Hello, could use some help!

I had originally purchased this Kingswood Estate from Tom Sneva in Spokane Washington in the early 70's. I lived in Montana for some years after that, where the winters had taken a heavy toll on the car.

I have been trying to restore her over the years, and there have a few things I have been able to do. I have replaced the leaf springs underneath the car. I found a motor for the back window from Arizona. Everything under the hood has been redone completely. She also has had a gas tank replaced.

But now, some years later, the car has fallen into disrepair. There are several rusted areas, the interior is falling apart, the interior has lost its seal, and many things are falling apart. I have wanted to get it restored. But there is no one in my area that can do it.

At this point I am trying to decide what to do, I would ideally prefer this car to be restored. If that is not possible, I would like to find a similar replacement or as a last resort I would consider selling to someone who would love her and make good use of her. Above all, if I can't have this wagon in working condition, I would want one just like her in working condition.

Can anyone help me achieve this, please?

Here are some pictures:

 

Welcome and good luck with your station wagon. From the photos it appears that the sun got to the paint and interior. The trim looks decent and I didn't see a lot of rust. Maybe take it to a few small town body shops to get ideas what it may cost to repair. It's always a gamble if you don't know the shop or the workmanship of the people there.
Depending on your age and your autobody skills you may be able to do much of the initial work yourself. Half the fun is working on an old vehicle. Look around this forum for ideas and maybe another wagon for sale.
With luck you may find another similar wagon with a decent interior to swap into yours.

 

Hi MJ, it can be very difficult finding a body guy that will take on a resto job. Most of then won't touch rust jobs, they're lengthy, time consuming and expensive, the shops can make so much more money on insurance jobs. However there are some out that might be able to help you with the body work. How is the frame and floor? You look like to still have a lot of car there to work with. How is the car mechanically?
It can be very over whelming when your looking at all the things that need to be done. Maybe if you divide you will conquer. Good Luck.

 

I was going to say the rust looks quite minor. Nothing that any decent shop could not tackle in short order. Here in Ontario, almost every car over 5 years old has rust starting there, and by 10, holes on most. As for the paint, it looks like a good sand and prime would fix most of the problems. Again, any good shop should be able to handle that. You could even manage it in your driveway if the neighbours don't complain too much. It looks, from the pictures, like the wood grain is in reasonable shape. If not, a good shop can replace that too, or even paint it on. Or you could paint that area a contrasting colour to keep the look, but not have the problems of dealing with dynoc.

The interior will be a bit more of a challenge, finding the parts to bring it back to rights, but again, very doable. Most of that you can do easily over time if you take your time and search the right parts up. The good thing is that with the interior, she is drivable most of the time, so you can keep plugging away and remind yourself how much you love driving the old girl. Good luck!

 

what Mike said

 

Thank you for your responses,

The problem is all the work I have done so far has come from local shops in the Ohio area. But now the car is in such shape that no one locally, here in Virginia, says they can do it. I have called every local shop, and all have either declined or directed me to one restorer in the area. Having called him and offered him a consultation he refuses to even come to look at it.

Being that I am a now a single woman of retirement age there is no way I can do the work myself, and have no family members to help. I have seen the recent Kingwoods that have changed hands and would have paid cash in a heartbeat for any one of them. I can only hope another one comes available, someone could stand up and help me do restoration, or perhaps swap with a similar working wagon. I would even be appreciated if someone knew of a car specialist in the area, since I just cannot find one.

I just thank anybody for any help because I just love my Kingswood, and don't want any other car.

 

If I am understanding your posts correctly, you would like a decent driver Kingswood. You have one that does not fit the bill.

Without knowing more than what is posted, I would recommend selling yours and buying another. I may be missing something...

 

Yes, I would love that. But my question is how often do they become available? And where else could I look for one other than this forum?

 

Okay. I am with you now. "How often do the come available?" I do not have a clue.

Get in the habit of checking "allofcraigslist", ebay, and of course here. I bet after a couple of months of this you will see that they are out there or something that would satisfy what you are looking for.

THE CATCH!
You better have the cash in hand when one becomes available.

There are other members that search more frequently and on a broader scale than I and they will most likely chime in.

 

Where in Virginia are you. I recently saw a 73 Chevy wagon for sale in extremely nice condition in northern, Virginia. The price had been reduced from $14.000 down to $12,000, and I've posted pictures in other threads in this forum.Its very nice, and while the price seems high, its likely because of the highly desireable (to collectors) 454 V-8 engine. If you're looking for a daily driver, the 454 would be too thirsty for fuel, and it would be better to find a smaller (and less expensive) V-8 engine.
There are several shops here locally that have good reputations for doing mechanical work on older cars like ours. In my part of northern Virginia, Dulles Auto Clinic and Sterling Hot Rod come to mind. As for body work and paint for a nice driver (but Not a show winning restoration), consider going to Maaco. Maaco is a franchise, and some are better than others. The Maaco in Sterling, Virginia, for example, is owned by an enthusiast and has a very talented painter. They love working on old cars and when I had my 67 Dodge painted there, they went out of their way to make sure I was happy. I plan to take a couple more cars to them soon for body work and paint.

 

I think the most relevant question is what is your budget?

 

Hi MJ and welcom... I'm not a Kingswood guru, but I'm guessing there were enough of these wagons made that another one will come up for sale. And the folks here on the forum will gladly help keep an eye out to help you spend your money, we just need to know what you want. Is the the only year you are considering? (Would a 70 or 72 be close enough?) What's your price range? What options are important? How soon are you looking to get one? (Patience is a great asset when you are buying a car...)

 

The Tom Sneva you purchased it from - is that the same Tom Sneva who was a race car driver? If so, how cool! Was he the original owner? Got any pics of Tom with the car? Tom Sneva owning the car gives it a little bit of provenance.

 

Thank you all for your many replies, I apologize for not replying earlier. I'm still getting used to these new computers.

Thank you for the suggestion, I will certainly be checking those sites.

I'm near Portsmouth, so I am down closer to Carolina. Thank you for mentioning the Chevy, but I only am looking for a Kingswood like my Betsy, which is the name she's had for years. And thank you for mentioning those body shops, I wasn't aware of them. I will have to give them a call.