FireGuy

I am in need of some advice in purchasing a 69 coupe. By chance the other day, I ran into a guy that I know through work who is selling his 69 coupe after almost 20 years of storage. It a 350/350 , 4speed, yellow, non numbers matching car. It has 71 K miles on it with no more than 2k put on it in that time frame. He just wants to get rid of it without all the hassles of selling thru the paper etc. I looked at the car recently and it needs a lot of work. But for $6500 I don't know if I can pass it up. I went with some great info on what to look for from a CF member that owns a 69 and his info helped me greatly.

The car was painted before it was stored and the paint job is ok. It should be wet sanded and buffed out. The body looked good with some overspray and a small crack in the fiberglass where the left rear bumper mount is. The vacuum system is inoperable. The ac compressor has been removed. The engine has 2000 miles on a rebuild with a non # matching engine block. The guy stated that he starts the car from time to time to prevent the lines from rotting etc. It started right up with some gas poured into the carb and ran very rough. The frame looked good as far as I could tell. There was a lot of surface rust everywhere underneath the car. Where the frame jumps up over the axle looked good as did the door hinges. There IS rust by the t top mounts (by the front windshield moulding). That looks like a btch to fix. The calipers on the front were redone, but I noticed leaking on one of them. The rear ones need to be done over.
The interior was in ok shape. Some parts need to be replaced like the carpets and steering wheel and other various small parts including the middle console. The dash looked good. The car could be streetable with a tune up (or carb rebuild) and the calipers being fixed.
I am on the fence regarding buying this car and need to know what you guys think. Any info, thoughts, or suggestions would be appreciated. I value my fellow CF'ers opinions. Thanks.
:seeya

A C

The price doesn't sound all that bad, but you will end up paying a lot more to get it in really nice shape. The vacuum system is actually easier and cheaper to fix than most people think. A lot of times it's just leaky hoses, or the engine could have a vacuum leak, since it runs rough as well. The motor should be easy enough to work on, assuming nothing major is wrong with it. The windshield frame will be a total pain in the butt. You have to remove the windshield to work on it, and if there are any holes in it, you will have to weld some new metal in there. The console and carpet are reasonably cheap. At least the dash is in good shape, because those aren't cheap. Did you check to see if everything works? There are lots of things that could add up to a lot of money. Guages, door locks, windows go up and down, turn signals, etc. It's too bad that the vacuum system isn't working, as there are a lot of things you would want to check there too, like the headlight assemblies, the wiper door assembly, the wipers themselves, the heater system. The A/C is going to be expensive to fix, but if you can live without it, it's not absolutely necessary. I guess for me it would depend on how many parts look like they need replacement, and mostly on how the body and frame looks. You might want to find a forum C3 guy from NJ to go look at it with you (preferably one with a 69). They would be able to notice more of the critical things. Good luck with whatever you decide. :cheers:

AC

Gordonm

The price is pretty good but it does sound like it will need some work. It depends on how much money you want to put into the car. If you think that only 1 to 3K will get it back into good shape I am thinking not. It looks like more of 5k to 10K depending on how nice and how much work you will do. It would realy depend on the condition of the car. It is tough to get a real impression of the car on the forum. It looks like you are in NJ. If in South Jersey I could help you out but in North Jersey there are some others that could help out. The windshield area can be a pain and expensive to fix.

FireGuy

I did check the gauges, electrics, and lights. They were in working order. Obviously the headlights wouldn't pop up. The radio looked aftermarket. The windshield frame looked bad and I knew that would be a PITA. I know that the car isn't in the 1 to 3k to get it back into great shape and 5 to 10 could be on target. Thanks for the offer but I'm in Northern NJ.

Marks69BB

If it were me, I'd continue looking unless the price were cut in half. You will put more money into it then it is worth with the rust problem and refurb after sitting idle all this time. In this economy, you should be able to find a better example of a 69. I would also go big block unless you prefer the 350. As has been said here many times, buy the best example you can find so you're driving it instead of working on it all of the time. After all, that is what it is all about! :steering:

FireGuy

Of course a BB was my first choice. :D From what I have seen it doesn't look like anyone is selling 68 - 70's any cheaper for a fixer upper.

JB

Price sounds about right to me, though it depends a lot on just how rotted that bird cage is. If we're just talking rust at the top corners, that's not so bad, but dollars to donuts that ain't all of it. You MUST get him to let you take the kick panels off and take a look inside where the bird cage mounts to the body--I've seen some that were so eaten up in there with car cancer that all you could do was close it up and walk away. Also check real carefully at the top of the door hinge pockets above the top hinge where the windsheild support is--I've seen a couple of cars where previous owners have filled in there with bondo and painted it to cover up where the supports have rusted through.

JB


[Modified by JB, 9:29 PM 2/2/2003]

ddecart

The rotted bird cage would be my biggest concern. I'd take a much closer look at the frame to get a better impression of its condition.

$6500 sounds maybe a little on thehigh side to me. $5000-5500 would be more in line with what I'd call reasonable.

What kind of shape is the chrome in? Any chance of getting a compression/leakdown test done on the engine?

FireGuy

I am going to call they guy and see about going down for another closer look. I'm sure he would let me take the kick panels off and test the engine. The chrome was in good condition with a small dimple on the front bumper.

Thanks for the help guys. :thumbs: