Don't pay big dollars for junk!!

This sounds like a no-brainer, but you'd be amazed at the number of people I meet who paid top-dollar for something that not only is not numbers-matching, but is a thrown-together piece of junk. Let me explain-Case # 1. Guy was interested in a 70-81 Camaro, preferably a Z/28, but he'd settle for something less if the price was right. He was a customer of mine, knew about my knowledge of Musclecars, and that I was always willing to tell people if cars they were looking at were the real deal or not.  Yet, for some insane reason he brought the car to my shop to show it to me, AFTER he'd bought it and signed all the papers.  When he asked me what I thought, he was crushed.  The car was a 1970 Camaro, that I would call a "20 Footer". I.E.-it looked good from 20 feet away, but upon closer inspection it was a mess. It was blue with a white vinyl top. The color was the Bright Blue used on late '80's IROC-Z's, not any '70's color. And it was an "Earl Scheib" type job- a $300 quickie paint job with runs and orange peel all over it. The vinyl top was obviously new, but I could see that it had been slapped on with no prep-there were rust bubbles under it. It had a 350 and a 4-speed, although it was originally a six-cylinder,three-speed model, but I knew even before I checked the vin that the powertrain wasn't original. The 350 had both an EGR Valve on the intake manifold and an HEI distributor. GM didn't use HEI until 1975, and EGR wasn't used until 1973. The trans was a Saginaw 4-speed, but not the 2.54 low-gear ratio one that came in a lot of non-Z/28 Camaros and Small-block Novas with either a Hurst or Inland shifter. It was a 3.11 low-gear unit out of a Vega, that still had the horrible Vega shifter. Remember-the one with the trigger that you could never find reverse with?  I mean, the guy who built it couldn't spring 100 bucks for a decent Hurst or Mr. Gasket shifter? It had a custom-fitted carpet dash-cover velcro'd to the badly cracked dash, and the seats and door panels had been spray painted black with that horrible vinyl paint that auto parts stores sell for $2.99 a can.  It had nice tires on it, but they were mounted on Pontiac Rally II wheels. And he'd paid 6 grand for this shitpile!!  Case # 2 This moron wanted a late '70's Pontiac Trans-Am. After passing up a decent 400, 4-speed, T-Top equipped 77 Formula ( For $1,700!! )  This fool paid $2995 for a 77 T/A that I thought was quite underpowered when I drove it, even for an automatic with 2.41 gears. And the Shaker hood scoop didn't fit right. I looked under the hood and found the culprit. 77 T/A's either had 400 Pontiac motors in them, or California and High-Altitude models had 403 Olds engines. Those were the only two factory-installed engines that year.  This car had a 350 BUICK under the hood, and the reason the scoop didn't fit, is it had a two-barrel carb and air cleaner assembly!! I asked him didn't it seem odd that a Trans-Am couldn't even spin the wheels? Did the guy even open the hood when he was selling it? UGH!!  Case # 3 This idiot paid top dollar for a 1970 LT-1 Corvette. The vin showed it was an LT-1 car, but again, it didn't have the LT-1 engine. And again, I broke the sad news to the new and now suicidal owner AFTER the dummy had bought it. I knew as soon as he opened the hood. An LT-1 has a 780 Holley carb on an aluminum manifold. The 350 in this Vette had a Quadrajet on an iron manifold. Lt-1's have "2.02" heads with the "Camel-Hump" casting mark. These did not. LT-1s have the famous "Ram's Horn" exhaust manifolds, this one did not. "Why didn't you have me look over this car BEFORE you bought it?" I asked.  "I thought the guy was telling the truth." A Car salesman Lie? I never heard of such a thing.  The bottom line is, if you don't know, find someone like me who does, or go on the internet or buy a book like HP Books "Guide to GM Muscle Cars." Or Fords or Mopars. Even places like Borders have them, and you can order them from Summitt Racing or Amazon.com. Like the old saying- "Buyer Beware."  Mastermind