That old abandoned vette story...

[Monkeywrench]

for those of you who don't know the story you can find it here.

The guy calls me out of the blue after a few months and asks if I'm still interested. I told him that based on the condition I'd start at $500 and go no higher than $1500. He starts laughing. He then says "Son, you are in California and I'm in Florida (we are both in FL; his poor metaphor), I'd be looking for a bit shy of 5 digits." $10k for a rusted hunk? Oh well. I was so blown away that I had to share it here. I tought he was getting desperate since he called me back but I guess he's not THAT desperate.

Sorry for my prolonged absence. My first child was born recently and I've been a bit busy to say the least...

Sean

 

[Yoda]

Sorry for my prolonged absence. My first child was born recently and I've been a bit busy to say the least...
Sean

Congrats Sean on the new little one in your life.. Hope everyone is fine and everything is going good for you. Happy fathers day

BudD

 

[twiget]

Congratulations on the new addition to your family Sean! It sounds like you'd be better off taking care of the baby in the crib, and not a new baby in the garage.

Jason

 

[Scott81]

Sean,

Congrats on the new addition! Now email that guys address to me so I can punch him.

 

[Monkeywrench]

It sounds like you'd be better off taking care of the baby in the crib, and not a new baby in the garage.

Nahhhh. I'm a glutton for punishment. Besides I have to have the vette ready for him to drive in .... oh 16 years or so


Thanks for the support guys.

Sean

 

[resto75]

another old vette story

I have a old vette story myself. About 3 yrs ago I found a 66 427 coupe that had been sitting in a garage since 1982. It was in pretty good shape except the motor was seized and all the seals in the tranny and rear end had dried out and dumped the oil. It would be a good canidate for a restoration as the body looked good and even the interior was pretty good for its age. Well the lady who lived there said it was her husbands but they had been separated for years. I told her to find out what he wanted for it. Well I never heard anything so a few years later I went back and it was still there. This time I did some closer checking and found the 427 was a 396 and only a 325 hp which came out of a full size chevy not a vette (65 425/hp 396). I did finally find out that he wanted 14,000 which might of been a good deal but not for me. If it had the original 427 or even a 427 it would of been ok. As it probaby needed 10,000 in repairs and paint along with getting all the bumpers rechromed for however much that would be, I'm glad I didnt fool around with it. I'm sure it would of been thousands more than that also as the tires, bushings etc where dried out.

I did call back some time after deciding not to get it and she told me hubby had sold it for 14,000, so I guess some one liked it.
Probably restored it and sold it for 40,000.

Roy

 

[69MyWay]

Seems like I always hear stories from my friends about the good deals they get on stuff and then turn around and sell them for much more. I always pay too much to begin with, then sell it for less than I paid.

This thread is close to the heart since my 69 had been sitting in the prior owner's back yard for about ten years. During that time it had been moved to a body shop, but that shop went out of business and the car was towed back to the same spot in the yard to continue rotting away.

I thought I had struck a home run by paying $1,500 plus my riding lawn mower for the 69 rag top. However, the more I took the car apart the more I realized that I did not get such a deal after all. The good news is, nearly everything on the car will be new when complete. The bad news is, that so many things had rotted away that I have to replace them.

So, you never know about these things. If I had to do it over, I would have passed on this car and or bought it for the few parts that were good and junked the rest of it.

I knew Corvettes had problems with the frame getting rusty (my frame was actually fine), however, I never knew how much rust can get into the body structure of the car. Here is where my strange fate comes in. The visible portion of the windshield frame was perfect. Everything below the glass, in the a and b pillar, and rocker channel was gone.

That fellow was doing you a favor by jacking up his price.

 

[Monkeywrench]

That fellow was doing you a favor by jacking up his price.

My plan all along was to but it cheap, put some new wheels on it, replace the intake and add a tranny and hopefully sell it to a more deserving individual for a few grand profit. While I like the '67s I really am looking for a 68-73 to restore. This would have just been a "warmup" for the real restoration, and a way to increase my initial buying budget

Those "basket case" cars can be a real nightmare I know!!