I usually fall somewhere in between those two extremes. I usually trade time for money, and spent a lot of hours combing classifieds, swap meets, and the internet for good deals on parts, repair and rebuild what I can (which is a lot, I'm also a budding machinist), and save the pretty for the very last thing. As long as the car is all one color I'll happily roll with faded and chipped paint and a few dings for years as I clean up the chassis, engine compartment, and other areas. Just because of the amount of money I allocate for my retirement savings, I won't be putting more than a couple thousand dollars a year into this or any other toy. That's the nice thing about hobbies though, right? All I need to do is occupy my time and feel good about my progress and it's a success

 

I realize the beater concept is not for everyone. Truthfully it is new to me. My 67 is mostly stock except for the radio and some shinnies on the motor so I have never actually built a beater car I was just trying to point out that you do not have to follow the main stream.

It is just in the last 20-30 years car guys have been pressured to return car to either top of the line resto-mod or a restoration and if you don't you are some how not a good car guy. Sometimes it takes a kid with a with a 76 Camaro that has street signs for floors and 454 out of a old motor home to remind you none of it matters as long as you are having fun I guess you can call me a recovering purist.

 

That's a good one, and I know where you're coming from as well. I jumped off the "purist" bandwagon a little more than 10 years ago when I figured out that unless you are a fanatic (which I just don't have the time or energy to be) owning a concourse level daily driver is an exercise in futility and frustration.

Anyway, "car guy philosophy" aside, I'd still love to try to pin down a realistic price range before I ask the owner what his thoughts on value are. Last time I looked, I only found two first gen project cars for sale locally, one was disassembled, blasted, and ready to assemble with all new parts for the bargain basement price of $23K (seriously, WTH?) and the other was a frankenstein special that had a partially installed 2nd gen subframe/suspension/drivetrain for $6K. There has to be some way to narrow that range down a little. I was honestly thinking that $5K-$8K was a realistic range for a complete, mostly rust free, "not rare" car that's been out of use long enough that it will need all new rubber parts and a lot of TLC before it can even be tested, but I just pulled that number out of my butt and have no idea if I'm high, low, or right on.

 

The 2nd gen conversion is more common then you think. It was the big thing before the aftermarket started supporting high end suspensions. The 2nd gen front clips would make the a 1st gen handle a lot better. The later 2nd gens Z had some pretty tight steering boxes.

It is still a bird in a bush, I have a neighbor who had a 72 short bed in storage in his house since 81. One day I was out for a walk with my son and he was out with the door up so I stopped in. We talked I said well if you ever want to sell it let me know. He asked how much. I said today? $2500 he said is that a real offer, I said check in your hand in 10 minutes, cash will take an hour or so. He said slow down I need to find the title and stuff, please just give him sometime. A week later he sold it to someone else. I would bet if I had not started the process the truck would still be there. The old man never even gave me a chance to counter.

 

Being a car guy, I have taken mine apart, further than I wanted. I am not a purist since I am really making a pro touring and assembling it for a couple years before I take it apart and have it blasted and put it all together again for its 50th..


But I would say under ten grand and your stealing it... For 10-12k your probably about the market value for a rust free and just needs all new rubbers and seals windows reset etc... Of course after all new etc.. its worth 20k if it runs good and just needs paint.. Then if you want comfort like heating and upholstery that adds up...

 

THAT is exactly why I'm not going to go in and start asking questions until I have the space and resources available... I just spent 40K on a new roof and some major structural work on my house (still not done, grrrr!), so picking up a new toy means getting rid of an old one for now.

Thanks for the input on values guys. I have to say the prices really seem to be all over the place. Not a surprise I guess, but not all that encouraging either. It really makes you think when there's a guy asking more for a plane jane original '67 camaro that desperately needs restoration than a restored '67 firebird sold for at auction in the last few days.

 

I'm going to hijack my own thread for a moment here just because I'm a curious monkey... Could you give me a quick primer on this?

Was it a bolt in conversion? Easily reversible? Is there a specific model/year donor car that would be the most desirable? This is the kind of tinkering that appeals to me. Old school, DIY modding just has an aura about it vs. going with the newest, highest tech, highest dollar stuff (not that tech is bad, just not what I really dig on at an emotional level). Odds are I'd never do it, but learning about it is hugely entertaining.

Thanks

 

Sorry I do not have the details. I never did the swap. I am sure you can do the mods to the 2nd gen sub frame and not hurt the 1st gens body mounts. Back in the 80s I use to do a lot of front end alignments on modified cars because most mechanics want to setup cars per the book and did not want to have to think. I can remember two or three of these converted cars.

Unlike today with the internet we had to figure it out as we went. Camaro 69 (one of our moderators) seem have a links for info on everything maybe he will see this and post.
I know there was a link on this forum for a build and a video blog that had a guy doing the conversion but I can not find it.

 

I've had trouble finding anything on it as well. I've tried searching a few times now but haven't come across anything. I guess my google-fu is a bit rusty.

If that ad for the half converted camaro were still up I'd ask the guy about the conversion, but it was one of those "if it doesn't sell this weekend its going back in the shed type ads, and sure enough it disappeared the day the guy said he'd take it down.

Anyway, at least the idea is lodged in my head. I can always put some time into researching it down the road sometime.