5 years ago I bought a 72 steel cities gray and black 4 speed convertible in boxes. I rebuilt the motor, tranny, rear end, trailing arms and replaced all the suspension with VBP front and rear. I got the car painted. It runs and drives. I was in the process of installing the interior in my basement when a fire started in my work shop (2 years ago). The car was fine but many of the parts were lost in the fire. The newly painted deck lid, convertible top, and the dash pieces were lost as well as the bumbers. This was never going to be a show car it was always planned to be a driver.

So now I have a painted running, driving car with many missing pieces. I am not a vette expert but could have put it together with the original parts. I believe it is possible to put the car back together but it will be a little more of a challenge without the original parts.

Here is the question. Would it be better to sell this to someone who has the parts and experience to put it together or to finish it myself? I like these cars but they aren't my passion. I was all in on a mechanical restoration. I love motors, trannies and suspension work. I'm not a huge fan of scouring the country for interior parts.,

Anyone know of a complete black interior for sale?

(Selling comments removed)

What do you guys think? Is there another option I haven't considered?
No one was hurt in the fire. The house is rebuilt and we are moved back in.
Kevin

 

A few pictures of the car might help.

 

Please do not solicit sales in the General Discussion area. If you decide to sell the car, please post an ad in the C3 For Sale section and include an asking price per forum rules.

 

That's a personal choice for you. Do you want to keep the car or sell it?

 

Seems like a lot work, money and time investment for a daily driver but I get the pleasure of a project. Not sure how much $$ you are in for totally but seems that since you are not into vettes per se or searching around the country that you might be better over moving on and selling everything that was salvageable.

On the other hand, I would gage what will it cost in time, money and efforts to find the needed parts ("deck lid, convertible top, and the dash pieces were lost as well as the bumbers") and is it WORTH it to YOU and only you can decide that other than that its just all of our opinions which might not be worth two cents because we are not in that situation but you will likely get enough feedback from professional restorers to help you make the best realistic decision.

Good Luck in whatever your decision is based on what's best for you.

 

have you priced drivers lately. Honda civic $25K If the car is not your passion then you will never be truly happy with it even if you get everything fixed.

I did a total restoration on a 72 Buick Skylark convertible but after about 3 years of it being completed I sold it because even though I put 100s of hrs into her I just didn't care for the car.

Thats way I am on this forum now because the C3 chrome bumpered cars have always had my heart

Good luck

 

Hi bbc,
"Here is the question. Would it be better to sell this to someone who has the parts and experience to put it together or to finish it myself? I like these cars but they aren't my passion. I was all in on a mechanical restoration. I love motors, trannies and suspension work. I'm not a huge fan of scouring the country for interior parts.,"

I just went through all your posts about this car.

No one is going to have the parts just sitting ready to be installed.
They're going to have to determine what they'll need and find them just like you will.

It seems like you have no inclination to do what needs to be done to finish the car so there are two alternatives, either:
pay someone to finish it
or
sell it the way it is.

My thought is to sell it.

Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

Sounds like you have a lot invested so far. If you decide to sell, not many people will pay premium bucks for a project. If your car was reported to insurance as part of your losses in the fire it will possibly come through with a salvage title now. It would probably be worth while to complete your project and sell as a driver quality car.

 

Kevin,
Sent you a private message. Did it come through?

 

Yes Mike. I replied back

Kevin

 

Yeah I understand the project car market. The car was not part of an insurance claim. The title is clean.

Kevin

 

Alan,
You have been a great source of information over the years. I was hoping you would chime in. I am leaning towards selling it as is and moving on. Had we not had the fire this would have been a much easier project. I have never owned a vette before and I did not take this one apart. So II need to spend a bunch of time with the assembly manual andvthe boxes of parts. Someone more familiar with these cars would be at a significant advantage. Thanks for your advice.

Kevin

 

.030 over 350 4 speed
Car was in the basement during a fire. No fire damage to the car.
Rear suspension all VBP. QA1 shock package. Fiberglass Springs front and rear. All new bushings.
Engine is new rebuild, tranny has been rebuilt new clutch PP throwout bearing etc engine tranny and rear are original to the car
No easy way to photo underside while on the ground.
Front suspension VBP control arms
Couldn't decide on the hood so I did one of each
From the front. I have all the headlight mechanisms and wiper door mechanisms.
Also have boxes and boxes of new parts.

 

anytime someone does not complete the project they will take a loss,
or pay to have someone finish the project, which you will find very costly,
the only economical solution, finish it your self, then keep or sale.

 

Hi bbc,
Interesting photos!
It appears to me that the car is many hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars away from being finished.
Only you can decide if you're up for it!
Regards,
Alan

 

Your most difficult issue is that the car has been freshly painted. Usually that would be a good thing. However, you now own a "parts car" or "project car" that is going to be expensive, because of the paint job. Either that, or you will take a big hit on the paint cost.

Alan is probably right....you should sell it as-is and take what you can get. That car is going to need a LOT of parts that will be troublesome to find and costly to purchase. A real "dyed in the wool" project guy/gal might love to get it; but the value is not there for the money you have in it.

 

Even if he finishes it, he will take a loss. The choice is whether to cut your losses on a project you don’t care about. I say sell it and move on to something you are interested in.

I have 2 project cars that I don’t care to finish since I bought my ‘69 Vette. I’ll be selling them at a loss, but I’ll put the money into something I do care about, my 427!

 

I agree with the others. These cars really are a labor of love. If you are not tied to it you will never find the drive to finish it. Sell it and move on.

 

Folks, thanks for the advice. I decided to sell it and move on. No regrets. It was a ton of fun.

 

Moving forward, remember that a "project car" is not really the direction to go. There is a lot of detailed mechanical work, research for identifying missing parts, etc that seems not to suit your interests.

Probably best to spend a bit more money for something that is reasonably complete...maybe something with guts in good shape but needing some help in the drivetrain. That will limit your focus to replacing engine and/or transmission to finish it out. Or maybe find one complete that is more than you would like to pay--but in the long run would be a BETTER deal than larger losses with a project car.

Just sayin' you should do a little self-analysis as to what you really want to end up with and how to best achieve that with the assets that you have....and staying away from those areas that require assets which you find limited. Tough to do, but important to being more successful in the future. Wish you good luck!!