You're almost always going to be money ahead buying a finished car than restoring a beater. Plus there are other factors to consider. How much time and effort it takes to do a restoration. I can't tell you how many cars I've seen that the new owner was so committed to restoring only to take it all apart, spend a ton of dough on parts and then lose interest or get hung up on one segment and end up selling it off for 1/4 of the money he had invested. From the time you buy a builder to the time you actually start getting to enjoy driving it around you could be talking about 5-10 years. Seriously!! I have seen marriages break up over things like this. Always nice to run across the ex selling her husband's project off just to get it out of HER garage. Some pretty good deals to be had sometimes. If you end up with a solid car don't be too quick to take it all apart and "fix" it.