[Gene Chas]

I just read some great opionions on how much to pay for a starter vehicle. I ran into a 67 ss ( vin correct ) w/o the original 396. The owner has done alot of resto already and the metal is solid. Interior is very good. He still has alot of YearOne, etc., resto parts in boxes. Someone, however, did a puke paint job over the orininal Bolero red. I got a $4000 quote on the paint job! There are 23,000 miles on the od. What's a good price for this condition car? Secondly, if I choose to make it a SS427 COPO clone, what would that do to the resale value of the car?

 

[Rainer]

Sounds like the car could be worth $2-4K. Is the mileage original? If so, then obviously it could be worth more. Try to estimate the value of the new parts when figuring how much you want to spend. Check out the recent post entitled "66SS - finally got it" to see what $3500 + shipping got Steve. As another reference, there's a guy in town here with a running & driving real 68SS 4-speed car with the wrong motor and trans (its a little rough, but definitely worth fixing) for $4000. To be fair, these are both West Coast cars, and would probably go for more if sold on the East Coast.

As far as the clone route, Skip put together a gorgeous 67 SS427 tripower car and was offered mid-20's for it. Maybe Al or someone else knows what it went for if it ever sold. The point is that if you do a car nice enough, it'll bring the big bucks. In my opinion, clones of cars that were never built by the factory (like a 67 SS427) - are probably looked upon more favorably than clones of cars that could be ordered. The original motor is already gone, so you'll probably be no worse off with the 427 than with another 396. Good luck & have fun!

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Rainer
'68 SS396
'70 LS3 400 Malibu
[email protected]