached
>to this particular car? There are squarebirds for sale all
>over the place. Check out
>http://ww2.collectorcartraderonline.com/ do a search for
>1958-1960 T-birds. 65 cars come up, in a wide price range
>and lots of colors.
>
>Good luck,
>Mel

Thanks Mel,

No I'm not that attached to that one, though it had everything I was looking for. I also invested a lot of time and asome money in having it inspected. Check my wanted post in the for sale/wanted forum. I'm looking for a 1960 (I am very attached to the 60, I just prefer the grill and the six rear lights over the 4 that the 58 and 59 had), black exterior, black & white (or just black) interior with A/C. Factory AC is still on of my big requirements at the moment. I live in a swamp and when it is 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity you really want AC. At this point I may eventually consider repainting one since I'm not 100% concerned about matching color codes. I actually found the one I was looking at (the second one I've considered so far) on collector car trader online.

Cheers,
Strange Square

[Alexander]

RE: Horn repair

The engine of my 1960 Golde Top seized two years after I bought it because the oil pump pick-up screen was clogged. John G on this site found the same this before his engine seized. This is a hidden defect; I doubt that the seller knew about this. You can say this is a hidden defect. How could you prove that a seller knew about a defect? I am not a lawyer, but all the old used cars I have bought are sold "as is" with no warranty. I have tried to inspect them as best as possible and then cross my fingers.

I myself would not sign a paper saying that a car has no hidden defects. I cannot guarantee that something will go wrong, and the buyer will say I knew about this.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: Horn repair

>I myself would not sign a paper saying that a car has no
>hidden defects. I cannot guarantee that something will go
>wrong, and the buyer will say I knew about this.

Alexander,

I don't know. Maybe I just read contracts all the time since in my work I deal with construction, but all that contract says is that the seller did not willingly hide a known hidden defect. The key being willingly. The proof would be that the buyer would have to find a mechanic or some other evidence that the owner knew about it. You are right it wouldn't be easy to do, but it is an attempt to get someone to take responsibility and commit to the fact that they made a full disclosure of what they know. A good example might be if it showed up and the block was cracked. It happens in 30's cars occasionally and they still run(I've never seen a later era car have it, but I certainly haven't seen them all). If there was a lot of other evidence that the car had overheated it would be difficult to believe that the owner didn't see the crack in the block. It is the same liability that you take selling on ebay since they have a disclosure clause as far as I understand which is why if it shows up on the buyer's doorstep with defects that you would have easily been aware of but didn't disclose they give the seller $20,000 in loss coverage and come after you. So your pump wouldn't have been covered. The owner didn't know. How could he unless he did some sort of oil pressure test or something that showed there was a problem and he didn't disclose that problem to you. Maybe I do see lawyers too often. I believe though you would find that contract in many change of property contracts, like a house for example (I seem to remember one when I bought mine). It doesn't say there are [strong]no[/strong] hidden defects, it says that to your knowledge you don't know of any. Legal speak for just standing up and saying you don't know of anything wrong with the car except 1.2.3. ... I can list off the known defects on my 88 mazda pretty easily. In this case the seller really didn't disclose anything that didn't work except the AC. All of the other defects which in my opinion should have been disclosed were told to me by the inspector. Then his refusal to sign a clause that says he doesn't know of anything that has not been already disclosed that is wrong? Makes me think the inspector missed something and this guy just isn't going to add anything to it. It shouldn't be confused with a warranty. The engine could blow up right after you buy it and you would probably have no recourse.

Oops, I guess I got a little long winded. Anyway, that sale is off. When I get back from vacation I'll go back to looking again.

Thanks everyone for all of the help and advice. I'm guessing I'm just going to have to do the sale in person. Then I can look at it and take it the same day if I can get someone to say there isn't anything wrong with it.

Cheers,
Strange Square

[Alexander]

RE: Horn repair

If you find a Squarebird and it is not nearby you, if it is nearby me, I might might be able to look it over. Others on this site may do the same for you. Someone familiar with these cars may be be better to find some flaws than a person with just a general knowledge of cars.

Good luck in your search.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: Horn repair

Thanks Alexander.

The last one was just outside of Phoenix in Arizona. It had a lot of owners in the last few years. Which was another thing that made me a little nervous. The current owner had it for just under 1 year.

I put this in your inbox as well, but here is the link for anyone that might be interested to a sample sales contract with a similar clause.

http://www.legaldocs.com/htsgif.d/xcarbuy.mv

I'll find the perfect Squarebird with the right combination one day. After all the search is part of the enjoyment too.

Cheers,
Strange Square

>If you find a Squarebird and it is not nearby you, if it is
>nearby me, I might might be able to look it over. Others on
>this site may do the same for you. Someone familiar with
>these cars may be be better to find some flaws than a person
>with just a general knowledge of cars.
>
>Good luck in your search.
>
>Alexander
>1959 Hardtop
>1960 Golde Top

[JohnG]

RE: Horn repair

I would echo some of what Alexander said... you are not going to find a car that can be guaranteed to be problem free because no one can know what is lurking in them.

The main problem is that they have been around too long and can have hidden secrets. An owner could try their darndest to consider everything but still fail in all likelihood. In his case and mine the oil pickup was a ticking time bomb.

I think you have done all you could and now have to work with what shows up in your driveway.

An old friend advised me "assume nothing, hope for everything". It was accurate about the TBird, among other things.

If you live in a hot area then, to apply this thinking, I would assume nothing about the cooling system. As soon as I could I would flush the system, put in a low thermostat, and take the radiator to a shop and have it cleaned and both flow and pressure tested. I would also buy a 6 blade fan and put it in while the radiator was out. At that point I would know I had configured the best cooling system I could. Anything less than that, I would be trying to get by on luck. An overheated engine is far too serious a matter to hope for luck on.

The rest of the car can be done in a "rolling" fashion...drive it, have fun, check for and work out the bugs.

The cars are old so the technology is simple and lots can be done with very modest knoweledge levels. No computers to contend with, nothing more than a multimeter needed.

Rust is a far more serious issue than mechanical problems. If the frame is rusted out somewhere, this is a disaster compared with re-coring a radiator or other problems. If you find a nearly rust free car, the rest can be overcome! If the price is reasonable, you will not regret it.

Good luck!!

John
58 Hardtop

[Guest]

RE: Horn repair

Sorry for your T-bird searching woes.......I myself drove from Va to Penn. to look at mine as it sat in a garage........the same garage it had sat for 20 years. I personally inspected it with my father and struck the deal with a deposit check and a hand-shake. It was all there and ran well. As I disassembled the car the fix various things.....I was in horror as I removed the front wheel wells........part of the subframe was GONE. As stated before....you never know what you are getting with an old car like these even when you yourself inspect it. ........or get someone who knows these cars to tag along. There are certain areas with these cars that "go bad" no matter what. I found in all my years of "bird watching" and looking that these cars come in 2 forms.......pristine , well cared for, garaged gems.........or rolling basket cases waiting to suck the air out your wallet...........with few in betweens. You will be hard pressed to find a daily driver since they chug gas and are not the most nimble cars to drive in todays traffic. Your best bet is to do your homework......and be patient. Its a buyers market now so you may find just what you want sooner than you think.