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All you've have is a beater unless you tear it down, and for all that work you might as well just go buy a nice one for not a whole lot more money. You can get a clean '72 non-SS Malibu for $6,500 or so.
If by some startling coincidence this car was "real" and could be proven as such, as a matching #s 350/350, well then it all turns around and you *might* come out okay, because a real SS350 can be worth $12K-15K.
Very odd he gives neither VIN # nor data plate info. That should tell you something right there.
SOOOOOO.....if not a real SS, SCRAP
If a real SS, SAVE and do a front clip resto (firewall forward disassembly) and have yourself a nice SS driver.
I'd also save the Lincoln limo mostly because of the price and relative rarity, though I don't know what the hell I'd do with that thing if it were mine. I doubt I could find a garage big enough to hold it. In concurence with everyone else here, that thing would be a chore to drive almost anywhere.
I had a 1970 small block that I did some dumb kid stuff to such as a cheapo fiberglass hood with snorkel hood scoop. It was nice, but man.... if I had it to do over again.
I clearly remember somebody running around in a 71 or 72 SS with a scoop riveted onto the original cowl hood and radiused wheel wells with flares to squeeze in his Crager SSs. I'm not sure but it must have had an "[non-permissible content removed], Gas or Grass.. no one rides for free sticker" on it. Someone else that I met proudly told me how he had the frame on his 69 SS convertible painted floresent green although I didn't get to see that monstrosity for myself. In this context, this car is pretty damn respetable (although it's not a 70)
This Chevelle here is over 30 years old. It could have been faked and restored 10 or more years ago and then degraded to it's current shape. That said, I agree with the previous post. If it's a fake, it's a pretty good one with the interior emblems and appropriate exterior badges. $5k is getting pretty high though. Since it doesn't say otherwise, I'd assume that the numbers don't match.
You guys be the appraiser and offer an opinion as to what this project might be worth:
HERE'S WHAT WE'LL DO TO MAKE IT MORE FUN (PLEASE READ)
1. Study the ad, and write down your estimate on a sticky note. Glue it to the computer.
2. Make a post telling me you are "ready".
3. Then, when I say go, we'll all post our prices. Of course it won't be in real time but if we're lucky the posts will all appear more or less in a string and we can compare prices easily.
I'll wait until I get the "I'm ready" from 4-5 of you, maybe later today or tomorrow depending.
If this works and it's interesting to you, we'll do it a few more times. Remember, don't post a price until you get the signal from HQ.
http://www.craigslist.org/nby/car/49418286.html
Mostly I'm trying out this idea. We can pick a more suitable car for appraisal later. So play along as best you can.
I gather the two of you are "ready" to post a price, so I'll wait for a few more.
By the way, I've got my bid ready.
Maybe he got a cheap crate engine. Chevy power is very inexpensive.
In my experience, if there is a reasonable thing that can be done to turn a car that isn't drivable into one that is, and it hasn't been done, there is more to the story than the seller is letting on.
So many times I've seen a "just needs _____ done and she'll run great!" and there is a big reason THEY haven't done it.
By "estimated value", what we are aiming for is what we think a reasonably sane person, under no pressure whatsoever, might pay for this "project" (not necessarily you and me, but "Them" out there).
I think he could get $750 as is where is. That "rebuilt" engine looks kinda dusty, I dunno, but the parts should be worth that.
$750
If that's an Olds 307 and not a Chevy 305, that's probably why the tranny's not hooked up. They won't mate up without an adaptor kit, as back then they didn't put in two sets of bolt holes to acommodate both Chevy and B-O-P patterns like they do today.
I was gonna say $500. I think it might actually be restorable, and could make a cool truck. But I'd put a different engine in it, like a 350.
Big clues are the shape of the valve cover, big oil filler tube in the front, and the dist. in the rear.
http://zattevrienden.realroot.be/depanneren.htm
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate- - - gory=6278&item=4505670755&rd=1
Change the rims to something a little more understated and I'm interested at $10,000.......of course it has 9 days of bidding left though ;-)
anyway, on the positive side, very tidy installation! Commendable!
On the negative side, a car nobody wants in stock form, and one that nobody can do anything with in this form.
It's another $5,000 butchered XJ. The world is full of them. Hell, I'd buy it for the motor and put it into something appropriate, some big American iron. Sell the Jag body to someone building coral reefs, it's too screwed up to restore.
Anyway, like I said, at $10K, I'd still actually be interested in it.
This car is a lot like some experimental films I've seen. It would have been more fun to just talk about it rather than actually do it.
Personally, I love it. The lovely Jag body is complemented by a truly serious V8 conversion, and it sounds (from both the description and the previous owner) that it was thoughtfully done.
The stock jag V12 is a boat anchor -- that is, heavy as a mountain without the power to go with it -- so a crate big-block (probably aluminum) may very well weigh significantly less than stock. I agree, the prodigious torque could bend stuff if the frame wasn't fortified, but any good engine/chassis builder would do that as a matter of course, or you'd never get the power to the ground.
That said, I'd give it a thorough inspection...but if the interior and exterior look like the pix, and if the engine installation is as it seems, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Oh, by the way, shifty -- ANY race is dependent on the course. I once had a buddy with a Chevelle SS ask me if I wanted to race him in my newly hotrodded Toyota truck. I told him, "Sure -- I get to pick the road." He gave me a crooked grin and said, "Oh, sure -- across a cornfield, right?" Right.
The British are great at providing sweet-looking, elegant bodies with the internals of an 85-year-old quadraplegic. The combination of British styling with an American drivetrain results in the best of both worlds. And let us not forget -- these are only mechanical objects, not the Holy Grail. They are sacrosanct only to the degree that customers believe they are.
You sure have been throwing around that "junk" word like nobody's business as of late ;-)
* As I think about it, your favorite brand has only produced one production motor of equal to the XK motor in my opinion. I bet you can guess which one I'm thinking of.
Of course, longevity alone is not evidence of a great engine (witness the dreary Buick V-6) but winning LeMans is. Never saw a Chevy V8 do that yet. Junk motors don't win LeMans. Even Ford bested Chevy in that department.
So we must give credit where credit is due because the historical record justifies it.
Calling a jaguar engine "junk" is a very hasty remark I think, given the illustrious history of the motor. It's simply not a fair statement given the evidence to the contrary. I wish to defend the honor of a great inline Six if I may.
Ah, the old "choice" argument. Well there are good choices and bad choices. Sometimes freedom to act should be restricted, and this FrankenJag is one of those cases. I think the builder should be fined and a tracking collar should be placed on him to prevent him going near a toolbox for 6 months.
Just kidding. But next time, builder, go tub a Camaro if you want to run Pro Street.
This is a nice off-beat car for the era. I've always loved this car and think that this spoilerless and vinyl topped example is pretty cool.
I'm not sure what the ceiling is on these because Formulas have less of a following than a Trana Am (maybe $10,000 to $12,000 I'm guessing).
I think that this could be an awesome car, but I'm scared of a 30 year old car from New Hampshire. With a starting bid of $3,800 I'd walk but would love this for $2,000.
Again, at $3,800 it's a walk, but I do like this car and it's potential even though it is a lot of work. For $2 grand, it would be a go.
The engine I was referring to was the V12. Sorry, I may be off-base on this, but my personal and close-to-personal experience with this engine is that it's hard to maintain, produces little power relative to its mass, displacement and weight, and is outperformed by any number of garden variety, extremely reliable, V8s. In fact, Cherry Automotive Parts in Toledo, Ohio had a V12 block in its lobby as the base for a glass-topped coffee table. I asked the owner about it, and he said that's about all it was good for. (They are, or were, the major supplier of parts for imports within a 200-mile radius, which is why I was there -- I was looking for body parts for my 240Z.)
I think one of the best indications of how good an engine is in the overall sense is how often it's used as a replacement powerplant in other cars. For years, European specialty carmakers used Chevy small blocks and Chrysler big blocks for their cars -- such as the jensen Interceptor, Facel Vega, Monteverdi, Bizzarini, Iso and others. That speaks worlds to me.
The entire reason I never bought a Jag is because of its long-standing reputation for building cars that wouldn't start or would leave you stranded -- particularly on a rainy day, which is the least convenient time to be stranded. The only problem I ever had with my Alfas was their appetite for head gaskets, and I honestly believe the responsibility for that rests squarely on my shoulders, for driving them the way I did. On the other hand, I've driven all my Toyotas that way, and they NEVER fail. Derive from that whatever you will.
As for great Toyota engines, in addition to the 7A-FE used in the Supra TT, the 4A-GE in all of its various iterations was a truly monster motor for its displacement, and is still used today in 240-hp form as the spec engine for the Toyota Atlantic Series. I found this engine to be every bit the equal of my Alfas in terms of smoothness and willingness to rev, and by far their superior in terms of strength, durability and performance enhancements. The 22R used in the Toyota truck was also a wonderfully robust engine, whose only weakness was the head gasket (a problem long since addressed).
So that's why people differ on this subject I think.
Even the propensity of the V-12 to catch fire (which it likes to do) is really a matter of lousy engineering.
There aren't many endemic internal failures in Jaguar engines, and like I said, Chevrolet never won Lemans---that's a 24 hour beating, so those Jag engines (much more stock then, then Lemans engines today) can't be TOO bad. People used to DRIVE their cars sometimes to Lemans, race them and go home--LOL! Imagine trying that today!
7A-FE would be too weak for that car I think. Bottom ends can only take so much, you'd have to radicalize it and that's $$$.
Maybe a Supra engine, or a BMW I-6, both outstanding powerplants and the right # of cylinders without too much racket and vibration.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate- gory=6259&item=4509062658&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
It seems like the seller is overstating the book for this car with this milage. According to kbb.com, this car's private party value in "Good" condition is $7,600. The higher value is probably from a dealer in Excellent condition, but nothing with a salvage title rates an excellent.
At $3,000, it's close. I'm wary whenever you seller rattles off the list of "easy" fixes. If they're so easy, why aren't they done yet? Nonethless, if I could do the work myself, I think that I may go for this. Would probably like it alot more at $2,ooo to $2,5oo.
Not sure that there would be any point in trying to repair then resell it, what with the salvage title.
I've got a guy at work who is doing something similar with a Porsche Boxster .. it's been in the shop for a couple of months now getting "repaired" -- I'll have to ask him how close he is to getting it back.