People often see a car on ebay that has been professionally restored with a price and think that because they have the same type of car that it is somehow automatically worth the same figure. There is a lot more that goes into restoring and pricing a car and one of the most important parts of a restoration is the underbody which they totally ignore. The underbody is the foundation of the car and if it is not done before the outside of the car , you are actually making the car worth less and making it harder to sell to anyone knowledgable about classic cars. The underbody can not be done right after the car has been painted because most of the underbody panels run over to the outside panels and are welded and that ruins the paint. I have been in the restoration business for over forty years and see this all of the time . People have a car that has been painted and is beautiful on the outside but has no value because of the underbody, especially not the kind of value that they think it has because anyone that is going to pay a premium price for a classic car is going to want to see it raised up on a rack and really go over the underbody . I'm looking for a 67 to 69 Camaro convertible and recently looked at two which are what I just described and they had to be told that their car has no more value than a car that has not even had the restoration started because everything has to be stripped down and started over. Restoring a car is like building a house, you start by building the foundation, otherwise you have nothing.

 

yah,,,, cant fix stupid.

 

I agree. I have a 67 camaro that I started restoration with a new subframe, new floor pan, new trunk, new drivetrain, disk brakes all the way around, and new interior carpeting and seats (well the vinyl skins anyway).
The paintjob that's on it isn't the best and it's frustrating to hear people pass it over for candy coated POS's just because they don't bother to look under the car. =(

Mine's for sale btw... lol... not a convertable though. I wish! =)

 

I agree here is mine while on rotisserie.

 

I also agree 100%. Just take out the body mounts on a 40+yr old car and you will know why doing the undercarriage needs to be done first. That's what makes it a true "restored" car.

 

Totally agree. I looked for a long time for a 69, ended up buying this one mainly because of the incredible amount of time and work the owner had put into a complete restoration, starting with the frame

Restore2.jpg?t=1286984362

Restore1.jpg?t=1286984362

 

This is exactly what I am talking about. This car would be worth top dollar and it is obvious why. there is a tremendous amout of time and money that has gone into just the underbody and frame areas. For you people that don't do this , your car cannot be compared in value.

 

yeah cars are worth alot of money after going through complete restorations but a car can only be original once and that too makes a car worth money. my 68 is still all original underneath. i pulled the motor and re did the firewall and inner fenders but underneath is just what it looked like in 68. the transmission drive line and rear end have never been out the car since it was assembled on the line in march of 68. it just now needed new shocks on it anc it still had the original shocks in it with the factory springs in it. so i think if the car is rust free and all orginal and has not had a frame off then is still worth money because it has not been touched by anyone since the line worker put it in

 

Yes, an original car is worth top dollar but a restored car ( if it is done right ) would not be worth any less, but when I say done right , I mean so you can't tell it was ever repaired, not just welding in floor pans with all of the seams of the new panels still showing. That is what makes the difference.

 

Well said!!
I did frame off on mine and spent months working on the underside. Everyone kept telling me I was crazy because the car looked fine to them but I know what I am driving!It's a 68 SS convertible