I got the phone number and driections to the guy who's selling that '59 PV544 on eBay. According to the seller, he put gas and a battery on it this past summer and it started right up. He drove it around the yard and everything seemed fine - if you ignore the rotten interior and surface rust!

I'll drive out and look at it tomorrow. I suspect he wants far more than it's worth, but at least I can look at it and dicker with him!

As many of you know, our part of the country isn't prone to cancerous rust. We get sun damage, which leads to surface rust, but generally old Volvo's are pretty solid.

I'll get back here as soon after I look at it and give you all an update, including what he thinks is a fair price.

Considering that the car would be worth maybe $5K-$6K when all done, you don't have much leeway in the purchase price after you deduct an engine rebuild ($1,500 if I do it mysalf) $1K-$2K for body and paint (again, doing much of the work myself) and just a generic stock interior kit.

Then we have to look at the systems, like brakes, front end, differential, etc.

I think it would be about right if he paid me $500 to haul it off. ;-)

Anyway, I'll let you know what teh general condition of the car is, especially rust and those hard-to-find pieces that always seem to be missing.

Steve in Sunny & Dry Southern California
barongrey@mchsi.com