CA Central Valley Stude owners, 2 Lark parts cars available in Modesto, won't be there much longer..

[goodkarmech]

On my way from the Bay area to Mariposa, CA Thurs. I stopped by Farriester's wrecking yard on Crow's Landing Rd. in Modesto.
The last time I was there they had recently gotten in a 61 Lark Cruiser & I wanted to see what was still left on it.
I remembered the body was really straight and with limited rust, & memory was correct.
I spoke to the owner Mark Farriester & he said he is closing the yard Dec 31st & what isn't gone by then will be crushed.
Mark said he was having trouble buying inventory...& I told him I had noticed there weren't as many cars in the yard as I had remembered.
He said he'd make me a good deal on anything I wanted on the cruiser & I bought both wiper arms for $10.
I said I might be interested in the front clip or fenders but wouldn't have time to come back until mid October which he said was fine.
After looking at my car's fenders, they only have a small amount of rust in the bottom. The fenders on the cruiser are pretty nice, but there is a big rust hole where the battery goes. I am not sure but it seemed to me the inner and outer fender is one piece on these?
Anyway, I'm not sure if I am going to make the effort to get them off this car, but thought I would make it known to the forum.
There is the 61 cruiser and also a 2 door hardtop 59 or 60 Lark VI that has dents and more parts missing.
The 61 has all it's knobs on the dash even the lighter and a nice reclining front seat & back seat with center armrest.
The doors are all solid and there, all the glass is there...bumpers. The hood is on the roof.
Anyone know if those are the stock bumperettes for all Larks in 61, just for the cruisers or are they off a Hawk?
I was wondering because they are larger than the ones on my Skytop...
It was a V8 car with overdrive, but engine & trans are gone. So is the steering column.
I've attached pics of the 61, I didn't snap any of the 59. The yard is open Mon - Fri's only...Mark also has other 60's cars there.


If you are local, call him and / or go check it out. 209-524-6730

[StudeRich]

Someone probably installed the '62 to '66 narrow Bumper Guards on your Skytop.

The '59 to '61 correct type bumper guards are a bit fat and to some, not as pretty as the later ones.

That is REALLY a shame that someone scrapped that rare '61 Cruiser, as it is quite solid looking and easily put back on the road with a new power train.

[Jeff T.]

There are a lot of us in the Midwest that would like the front fenders for our projects. It's possible that something as simple as the transmission let go or the original owner passed on and no one at the time wanted the car so it ended up in the salvage yard. I remember seeing a lot of straight mid-sixties GM four doors in yards that looked like at one time they could have been driven out of the yard.

Jeff T.

[goodkarmech]

Rich - that makes sense the smaller bumper guards on the later cars.
My car has a 64 289 engine & used to have the 64 hubcaps.
The bumper guards probably came from that donor car as well, possibly the bumpers too.

[Roscomacaw]

When I used to do the LA area yards on a weekly basis (late 80s), I remember coming across a '66 Rambler Ambassador 4dr in a Pick-a-Part yard. I can still see it's gleamingly perfect dark green metallic paint and perfect chrome all around. The car was REALLY heavily optioned and was clean as a pin inside. I wanted (and ultimately took) some pieces off of it, but not until after I called the folks whose name was on the registration in the glove box. An elderly gent answered and allowed as how there was nothing with the car. It was just that no one in his family wanted that funny old car ( woulda been about 24 years old by then) and so he'd seen P-a-P's ad where they pay cash for complete cars and sold it to them for $160 (and I kid you not - Pick-a-Part clearly stated that they paid less for RAMBLERS than they did for any other make!). So here I was - taking really nice parts and accessories off of a car that would've been fawned over at an AMC meet....... and yes, if P-a-P had been willing to sell me the whole car, I'd have owned it in a heartbeat. Then there was the 100% complete and undamaged 58 President hardtop (red and white) that I bought parts off of. Think it don't HURT to strip parts off a car you could be cruisin' in???

[JimC]

There are a lot of us in the Midwest that would like the front fenders for our projects.

Ain't that the truth!! I've been (fairly passively) looking for a pair for my car, and so far, no dice.

Do you still have those fiberglass ones? Honestly, if you need a set, you'd probably be time ahead to just go with those. I've been tempted to get a pair for my car and just call it good enough. The good news is that they don't ding as easily as steel. Now cracking on the other hand...