Okay, so I'm quite a newbie to this, but would like a little help on some things...

I have an opportunity at a '68 coupe. The vin number shows it was originally a v6 but currently has a 327 edelbrock 4bbl with dual exhaust and a 4 speed tranny. The car overall is in pretty good shape for a driver. (Which is for the most part what I currently would like instead of it being a show car in which I would be hesitant to want to drive...)

The car has been in storage for the last 4-5 years and I believe the owner has only driven about 2000 miles in about the 10 years he has owned it... I've had a couple of friends that are body guys that say that it's in pretty good condition with just a few things showing wrong with it...

- The paint is pleasing to the eye and shiny but it could be repainted at some point as there are a couple of spots with minor cracks... One of the friends is a car painter and he pointed a couple things out but I somewhat think to the average person its not that obvious...
- On one rear quarter panel there is about 2-3 bubbles of rust that they said were rust that at some point could be cut out and redone. The quarter panels are original from what they could tell...
- The top vinyl is a little worn on the bottom edges in which they said could be replaced and at that point we could look at fixing the rust.
- The last item is that the one of the pipes on the header (driver side)is touching the power steering box. They said we could probably heat it up and get the clearance so it wasn't touching...

Other than that, it is not a numbers car. I did notice that it has multi-leafs in the back instead of monos based on the vin number. (I could be mistaken on this one as I am just a newbie)

The car is supposed to be going to a mechanic to get a tune up and make sure it's in decent driving shape and new front tires. I'll see if I can attach a couple of pictures...

I'm wondering if the price is right for what it is... I have a chance purchase it lower than the 20-22k that they are thinking of selling it for. Just curious? Any assistance would be appreciated...

Thanks -Jeff

[IMG]local://upfiles/11566/5636743DD95F43329D26AD5E213A78CA.jpg[/IMG]

 

A couple other pics

[IMG]local://upfiles/11566/A1C709B3AC614C49B3B162D2F68A35B2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/11566/964EF6E2D9AA4E618CFB7C4C496D2588.jpg[/IMG]

 

hey jeff did you steal my car,

ha ha
the car looks to be in good shape up top, but what about underneath?
i believe that if i were you and it is going to a shop with a lift that i would take a stroll down and see what the underside looks like, i am certain that if they want to sell that it will be ok.
look at the trunk and the back deck in the trunk to make sure it is solid.
as for the 6 cyl vin, if all you are going to do with it is a daily driver,then i would not worry to much about it. it could hurt the resale value as well, so if you buy it i would plan on keeping it for a while, but thats my opinion,,, GOOD LUCK.

be sure and look it over well before purchasing it.

by the way you can buy a 8 cyl vin for less and probably in just good as shape

 

Appreciate the response, I'll see what I can do about looking underneath, as I don't think that would be a problem. (The trunk actually seems in pretty decent shape when we've been looking over the car) I'm not too concerned about the vin number, just that I know I keep hearing everyone say that it seems high since it's not a "numbers matching".Even though the base coupe, average condition, nada value is around 18k, if you add the 327 and 4-speed it's around 22.5k.

I personally know the owner and have seen this car for quite some time. Now it just happens to be for sale... And I'm just in a delima because I do know the owner, trust them and I can actually see everything about the car in person. Where as the vehicles I see online and in magazines are only based on a picture and you just don't know what people might be hiding...

I just don't want to get a year down the road and think to myself, what the *(*& were you thinking if I didn't jump on it...

Thanks again!

 

Out of curious, what is the color called that your car is seeing as it does seem to have the same color? We were trying to determine what the car I was looking at was...

 

Welcome. The most amount you will spend will be on paint and body. 327 is a good engine and a good replacement for the 6 cyl. Get a good look around the trunk pan since this is a great indicator of how the rest of the floor pans will look like, without having to pull up the carpet. Vinyl tops are notorious for rust around the bottom of the rear window.With the amount of rust the you have described, 22k is too high. 12-14k is more like it.

 

Don't get me wrong, the amount of rust isn't extremely obvious. This car has been in a heated garage for at least the past 10 years, with about the last 5 years never coming outside. The rust that we can somewhat tell with the vinyl is purely on one side where it just seems a little soft, but not completely obvious to the eye. I appreciate the help with this, I just realized that maybe I made it seem like the car was completely rusted out.

Thanks for all the help, I could possibly go either way with this one...

 

I had a similiar chance for a 69' Camaro and bought it for 15k. Thus far I spent 2k to repair/remove and patch rust on the passenger side only with paint blend. There is also rust below rear window under vinyl, but I plan to repair that myself. If you do have the panels patched, while the cavity is opened and somewhat exposed, blast some Eastwood rust converter to treat surface rust before it is closed back up. Just a sug.

 

Just a side note. The estimates I was getting for a complete body and paint back to factory ranged between 8k-12k. For a full restoration body, paint, engine, chassis, etc. 20k and up. Its insane, but thats where the industry is at these days. I cant afford that. Not many can. I work on it as much as I can.

 

IMO that car is worth 12k tops.Isee them all the time on ebay local papers craigslist.I passed on a 67 327 4speed last summer that was extremly clean no rust issues at all asking price was 14k. The car sat for sale prolly 2 months b4 it sold