76 Caprice Estate from Florida to California or bust!

Hi guys, first let me say thanks to everyone here who has helped and supported me to find a real live Clamshell that I can ship back home to Australia! After watching so many clamshell wagons (some good and some not so good) come up on this forum, it was great day when I finally got the opportunity to get one for my self. Long live the big GM long roofs, and long live the Station Wagon Forums and its members!

As most of you may know, I managed to purchase a 76 400 SB Caprice Estate Wagon in white with blue, with my beloved full power tailgate that just happened to have the third row. Not a BB or a 73 but just as stunning all the same, all the while managing to recruit another wagon enthusiast to this forum as well!

If I can figure out how to upload pics from my pc without them immediately going to thumbnails I will be able to put some newer pics up.

Ok now for the update, I along with a pal and my Son are travelling to the States on Feb 15 this year to meet up with Marky in Tampa to do the legal stuff and then spend around two weeks on the open road to ferry this thing back to L.A. Cant wait to hit the gas pedal and get cruising!

We plan to travel mainly through the South and I definitely want to catch up friends in Austin When get to Texas and Albuquerque in New Mexico and Palm Springs CA along the way, but the trip is up for review. Although I will use the interstate for a fair bit, what I am really looking for is some of the better back road routes along the way. I have driven through the Mohave a few times and I love the desert, but it would be cool to see some of the open prairies if we decide to go higher inland or even some of the coast line if it is a must see a experience along the way as well. This part of the world is new to me so I am all ears!

So I am calling on fellow forum members suggestions over the next month to see where people recommend us to go through. You never know, maybe even bump into a fellow forum member or two along the way.

Also can someone give me an idea how to put up full pics please, do they need to be hosted by a third party like photobucket or flicker first? If so I can do that, but I was wondering if can be done straight from the PC?

Ok got it!

 

Very nice choice.


When you post before you "submit your reply" scroll down you'll see a "Manage Attachments" button, click on that then you can up load picts from your PC. You can follow this link...

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9

 

Hi fannie, and thanks. I did that but they appeared as thumbnails. These pics are uploaded from my PC but I cant figured once I have uploaded how make them full scale the same as you. What part am I missing?

 

I just copied and pasted your pics...I'm not sure why yours are coming out as thumbnails??? Maybe PM wagonmaster he might be able to guide you.

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=1

 

That is a beautiful wagon Premier!

 

Stunning ride and all the best, I have the same color scheme (white with wood) on my 76 Cruiser except burgundy interior instead of blue.

 

Ok this seems to be the worst of it. I am tossing up wether to get it repaired before I pick it as the car is sitting there doing nothing atm but If I do, it will need to be finished within 4 weeks as I can not afford the time to wait. I am hoping that Marky can put me on to a good body shop but if they can't guarantee that they can finish on time, then it will have to wait until I get back home to Australia.

 

Wish I could meet up with you on the expedition, Premier, but looks like you won't be hitting the Pacific Northwest.....

If you haven't already seen the Grand Canyon, that would be a must-see. I can also recommend the Great Meteor Crater (also in Arizona, not to far from the Grand Canyon), and if you are going through Lost Wages, be sure to stop in to see the Hoover Dam - quite a sight, and the tour down inside is not to be missed. Big Visitor Center on the west side of the dam.

 

Thanks Krash, my boat came out of the Pacific NW (Bend Oregon) and it is a place I would love to go to one day.

I went to the grand canyon last time I was in the US and I agree, if you live in the States or are visiting in the area from overseas, the grand canyon from the south rim is one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. My Son has not seen it yet so I plan to call in when past that way.

Also I agree the Hoover dam is something else again. I have been to the visitors center you mentioned in 2001 on my first trip to the States including a tour of the power station, and they were just building the lead ramps prior to the bridge being built. I went to SEMA in Vegas in 2005 and they just had the entry parts of the bridge on each side of the canyon finished, but no actual bridge yet. I was there again in 2010 and there was a small gap left remaining to complete the bridge span on the Nevada side and Finally SEMA once more in 2011 when I finaly walked across the newly completed bridge so I got see the whole thing being built over an entire decade!

 

Here are some of the good bits. All of the doors are solid underneath








and while the floors may have a little surface rust, there is no rotting rust making them relatively rust free overall





and my biggest concern, those big back windows





and here's the roof including the roof rack. Marky says there is no pitting in the chrome.

 

This what Marky supplied when I asked for the overall details about the car

DRIVETRAIN:

400 turbo fire 4 barrel carburetor.
3 speed automatic transmission
Disc front brakes/drum rear (new)
Air conditioned. Compressor works fine
The blend door under her dash is stuck closed, super easy fix
Add on additional electric cooling fan which comes on when the a/c is activated
There's a decal in the glove box stating she came factory equipped with air ride shocks. I put on brand new Gabriel Hi-Jacker air shocks last week.
Brand new exhaust from the muffler back last week
Brand new p235/75/r15 white wall tires, last week.
Brand new alternator, last week
COMPLETE TUNE UP plugs, cap, rotor, wires etc, last week
Full oil change with a quart of Lucas oil stabilizer, last week.
Brand new fuel tank, (not last week LOL)
Odometer reads 37,xxx miles which I believe to be true and you will too, after reading her history below.
BODY:
Original antique white factory paint which is about an 8/10 on 90% of her body. Her hood is crackled, but shows well from 10 feet.

Chevrolet called the wood grain "Mozambique", and being in Florida, it will need to be addressed especially on the driver side. It's crackled.

There are 4 points on her body that will need addressed from rust. NOT ROT, rust. Passenger front fender, not rotted thru, driver side dog leg behind the rear door, driver side rear quarter panel, not rotted, and spare tire well where the tire actually sits on the body. All these areas are less than a US quarter 25 cent piece.
She has a small ding on her nose above the grill. Included with her is a brand new, never used front grill. There's nothing wrong with the original one, just that it's old. All the critical areas, door bottoms, glass to metal, cowl, wheel wells etc are excellent.

INTERIOR:

She is a light blue vinyl interior. All blue. VERY BLUE!!!! it is COMPLETELY factory original. Bench seat, 3rd row seat as well. There are absolutely no rips tears or stains on them. The headliner is factory perfect as well. The carpet is great. Not FANTASTICLY PERFECT, but great. The door panels are not cracked but could use a re-dye job. The plastic is not all crumbly or broken. The dash has a crack. One crack. (SURPRISE!!!). Included with her is a brand new non-dyed black dash cap, as well as 3 brand new shiny a/c vents.

OPTIONS:

Power window
Power bench seat
Power door locks
Power steering
Power brakes
Factory AM/FM stereo with a really cool retro FM booster mounted under the dash (no ugly holes)
Air conditioning
Roof rack with absolutely no pitting.
Flawlessly functioning POWER CLAMSHELL GATE!!!!!!!!
Dealer installed trailer hitch and wiring harness
All gauges, buzzers and whirly-gigs work
All windows, locks, etc work fine, not sluggish. Fast and crisp.
Tail gate is zippy and air tight
All the rubber seals are supple and not torn. She does not leak anywhere. I used a pressure washer on her 5 times when I got her and got zero leaks.

ELECTRICAL:

Every single thing which runs on electric, lights, motors, gauges, etc work perfect. There are ZERO issues there.

DRIVABILITY:

I have absolutely no reservations about taking her on a cross-country trip, other than the fact that she is a girthy, thirsty girl.

HISTORY:

I have an acquaintance that lived. In my neighborhood. We were not "friends", but very friendly. Woodie, his name, bought her off the original owner whom apparently was a funeral director. Woodie lived 1 block from my home here in St Petersburg. He bought her in 2006, I believe. One day I was driving my 1988 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser past his home and she was parked on the street. I WAS AWESTRUCK!!!! translation, jealous. Woodie shares the same love of cars as I do. Well, 4 years ago, dear Woodie suffered a mild stroke. He ended up moving to a condo high rise downtown, only to leave his home in disrepair and 4 cars in his gated back yard. He had a 65 Mercury Parklane Breezeway Eddition, a 65 Corvair, an old Mercedes of sorts and this Caprice. Me, being the Gladys Kravits (nosey, or shall I say inquisitive) neighbor, knew these cars were back there. Well, Woodie eventually sold the house and wouldn't you know it? I befriended the new homeowner and asked what was going on with the cars. The new home owner bought the Corvair, the Mercedes was gone, the Mercury was in the paint shop and Woodie sold me the wagon. She wad outside for 4 years, this the crackled hood paint from some leaves on the hood. All the other factory paint shined up excellent!

 

Hmmm. For whatever reason, I can't see any of your pics, thumbnail or full-size. I just see red X's. Might be because I'm at work. Either way, Congrats on your purchase!

I live in North Georgia, and recommend that you try to check out some North Georgia mountains. That shouldn't be too far out of your way. Unfortunately, it's winter and there are no leaves on the trees. But it would still be a site to check out. Let me know if you decide to check us out. I can try to meet up with you.

Also, feel free to bring '73 Falcon XB coupe when you come over. It's one of my dream cars. Or better yet, a Falcon station wagon!

 

Well, you're way ahead of me on that one. Last time I was by there, they were just getting started on the anchor points in the canyon walls.

Marshall

 

nice wagon and good luck on your adventure . the panhandle of florida is really nice, make sure you go by the coast. you can take I-10 west from fla thru alabama ,mississippi, and louisiana into texas. there is a nice museum in tallahassee right off the highway with lots of cars and antiques. fort worth texas ,midland texas for the chapparel can am car museum

 

Damn, I am at work now and same for me! They work fine on my home note book but not on my work one, what I am I doing wrong???

Thanks for the tip, it is areas like this that I would love to see. All of your suggestions will help me plan my route.

Yeh I am a GM kinda guy and in Australia you are either red blooded (Holden) or blue blooded (Ford) with little hope of any middle ground, but I have to tell you that I have a soft spot for the XB Falcon overall. The coupes are highly sort after and a representation of only three models (XA XB XC from 72-79) that Ford ever built of any type of 2 door in Australia so they are highly sort after. As for the wagons, there aint too many left of these either but if you have a hankering for one, I have contacts all over Australia that would be able to help you with a purchase.