Hi folks
just wanted to stop in to show a car I just bought over the
weekend..
I buy , restore and sell classic cars for a living and have been
now for about 12 yrs.
Found this the other day and thought Id buy it , and get it at
least back on the road for now.
1962 544 mostly rust free Az car , its been in Az and the desert
dry climate for most of its life

 

Welcome to the forum! Nice find! Can't wait to see the restoration.

 

started to work on it the other day..
drained the gas tank, bypassed the factory tank for now and
fuel pump, and ran a small electric fuel pump under the hood
into a small container of gas. Cranked the motor a few times and
after about 5 tries, voila !! it started up and idled !!
Next, I tossed on some used 15" tires for now to make it more
mobile. After I got it fired up and it was idling great, I decided to
take it on a maiden voyage around our parking lot and over to the
do it yourself car wash to spray off a few yrs of Az desert and cobwebs.
Immediately noticed no brakes !! even more fun, no brake reservoir under
the car ! haha. So for the meanwhile, Im stopping it by using just the Ebrake.
Spent the day cleaning it up and getting an idea of where I stand with
the car and what it needs etc.
Under the hood, needs a fuel pump and water pump has a slow leak.
Of course, needs the brake master and tires soon. Heater core also has
a small leak.
From under the car you would swear the car is totally rust free, but over
the yrs, water did somehow creep in the front floorboards and those lovely
plastic floormats helped hold in some moisture over the yrs, so both front
floors are soft and probably will need replacing eventually. Rear floors not
near as bad and nor are they as soft.. yeah !
So that all said, those are the cars priorities what it needs first.
Im still trying to figure out what the original color was on the car..
and at least being here in Az, the rust on the car is very minimal compared
to most 544s this old. Interior is a little crusty and really showing its age
of course. Took my 5 yr old daughter for a spin around the parking lot today
in it like I do with all the cars we buy, and that alone is worth the price of
admission. Shes already been in more classic cars then most kids will be
by the time they are 20. Overall, I dig the car and glad its on its way back
to being a driver and out from under a carport.

 

here are a few more...







hope you like the pics..
can anyone tell me if Red was the original color ?
the current paint is really old and very bad to say the least..
but thats nothing new.