Today I went to take a look at this Lark VIII 2 door sedan in Maple Falls, WA (far northwest near Bellingham).
s/n 60V-13530, body 60V-F4 6603. I forgot to get the engine s/n.
The current owner, Jeff, bought it 6 years ago at an auction. He and his father drove it home, but haven't driven it in the last 5 years. He said the last time they took a longer drive, the brakes failed. They repaired them, but I forgot to ask what specifically was repaired. After they fixed the brakes it developed a problem in the fuel system. He thinks it's the carburetor. He was planning to fix it up and re-sell it, but he has too many other projects with higher priority. It appears to have been sitting outside most of the time.
The engine does crank with the battery, but doesn’t start. We didn't try to use any starting fluid or dribble gas down the carburetor before we cranked it. Despite being recently covered, the interior is saturated and starting to mold. There’s a leak somewhere around the rear window, and the driver's window won't crank up all the way (3/4" open). The frame is excellent, and the floors and trunk seem good. There were no holes and only light surface rust in the trunk. I couldn't see the underside of the floor pans very well, but I didn't see any holes. The only blistering I saw was at the lower front of the passenger door and along the edge of the trunk lid just above the trim. The locks are missing from the driver's door and the trunk. The wiring’s been replaced, but it looks sloppy. There are a lot of places of chipped paint that have been touched up. The hood has an area about the size of a hand palm that is chipped on the driver's side.
The seats were recovered and were real plush, with matching door liners, and the carpet looked like it had been replaced. My guess is that it's an older restoration. Jeff was in contact with some of the previous owners, and it may have been owned at one time by someone in the SDC.
The car has air conditioning, but he thinks it is not factory-installed.
Basically, the bones seem good (for now), but it needs a lot of work.
s/n 60V-13530, body 60V-F4 6603. I forgot to get the engine s/n.
The current owner, Jeff, bought it 6 years ago at an auction. He and his father drove it home, but haven't driven it in the last 5 years. He said the last time they took a longer drive, the brakes failed. They repaired them, but I forgot to ask what specifically was repaired. After they fixed the brakes it developed a problem in the fuel system. He thinks it's the carburetor. He was planning to fix it up and re-sell it, but he has too many other projects with higher priority. It appears to have been sitting outside most of the time.
The engine does crank with the battery, but doesn’t start. We didn't try to use any starting fluid or dribble gas down the carburetor before we cranked it. Despite being recently covered, the interior is saturated and starting to mold. There’s a leak somewhere around the rear window, and the driver's window won't crank up all the way (3/4" open). The frame is excellent, and the floors and trunk seem good. There were no holes and only light surface rust in the trunk. I couldn't see the underside of the floor pans very well, but I didn't see any holes. The only blistering I saw was at the lower front of the passenger door and along the edge of the trunk lid just above the trim. The locks are missing from the driver's door and the trunk. The wiring’s been replaced, but it looks sloppy. There are a lot of places of chipped paint that have been touched up. The hood has an area about the size of a hand palm that is chipped on the driver's side.
The seats were recovered and were real plush, with matching door liners, and the carpet looked like it had been replaced. My guess is that it's an older restoration. Jeff was in contact with some of the previous owners, and it may have been owned at one time by someone in the SDC.
The car has air conditioning, but he thinks it is not factory-installed.
Basically, the bones seem good (for now), but it needs a lot of work.
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