- Home
- About Us
- Join/Renew
- Member Benefits
- Member Pages
- Log In
- Help
- Museum Store
390681592677 eBay item number:
Found this for sale while on Ebay. Didnt look bad in photos
Classic example of why you should NEVER buy anything sight unseen. Or from an online ‘dealer’.
I have looked this car over extensively, I’ve driven it, and worked on it.. I bid on it at the Auctions America auction in Auburn Indiana this last Labor Day weekend.
The engine was running on 5 out of 8 cylinders, smoking, knocking [bad lifters and bearings] I had tried to get the dead cylinders to ‘wake up’, but they had poor compression, and even clean spark plugs didn’t work.
There is extensive Bondo under the doors and around the rear truck lid.
The engine idles cold with lower than normal oil pressure, it then drops to near zero at idle after the oil gets just warm, not hot.. The warm oil pressure at roughly 1500 rpm is only about 5-8psi.. should be 40psi.
The trans jumps out of gear, The brakes are a mess, the vacuum power unit is unreliable, and failed on my test drive.
But my favorite item is shown in the left side [driver side] photos of the engine.. do you see the piece of rubber hose tucked behind the water pump outlet?? This hose runs from a fitting in the crankcase just ahead of the oil dipstick to a fitting into the main oil gallery ahead of the waterpump. The entire external oil piping, filter and pressure control valve is either missing or disconnected..
The ENTIRE OIL SUPPLY to the engine is being pumped through this piece of rubber fuel line. It is NOT a piece of wire reinforced hydraulic line, it is just 3/8″ rubber fuel hose..
I bid on the car based on knowing that it needs a full engine overhaul, and that with a fresh overhaul the car would be still worth only about ?? $50k, because of the old chipped and cracked paint over bondo, and the non-authentic interior.
This would be a decent start to become a driver, which is what I was interested in.. But this ebay seller bought this car for over $38K with the commissions paid, and I think that it was at best a $25K car.
I wonder what the seller would think if that rubber fuel linesplit or blew off on a road test with a potential buyer and the engine ran dry and tossed a rod through the block ??
Sometimes I just shudder at what sellers try to pass on to buyers..
Buyer BEWARE !!
Greg L
Greg, Thanks for posting the info on this car. The problem is there are lots of cars like this one out there for sale at inflated prices, and many people buy cars like this and get burnt out on the hobby. I know where there is a GREAT 36 v-12 thats perfect for a bit more money, a REAL turn key car ready to go, the best value I have seen on a late series car in years…..if any one wants more info contact me. My best, Ed
I like the upside down PIERCE logo on the clock
A fellow PAS member has contacted the seller. The seller reassured the potential PAS buyer that the oil pressure was fine, it was ’20 psi at a fast idle, with 140* engine temp’. and [quite] ‘that’s plenty'[unquote]
So, I’m sure that the engine oil was at ?? maybe 100*, certainly not matching the water temp, since the oil/water heat exchanger is totally disconnected. And the engine did warm up to 160-170* for me when I drove it.
When I drove the car, prior to the auction, the oil pressure dropped to less than 10psi after less than a 1/4 mile of 25-30mph gentle, residential driving. it then idled with near zero oil pressure.
The seller also said that the engine only needed a valve lash adjustment, LOL.. and that his mechanic was going to perform the adjustment the next day.
I wonder how that valve-lash adjustment went, considering that the valves lifters are hydraulic and cannot be ‘adjusted’..??
I see that the car has been bid up to $21K now.. I wish there was some way to warn the potential buyers about the basket of snakes that this car is..
Oh well, can’t help or save everyone..
Greg L
Be thankful you’re on a forum that can post the truth about cars for sale. If you posted the same information on the AACA forum, it’d likely get deleted.
I once made a comment about an early race car that was for sale, knowing for a fact that it started out as part of an engine only, and was chastised and deleted for criticizing a car (and they fear for litigation also)…
I am glad I belong to this Organization you guys are a plethora of knowledge. Keep up the great work
It’s back up on Ebay. I did not keep an eye on the last auction but I thing it was bid to 30K. I wonder if the high bidder got a look at it before he paid and backed out. Ed
A picture is worth a 1000 words. Up close and personal, PRICELESS. Probably so Ed.
Dear Greg L.
You helped me get the locomotion going( along with another
stalwart fellow with much knowledge). You should get the P.-A.
Society Mother Teresa Award, for helping lost souls!
Thanks, Tony Costa
LOL, Hi Tony, it was my pleasure to help and learn while helping.
How about another round of help next summer??
The 1601 bid up to $25,300 if I remember correctly, I know it didn’t make $26K.
Pretty much what I had been willing to buy it for before the auction on Labor Day.
It’s gratifying when my number comes close to the buying public’s number.
Ebay #231095545726. Now the Pierce is listed at 65K buy it now. Good luck to him
One of our CCCA Wisconsin members (has 3 Caddies and a Brewster) likes the Pierce Club Sedan body style and came to a purchase price agreement. When he looked at the car he told the seller “NO WAY”. I said “You should have asked me first, and saved yourself a trip”!
It has changed hands at least once more. It’s now up for auction again,
I think the photos posted are new, and show the same rubber fuel hose for the engine’s oil supply.
Greg L