1959 Chevy Kingswood project

3,300 bucks new.

Wow.

Someone over paid... hahahaha

 

Probably took 5 years to pay it off too.

 

Naw. Back then, according to Dad, 3 years was the max anyone could finance a car, especially when the American companies wanted people to change cars about every year. Going beyond that only happened in the early '80s. About $100/month would have paid for this car.

 

don't forget that the kingswood was the next to top of the line with the nomad being the top .a brookwood was the bottom of the line and cheapest with the parkwood squeezing in between

 

Them were the Days......... Archie

Now $3308.40 won't even cover the down payment.
At the factory I worked take home pay was under $100 and a decent home like the blue one in the Texas picture could be bought for around $10,000.
A gallon of milk 50 cents, 10 loaves of bread $1.00. gas 29.9, a burger and fries with a coke under 50 cents.
An evening with your GF at the drive in movie and diner take out to eat while there all under $5.00.

Life was fine in 59!

 

Got home from the Army in 1969. Started my first job for $375.00 a month. Six months later, I had a $100.00 car payment and a $125.00 car payment. Groceries consisted of mac and cheese, Sundays we'd throw hamberger in it.....

 

Sometimes I wonder how we did it. Add car and house insurance and then baby food and diapers, baby sitters, there wasn't much left for air boats, fishing boats, snow mobiles, vacations abroad, fine wine, golf, sporting events, new furniture, stereos, colored TV, cable, satelitte, paying to have the yard landscaped and the house remodeled.
Hamburger helper and that mac and cheeze was cheap. Cardboard worked real good to patch those holey shoes till next payday and grandma could cut our hair.
Ooops off topic. How'd this happen?

 

Lisa , your close to the DFW area and they have a big swap meet end of April called the Pate . I will be there and if your interested I will have a used speedometer that has your name on it . Needle is off but might be good for parts or may be just needs cleaning . Pm me if interested . The swap meet is a blast and it is one of the best . Blue

 

Joyflea - thanks very much for your kind offer! The speedo is intact and hubs cleaned and re-lubed it. It doesn't seem to have any issues and hubby is "90 percent sure" it should be okay. We'll know more once it's back in use. ( I think John, the previous owner, said it worked fine. The gas gauge wasn't accurate, though. Maybe cleaning it will help, too.)

We hope to have the gauges back to the shop Monday.

Mixing the Testor's yellow and red paints... you can see the original orange-red in the center... the areas exposed to sunlight were ivory colored. You never would have known they were once red.



We cleaned off the needles/indicators with alcohol wipes, then put on two to three coats of thinned paint. Here is the speedometer needle with its first coat:



The clock is probably not repairable, but we will keep it for looks. I'd rather have the original one that doesn't work than a new one that might only work for a couple of years!

Indicators for the generator/oil pressure, I think.



Paint's dry....



Then hubs tested them...



I ordered new number decals for the odometer wheel from Late Great Chevy. Wish I could have found some with a little patina, but maybe the bright white numbers won't be that noticeable.

 

I enjoy checking up on your thread every once in a while! Y'all are doing a great job!

 

Thank you. Kind of slow-go at the moment, but that's okay.

 

Slow going is just fine. It's a hobby not a job. Keep at it and maybe someday you will be all done and have to buy another to keep busy.
I've read that the clocks were trouble from day one. I guess they go bad when left with a dead battery.
My 55 Chevy has showed 6:00 since the day I got it. 6:00 just looks right. Maybe I should change it to 5:55.

 

If you want, you should look up these guys for your clock.
I just sent my clock in to them for repair. I've never used them before, and I don't really know anything about them, so I can't attest to the quality of their work, but they look like a really good shop.
I liked that they will convert the original workings of your clock over to the quartz movement for longer life and more accurate timekeeping.
Their price for mine also seemed really reasonable. I'm paying $140 for my 81 pontiac drum style clock to be fixed and upgraded.
I can let you know how the clock works and how much I like it once I get it back!

http://www.clocksandgauges.com/gpage.html

 

There are several companies that upgrade clocks, radios, and gauges. I really don't care what time it is when I'm out riding. I'm somewhere lost in the 50's most of the time. If I really want to know my wife wears a watch and our cell phones have clocks.
Also the modern antique looking stereo has a digital thingie with the time. I can't remember ever having a working clock in any car.

 

Impressive results on those gauges! Always wondered why the MFRs didn't use a UVA/UVB protective paint on the needles. Just the same, very well done.