Interior color vs value
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Joined: Apr 2017
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From: south carolina
Interior color vs value
I am in the process of painting the exterior and refurbishing the interior of my 1966 427/390 corvette. The mechanical portion is mostly complete engine, transmission, rear end rebuilt to factory specs. The engine and rear end are born with, transmission is correct but not original. I am building the car for myself to enjoy, not just an investment. I am returning the car to its original trophy blue exterior (it had an older candy red paint job when purchased) and it has a white soft top. My question is how much will the interior color affect its value? I have the entire interior out at the moment and pulled the windshield and dash wiring harness today (instrument cluster, radio, clock and glove box door sent to rick in Maryland to restore). I have a set of black leather seats and black deluxe door panels in excellent condition and am considering just dying the dash pads and console black to match (instead of the original dark blue) and buying new carpet (currently dark blue/almost black). Born with was dark blue/ vinyl so not excited about replacing leather with vinyl seats. I should mention this car is refurbished, not restored. How much difference would it make in value if any? Where would be a good source for carpet for best fit/quality? Please only comment if you have something constructive to say.
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Since it's a refurbish instead of a restore, as you say, my guess is that any ding to value would be pretty much limited to the costs to return it to original colors.
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With having a born with engine and being a big block I would keep it the original color interior. Anyone who values originality will want the colors to match the tag. Plus black interior is boring
Safety Car
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I am in the process of painting the exterior and refurbishing the interior of my 1966 427/390 corvette. The mechanical portion is mostly complete engine, transmission, rear end rebuilt to factory specs. The engine and rear end are born with, transmission is correct but not original. I am building the car for myself to enjoy, not just an investment. I am returning the car to its original trophy blue exterior (it had an older candy red paint job when purchased) and it has a white soft top. My question is how much will the interior color affect its value? I have the entire interior out at the moment and pulled the windshield and dash wiring harness today (instrument cluster, radio, clock and glove box door sent to rick in Maryland to restore). I have a set of black leather seats and black deluxe door panels in excellent condition and am considering just dying the dash pads and console black to match (instead of the original dark blue) and buying new carpet (currently dark blue/almost black). Born with was dark blue/ vinyl so not excited about replacing leather with vinyl seats. I should mention this car is refurbished, not restored. How much difference would it make in value if any? Where would be a good source for carpet for best fit/quality? Please only comment if you have something constructive to say.
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 97
Likes: 15
From: south carolina
I am in the process of painting the exterior and refurbishing the interior of my 1966 427/390 corvette. The mechanical portion is mostly complete engine, transmission, rear end rebuilt to factory specs. The engine and rear end are born with, transmission is correct but not original. I am building the car for myself to enjoy, not just an investment. I am returning the car to its original trophy blue exterior (it had an older candy red paint job when purchased) and it has a white soft top. My question is how much will the interior color affect its value? I have the entire interior out at the moment and pulled the windshield and dash wiring harness today (instrument cluster, radio, clock and glove box door sent to rick in Maryland to restore). I have a set of black leather seats and black deluxe door panels in excellent condition and am considering just dying the dash pads and console black to match (instead of the original dark blue) and buying new carpet (currently dark blue/almost black). Born with was dark blue/ vinyl so not excited about replacing leather with vinyl seats. I should mention this car is refurbished, not restored. How much difference would it make in value if any? Where would be a good source for carpet for best fit/quality? Please only comment if you have something constructive to say.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2009
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Well I am either ordering dark blue panels and seat covers (leather/not vinyl), or ordering carpet. If I keep it dark blue I am still going to need to redye the console due to some wear. I ordered some dark blue dye from Zips? Ecklers? Didn't match well at all. Any recommendations on interior suppliers? I know Al Knoch is a popular supplier but what about dye?
Last edited by rtruman; Jun 23, 2018 at 07:26 PM.
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Joined: Apr 2017
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From: south carolina
Well if I am going to dark blue I would love to find some seat covers/visors/pad in this color with the white trim. Looks really nice with the white top. This picture is from a members car in Alaska...beautiful color combo.Any idea who sells these?
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Joined: Apr 2017
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From: south carolina
The paint and completing the interior is the only thing I have left to complete. The frame, engine, trans, rear end,suspension, brakes, fuel, wiring,is all complete for the most part with less than 500 miles. When I say the car is refurbished, I mean I did not use only number/date coded pieces for accessories, brakes, etc. Think I will give Al Knoch a call Monday.
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I think as Rhino said, the straightforward answer is the value should take a deduction in the amount that it would cost to get the interior right. You aren’t talking about an engine stamping or a $20,000 paint job. A replacement interior simply wouldn’t be that much in the grand scheme of things and you would have the incorrect parts that could also be sold, so they have some offsetting value, too.
You could run into a buyer who doesn’t care, but most informed buyers will, especially when buying a correct engine and paint big block car. Put what you like in the car, why not? But there should be a deduction if sold that way.
You could run into a buyer who doesn’t care, but most informed buyers will, especially when buying a correct engine and paint big block car. Put what you like in the car, why not? But there should be a deduction if sold that way.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Durham ON
If your concern is value going up or down a few thousand put the original blue vinyl colour in. I love black leather interior. And if I already had the seats and door panels I might go that route , but then I would want a black roof. Blue car, white roof and white interior would give you a great look.