Hi, this is my first time posting, here it goes.
I came across a 1969 Camaro w 307 and auto tran, in what seems to be good condition, seller said will need full resto, but everything is their.
I need some advice as to the price I paid for it ($10K as is) and if it warrents a full resto.
Runs and drives

 

Well they're really not readily available as they once may have been so a "good" price is in the eye (or pockets in this case) of the beholder. Also depends on what you plan on doing with it. A full restoration is costly, and if you're investing to resale, you may have wanted to pick a different option car; i.e. Z/28, SS, etc. If you're building it to keep, again, the cost to worth ratio is all owner opinion. I don't think 10k for that car was a horrible deal by any means, especially if it doesn't need too much metal work. I've seen worse advertised for more.

 

There is no such thing as a bad 69, just some need more love than others!
Rust doesn't look too bad....on the surface, but a lot could be hiding under the paint and underneath the car. Are the floors and unibody/frame solid? The interior looks like a good cleaning, and new steering wheel would do it wonders. You're going to want to address the rust below the rear window before it gets worse. It used to have a vinyl top, and roof rust like it has accumulates over the years, and is typical of vinyl top cars. From first appearances, it looks like you have a good foundation to work from.

 

Thank you both for your coments. Agree that this 307 might not be the most poplar, but it certanly is complete, 69 with delux interior, runs and drives, no rust in the bottom or panels, no wrecks, etc. which is a big plus not to have missing parts. My intention is to drive it for a while in hopes to get an offer while driving down the street (jaja), you never know.

Now, what do you think is best? keep it original or modify with spolier, wheels, chrome parts in engine etc? my preference is all original.

 

First that looks like a real straight car.

The word restoration means different things to different people. To some a restoration starts with dipping the car in acid. This will get in between the body panels and makes sure there is no rust where the factory put stuff together. You then replace all the joint compound with a long life compound and you open up any factory sealed areas and coat those with rust sealer also. Now you have a 50 year car, the original car was designed to last 5-8 years.

Someone else might scuff it off and paint it and call it restored. So where do you fall in that spectrum? If you take that to a reputable restoration shop you are looking at anywhere for 35-50K. because they are going to strip the car to bare metal. Until the car is stripped you will not know for sure the car has not been wrecked. There has always been good body men out there that could fix a car so even another pro can not tell. I have seen a lot of guys that do this for a living think their car was all original only to have the soda blaster ruin their day. (repair found under the paint they thought was original). I have a friend who has a higher end body shops all he tells his customers we won't know till we get it striped.

Normally you do not make a profit on restoring a base model cars. The problem is they do not sell for big money. I don't see that car today selling for more then 35k fully restored. With 10k in it already I don't see a full restoration being done for under 25k unless you can do most of the labor yourself. Paint alone could be 10k. The problem is it take almost the same labor and money to restore an SS and in the end the SS is worth twice as much.

Base model car
$10,000 base car
$12,000 of labor
$12,000 in parts
Sells for 35K

Big block SS
$25,000 base car
$12,000 of labor
$15,000 in parts
Sells for 65k


I not saying this car should not be brought back to life I just saying you should not expect a payday when it is done. You will be very lucky to break even.