15 Jul 12 09:32, Mark Hofmann wrote to Roy Witt:



 RW>> Andrew and I went into San Antonio this morning to visit Harbor
 RW>> Freight, an import tool store. On the way back, we stopped at a
 RW>> place that takes old cars and rebuilds them, then asks thousands
 RW>> more for them than they're worth. The new-looking 1968 Camaro
 RW>> RS/SS-396, 4spd coupe identical to mine back in 1968 was priced at
 RW>> 10 times what I paid for mine. All I had to do was cover one zero
 RW>> with my hand and the price was magically tranformed to 'like new' in
 RW>> 1968 at $4350 ($43500)...

 MH> We have a Harbor Freight here, too.  I typically buy all my tools at
 MH> Sears. I would love to have all the stuff in the tools/hardware
 MH> section in Sears.

I would too, but they've decided to stock Chinese made tools. I buy odds
and ends at HF that aides in the products I build, which can't be bought
at Sears for any amount of money.

 MH> Makes you wish you still had your 68 Camaro, I'm sure.

Well, not really. It was a great car for a 28yo in 1968, but it was a gas
hog and that wouldn't be very good today. At 0.32/gallon for premium in
68, it was a deal and made driving something like that a lot of fun!

Today I have the Z28 which can outperform that 68 and get 27mpg when it
needs to. Now if we can get premium down to $2.32/gal, I'd be over-joyed.

 MH> There is a big collector market for certain cars and they do pull in
 MH> some big money.  I watch Mecum Auctions all the time on TV and dream.

I hate those...none of the commentators know what they're talking about.

They all think the ZL1 Camaros came with an all aluminum BBC that made
475hp. In reality those had to be ordered special. Know what I mean?

 MH> There area some vehicles that you don't need Jay Leno money to buy on
 MH> that show.  Mainly the late 70s and 80s vehicles that don't have the
 MH> big collectors on the market, yet.  I would have loved to bid on a
 MH> few of them.

The east coast guys in your area on maliburacing.com are always posting
about g-body 'finds'...trouble is that all of those finds are east coast
rust buckets. Now, there are a few of us in the south and southwest there
who have g-body cars that have 'no rust' problems at all. Go figure.

My 79 Malibu was originally a Jacksonville, FL car and has one foot-well
with a hole in it, plus a bit of surface rust underneath...but no rust
problems that require the car be rebuilt from the ground up. That hole was
due to a leaking seal under the hood, just over the left side of the brake
pedal...I cleaned and re-sealed that area with RTV and that was the end of
that.

BTW, the rarest of them all are the 78-82 Gran Prix, g-body. With an
original Pontiac engine, they're priceless, but still affordable. Then
there are the Olds and Buicks...and, if you want to build a fast street
car, they're already lighter than the earlier Chevelles and Novas.

 RW>> Make sure that you buy a southerun car, one that isn't from Florida
 RW>> and no where near the Gulf coast. Texas cars, if they're found
 RW>> before the sun bakes the paint off of them are OK, but you'll find a
 RW>> lot of surface rust that has to be removed before you can paint it.
 RW>> Lots of dead roadhogs and former muscle cars sitting along side of
 RW>> barns, garages and in fields here.

 MH> What I have noticed is the cars that look good and run good - even
 MH> with really high miles, they are high priced.  I saw a 2004 Monte
 MH> Carlo SS with 189k on it for $4000-$5000.  I then saw one that the
 MH> body was fine, but the motor was blown that was listed for $1500.

You can buy a decent 79-82 Monte (high end g-body) for that price and have
a car that isn't smogged down and no FWD to contend with...

 MH> I would rather get the $1500 one - and have a new motor for around
 MH> the same price when it was complete.

8^) Put a Buick V6 into the earlier Monte and have a faster one too.

 RW>> 8^) They come in handy for hauling stuff, towing stuff and seeing
 RW>> over ordinary automobiles in heavy traffic...

 MH> That is exactly why we are planning on keeping the Durango even after
 MH> my wife gets another vehicle at some point.

Or sell it and use the proceeds to buy a pickup...

 RW>> Nope. Texas requires a 'safety inspection' every year. The GMC was
 RW>> recently registered and inspected and is good until March of 2013,
 RW>> so won't need an inspection until then. A successfully passed
 RW>> inspection only costs $14, and you're allowed to take it home and do
 RW>> any needed repairs yourself if you want to and there is no charge
 RW>> for a re-inspection.
 RW>>
 RW>> When I did my own pre-inspection of the Z28 in April, I found that
 RW>> it needed a new windshield wiper to pass, so I bought one and put it
 RW>> on myself. Tires (plenty of tread from low mileage) were good from
 RW>> being stored in the garage, all lights and horn worked fine, so it
 RW>> was good to go.

 MH> It has been awhile since I bought anything used that needed to be
 MH> inspected, but I do believe you can do the repairs yourself.  Most
 MH> people don't. Typically they hit you for headlight allignments,
 MH> windshield dings, and things like that.

I wouldn't stand for it. I have my own headlight allignment tool and
windsield dings can be repaired with an epoxy mix found at your local
auto parts store.

 MH> I would imagine that if I took my car tommorrow to a place that was
 MH> very anal, they would fail it - since it has a very small window ding
 MH> in the corner.

See above.

 MH> We only have to get a car inspected when it changes hands to someone
 MH> not in the family.  After that, you can drive it forever with no
 MH> inspection - other than our every other year emissions test.
 MH> Basically, that is a "check engine light" test.  Provided you don't
 MH> have that light on and you have an exhaust system, you will pass.

8^) You've got it easy compared to those poor Californians...

 MH> Years ago, my brother bought a 69 Chevelle that he was going to
 MH> restore. He took it to a friend that did the inspection, since it
 MH> would have never passed since it had a hole in the floor from where
 MH> he was going to move the shifter. He got it passed..  Only problem
 MH> was, when you smoked the tires - all the rubber fumes came back into
 MH> the car.  Couldn't have the windows rolled up when you did that.  :)

That sounds like California, many, many years ago. Take it to a shady
mechanic, he does a 'look see' equipment test, passes it whether they're
there and working or not...

                R\%/itt

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... net node-number to the ZCC !            - Cato the Elder -

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