1978 Ford LTD Country Squire

460 V8 and pretty well optioned. Looks like the Brougham interior in leather. $2900.

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/5776048071.html

 

If it all it takes to get the car running is to clean the carburetor, he should do just that and demonstrate the veracity of this statement.

All of the rubber is dried/cracked/falling off. The front seat at least is a mess. The speedometer and dash appear to have dirt on them. How does dirt end up here?

Etc. Etc. The car needs a lot of work. Plus the fact that it doesn't run. $1000 to $1500 as it sits at most. Get it running and add maybe $500. And all of this is AFTER it has been inspected to make sure it hasn't been in a flood.

 

That's not dirt on the speedometer. That is rust.

 

Whatever it is, it suggests a flood.

 

I see a lot of cars in junkyards with rusty speedometer parts. High humidity is all it takes.

 

But this rust is on the plastic, not on metal surfaces. How did it get there?

 

I'm not sure where you are seeing the rust on the plastic. All of the dust/dirt I see around the gear shift indicator, idiot lights, and on the speedo lens is what happens when you don't clean/detail the interior of your car for 38 years.

 

I'm referring to those brown spots on the speedometer lens. It looks a lot more filthy to me than just an accumulation of dust and grime, and we don't know that it hasn't been cleaned in 38 years. I wouldn't assume that.

 

Rusted plastic?, that's a new one. How does it make a magical rectangle around the odometer if it's on the lense?
x2 on that being surface rust on the speedometer face from humidity and sitting around, its not hermetically sealed, air does get in there.
Arguing the fact is like beating a dead horse.

 

I didn't say the plastic is rusted. Mr. Varnes did that in post #3. I said the plastic has dirt on it. I don't think we can assume that it's rust. I can believe surface rust on metal surfaces, not on plastic surfaces. I can also believe that the dirt on the speedometer lens and other plastic surfaces can be caused by the car being under water.

 

If those brown spots in this photo, especially on the lower left around the indicator needle, are actually on the speedometer face itself, then, yes, I can see how it would be rust assuming the speedometer face is made of metal. But I don't think it's clear from the photo that these spots are actually on the speedometer face. They look to me like they could easily be on the plastic lens in front of the speedometer face. In fact, they look much more like they are on the plastic lens than on the speedometer face, at least to me.

 

When I have a couple of hours tonight I will go back and review my posts in this thread to find where I said the plastic was rusty.

 

You actually said "That's not dirt on the speedometer. That is rust." I took that to mean the plastic in front of the speedometer, which is what I was referring to at that point in the conversation, although not as well as I could have. My bad, and I apologize.

Regardless, TO ME, it looks like the dirt is on the plastic in front of the speedometer, not on the speedometer itself. I could be wrong, but that was my first impression when I saw that photo. There is similar dirt on the lens in front of the shift indicator around the "P." Again, to me, that looks like dirt on the plastic in front of the shift indicator, not on the indicator itself.