Hello, my name is David, I live in Mobile, Al, I am a transplant (15 years ago) from western Canada. I am new to this forum, I have surfed it before, I am surprised I have never joined (having said that I spend more than enough time online with my work) . I have lived muscle cars, esp pontiacs since a kid. The family car was a 1968 4 door green 400 cid Catalina, I backed it out of the driveway at the age of 6.... (Mom was getting the groceries out apparently).. My first car was a 69 bird in 1985, when I lived in Dallas. I still own the car, now a 428 4 spd, black on black.
So: a friend of a friend deal, a 1967 firebird conv, 400 / 4spd, vin tag checks out, cameo white,, white top, blue interior, gauges, rear attenna, drum brakes, decent body, needs quarters likely. floors, doors look good. Engine is rebuilt from a reputable shop. Numbers matching, exhaust manifolds, intake are likely gone, not sure yet on the carb, dist. Etc. decent car to build. I want to be in it for the right money, I have restored several cars, so I know the game. What is she worth?
1st, welcome.
Second, the car sounds good. But can you attach some photos so we can a) drool and b) have more info to give you some price quotes?
Based on your brief description, if it needs a total resto, I'd throw out $9k to $12 k.
Welcome to the site.
Without seeing $3000- $5000
If it is a real 400, 8 to 10K. Disassembled project cars take a beating because you don't know what is missing and how it was working before hand.
Dallas in 85? Small world! I lived in Mesquite, and I still have my 9, found in Seagoville. I also bought mine in 85 but didn't get it on the road until 86. Mine was sold by Musser Motors, Terrell, TX. Is yours a native TX car? Most are northern transplants. From the best I can tell, if it's a native TX car, it's a Van Nuys build, an L in the vin, not a U. Ever do the Texxas Jams?
I see a couple things in the photos that give me pause. The car has a non-400 bumper, and non-400 grilles. So I am beginning to wonder if it's a true 400 model.
It could be there was front end damage where those pieces were replaced with the wrong ones, or somebody just bolted a 400 hood to a another model and put in a 400 engine - which is pretty common. On the other hand, I see 670 heads which is good.
Is there any way we can get a photo of the body tag on the firewall?
'67's are easy. It MUST have 3F on the data tag for true 400 cars. No 3F, not a real 400 car.
It could be there was front end damage where those pieces were replaced with the wrong ones..
That's what happened to mine. Can't assume though. It's good to check everything!
True 400 4 speed numbers matching cars are rare...hard to come by.
Second is the vert "issue" we have here..add that, even rarer.
Having the correct original body panels and floor pans solid, work with the originals, though they are dinged up. Spend the money on a great body man and have the original sheetmetal massaged and repaired. The doors and fenders..well...but keep the unibody as intact as possible. You will be spending quite a bit more for the extent of repairs to the original quarters, but IMO worth the expense.
Nice find! If you plan on buying it, it is better to keep the body as-is...and drive it..If you had to resell, you can certainly find a buyer for it as-is..rather than hack up the quarters and installing skins. Again, JMO.
Far as value, I say it's worth $15-17k. I will deduct $1500 though for the incorrect bumper and grilles (if PHS denotes a non 400)...original 400 bumper, original 400 grille inserts would run between 1 and 1.5k including freight/shipping. Therefore..13.5 to 15k as is. Add half the cost of the engine rebuild including labor, parts..so, roughly 1500-2000 I would peg 15-17k if the right buyer came along.
My opinion may change upon on hand inspection, but on it's face, 15-17k
Quite frankly it looks significantly better than you described. While the pictures aren't that detailed, it looks pretty solid. I expected a rust bucket in a bunch of boxes. Being a Texas car, it might be pretty clean underneath.
Banshee knows his stuff and I would concur with his assessment.
See attached, tag checks out on the 400 4 spd. Agree on the bumper and grills, she clearly has been played with a bit, including headers, intake etc, all of which needs to be factored into a fair price for a non running car. Interior is not bad, sight unseen deal, so I would assume floors could need some work. How about that bovine damage?
Amervo, I was at the jam in 85, cool experience of what I remember 😉, scorpions, deep purple, night ranger, yeah baby!!!
Banshee,
I like your line of thinking, largely where I am, if it is numbers matching, vert, 400 4 spd, good colors imo, I can't go too wrong. It is not completely un molested but is very good. I had also thought of putting it back on the road with minimal work. I have very nicely restored cars, but find I in some ways I enjoy the ones which are survivors more. Not as worried about wher I park them, leaning on them, drive it to work, etc. not sure how I would deal with the cow side, bang it out, white primer?😊. At cruise ins and car shows I love looking at survivors!
Problem solved!
Paint Scheme The black over white will hide the dings...
15-17 k would be a max...however, I would feel completely comfortable offering 9-10k as a starting point for the buyer and negotiating either way.
Essentially, the car to me...as a buyer and seller is worth between 9k and 17k. You may be able to get it for 9k...depending on how desperate the seller is...or as high as 17k depending on how bad you have to have it.
I bet Harold could make some wall plaques or stickers out of that one!
I recently bought a 67 326 HO Convertible... Not completely sure if it's an original HO... Anyone have any tell tell signs how to find out? I'm kinda new to this. And what is it worth? Guy claimed that the 47k miles on it is true except when the previous owner swapped the powerglide to a t350. I can say that there is no rust issues at all but has a couple of little dings of hail damage on it. I don't even know how to post my own topic lol
No more than 12k. Quarters need a lot of work. Door is junk. My guess is it will likely need floor patches from being outside. Motor, while rebuilt, is out of the car. It will be a labor of love. It's worth it, but figure 15k to straighten the body correctly, with new paint and new top. another 2k for engine related pieces. Radiator, manifolds, new exhaust, carb. You'll be in it for $30k.
Hopefully you could see it for that. I bought a 68 400 4 speed convertible project from this site. All in, I may be sitting at close to $30k for the full restoration which includes the price of the car. I'm about 60% completion on it now.
If you like the car and can get it under 12k, you won't lose your [censored]. LOL
It has damage but not beyond repair, if its a real 400 I would estimate around 7-8000
