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any recent millers for sale in 2019? i know how hard they are to find but i want to start searching for a build no matter how rough!

I'd be more worried with how expensive then rough

I just picked up a miller meteor bodied car this week and brought it home... It's not the right year though. But then I also bought a 59 Superior road worthy hearse that should be here next week. I will make the right car out of the two while still coming in cheaper by 10k than any correct M&M 59 I've ever seen pop up for sale in the past 2 years no matter the condition. The deals on acquiring the correct car out of the gate in any sort of road worthy shape are long gone by about 6-7 years unfortunately. There is a sweet spot in certain phases of the classic car market, and we've gone well past it with this awesome ride.
I also had another set of cars picked out to "make" the right one... if you're willing to learn metal and body work these options may be the only way to go about it as the resources become super scarce. You are also competing with the Hearse purists who are hunting out the same rides for a different end result in our internet heavy world.
Then you have the job of acquiring all the correct stuff to go with the car... that is becoming just as hard now as finding the car, and with folks snagging those other very limited resources to put on non accurate cars it makes the task even tougher. It's a good thing there are talented 3d printing folks out there making some of the items.

im starting to wonder how much is a fair price to pay for these non road worthy scraps we have to hunt through nowadays. with normal classics like mustangs and mopars i have a good idea normally but im so out of my lane with these series 75 caddy hearses ive got no clue haha

Bumpers can go for $4500. I can't imagine you picking up a rust bucket '59 m.m. under $20, 000.

A 59 hearse of any coachbuilder will set you back between $11-25k from what I've run across over the past 2 years now matter how bad the condition, and the last correct MillerMetoer 59 I saw went for $30k and still needed a full on restore. I know of a Eureka 1959 for sale for $22k right now if you want a pretty close base to start with, but that car needs a total restore and much of the glass or plexi windows put in it. Finding pieces of the back hearse/ambulance section of the car is the hardest part, so look for ones with at least most the trim and bits. The bumpers are probably the easier pieces to find separate, as those got shared across many variants of the OEM line for that base model and the commercial chassis both. fully restored bumpers can got for a pretty penny as ccv said, but you can find them for much less if you have the ability to get them restored or cleaned. There's a 60 superior for $19k obo on ebay right now that would make for a reasonable base start out of a driver car...
There was a correct M&M on ebay last month that started at 40k and dropped to 30k, but it had a 3-4 chop... lotta work to ruin the right car, and waaay more to get it back to correct before even putting ecto gear on it.

yea i saw that chopped one and didnt even BOTHER considering buying it, what a waste. so even in "no front clip no engine no interior missing glass cut off fender rusty roof" condition itd still be fair to assume over 10k???? geez im sure glad i found this forum

For the correct car, yes... but you can put together two vehicles with decent parts for around 10-13k from personal experience, if you are good with metal work/fabrication. If having a shop do the work you are spending another 20k to get the car together to then prep for paint. 30k before putting the rack and stuff on top is bare minimum if you're not doing the work yourself to get an ecto 59-60 going, and a good condition road worthy 1959 hearse/ambulance go from 50-80k easily. This is not a small venture for anyone to jump into, BUT I've seen folks purchase more than $30k brand new vehicles to then paint and put a roof rack full of correct ecto gear on top of it, so might as well put that $$ into something close to the right car anyway, just takes a little searching.

I've been looking at the 1960 hearse and talking to the guy, we're now facebook friends even. I'm looking to sell my own hotrod to buy and build an ecto-1 but I would still be shy a decent amount to finish it since the cost of the hearse is so expensive to begin with. Has anyone had any luck with people volunteering or donating to get the car finished? I was wondering if I could get a body shop to do the paint if I let them put their logo in the windows or something. I think I could get $25k for my current ride which would allow me to buy the car plus $10k in body work but know I'll need another $10-$15k to finish. I'm open to ideas on here I don't have the time to do the body work since I'm running a small business and have 2 toddlers.

lazyturtle2002 wrote: ↑November 6th, 2019, 9:35 amHas anyone had any luck with people volunteering or donating to get the car finished?

I've no experience in Ecto conversions, but speaking from the perspective of an artist, I'd be surprised if a spray shop would be willing to paint your car for free, or a discount on the basis of free advertising/"exposure".

I think ultimately it's just going to be a case of delaying the completion date of the car for the few years, which'll allow you to save up the cash needed to finish things off.

I had conversations like that with a few body shops, and they wanted their logo on the car where it would be big enough to be legible, for a discount on the body/paint work. I didn’t go with them for other reasons, but it may be an option if you start calling the shops in your area.

None of my business, and no offense meant, but even with the trade of your other car I think you may want to think of how realistic a higher budget is. I was able to do mechanical work with family and worked out a deal on body work with someone who really wanted to work on an Ecto. I have a 62 MM that wasn’t in bad shape, but had all the problems you’d expect. Even with those deals, I’m looking at my build rounding between $65-$75K, well over my hope of keeping it around $50K.

I have a guy that does nothing but hotrods who is interested and is retired but only runs his shop for fun. He said he would be willing to throw in labor himself to keep the price at $20-25k but that doesn’t include mechanical I’m guessing is $4-5k and the roof rack which I have to see which lights and sirens we still have left over from our patrol service. I read that someone had a body shop that donated about half the price of the body work b/c they were just opening and it was a great way to get their name out. I just didn’t know if anyone else had that or a similar experience. I know I can do the sand blasting and disassembly myself, also all the wiring and getting the stuff for the roof rack. The floors in the hearse are wood and falling apart so figured we could just get the sheet metal for a pickup bed and weld it in there. Most of the chrome for a 59 would come with the car including rear fenders for a 59 as well that he saved from a junked caddy. I wouldn’t have to track down a lot of the parts but the welding and filling in of the holes is where it’s gonna cost me. Plus rebuild of trans, rear end, suspension and so on.

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https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 4134869131

Just in case anyone has an extra $475k laying around...

lazyturtle - if you are that far into negotiating for this 60 and it's coming with 59 conversion pieces you're well ahead of the curve. Do you know which model hearse it is? this would also help figure out real costs of the ecto build...

what do you guys believe to be a fair value or asking price for a non running wrong year miller meteor? if you found a typical rusted, non running, sitting for decades, but straight miller that needed 1959 quarter panels and front end, with countless other parts, what do you think would be a fair asking price to go by? id seen that 1960 on ebay that ran and drove for 16k, so im guessing it would be much lower than that considering i dont think that one sold. thanks a bunch

I bought my 62 M+M hearse for $5K five years ago. Typical expected body issues , all glass intact, seized engine. Lights worked, but nothing electrical on the dash worked. Came with a title.

I bought a donor 61 M+M ambulance for $3K a hear later. Beyond average interior/exterior body issues (almost nothing salvageable interior). One of the curved glasses was shattered but intact. Seized engine. Nothing ever worked in this car while I had it. I stripped what I need and it’s on to the second owner since for parts. Did not have a title.

Before these, there was the 60 Superior I almost bought off CL for $18K. Represented as intact body and being “pulled out of the lot regularly”. It was across the country, so I had a mobile mechanic take a look at it. Beyond average body that was painted over and then still had issues bleeding through. More bonds than metal, did not have a running engine, and had been sitting indefinitely on four flat tires. (They were literally pulling it out of the lot for photos). I didn’t buy it, but I’ve seen it pop up a few times over the last 5 years, same location, some reduction in price but still over $12K.

I’d expect to pay at least $5K for a car in the worst condition, and add on top of that if it’s mechanically sound and definitely more if there’s been any level of body restoration.

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59 Superior for sale, CA car.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 4084775648

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1959 Ecto1 M&M

This is what you might be looking for...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Cadillac- ... Swqn1d7UE6

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ParkerBrothers01 wrote:1959 Ecto1 M&M

This is what you might be looking for...

<a class="vglnk" href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Cadillac- ... Swqn1d7UE6" rel="nofollow"><span>https</span><span>://</span><span>www</span><span>.</span><span>ebay</span><span>.</span><span>com</span><span>/</span><span>itm</span><span>/</span><span>1959</span><span>-</span><span>Cadillac</span><span>-</span><span>Commercial</span><span>-</span><span>Chassis</span><span>-</span><span>Miller</span><span>-</span><span>Meteor</span><span>/</span><span>274328650411</span><span>?</span><span>hash</span><span>=</span><span>item3fdf4302ab</span><span>:</span><span>g</span><span>:</span><span>Fl4AAOSwqn1d7UE6</span></a>

For that price it should actually use movie-accurate parts. So close, yet SO far away inside and out.

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ParkerBrothers01 wrote: ↑April 10th, 2020, 12:00 pm 1959 Ecto1 M&M

This is what you might be looking for...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Cadillac- ... Swqn1d7UE6

been seeing this one since the beginning of the year when i bought my '62, back then my mom sent it to me and it was askin for 450,000 if you can even imagine that haha. 250s getting closer, but considering the studio owned ecto they used to drive around the visitors sold at barret for 88k a decade ago, they REALLY need to lower their expectations. or dont! maybe thisll start a trend and make ours worth more lmao

Probably should be in the $120 range. But I would add a big chunk for convenience. Even if you had deep pockets, it's a hard car to find/make. Finding parts is time consuming plus restoration time. Alot of time and money. You'd work your ass off to get it done by Halloween. Add a little price hike if you wait for the movie. I say it goes for $165

I believe it’s been re-listed twice now at that $225k price so I’m not sure if they’re getting any bites or coming close to their reserve. I wish them the best in selling it because it does look great but as posted above, an actual Sony car that was a 59 and not a 60 dressed to look like a 59 only sold for $88k. It just seems a little pricey for a unique fixer-upper opportunity, that’s all.

Didn't see it was a 60. It's probably one of those classic car consignments, so they're only making a percentage of the sale. Not their money tied up in it, every reason to squeeze top dollar out of it. As long as the dealer has 20 feet to spare, probably don't mind it sitting till the movie comes out

A tad misleading that the notation it started as a 1960 Cadillac is a bit buried in the description, whilst the model and chasis details list 1959.

Kingpin wrote: ↑April 11th, 2020, 6:32 am A tad misleading that the notation it started as a 1960 Cadillac is a bit buried in the description, whilst the model and chasis details list 1959.

The devil is in the details with this car it seems

When I bothered to look, it had a 1960 VIN right at the top of the description. Wouldn't bother me if I owned it, should hurt the price

ccv66 wrote: ↑April 11th, 2020, 4:29 pm When I bothered to look, it had a 1960 VIN right at the top of the description. Wouldn't bother me if I owned it, should hurt the price

Don’t get me wrong, it wouldn’t bother me either. And I do wish them luck in selling it because obviously a lot of time went into it and they did a wonderful job. I just feel it’s a little disingenuous to market the car as the ultimate Ecto when at the end of the day it’s not even the right car.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/373030226218 seen this one of the facebook groups, apparently hes wantin to sell it!

Definitely looks like they were trying to make an Ecto 1 themselves, so hey that's a plus, a bunch of the work is already done.