I am pretty new here and even more new to Studebakers. I've always loved the lines of the '53-'55 C/K cars and have located one and have all but purchased it and brought it home. I've searched around a lot and I think the price is on par but I'd like to throw it out here and get a second opinion.
Here's the scoop:
-'54 Commander Coupe
-original 232 V8 and 3 spd column shift manual w/ electric overdrive
-fuel tank looks clean and looks to have a new fuel line
-Has undergone a NON-frame-off "cosmetic" restoration. Basically it has a nice new two-tone paint job (top is white, rest is red). The interior is original and fairly clean. Seats are recovered with one small tear in the material. Headliner is clean though looks to have some slight moisture staining around the quarter glass. I suspect this is because the quarter glass rubber is original and cracking. The underside of the dash looks surprisingly clean to me with just a small patch of surface rust. The carpet looks newer than original. The gauges look in good condition. The front and rear glass rubber looks original too but the door, hood seal, and trunk rubber looks new. To feel comfortable I would want to rewire the car because it appears to be all original wiring and I saw considerable insulation cracking/missing.
It has painted wheels to match the car color, w/ cooper wide white walls and "dog-dish" covers that are in decent shape.
The body and paint look quite good to me though it could use a good cut and polish of the single-stage acrylic enamel paint as there are some cat claw marks, etc. One area on the rear just outside the trunk line looks to have rust bubbling up but that's the only bad place I could find. There is surface rust on the underside/inside surface of that panel when viewed from the trunk. In my opinion the floors need to be replaced as there is some through-rust in places and a couple of patch jobs. The trunk appears to be very solid. The inner front feners are clean and painted. The front chrome is in decent shape with some minor pitting/"dots" on the headlight rings, grill, and bumper. There's also some rust staining on the lower areas of the front bumper. The rear chrome looks cleaner than the front but has a few pits as well. All of the badging and emblems are there though are also pitted somewhat. Although I was surprised to find out that Studebaker International has nearly all of these emblems and lens surrounds with exception of the grill/bumpers. Not sure how much rechroming costs to get it looking new again?
The owner was very nice and pointed out everything he thought was wrong with it. It was running/driving up to ~4 years ago but I think the owner has some health issues that prevent him from keeping up with it so the car has been sitting under cover since. The engine is a bit rough but complete. There is surface rust on the engine and certainly had it's share of oil leaks from the looks of how greasy it is. When he was driving it he said it was strong but that it smoked so it'll need a rebuild.
The frame looks pretty clean with minor surface rust.
Overall the things that are wrong with it don't bother me as I could handle taking care of them. I can replace the floors and see that Classic Enterprises carries them in various levels. I'm not really interested in the engine and trans as I have other plans for this car(don't worry - not a SBC!) but I would like to initially get it running/driving so that will mean pressure washing the whole engine comparetment/underside, resealing the motor at a minimum, attending to the fuel system, plug wires, wiring, etc. From what the owner said, the main thing preventing it from having a new battery thrown in it and seeing what happens is that the oil pressure gauge hose is leaking so it's going to spit oil out and make a mess. My other initial tasks before driving it much would be just giving it a good wash down, and maybe replacing the floors before too long.
So given that description, is it fair to ask the community for a ball-park price to feel comfortable paying? Although I've esentially already agreed to the price so I guess this whole post is about mitigating buyer's remorse!
Here's the scoop:
-'54 Commander Coupe
-original 232 V8 and 3 spd column shift manual w/ electric overdrive
-fuel tank looks clean and looks to have a new fuel line
-Has undergone a NON-frame-off "cosmetic" restoration. Basically it has a nice new two-tone paint job (top is white, rest is red). The interior is original and fairly clean. Seats are recovered with one small tear in the material. Headliner is clean though looks to have some slight moisture staining around the quarter glass. I suspect this is because the quarter glass rubber is original and cracking. The underside of the dash looks surprisingly clean to me with just a small patch of surface rust. The carpet looks newer than original. The gauges look in good condition. The front and rear glass rubber looks original too but the door, hood seal, and trunk rubber looks new. To feel comfortable I would want to rewire the car because it appears to be all original wiring and I saw considerable insulation cracking/missing.
It has painted wheels to match the car color, w/ cooper wide white walls and "dog-dish" covers that are in decent shape.
The body and paint look quite good to me though it could use a good cut and polish of the single-stage acrylic enamel paint as there are some cat claw marks, etc. One area on the rear just outside the trunk line looks to have rust bubbling up but that's the only bad place I could find. There is surface rust on the underside/inside surface of that panel when viewed from the trunk. In my opinion the floors need to be replaced as there is some through-rust in places and a couple of patch jobs. The trunk appears to be very solid. The inner front feners are clean and painted. The front chrome is in decent shape with some minor pitting/"dots" on the headlight rings, grill, and bumper. There's also some rust staining on the lower areas of the front bumper. The rear chrome looks cleaner than the front but has a few pits as well. All of the badging and emblems are there though are also pitted somewhat. Although I was surprised to find out that Studebaker International has nearly all of these emblems and lens surrounds with exception of the grill/bumpers. Not sure how much rechroming costs to get it looking new again?
The owner was very nice and pointed out everything he thought was wrong with it. It was running/driving up to ~4 years ago but I think the owner has some health issues that prevent him from keeping up with it so the car has been sitting under cover since. The engine is a bit rough but complete. There is surface rust on the engine and certainly had it's share of oil leaks from the looks of how greasy it is. When he was driving it he said it was strong but that it smoked so it'll need a rebuild.
The frame looks pretty clean with minor surface rust.
Overall the things that are wrong with it don't bother me as I could handle taking care of them. I can replace the floors and see that Classic Enterprises carries them in various levels. I'm not really interested in the engine and trans as I have other plans for this car(don't worry - not a SBC!) but I would like to initially get it running/driving so that will mean pressure washing the whole engine comparetment/underside, resealing the motor at a minimum, attending to the fuel system, plug wires, wiring, etc. From what the owner said, the main thing preventing it from having a new battery thrown in it and seeing what happens is that the oil pressure gauge hose is leaking so it's going to spit oil out and make a mess. My other initial tasks before driving it much would be just giving it a good wash down, and maybe replacing the floors before too long.
So given that description, is it fair to ask the community for a ball-park price to feel comfortable paying? Although I've esentially already agreed to the price so I guess this whole post is about mitigating buyer's remorse!
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