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Doohickie, actually that rear quarter is 0% bondo. It did have bondo, but back in late '96 the rust started coming back through (leak in the trunk, otherwise it would've held much longer). I finally got fed up with it, and got some big tin snips out of my granddad's garage, knocked out all the bondo and cut away as much of the rust as I could. Then I found some aluminum and bent it into shape as best I could, shoved it up in there, and pop-rivited it into place! If nothing else, it won't rust out again! :P Since then, the rust has broken out some over the top of the rear wheel opening, and another part started blossoming when a chunk of paint got chipped off and I let it sit exposed too long before painting over it. Back then, I was working two jobs trying to get rid of the massive debt that a bad marriage left me with, so I didn't have the money to get it fixed right.
I've seen entire rear quarter panels for the '67-69 Dart for like $250.00. But then, of course, you have to either put it on yourself, or pay someone to do it, and that's where the real expense comes in.
When I do call this guy back, I think I'm just going to tell him to make me a reasonable offer, and see what happens. And now that I thnk about it, there's a guy at work who's into Darts, and has been looking for an 8 3/4 rear end (nowadays they're pretty hard to find for the A-body). Maybe I could see if he'd be interested in buying it?
Now that I think about it, would Craigslist be a good place to try and list my Dart?
I dunno about that Caddy, though
Here's a nicer one from Craigslist that isn't much more dough
The $1K car is a coupe, but by this time I don't think that means much. It's not like we're talking '57 Chevies or anything! And truth be told, once you get to this era I think I like the sedans a bit better, anyway!
I have a bit of a soft spot for those late '70s Cadillacs; when I was a kid, my best friend's dad was a GM exec, so he constantly had fancy new GM cars, one of which was a '77 Fleetwood, brown with tan leather, IIRC, and a factory astro roof. That was definitely one of my favorite cars. I remember him also having a late '70s Vette briefly (which didn't impress me, strangely), a silver (w/burgandy leather) '79ish Toronado, a white Eldorado and finally an '82 or so blue with the nicest blue velour I've ever seen Buick Park Avenue. I definitely had car envy, considering we usually had some beater or other at the time.
I think that blue Fleetwood could be a good deal...I mean, what else can you get for that money
Ooh, it just hit me, that with the Caddies we were talking about, it didn't register with me that the sedan was a Fleetwood and the coupe was just a DeVille. Again, by this time, I doubt that in and of itself would affect value much, but I'd much rather have Fleetwood!
I used to prefer coupes to sedans, because I'd actually find them easier to get into! I know most people say sedans are, but think about it. If you're tall, wouldn't a bigger opening be easier to get into than a smaller one? Also, with most sedans, the B-pillar is about even with my head when I'm in the seat, so that hampers my view out to the side. I haven't driven a coupe on a regular basis now in about 8 years, though, so between a '79 Newport, '89 Gran Fury, '00 Intrepid, and '79 New Yorker, I guess I've gotten used to the "sedan feel".
That's one of the reasons I prefer sedans. I can look through the window in the rear door of a sedan to check my blind spot, but on coupes the B-pillar is in the way. Now, that is on small cars; land barges might be different.
http://www.craigslist.org/sby/car/86616637.html
Not a high demand car however. Gee, after 32 years, you'd think this "classic" would be worth something....but alas, supply and demand sets the price....
Easy to buy, hard to sell...but $500 in down and dirty upholstery work and a ferocious detailing (presuming everything else works) and you could pocket $1,000 profit.
HERE'S ANOTHER:
No profit here but you could offer $1,950, cover the interior in sheep skins ($300), replace the brake pressure switch (this always goes out, there are 2 X $45= $90) and the AC, well, that could be ver-y pricey.
But clean Porsche V8 power for $2,500?? Best deal in town if the car doesn't break.
http://www.craigslist.org/sby/car/85073625.html
Maybe it's the era. Period 450SLs are still falling in price, SLCs are worth even less, and only the mintest 116s are worth anything. Yet the 114 and 115 sedans have been steady, if not cheap.
That Porsche looks like a pretty good deal. A once exotic and still eyecatching car for the price of a worn Neon.
Those old German seats have that horsehair in them (or something similar) and they get hard as a rock. But you can fix that easily.
My fintail has seats stuffed with a kind of laminated straw or something...people who joke with me about the car call it hay. It's still pretty cushiony, but I think this material aged inconsistently. Great seats...big, squashy yet supportive.
As for seats, one area where Benz tended to excel was contouring. The seats may have been hard, but when you take corners a bit too fast, at least they'll keep you planted. With a lot of domestics, you just sat on a flat seat surface with no side bolstering, and it would throw you in the curves.
I don't think Benz was the only one that sometimes had trouble with a coupe style, though. I always thought those Jag XJC's were just a bit awkward.
Now it's not ugly, not by a long shot, but it just doesn't seem as well thought-out as the sedan version.
The Jag is more of a 2 door sedan than a coupe, IMO. It's really a short-roofed sedan with 2 less doord. From what I know they were poor sellers.
Cool story about that [non-permissible content removed] guy, looks like horsehair did a good deed.
That's correct---buyers will pay a substantial premium for a low grille car.
I think this car could have pulled off a low grille too. It's a fintail replacement prototype from around 1963. I guess even styling-clueless MB realized that fins were passe almost from the day the fintails hit the road...but they didn't do much about it. Very elegant, with the coupe rear end.
And I like the fins too. However, MB didn't seem to realize that a car styled in 1957/58 would be out of date in 1960
And to be on topic a little...that fintail was a bit of a project car when I bought it. Very sound body and cosmetics, but it was an oil burner. I bought it for $1500...a couple years later put about double that into the engine...and the rest is history. It was too nice to 'fold em',
I know, someone would point at some wreck and say "But it's a '57 Chevy!" and I would have to say "No, it USED to be a '57 Chevy".
Take it to the crusher and do Porsche a favor.
I think he means the car won't start but he hasn't done any troubleshooting. Or even more likely, I think he means that if he ignores the health of the engine he can represent it as a newly rebuilt engine in great condition, but he can't guarantee this because he supposedly hasn't tried to start the car.
"hey, there's no bottom end to this engine!"
"oh, well, i told you i never tried to start it, so how would I know?"
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
This car is such a joke and such a gross misrepresentation I would SERIOUSLY suggest jail time for the seller.
A - Since I never started it, I don't know but I bet it could
Q - This car has some amazing mods. How much faster is it since you took the carpet out?
A - That mod is good for at least 10 hp
Q - Will you take 20 grand for it, if I let you sleep with my wife?
A - Send me a pic and we can talk but it will probably take at least $25k
Q - Only $8,500???????? Are you my guardian angel??????????
A - I am your guardian angel and I would neeeeeeeeeeeever rip you off.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=6458&item=456412958- 4
"If you bid on it before you see the car,I will cancell your bid!!!" :P
james
http://www.craigslist.org/eby/car/87129106.html
and another you want to run away from screaming:
http://www.craigslist.org/nby/car/87089068.html
I like that Corvette ad, the one that specifically says 'no parts missing' next to the picture of the dash with the big hole where the radio should be. Still, probably the only running Corvette one can get for $4k, and it looks certainly faded but at least not messed with too much. Of course, '74 is about the low point for almost any marque including Corvette, so I guess the prices is about right.
74 is nothing special for the Vette, but if you invest wisely in a modest paint job and other refreshing without doing a total resto, that could be a nice driver. Only thing is, did every set of aluminum slots end up on 74 Vettes?
You know, SOMEWHERE in there....I guess maybe the dyno needle was bouncing around a lot? :P
Getting 500HP out of a 351 is not going to be exactly cheap. Is that flywheel HP, wheel HP or decal HP?