A "Great Deal" isn't always a great deal....

One of the cable networks has a show called "Property Virgins" where they help first-time home buyers avoid costly mistakes. Maybe I should start one for neophyte car restorers. Anyhow here's some good advice for anyone when buying a vintage car. # 1. Make sure the car has a clear title. This should be a no-brainer, but you'd be amazed how many people fall into this trap. Having a car that you can't register or sell is no fun. # 2. Avoid cars with major body damage or fire or rust or flood damage. These are nothing but money pits. They will cost you five times what you think it will cost to fix them properly, if it can be done at all. 999 times out of 1,000, your much better off by just spending a little more money and getting a better car to start with. I used this example before, but it's worth re-visiting. A guy I know was looking for a 2nd generation Firebird to play with. We looked at two. One was a 1970 Formula that was priced at $500. It was also basically just a body. I mean the car was an engineless, transmissionless,radiatorless, gas tankless, interiorless hulk. The other was a 1973 Esprit that was priced at $2,500. However, it was a complete, running car. The 350 V8 fired right up,idled smooth, didn't smoke, the TH350 shifted nicely when we drove it, the brakes stopped the car without drama. You know-as it should be. The body was rust and dent-free. The only work it really needed was the blue paint was oxidized and the front bucket seats needed recovering. Otherwise it was all there. I told him to buy that one. Even though it was five times the price of the other one, it was a much better deal. All it needed was a paint job and some upholstery work. And he could have added an aftermarket carb and intake and headers or a cam if he wanted more power. I pointed out that it would cost way more than $2,500 and a lot of time to chase down all the parts necessary to get the other one in safe, drivable condition-which this one already was. See the point I'm making? Which brings up # 3. A rare or premium car missing a major component is not a deal at any price. Obvious examples would be a Hemi powered Chrysler vehicle missing the Hemi engine, or a Boss 302 or 429 Mustang missing the "Boss" engine. Others would be Ram Air IV or Super Duty Pontiacs missing the engine,L88 'Vettes and LS6 Chevelles sans engine, W30 and W31 Cutlasses minus engine, as well as Stage 1 Buicks, and Thunderbolt Fairlanes, and 409 Impalas and a few others I'm sure I missed. But you get the drift. Right now your saying-"Well, Duh" Anyone with common sense would know that". Maybe so-but people still spend big dollars on cars that are missing unobtainable parts. I'm not talking expensive-yes if your restoring a 1963 Corvette-I'm sure somebody has a BW T10 4-speed trans with 1963 date codes that they will sell for the right price or a Pontiac Tri-Power setup for that '64 GTO your thinking about. No when I say unobtainable-I mean there aren't any, period. Did you know that no one makes a replacement grille for a 1972 Ford Gran Torino? Where are you going to find a rear glass for a '71-73 "Boat Tail" Riviera?  A hood for a 1974 GTO? Or a 1977 Can-Am?  I'm not talking about the "Shaker" scoop; T/A resto shops have them, and Junkyards have them. I'm talking about the hood itself with the hole for the scoop cut into it, for a Ventura,  or a LeMans not a Firebird. Guess what? No one makes them. Now you can probably pay a good body shop an obscene amount of money to custom cut the hole into a generic LeMans or Ventura hood, but that's going to be a pain. Where are you going to find vertical chrome exhaust stacks for a Dodge Li'l Red Express pickup? A Hurst "Lightning Rods" shifter for an '84 Hurst / Olds?  # 4. Avoid "Regular" cars missing body parts or major components. We just talked about the difficulty finding parts for rare birds. Now here's the same problem for not so rare stuff. Sure-you can get anything you want or need for a '55-57 Chevy. But where are you going to find a 1/4 panel or a grille for a '56 Oldsmobile 88 or a '57 Bonneville? You can get anything you want for a GTO or a Firebird but what about a '62 Catalina? Or a '68 Gran Prix?  You can get anything you want for a Mustang, but what about a '65 Galaxie? Or a '68 T-Bird? Ditto for Mopars. You can get just about anything for a '68-74 Road Runner or Charger or Challenger. But what about a rear glass for a 1965 Barracuda? Or any body or interior trim for a '64 Dodge 330? Or a '69 Sport Fury? # 5. Avoid old race cars like the plague, unless you want to actually race it on the vintage racing circuit like at the Monerey Historics and similar events. I say this because many people buy these things thinking they can restore the car to streetable status or to original race-car glory and show it. Either way-it's usually way above their mechanical ability and their bank account. For example-you buy a 1969 Pontiac Trans-Am race car. Does it even have a legible, original VIN plate? Is it a for-real one of 697 made Trans-Am, or is it a generic '69 Firebird that someone gussied up? Even if it is one of 697 ever built-it's a gutted race car now. It would cost so much to make it streetable that you'd be better off just buying another restored T/A! Where are you going to find a complete RAIII or RAIV 400 Pontiac engine with 1969 date codes for sale, at any price? How are you going to chase down all the little interior trim pieces, marker lights, body trim pieces etc?  If you decide to keep it a race car and "restore" it that's even worse. Even if your a personal friend of Herb Adams-how are you going to find a 303 Pontiac race engine? They were rare and practically unobtainable in 1970; That's why the SCCA allowed Firebird racers to run 302 Chevys; Canadian Firebirds had Chevy engines, and they were much more plentiful. But how are you going to find a "DZ" code 302 Chevy engine that hasn't been snapped up by Z/28 restorers?  You'd have the same problem with old NASCAR racers-you could put a modern 426 Crate Hemi into that '69 Road Runner race car that King Richard drove or the Charger that Buddy Baker drove-but do you really want to spend 20 grand on an engine for a car that you have to tow everywhere? Jon Kaase racing will sell you a Boss-Nine Ford to go into David Pearson's old Montego for about 25 large ( of course that's over and above the price of the car!! ). You can see why they'd be more trouble than their worth unless you've got Jay Leno's bank account and enthusiasm. Just trying to keep people from making costly mistakes. Mastermind