Looking for advice - thinking about buying 1968 coronet 440

[Squirelly1]

.
Hello there, I would like to ask u guys for a lil advice. A local fella has a 1968 coronet 440 car for sale....green in color....green interior....was a vinyl top but its pulled off and is painted black.
The car has a fender tag pnt code of WW1...i think this is white....White w a green interior?
Its a 318 car by VIN. It has a nice running 318 in it...headers and so forth, runs great. 727 trans just rebuilt and 8 3/4 rear end w sum lower gears.
All the chrome is great, mirror in place grill and so forth is nice, the interior is great...bench seat console car. Heater works, blinkers, wipers, dome light all that stuff works right down to the cigarette lighter.

The bad...the fenders have some rust but not bad, the rockers have some also, the rear quarters were replaced in 83 and have some rust and bondo...the worst thing is underneath....it was a MN car its whole life....the salt ate this thing alive....you can stick a screwdriver through the floor pan anywhere....the rockers are tough....the torsion bar cross member has pieces of it completely missing (not safe) the trunk extenders are gone...the trunk pan is thin.....what i would call the subframe in the rear by the rear bumper have big holes rusted in them.

Im not sure what to say...he was asking 9k now hes at 7k i had a friend say its a 3500 dollar car but im not sure....it just doesnt seem to even have much good to weld too underneath...what do u guys think?

From the road the car looks pretty nice...but its gonna need a floor pan, torque tube cross member, fenders, quarters, trunk pan, trunk extensions and so forth....no huge rust holes in the fenders or quarters but enough there that yhey should be replaced to do it right.
Thanks.

 

[BeeKool]

How far were you wanting to go with restoration?
Do you plan on doing the work yourself?
Keeping it a 318?

7k seems a tad high.

 

[Squirelly1]

Id be doing as much of it as i can myself....my plan was for it just to be a driver and work at it as i see fit but that floor pan and cross member worries me first off.
And others have told me its not a bee or rt...just a coronet 440...

 

[kiwigtx]

Just added a thread title for you.

 

[Squirelly1]

Thanks alot....im not sure what happened. I didnt really want my name as a username either....i entered a username and it defaulted my personal info....i cant figure out how to change it.

 

[BeeKool]

It will never have the resale of a True Bee or R/T. But do you plan on selling it anyway? you could turn it into a Tribute.
Just depends on how much work you want for yourself.
You could find a 383. Put a different rear-end in it. Repair the sheet metal and repaint it properly with a stripe. Rebadge it. Put a Rally Dash in it. Put a different hood on it with working ram charger. And Viola!! You have a Super Bee.
Or Do a an R/T tribute. That would be even cooler.
Paint it Sublime Green.

 

[Squirelly1]

Are they worth as much? That much rust underneath on a straight coronet 440 wouldnt fend u guys off it?

 

[kiwigtx]

Thanks alot....im not sure what happened. I didnt really want my name as a username either....i entered a username and it defaulted my personal info....i cant figure out how to change it.

We'll get the Boss to change that for you.
I'll send you a Private Message - Conversation

 

[Squirelly1]

We'll get the Boss to change that for you.
I'll send you a Private Message - Conversation

Ok that would be great.

 

[1967coronet440]

That's high for something that rusty, IMO.

 

[Squirelly1]

I think so too. I was very polite w the owner and tryed to explain it to him...i know he prob paid to much for it.
It would maybe be worth 5k ...idk though. But there is quite a following of these.

 

[1967coronet440]

I think so too. I was very polite w the owner and tryed to explain it to him...i know he prob paid to much for it.
It would maybe be worth 5k ...idk though. But there is quite a following of these.

If it needs rocker, complete floor pans, Frame rails and a trunk. That's a 2000 dollar car AT BEST

 

[Squirelly1]

I know it has potential and i could start by fixin that torque link cross member and floor pan i guess and id have my ok lookin driver but gosh i just dont think he is gonna come down far enough.

 

[BeeKool]

It's hard to see how truly rusty it is from the pics. If it's as bad as you say, then it's not worth the 7k he's asking.

If you're planning a full out resto, at least 25k not counting power train and you do the work.

Almost all of the cars that are restored nowadays are never sold for much more than half of the input cost. Unless it's a Hemi or A-12 your not likely to break even, let alone profit.

For me, it's just because I love 68-70 B-Bodies.

That Car has potential. If I bought it though, I wouldn't restore it to a 440 Coronet though, I would make it into an R/T Tribute. That's just me though.
I think 68 Coronet R/Ts are the most beautiful of the Coronets.



If you have reservations, then follow your instinct. Better to pass up on a car, than get saddled with one.

 

[1967coronet440]

I know it has potential and i could start by fixin that torque link cross member and floor pan i guess and id have my ok lookin driver but gosh i just dont think he is gonna come down far enough.

Good luck, seems like a heavy project car. Before you pull the trigger just make sure you know what you're getting yourself into.

 

[Squirelly1]

Yes all good advice. Hed have to come down pretty far....w a lil work it could be a cool non fully restored daily driver but not starting at 7k.

 

[OKDart]

I bought your cars twin a couple of months ago. Mines been sitting for 15 years, the guy I bought it from did the brakes and got it to run. It needs a couple of floor patches, trunk floor, left quarter, and the entire lower rear window frame is rusted.

I paid $4,000 for mine knowing I'm not going to restore it. I'm just going to replace what needs replaced and paint it. I also have a good running 1968 440 to go in it.It has had collision repair sometime it its past, and the right quarter was replaced and part of the frame and trunk floor was spliced in. The frame is still buckled in spots.

 

[mosquito13]

Check it out close and be realistic on what you can do. Build in the price of a millermatic and a 4 inch grinder in the price and go at it. Did you say 7 k? If so ask him if that is his real cost. Some people do that to keep the flakes away, when the real price is much much lower.

 

[MOPARENT]

RUN AWAY as fast as you can!! Once the rust gets into the rockers, it never ends....t bar cross is already gone, frame rails will be next, front AND rear, back window rust leads to a rotten roof, etc, etc...you'll have a 7k parts car in no time. Ask me how i know....

 

[BeeKool]

RUN AWAY as fast as you can!! Once the rust gets into the rockers, it never ends....t bar cross is already gone, frame rails will be next, front AND rear, back window rust leads to a rotten roof, etc, etc...you'll have a 7k parts car in no time. Ask me how i know....

I'm guessing you have a really nice parts car.