I'm new to all this and hope someone can give me some information. I came upon a 70 SS numbers matching (I verified that with the VIN, cowl tag, and build sheet) that needs a good $20k put into it for restoration. The owner's asking $17k and I'm wondering if it's worth it. Again, I don't know much about these cars at this point. Any information on what I should be looking for etc., would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

For that kind of money it would have to be complete and a LS-6 with COMPLETE documentation.

I'm a little concerned here. First you say "I'm new to all this...." and then "I don't know much about these cars....", but then you proceed to say you verified it's a "numbers matching" car by the VIN, cowl tag, and build sheet :confused: Who came up with the $20K restoration cost estimate? You either know more than you're admitting to, or someone else is feeding this info to you.

At any rate, we would need a lot more specific information here to make an intelligent reply.

What Bill said and pics would help too.

I fell upon this car by accident through a friend who works in the owner's shop. This friend just completed a full restoration of a '69 GTO and spoke to the owner about selling the SS that had been sitting outside the shop for the last few years. I took a look and am interested. My wife's father was into this years ago and she grew up around this. She's an Ivy Leaguer who did all the Vin decoding and research for me. She wants the car more than I, but we really couldn't figure out what the value was. I race motorcycles and that's my expertise. Anyway, the owner had initially talked about the $10k-13k price range with my friend. Upon realizing I had serious interest in the car, he gave me the $17k price. He currently has a 454 engine in it, but still has the original (numbers matching) 396. My friend calculated an estimated restoration cost of about $20k, based on his restoration and of course, our examination of the car. The owner gave me a copy of the build sheet and I got the numbers off the vin and engine with the help of my wife's research and my friend's knowledge, for for location . The owner says he has about $30k into it, although we estimate it's much less. I don't have pictures and don't want to bother the guy that much since I've been visiting the shop daily the last 4 days! At this point, we can't afford the $17k anyway, but we wanted to make a decent offer that would be fair. Hopefully, we'll soon be real contributors to this forum!

The owner has 30K into it and it needs to be restored? :clonk:

I'd offer him 12K and stop at 15K

Yeah, $30k sounds odd to me too. Originally, he paid $3k for it, and it needs everything from soup to nuts! Maybe that 454 engine cost him, but I can't see where a whole $30k went!

Sounds like a good range. Thanks for the advice. We'll see what happens this afternoon.

OK, that all makes more sense now. I think I'd be a bit more conservative than Chris....I'd first offer $10K and stop at $12.5.

BTW, welcome to Team Chevelle :waving:

I'd tell him that he can keep the 454 and anything else that is not original to the car. This may reduce the price significantly; assuming the drive train is where he has spent a lot of money. I can't imagine someone spending that kind of money and the car still needs restoring. Unless it's an L78 or L89 and ALL of the parts are there, I would not give him anywhere near $17,000 for the car (or $14,000 either for that matter).

it needs everything from soup to nuts! .

Needs everything, but will only cost $20K for the restoration? Sounds odd to me... Unless your doing all the work yourself or with your buddy... If you paid a shop for the labor, things will ad up quickly...

I guess it depends on what YOU want to do. TYPICALLY, the cost to restore a car will me more than it is worth (even with B-J auctions, etc). Remember, most of the high dollar cars sold for the big bucks are NEAR perfect, and have very desirable equipment. With something that needs alot of work, the costs can grow exponentially... If doing the work yourself (or with friends), are you willing to invest hundreds of hours in the work required? If selling, will you be splitting the profit with your friends?

at this point we can't afford the $17k anyway... Then where will you get the additional funds for the resto? If you bought for $17K, and somehow managed to completed the car (and very nicely) for the additional $20k, could you sell it for $37K? Thats a pretty high price and buyers will be picky...

There is a saying I have heard, "Buy the best car you can afford." Thats the way to get the best value...

What do YOU want to do with the car? Are you looking to restore and then immediately resell? Is it the color you want? The interior you want? The type of transmission you want? You can change all this, but it will effect the value (and usually for the worse)...

Restore, and enjoy and sell later? Remember, that any blemishes (dirt/grime, oil, chips) from driving will reduce the value.

Unless the car is something special (like an LS6/L78/L89 and documaneted), might not be a great investment, even with "matching numbers"...

Too many $$ for a car in the state that is described. Although the car is readily available to you given the fact that you may have the $17K to invest initially, it is going to cost a lot more getting restored of course the level of restoration is up to you. My restoration was done mainly by myself and my friends. A very good friend that is both a bodyman and painter helped me to get my car to where it is today. Also, many friends (car guys) helped me a lot during the resto. The use of a resto shop that specializes in restorations will require a lot of money and time. Although my car is a base L-34 (402cid) equipped car, it is still very special to me and is one of the best investments I've made (mainly for the enjoyment of the hobby not the dollars that I could expect to receive if I sold it) aside from my home. Take everyones advice to heart here on TC - they know what they are talking about and you don't want to get "in over your head" on a car you would really like to own. As 1966_L78 said, Buy the best car you can afford... and if this is the one, go for it.

You know this car is a 396, can you find out if it was an L 78 (375 Horsepower) ? That would make the car extremely rare and well worth what the guy is asking.

Wow, great information, thanks all!

First, the build sheet says 396-350 on it. Is there any other extra I should look for that could demand more money? I know the owner doesn't know very much about this car because he stated it's originally blue (although part of it is red today), but yet in decoding the numbers, my wife found 75 75 after TR right before PNT and she insists that it's an original Cranberry!

I intend to do all the restoration myself. I don't want to initially invest $17k into something that's not at that worth. I can visually see that I will need to put A LOT into this, but that is what I'm looking to give up my racing for. I spend about that much (maybe more) in 7 months of motorcycle racing! I'll be selling off a travel trailer and some bikes to pay for it and have the time to dedicate to a car. We didn't think we would get into this until the kids were a little older, but this happened to come up now. Ironically, this is a car my wife has been dreaming of and one I've admired. In restoring it, I wouldn't dream of doing it any less than perfect so yeah, I'm not thinking I'll be selling for some time, if at all. We may just fall too much in love with her.

Well, we're realizing that if this isn't the one, the right one will come along at the right time.

Thanks again for all the advice. This is really going to help us find our match.

Just out of curiosity what kind of 'shop' does the current owner own??? That answer could be quite telling on thew real value/cost of a restoration on this car.

Owner has a gas station and my friend handles his small auto repairs. He definitely has the money to put into it, but no dedication or time to give it the love it will need. The car's been sitting idle for a few years!

I agree with everyone else. $17K seems high, especially if its been sitting for a few years, outside no less. It does have some things going for it - build sheet, matching-numbers engine, original code 75 Cranberry Red car.

You said he jacked the price up when others showed interest. Lots of tire kickers and dreamers out there, who will talk up their interest in something but have no pot to p*ss in. You see this quite often when someone is approached to sell their car, and people start throwing figures at them. Then, once the car actually does go up for sale, the would-be buyers are nowhere to be found. Don't let the supposed interest in the car affect what you have to spend on it.

I would explain this to him, and then be prepared to show him the money in the range closer to his original selling price. Good luck!

I bought a '69 Chevelle SS last summer with a build sheet, numbers matching, great color combo, sounds like around the shape of this '70 that you're talking about for $9300.00. 17K is way too much IMHO.

75 is the paint code, Cranberry Red. If it was originally a 396/350 car, there is nothing special about it, it's a base model SS car. If it needs everything, I'd say $8500 and that is being generous, but then again, he has it, you want it, and you know the rest. Do yourself a favor and pick up a Hemming Motor News Magazine and look through it, there are tons of cars for sale in there at reasonable prices

17k for a car that needs another 20k in the restoration. Yea right.