Electrical meltdown—advice (and/or consolation) needed

corvair kid

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IT LIVES!

...And I feel pretty dumb. I decided to get the car ready to go to the mechanic over the weekend by replacing all of the light bulbs, so that everything would be ready to test once the issue with the fuses was figured out. Then, just for giggles, once all the new bulbs were in I pulled the light switch and...all the lights came on.

Best guess is that those fuses weren't showing any power because the burnt-out bulbs were disrupting the circuits. In any event, the car seems to have come out of this relatively unscathed. I am waiting on a new flasher relay—the indicators light up, but don't flash—and the clock and radio no longer work. Otherwise, all is back to normal.

It seems callous to just get the car back on the road and not enjoy it for a while, but...I am thinking about selling it. It's a really tough decision because I love this car and have learned a lot from it over the last four years, but for various reasons (including the fact that this car was out of commission for four months!) I am driving less and less overall. Plus, this year marks 15 years that I have had my Corvair, my first car/first love, and it's way overdue for some time, attention, and money to be lavished on it. I only have so much of the first two, and even less of the third, so something will have to give.

How do you all read the E3 market at the moment? There seems to be a wide gulf between needy/rusty cars in the $1500-4000 range, and really well-preserved, low-mile, highly original cars going for $10,000+. Mine is neither of those; as a driver, it needs nothing, but it's not a show car by any stretch. It's had lots of important work done both before and during my ownership and I've got some nice spare parts that would go with it, but it also has an el-cheapo paint job and the usual bubbling (though no rust-through and a very solid undercarriage).

So much to grapple with. Regardless of whether I sell or not, I will always remain a fan of this community.
 

duct-tape

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honest opinion.. it's probably in the $3000-4000 range.

second honest opinion... hold onto it. drive it around the block every month or so and in a couple years, you'll be glad you kept it
 

teahead

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if you like the car, and don't plan on selling it, then just drive it and not worry about what it's worth unless you plan on sinking thousands more into it.

Unfortunately, 4-doors just aren't that collectible and yes, only low mileage, mint conditions ones are worth 5 figures.
 
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