Good afternoon! New member here, and looking at acquiring an early C3. I am currently looking at a '68 convertible. 4 speed, L79 numbers matching in unmolested, but long neglected condition. Everything seems to work, drivetrain seems ok, needs paint but fiberglass seems pretty crack free. The 800lb gorilla is the frame- The undercarriage in general seems to have the expected surface rust, but the fram rail endcaps (ahead of the rear wheels) have some rust-through spots but are generally intact with no previous attempted repairs. The locater holes (top side frame rails under doors) seem to be a bit sharp with rust. Odometer shows 60k miles, FWIW. And no signs of prior accidents.

Any thoughts on where a buyer might want to be on such a car? Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Current value on that car:

"Excellent" condition (Could win a regional car show. Drives & looks like new): $53,700
"Good" condition (Runs & drives well. Flaws not noticable to passersby. Most common condition): $32,700
"Fair" condition (Has visible flaws to the naked eye. Runs fine, but could use mechanical or cosmetic restoration): $19,800

You appear to have a car in "fair" condition, but don't underestimate the amount of work (and cost) to repair frame rust. Once you have found some of it, you will find more, which may require pulling the body off the frame for repair. If you can do all this yourself, and place no value on your time, you may have some wiggle-room on the purchase price. If you're going to be paying someone else to do this work, you may want to look for another car...

$20K for nice body and paint work
$20K pull body & repair frame rust and other hidden rust
$10K in "other" expenses
$18K purchase price

You got yourself a $68,000 car that's worth about $40K. And you haven't touched the drivetrain, suspension, or interior... You're better off to pony up the $32K to buy a nice car that someone else has spent $70K restoring.


Lars

 

If the frame has rust, be sure to check out the windshield frame / birdcage for rust. Those areas can get very ugly and the repair has its challenges. Search the forum for birdcage rust and you will find examples and how to check.

 

Thanks for the responses. Roughly what I had in mind, helps to hear from you who are more familiar with these cars- Appreciate it!

Years ago I would have taken this on but at this point I want to enjoy a driver more than I want to rebuild anything, and no desire to be upside down $$-wise on a project. I'll keep looking and reading the forum to continue learning.

Thanks!

 

if you’re looking for a ‘68 convertible, this one is on BAT right now, with an interesting story,



https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...onvertible-19/

 

Your paint estimate is a good ballpark, but it really depends on how much work you take on yourself, as well as the state you're in, where prices can fluctuate wildly from one state to another. I literally just spent $10K on a new paint job (show quality), but that is with me that has done all disassembly down to the nut and bolt, and subsequent reassembly that will take me several months. Moreover, I did a fair bit of the initial block sanding of the previous paint job as well as sandblasting of a bunch of parts that needed to be painted.

I did a bit of filling of low spots and sanding of high spots to get the body very smooth for a dark color, but the painter did all the finishing sanding (and in some cases had to 'redo' some of my work), smoothed it out like glass, masked, painted, cleared, and all finishing. Had I paid the painter to do everything, it would have cost me about $30K. Had that been in Cali, double that number to AT LEAST $60k because of the regulations.

I also ended up replacing the entire rolling chassis because that was much cheaper than paying someone to do it, or at very least the immense amount of time it would have taken for me to do it myself. I got a smokin' deal on a rolling chassis for about $8.5K from a guy who bought one and ended up not using it. My frame was pretty much toast, but the birdcage is quite nice, so I got lucky there.

In summary, even if you score some great deals and do lots of work yourself, restoration is not a cheap process, and has been amplified over the past several years, as parts prices (and even labor) have gone up considerably.

 

Always helps to have others comment to keep things in focus- I can get enthusiastic about "rescuing" a car, but having been down that rabbit hole before, I don't want to again. The frame was the big question for me, and from what I have seen if you see rust somewhere, it is most likely everywhere. Someone else will get to play with that one.

The car on BAT is interesting, I remember the story from a few years ago. Will be interesting to see how much the story influences sale price.

 

if chassis has more rust than is normal that’s a red flag with me considering the owner says it has 60k original miles ..68 was the first year C3 and a lot of one year parts that are hard to find . They had a lot of problems that were somewhat corrected in 69 . The car is worth going down the road about 30k in excellent condition with very good paint . If you don’t get it for the right price you will into the car for much more than it’s worth .. look around the forum or the internet there are many project cars for sale because people start the rebuild and than realize when reality sets in they are over there heads and just want out ..Just paint alone is 15-17k . However if you don’t care about it that’s up to you . I wouldn’t pay no more than 12-15k tops Good luck

 

the cost of a paint job is all about the labor . 10l seems to be a lot of money if you did most of the labor

 

[QUOTE=grady white;1607307041]the cost of a paint job is all about the labor . 10l seems to be a lot of money if you did most of the labor[/QUOTE]

Not at all. It's a bargain, especially since $2.8K of that 10K was for materials -ie, primer, base, and clear coat. I did the disassembly, SOME sanding and a little prep, but the remaining work was left to the professionals. The immense amount of time required to block sand, fill low spots/flatten high spots, mask, prime, block sand again, mask (again), paint, clear, wet sand, and then final sand and polish is incredibly labor intensive.

 

Had I paid the painter to do everything, it would have cost me about $30K. Had that been in Cali, double that number to AT LEAST $60k because of the regulations.

Could you explain the regulations in California that would double the cost of a paint job?

 

Quite simple. California body shop labor rates are typically right around $100/hour, with California shops in some areas approaching $200/hr, as driven by The California Code of Regulations (CCR) §2695.81 and CCR §2695.82 which into effect on January 1, 2017. Body shop rates in most of the rest of the country are around $50/hour. We get cars shipped out here from California for body & paint work.

...and in answer to you question: nobody can explain California regulations...

 

Still here, reading threads and trying to learn a bit rather than asking a lot of repetitive questions.

Current car under review- Keeping my fingers crossed on this one, but still appreciative of your observations and comments.

1971 LS5 4 speed convertible. I would call it a survivor car- Original owner, original paint 70k miles. Always inside, no rust. Owner installed aftermarket manifold and valve covers years ago, but that's it.

The huge positive for me, is that is one owner- It will need a new top, and I assume an extensive brake and suspension refresh.

Thanks for your comments!

 

Hagerty's Jan. '24 value in #3 good condition is $38,300....good luck!..

 

*WOW*
$40,000 big ones for a no match, unrestored, incorrect center gauge cluster, & missing parts under the hood etc, nothing exciting 68 small block is outa control. Just goes to show ya there is an *** for every seat.
Just not mine.