Hi, I'm still searching my Vette...
I've found a 69 that could be nearly perfect to my needs:
Tuxedo Black, L46, 4-speed and low price (we have to pay a lot import taxes here... up to 30% of car value and shipment).
I've asked the owner to send me some pics of what he described as a "solid frame" and a birdcage with "evidence of rust", but I think that it the frame is not so "solid" as I intend by the word...
I have a good restorer that could fix most of the car problems, but I must understand without doubt if this car is recoverable without a frame-off that is absolutely out of budget for me.
I'm asking for some help before pay to a car inspection that could be useless...
Thank you very much as usual!

 

I think its fixable but if you see that whats underneath. Its not hard to do a body off, I did one no problem and I was able to correct the rust underneath.

 

"Solid frame" - run hard, run fast, run far. Pass on it.

 

And are you absolutely positive the car is an original tuxedo black car with the correct block, tranny, carb castings, etc? Just checking so that you don't get in over your head on certain issues only to find out during the process that the car isn't what was paid for. Black on saddle is pretty striking, though.

 

Judging only by the two pictures.... if you don`t want to do a body-off, you may want to keep looking. As was mentioned above, if this is what you can see..... I`d worry about what you can`t see that will inevitably be much worse.

 

Thanks, I'm expecting to face some troubles with a car like that because it cost 11.100$, but the total of my expenses (taxes, shipment and law mandatory car testing and register) could raise up to 17.000€ (something less than 20.000$) just to have the car here and street-legal. And after that, comes the restoration expenses...
Sadly the only thing I could do to be sure is to pay for a car inspector, but obviously I can't do that for every car I see, and so I have to figure out if there is a possibility, not a certainty

 

To be blunt......then keep looking.

 

Absolutely.

 

That depends on who's doing it. It may well be an insurmountable problem for those who are in over their heads before they begin.

 

More pictures need to give you a good advice !

Buy as expensive as you can afford.
If this is as expensive as you can afford, and this is your dream year, color ec ec and if it is a # number car, AND if you are a handy man yourself, so buy it.

I would have no problem buying a car like that. I would like to see some more pictures, or see the car, before buying......

 

Find another car, that frame in front of the rear wheel there looks very tired, large rust out on the end cap, means the frame itself is most likely very thin if not clean through rusted......

I don't like the rust stains around the weather striping either....highly suspicious of the w/s frame top corners.....need pix of behind the kick panels on both sides, down lo on the #2 body mount bolt area....tons of rust there is not good.....

 

If you can't afford three times what you think it will cost. you probably can't afford it.


ANYTHING is fixable. The question is if it's worth doing...

 

You ask is it a recoverable car? Absolutely. Can it be done without a frame off? Perhaps. Can it be done RIGHT without a frameoff? I don't believe so. You would have to make too many compromises and leave some things undone. With a questionable birdcage to start with, I would tend to pass on it and find a more solid foundation to build upon. What you may be saving in initial cost, you will more than make up for in parts and upgrades. Personally unless you are prepared to go the distance and do the frame off, I would pass on it and keep looking. FWIW and my.02! Enjoy the search!

 

30% import tax, or as much as 300% for restoration cost. Pay now or pay later. You've gotten good advice to buy as much car up front as you can. The ultimate cost is almost always less.

 

It's honestly hard to tell by the pics but if I had to guess given the shape of the end cap I'm guessing there is more to the story underneath. At the least I would ask for more pictures of the frame viewing from under the car, not at the end cap.

I speak from experience on this...if the frame is bad run away and then run further...I personally got burnt on a '69 for this same issue. Instead of taking the time and jacking the car to get under it and do a thorough inspection, I laid on the ground and got my head under the car as far as I could but couldn't get a good view of the inner frame rail area or the frame rail that ties the left and right rail together.....once I got my car home and got it in the air it was a very sad and sickening day!

 

An inspection can usually be done for around $200. If you are considering a $20,000 questionable car then your math doesn't make sense . Pay for the inspection !

 

Hi, many thanks to all. I'll try to give a response to everything...
Initially i was considering that car both for the low price and the fact that is very close to my "dream car": 1969, tuxedo black, l46, 4-speed. It's not a very common combination and I can accept some more troubles to get this.

The car appears as number matching, except for some engine dress-up that eventually needs a substitution with original parts, and for some reason the air conditioning has been removed at some point and need to be rebuilt. There's also some easy problems with the brakes seals.

Other minor problems includes some "classics": not working original clock, wiper motor and door not working, speedometer with a broken cable, bad radio and it comes without carpets.

I can fix by myself most of that issues, maybe except the AC, but the real problem to me is the rust. I'm not able to weld a frame and in any case I've not the instruments nor the location to do that. Initially the owner tell me that it was "solid frame" and in the middle of negotiations he has sent me this pics... I'm a little disappointed to be honest.

I'll pay for an inspection before buy a car that I can't inspect on person, but I can't spend 200$ for every interesting car I see around and I wanted just to know if it is convenient to go forward or whether it is better to give up and try to search another car.

 

I would pass that one up,the frame looks really bad and there is no way to tell by that pic how the birdcage looks..
There is alot of work if it's rotten, just to get to the bad areas are a pain in the a**..

 

If you're hung up on this particular car then the inspection is very important. From what the only two pics you've shared have to offer, I think you're going to need to be prepared to spend a lot of time and money on getting her into better shape, even to be a good driver.
Overall, if you have the time, money, and willingness to spend them both on getting this car into shape then go ahead and jump on the deal. A black on saddle l46 with A/C at the very least is a great car. As for convenience to go forward, well, there's not much in this car that you're going to conveniently find. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

If the car is not a 'perfect match' to what you were looking for, you should pass on it. And, if it is what you want, you need to know that you could be looking for a new frame for it. LOTS of rust showing on those first photos. I would suspect rust damage throughout.

For the kind of rust damage showing, I would value that car at about $7000-8000. But, even if you could get it for that price, there's a lot of work to repair it.