Project Car: 1933 Chrysler Cq Rumbleseat Coupe - Body #253 Of 364 Made >>rare<< on 2040-cars

IF YOU DIDN'T GET WHAT YOU WANTED FOR CHRISTMAS>>>

Just for you - or your favorite wrench-turner - is a serious project that will make you the envy of the car show circuit. 

In 1933, Chrysler produced only 364 of these CQ-model Imperial Rumbleseat Coupes.  This is Body #253.  Body by Budd, more widely known for railway cars.  Interestingly, there was a mid-year design change, documented in service manuals and bulletins, which indicate that this was the last of the original design run, and #264 was the first of the revised design. 

308Cubic Inch Straight-Eight engine with clean bores; Three-speed transmission with the Freewheeling Clutch, power hydraulic brakes, and unbroken glass in the instrument panel!  There are several unused  NOS replacement tires, along with NOS tubes and rim strips.  Some new replacement switches and brushes, including five Vintage NOS Wagner brake light switches.  Two Correct Headlights included, which I purchased in 2000 at the Allentown County Fairgrounds Winter Swap Meet. Replacement bearings for the rear axle. The original temperature gauge is not show in the photo pf the gauge cluster, but is also included - if you look in the photo where there is a piece of cardboard tube taped with blue tape, that is the box containing the temperature gauge with the bulb assembly.  Also included are the elusive Radiator Grille Badge AND Crank Start Handle Hole Cover (See Photo #5 (If you buy this car, the original PRISTINE Owner's Manual in the picture is available separately for what I paid for it in 1995: $200.00)).  Also included in this auction are four (4) hubcaps (I paid $60.00 each in 1995) and a full engine gasket set, both purchased from Kanter Automotive in Boonton NJ. Unfortunately, the radiator cap hood ornament was long gone before I bought the car.

I could put up another 40 photos of all the parts that I disassembled and removed from this car, but you can only put up 24 photos. . .

Is it rough? Sure it is – but then you wouldn’t be in too good condition if you sat outside for 15+ years in Jersey City either!!!

Please note that Photograph #2 is this car just before I had it towed off the outside lot where it had sat all those years. 

The car is disassembled, off the frame, and approximately 90% complete - if you don't count the upholstery, glass, and wood, which rotted away in the elements before I tracked down the owner and obtained a clean, valid New Jersey title, then rented a garage and began working on my "dream car".  But life happens and I ran out of time to work on her (Wow - that whole work and career and family thing after finishing college. . . who knew???). 

The reserve price is the purchase price I paid for the car originally - it does not include any other parts I purchased, work I had done (there was a little), or garage rent I paid over the years!

 HERE IS THE SOB STORY - Skip down to the *** if you don't want to bother reading. . .

So, I haven't really worked on her in the last almost 20 years.  I have been more of a caretaker of this rare, historically interesting vehicle (AND paying rent on the garage!) for whoever is that lucky person who will bring her back to her original glory.  Definitely not a belly-button car!

I had seen this sitting in a lot in the middle of urban sprawl and decay for a while, but when I noticed that the local punks had smashed out the windows and knocked off one headlight, I decided that I had to save her.  I was working full-time, going to college at night (no student loans - Paid out-of-pocket!) and I managed to scrape up and eventually I was the proud owner of a sorry-looking pile of 60-year old metal.  I began disassembly - that is really cheap to do - and acquired some almost-correct headlights for an exorbitant price.  I got a reproduction service manual, and an original owner's manual, as well as several original Service Bulletins.  A couple of suspension parts got sandblasted and powder-coated, I bought some bearings for the rear axle, and then, for personal reasons, work stopped. 
Sidemount Packard Studebaker Hudson Willys Rumble DeSoto LaSalle Dusenberg Pierce Arrow Franklin Essex Humber depression concours  hotrod resto resto-rod rat-rod Lincoln mercury terraplane Pontiac Oldsmobile Buick dodge brothers imperial horch auto-union mg jaguar rolls Royce Aston martin Morgan cyclecar hispano-suiza Lockheed

And never re-started.

At least she was inside,  mostly in the garage, while some other parts made it into my basement (Transmission, luggage rack, radiator, grille, Watson Stabilators, generator, starter, carburetor, and boxes upon boxes of other small parts, plus some other odds-n-ends).

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I took photographs of the disassembly process and logged them step-by-step in a notebook, to aid in future re-assembly.  I also tagged all the parts for identification as I removed them.

If you don't know what they are or where they came from, it ain't too easy to put 'em back, y'know?

Anyway, it is time for this diamond-in-the-rough to move on to the next stage of her life, as we part ways and my family and I move on to the next stage of our lives. 

Please contact me with and questions comments or additional information if you can provide any.

SHIPPING:

  I WILL NOT SHIP.  PICKUP ONLY.

Pickup will involve preparation, coordination (in order to access the garage, which is normally blocked by residential tenants parked in the driveway in front of it), a large box truck (A power lift gate would be a HUGE HELP!), and helpers.  A FLATBED IS NOT ADVISABLE WITHOUT A VAN OR ANOTHER ENCLOSED TRUCK AS WELL. Tie-downs, dollies and moving blankets are a really good idea.  There is an engine hoist in the garage available for use, and with creativity, patience, and an eye for safety, everything can be loaded from ground level.  Consider that this is how I removed the body from the frame by myself, without damage or injury (other than the typical scraped knuckles normal to playing with cars).  I will also need to get everything I have at my house over to the garage for easy (ha!) one-stop pickup.  I will be doing that movement over the next several days.  The body is on a dolly constructed of 2x4s and dolly wheels, which makes it easier to maneuver the body around.  The engine is on a dolly from a piece of vintage medical equipment, and goes with the engine too.

This will likely be an all-day affair.  Plan accordingly.  Weather should always be considered as well.  While there is no great pressing need to move immediately, we do need to be reasonable and do it fairly soon.  My schedule is very flexible after January 15th, 2014. 

PAYMENT:         

To minimize any problems, I would advise that we use the escrow service recommended by eBay: Escrow.com.  Now, if you just want to PayPal me the full amount upon end of auction and are willing to trust me with your money until you make the pickup, I have no problem with that!  But I think that using the escrow is the most advisable course.  We can split the fees.