72 3.0CS on eBay in CT

[kenped86]

New poster here. Im a 2002 owner but wanted thoughts on this vehicle...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222364551113

Rust in all the usual places, not running but good interior?

 

[mulberryworks]

Run!

Ok, it's bad, really bad, but with a large number of replacement parts and a lot of time and equipment it can be fixed.
All the parts are available from www.wallothnesch.com/en/
Check out the Facebook page for Miklós Mészáros. He has done some amazing work on cars this bad and worse.

This car has very bad structure in the front. The right side is sagging so badly the hood won't close because it doesn't match the heaved line of the fender.
Undoubtedly the A pillar and the rockers are bad as well. The floors are bad too.

I would not take this on as a first or even third project because of the large amount of metal that must be replaced. Getting a bunch of sheet metal to all line up so that things fit is tricky.

Markos is parting out a car in very similar condition. Very bad front end, good interior, not running. He paid $3k and is on track to get most of that money back through parts sales.
This one is worse. Who knows what the reserve is? Missing title too.

If you have space, time and a good chunk of money, you could do this. Missing any one of these, don't do it.

There was a clean shell posted fairly recently that was virtually rust free. This car could provide all the parts to make that one a whole car again.

Ian

 

[CSteve]

Run!

Ok, it's bad, really bad, but with a large number of replacement parts and a lot of time and equipment it can be fixed.
All the parts are available from www.wallothnesch.com/en/
Check out the Facebook page for Miklós Mészáros. He has done some amazing work on cars this bad and worse.

This car has very bad structure in the front. The right side is sagging so badly the hood won't close because it doesn't match the heaved line of the fender.
Undoubtedly the A pillar and the rockers are bad as well. The floors are bad as well.

I would not take this on as a first or even third project because of the large amount of metal that must be replaced. Getting a bunch of sheet metal to all like up is tricky.

Markos is parting out a car in very similar condition. Very bad front end, good interior, not running. He paid $3k and is on track to get most of that money back through parts sales.
This one is worse. Who knows what the reserve is? Missing title too.

If you have space, time and a good chunk of money, you could do this. Missing any one of these, don't do it.

There was a clean shell posted fairly recently that was virtually rust free. This car could provide all the parts to make that one a whole car again.

Ian

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Step away from what is left of this coupe. Then, as Ian says, RUN!!!! This is a PARTS CAR clear and simple. Our 1975 CSi Barn Find was in much, much better shape than this one, and it was clearly a parts car. Steve

 

[Markos]

New poster here. Im a 2002 owner but wanted thoughts on this vehicle...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222364551113

Rust in all the usual places, not running but good interior?

Agreed that the interior looks great. You could clean and dye the seats and roll with it.

Ignoring the rust on the lower fenders, the passenger inner fender top looks pretty alarming. If you look near the passenger strut the metal is pulling away. Any water that gets in that hole runs into the fender box. That whole structure in there will be compromised. The inner fender keeps the strut in place, so I would say that this isn't a car that you should drive around and ignore the rust. Someone did that with my parts car and sent the struts through the hood. Also, since it is a sunroof car the rockers will have quite a bit of rust in them.

You can buy all the parts to fix these issues, but it is several thousand in parts alone. Perhaps a viable option if you plan to do the work yourself.

Love that interior though! This summer I looked at bumper swapped polaris '74 in much better shape than this with an equally nice interior and a running engine. It sold for ~$5K.

The parts on this car are worth $3K alone, but it will take a lot of work to make it safe to drive.

 

[floridabmx]

Buy it, chop the fenders off and go from there. Order some metal from W&N. Id rather see this car saved then call it a parts car just because it has rust. That thing is complete, in a decade were all gonna wish we bought this car now for whatever it sells for.

EDIT: Nevermind, this car is being shill bidded. I wouldnt touch it with a 10 ft pole for anything $5000+

 

[aearch]

plus its a 74 the best one ever made
for sure you need the right side stuff inner fender
new fender in the mounting inside
but a lot of good things there
but its an auto thats the first question as you want to convert to manual
excellent comment about the future

 

[Markos]

This car has very bad structure in the front. The right side is sagging so badly the hood won't close because it doesn't match the heaved line of the fender.
Undoubtedly the A pillar and the rockers are bad as well.

You know I wasn't paying attention to the hood but you are right. The scenario that I was warning about has already begun. The struts are pushing through, and the hood won't close.

Here is what the next phase looks like (different car):

Personally, I find a DIY inner fender replacement intimidating. You can remove the outer fenders without screwing with the alignment of the car, but the inners hold the strut.

 

[CSteve]

You know I wasn't paying attention to the hood but you are right. The scenario that I was warning about has already begun. The struts are pushing through, and the hood won't close.

Here is what the next phase looks like (different car):

Personally, I find a DIY inner fender replacement intimidating. You can remove the outer fenders without screwing with the alignment of the car, but the inners hold the strut.

aearch, why is the 74 the best year ever made? I own a 74 euro coupe, so I am curious. Steve

 

[floridabmx]

This car is definitely being shill bidded.

 

[mulberryworks]

You know I wasn't paying attention to the hood but you are right. The scenario that I was warning about has already begun. The struts are pushing through, and the hood won't close.

Personally, I find a DIY inner fender replacement intimidating. You can remove the outer fenders without screwing with the alignment of the car, but the inners hold the strut.

Both struts have distorted the front fenders, the left just isn't quite as bad as the right. The whole nose of the car has to be redone. Best done with a big jig to keep things lined up.
The seller has another coupe, visible in the background of the first photo. Also Polaris. Probably just found this one and is flipping it.

Ian

 

[Markos]

The seller has another coupe, visible in the background of the first photo. Also Polaris. Probably just found this one and is flipping it.

Ian

Good eye!

 

[kenped86]

Thanks, this sounds like a project for someone with a bit more space than me. I really appreciate the honest analysis.

 

[leonine99]

A car like that, this is what will be ahead for you.

Ask me how I know......and mine wasn't nearly as bad. The fact is with a sunroof car if you do not pull the fenders off and address the fender well/A pillar areas - which will have rot, period - then you might as well just make a driver of it and drive it til the struts shoot through the hood. With any sunroof car the repairs have to begin here. Unfortunately I learned the very hard way.
Jeff

 

[kenped86]

A car like that, this is what will be ahead for you.

Ask me how I know......and mine wasn't nearly as bad. The fact is with a sunroof car if you do not pull the fenders off and address the fender well/A pillar areas - which will have rot, period - then you might as well just make a driver of it and drive it til the struts shoot through the hood. With any sunroof car the repairs have to begin here. Unfortunately I learned the very hard way.
Jeff

Now you're making it look fun! Still contemplating this. I had sunroof drain rust issues on the 02 as well

 

[HB Chris]

A car like that, this is what will be ahead for you.

Ask me how I know......and mine wasn't nearly as bad. The fact is with a sunroof car if you do not pull the fenders off and address the fender well/A pillar areas - which will have rot, period - then you might as well just make a driver of it and drive it til the struts shoot through the hood. With any sunroof car the repairs have to begin here. Unfortunately I learned the very hard way.
Jeff

Jeff,
I saw your coupe recently and was shocked at the condition of the body. And to think someone did a quickie paint job and handed it back to you with all of these hidden issues unaddressed. Shameful.

Chris

 

[lsquaredb]

That ebay car is worse than mine which is finally finished after four years. If you have somebody do the work for you, you're looking at more than the cost of a new M3 to make it a usable car again.

 

[leonine99]

Chris I guess the good news is the repairs are finally being done correctly and this will truly be a rust free sunroof coupe when done. And this is the only route I know where you can definitively make that rust free statement - anything else is speculation. I was down there yesterday and a whole bunch of body parts from W&N had arrived. Anything NLA has already been hand fabricated, and the templates will be there for future use - I'm sure others will need these NLA bits if anyone gets into fender/A pillar repair.

Yeah, there are people with bad intent in our community - we know who they are and try to keep informed as to who to trust (very short list) and who to avoid (much longer list)

Thanks for all your help and support
Jeff

 

[mulberryworks]

Bidding is over $9k with six hours to go. Wow. Way more than I thought it would go for, but then I got a deal on mine.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Purchasing a car like that is like dating a girl with a plethora of unpronounceable STD's. Don't take this one home to mama!

 

[mulberryworks]

I'm not one to deny a man his fun, but at $9600, I'm not sure this one was well bought. We may see it posted again.