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Hello guys, i would like to purchase and import to EU cheap C3..
Looking at this one, little crashed, i would love to purchase parts in US and ship them with the car at once, could you C3 experts help me identify which parts would i need? I know it is impossible to tell from the picture:-) just rougly..
Of course rear fender panel and rear bumper cover, what else do you think will be necessary?
And, by any accident, anybody at NY - Long Island who would check it for me for some beer money?-)
I would not go just based on those photos. lot of rusty cars in that part of the USA
you have the right idea, if you can get someone to check out the car, look at the birdcage rust and any other damage.
and send you a bunch of photos.
looks like a splash shield and fender.
Is it from a blown tire? or crash? look at differnetial frame for damage.
otherwise it looks like its been taken care of.
Post a Help wanted ad in the REgional forum, northeast.
I would not go just based on those photos. lot of rusty cars in that part of the USA
you have the right idea, if you can get someone to check out the car, look at the birdcage rust and any other damage.
and send you a bunch of photos.
looks like a splash shield and fender.
Is it from a blown tire? or crash? look at differnetial frame for damage.
otherwise it looks like its been taken care of.
Post a Help wanted ad in the REgional forum, northeast.
Good advice above. Everyone has a dream...make sure it does not turn into a nightmare.
Post pics here if you get more pics.
Many thanks for replies! I ´m aware that it needs to be seen in person, problem is that it is 4000 miles away:-) i tried to post to regional section, hopefully someone will check it for me..
I have very good workshop here at home, guys do vintage cars very well, they are able to fix everything:-) but no experience with C3 yet..
I´m sure the body repair will be piece of cake for them, they will do mechanical stuff easily for sure too, but of course all depends on parts prize..
I need to purchase as cheap as possible because of tolls and duties here in EU (everything is calculated from purchase prize), it is way better to purchase cheaper and fix here then to buy some more expensive very nice car straigh away..
Thanks!
And btw do i understand it correctly that car with MV907A - salvage title can not be registered in USA again?
This will of course put the final prize lower hopefully, and it wont be problem to register it in my country as historical vehicle:-)
it depends from US state to US state. but generally you can re title after going thru some inspections and proper rebuild. unless the car is so bad its titled parts only/not rebuildable.
Most cars are salvaged because repair cars exceed the value of what insurance co want to pay/worth.
The damage doesnt look too significant at first glance. so maybe theres some more underlying issues?(although bodywork is very expensive). theres been a lot of flooding around there, toasted wiring of flooded engine could salvage a car.
Sometimes the cars end up at these auction and salvage lots beacuse they were stolen or used in a crime lol. so it coulda been in a pursuit and jumped some curbs, used to haul drugs, or stolen and stripped for parts haha. who knows.
I dont know the asking price. But if the price is too good, and someone hasnt already scooped it up, there might be something fishy
-oh yeah also missing the red rear parking lamp and wiring
Actually, I'll take the restorers position...YOU MAY BE ON TO SOMETHING,HERE!
1. Impact did not hit the rim (matching rims, no scrapes) .
2. Rear tire is in the correct attitude, so no visible impacts to trailing arm or AT WORST you'll probably have to replace the lower strut. = Cheap!
3. This really looks like a 'backing-in incident' (off side of car bumper cover caught the corner.) or a minor 'side-swipe')
4. Parts are readily available.
5. Body work in the EU is equivalent the world over...esp. in GB, where MANY indigenous cars were fiberglas.
6. Once you check for rust...the rest is straight-forward.
7. Black is the easiest color to match.
8 Car should be cheap...like $5- $6000 USD.
You should get someone to go there and check it out. It MUST run and drive or forget it. Body work is one thing, but other mechanicals should work. Maybe a 3k car, maybe less. Labor charges here are through the roof. Make sure you can get the parts to ship with the car. Good luck. It is a way to get a car not available at your home. PS. How much to ship overseas?
I lived in Long Island for two years......the salt water air is brutal on a car......it turned my fairly nice 92' Camaro into a POS in that amount of time.....
Yes, but this may have been a garaged car. Investigation a must. Don't assume it's a rust bucket. It may be okay. I lived in southern CT on the shore for fifty years and thirty-five with my '76 L82 coupe. While not a show car, it is a fine driver.
I like the old adage "Buy the best car you can afford", sometimes even a free car will cost you more in the long run. $6K for a smashed bubble window car? Hell no. You could probably get a rough '68-'72 for that money. Definitely a '74-'77.
Where can you get 68-72 for 6k?:o been looking a lot (online) a never seen anything close to that..Honestly i dont like 74-77 much, i actually prefer 80-82 look..
Anyway, many thanks to all for replies, i just cant help myself and purchased the car.. It is running and driving, really looks preserved and its actually the greates combo and looking car for me, so i just bought and we will see.. As i said i have very good workshop here in EU with low labour cost, something mechanical wont be big issue, of course the rusted frame would be the worst case, so lets hope.. But to be honest, cheapest C3 (which even from pictures looks way worse then this one) here in my my country at the moment is for 16k usd, so it could be resold for the purchasing prize immediatelly.. Hopefully it wont be needed and we will make it great again:-D
Btw it SEEMS like it could have the 383 poweplant in it, can you guys confirm from the picture, please?:-)
A 383 is a small block like what you have, can't tell by looking at the outside. A 383 has .030 oversized pistons, and a 3.75 stroke crank from a 400 small block Chevy. Gotta take it all apart to know for sure. As far as those eBay parts, the fender looks like it will work, but I would get a fiberglass rear bumper cover, not the urethane, they deteriorate over time.
A "cheap" car is only cheap if:
1. you can do all (or most) of the mechanical work;
2. nearly all of the parts are already present in the vehicle;
3. the frame & birdcage are not "toast".
Otherwise, you may spend MORE money fixing it up to a decent state than you would just buying one in that condition to start.
If he hadn't already bought it, my friend as an '82 with overdrive trans, rebuilt engine WITHOUT the Crossfire injection, a little rough but NOT smashed, could be had for $2-3K. Too late now.
Purchasing and fixing cheap C3
