'77, 2door, 250 I-6, 3 speed auto, keystone klassic rims with letter series tires (rears are G-60-14) the guy who previously owned it had a heart attack behind the wheel, coasted out into a field and died shortly after the car came to a stop. the widow gave the car to me and a friend to "do something with" the title ended up in my name and now this other guy is ticked about it and wont do anything with it "until the title is in his hands and in his name" but he wont hand over the keys either. if he would have said, "since the car is on my property and i will probly be contributing the majority of the money for the project, i would feel better if the car was in my name" i might have done so, but since he decided to be a arrogant *** about it, im not inclined to do anything but get it back for myself, and use it as a daily driver in good weather and enter it in local cruise-ins/car shows. he wanted to make it a pro street, with a big motor, 6 speed manual, total suspention change, probly about 15-20 grand. i just want to fix the interior a little, put lower gears in the diff (dont know what they are now, but its doggy off the line, cruises nicely at 65 though, not roaring away, remeber, no overdrive, straight 3 speed auto here) i figure i'll have less then 5,000 in it easy, ive already scavanged some stuff from a '95 S-10 blazer. i just need to get the key. i may even sell the thing and let someone else worry about it, i hate to see it go to waste. i think the rear deck spoiler and the front hood trim is off a torino. it would be cool to have it in a show, how many granadas do you see any more? ive hardly ever seen a 2door. sure its not valuable, but i think its fairly rare. dont know that id get more than $500 out of it. the widow was supposed to ask for the key so she could get the rest of her deseased husbands stuff out, then give me the key, but she seems to have chickened out. wish i had better pictures, my box trailer was parked on one side and a chain link fence on the other. my trailer has since been removed, mainly due to tree branches that were scraping up the sides every time i went in or out with it. enough rambling, heres my granada pics:

 

Are you attached to the car? If not, I wouldn't rub two nickels together for it. She looks like an old island hoopty that I used to see in Cuba. Let it go and save the hassle.

 

I wouldn't do a thing to it until it was mine free and clear,then i would make it a street sleeper with a strong built 351w. Imagine the look on the mustang and camaro drivers' faces when they got blown away by a Granada!! I almost did the same thing with a fairmont,but the car came along at the wrong time and I didn't have money or time for a project.

 

A "Grandada".

How long did the guy sit in it dead?

Two nickles would be too much imo, given the condition.

You can probably sell the Keystones to someone who doesn't know any better, and the front disc set up to someone who does, but beyond that, call the crusher.....

But--how did you and the other fellow get involved, and is there any chance of mending the fence there--maybe he will "buy you out"? People build Ramblers & AMC stuff into fire breathers, so I guess his vision isn't unheard of...

Co-owning a vehicle or boat or house is a short path to a dispute and loss of friendship, so given that you have nothing in it, I'd seek to get away from it asap--

Good luck, maybe someone has a sure fire method for dealing with this...

 

There is rare, like a Shelby, where few were made and people wanted them. There is rare because many were made, cookie cutter, and then they were all scrapped after their useful life ended. Nothing interesting and no one wants those cars. This car is in the second category.

 

he was actualy still alive when the car came to a stop, a passerby put the car in park, got him out, called 911 and started cpr, he died outside of the car before the medical helicoper could arrive, i was worried about him actually dying in the car, since i was asked to bring it back home (it was 40 miles away where he worked, he was within sight of his workplace) the other guy was involved due to being friends, he was always teasing the guy who had died about taking his car, and ironically that guy would tell him "over my dead body" i dont have room for it where i live, so it got parked over there, the widow thought it would be something for the 2 of us to work on together, i didnt ask for it to be put in my name, it just happened out that way. i really havent spoke to him much since his rude comment, theres a time and place to be a jerk about something, i dont think it was warranted on his part. id just as soon sell it to someone who really has the time and money for it, then give the cash to the widow so she can get a grave marker up, i made her a cross for his grave, it was supposed to be temporarry, but i know it will be there for a while. "bill" was a big nascar fan, his driver was petty. i made the cross in that style, light blue front and back, sides in bright red, bill's name done in white letters. classic 43 paint scheme, i knew bill would have liked it, i asked the widow about doing it that way, figured shed give me a "are you crazy" look, but she said go ahead. it was the most difficult thing ive ever done, and the project im most pleased with as far as the final result. if you want to see it, i'll edit this post with a picture of it, but i think its pretty easy to visualize. ironically i know all of the people involved from church, yes i knew the widow back in school, but we never spoke back then. funny how some you know from church can be the type to get a hangup about something and be bitter.

 

I have a soft spot for old cars, but not sure whether that one is worth too much effort.

I would be a lot more interested if it were a Mercury Zephyr or Ford Futura 2dr.

 

Mid 70's to mid 80's were not great years for Ford cars in general. I wouldn't waste my money on any domestic sedan in that time frame.

 

Late 70s vintage I would not be too interested in, after about 81, quality starts to edge WAY upward.

 

Used to drive a 76 Granada (six cylinder) with front bucket seats. Nice car really. Its rack pinion steering very responsive. It was ten years old when I got it and the original owner kept it in very good condition (literally a little old lady).

After a few years driving, the column shift mechanism finally gave out (the pot metal cracked and broke off). However, my father in law and my husband installed a floor shift as a replacement. Still drove it for a few more years until the transmission finally gave out.

 

i di have one of those, a '82 mercury zepher Z-7. black with blue interior, 200 I-6, 3 speed auto. when cold it took awhile for the 2-3 shift but was fine when warmed up. traded a wore-out '71 bronco for it (and mean well-wore out!) drove it a couple of years and traded it on a astro van for the wife when we got married. that car had been in a minor collision and the r.f. corner was crinkled, the far right headlight was turned 90 degress, and still worked! wasnt even going to fix it but i happened on a exact vehicle in a junkyard when i was looking for something else, so i got the parts then and there and fixed it up over the next week. the black paint was so badly oxidized that i thought it was a dark blue. i removed all the emblems and rubbed it out and waxed it. dont know that i ever took any pictures of it, thats been well over 15 years ago. the "beater bronco" was going to be a hunting vehicle, but the guy changed his mind and sold it, the next owners were on their way home when the oil pump went out. it had over 300K on it, a 302 that started very well but needed 2 qts of oil at every fuel fill up, brake fluid top off at every fuel fill up (and could never find a visable leak) 4 wheel drum brakes with no booster, 3 speed on the coulmn, 4.10 gears. i bought it for 800 bucks when the tempo i had at the time threw a rod.

 

The best thing you could have done here you already did by marking that mans' grave.

Save the 5000 you plan on putting in a car unlikely to yield even a third of that on resale. If that guy is really a friend, he'll understand that you need to get that thing out of your name, sell it and give the proceeds to his wife. You can tell him it's "the right thing to do" and perhaps teach him a life lesson and save him a ton of money too. Your friendship is worth a million times whatever the car might be. Now, if it were an original Shelby, my advice might be different.

The Granada, and its' Mercury twin the Monarch, were a half step better than the Pinto and a half step crappier than the Maverick and then only if we're talking about the Grabber version.