Take it or leave it: 1971 3.0CS

M

mmhmm

New Member
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone! I've been lurking on the site for months now, and with a coupe in my sights, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better. I would love some seasoned opinions on a certain 3.0 CS I came across.

The story is, the coupe has been in storage for many years, and the current oblivious owner acquired it recently from a warehouse lockout. From the plates, it looks like it has been sitting since '92.

Here are the pictures the owner has sent me: http://photobucket.com/71coupe

I would like to put the vehicle back on the road relatively quickly and piece by piece have it looking great from there. From these pictures alone is the rust situation bad enough to make a closer look a waste of time? Obviously, rust is the main concern, but is there anything else noteworthy in the pictures? (Interior too far gone, etc).

As long as the rust is mostly on the surface, would buying this be more cost effective than buying a solid completed coupe?

Thanks, y'all!
 
It's all about the money

I'm sure a decent mechanic could get it to start, drive, and stop well enough to putter around town with relative ease. Perhaps a full hydraulic redo, carb rebuild, steering rods, exhaust, cooling redo and you'd be on the road.


But, this one looks like it'd take $50k to do well as it needs a lot of sheet metal plus a full on interior redo would suffice. Maybe half that if you went with all used parts and did most of the welding yourself.
 
Leave it!!

I think with a modest amount of effort you could find a project with more redeeming qualities (ie a good interior, less rust etc) that would present a better starting point.

Most people on this board would agree that it's the rust that you can't see that will cause the most pain, so if there is visible surface rust, you can bet there's alot more lurking below the surface.

I think the prevailing wisdom is that you never really get back in in resale what you put in to a restoration, so if you have the cash, buy one that's already been restored.

But then you miss the "joys" of restoration...permanent Por 15 stains on your hands, the gasoline as cologne experience, and hiding receipts from your wife or significant other.
 
The type of car a Brit would restore. In the USA, fugget about it.
 
buy it for 200 $ and make it a parts car
sell the parts and enjoy a little undoing some bolts, learn about the car and then you will be prepared for the next one:roll:
 
Nicad said:
The type of car a Brit would restore. In the USA, fugget about it.
Click to expand...

do us brits have a reputation for restoring the unrestorable?

i say go for it, they are all worth saving and it is our duty to save as many as possible for generations to come!!
 
'73 3.0cs

mmhmm,

i sent you a pm about a '73 cs in the dfw area that is a project car - it is complete but needs to be painted and fixed up. i believe it is atlantik blue, an automatic - prime for a 5 spd conversion ... and the cost is $8500. if you or anybody is interested, i will hook you up with the owner who is motivated to sell ... he has a lot of cars and needs to thin the heard - by order of his wife. if interested, send me a pm with your email address and i will connect you.

cheers
scott
 
Tip of the iceberg will fool you.

I would like to put the vehicle back on the road relatively quickly and piece by piece have it looking great from there. That is a dated idea that could apply to frame cars if the floor is solid enough to mount a seat it might be safe to drive while repairing it. With uni-body cars many rust issues are structural and the car has to be taken off the road to be repaired.

As long as the rust is mostly on the surface, would buying this be more cost effective than buying a solid completed coupe? Ha, you only think it’s surface rust. You are very likely looking at the tip of an iceberg, the real problem is what is down deep. The rust bleeding from the strut towers tells me “keep your money in your pocket & run like hell”.
I do sheet metal restoration work for 40 plus years for a living and I went thru the trouble to fly down to Texas to buy a solid car ---- that should pretty much answer your question. The trick is to learn the difference between a solid car and one that’s doctored & patched up to look solid. Good luck ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
carreracat said:
do us brits have a reputation for restoring the unrestorable?

i say go for it, they are all worth saving and it is our duty to save as many as possible for generations to come!!
Click to expand...

I did the Vietnam thing because I was told it “was my duty” ---- then a few years latter we gave it up to the North anyway ????? I’m sorry but spending 40 or 50K to save a 30K car isn’t my duty. However, if you can finance it and it makes you feel happy I say please go for it. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
mmhmm said:
I would like to put the vehicle back on the road relatively quickly and piece by piece have it looking great from there.
Click to expand...

In addition to all the other problems with the car in question (e.g, getting "upside down" financially due to significant rust), the strategy of fixing a car piece by piece just isn't possible when it's that badly rusted. The body structure of a car is its foundation - just as you wouldn't wallpaper the rooms of a house if the foundation needed to be totally rebuilt, you can't paint, upholster, or do mechanical work on a car if it needs to be stripped back to bare metal. Any work done before the rust repair is completed will have to be re-done.

carreracat said:
i say go for it, they are all worth saving and it is our duty to save as many as possible for generations to come!!
Click to expand...

I admire this sentiment. But, I wouldn't invest my own money and time to save this car.
 
Last edited:
So the consensus is that I don't even need to take a look under the carpets, etc. to know that the rust is riddled everywhere, huh?

I guess my foolish optimism was hoping that the rust under the windows/trunk wasn't necessarily indicative of the car's underbelly.

Is there ANY chance that since it's a TX car that the rust shown in the pictures is just about all there is? (As a result of the sun stripping the paint and exposing the metal to moisture instead of nastier reasons?)

Either way, everyone's expertise is very much appreciated!
 
And for future reference, what's the most unobtrusive way to ask about other cars I come across that's not closeby? I wouldn't want to be too much of a bother :p
 
You want detailed photos of the underside, upper inside front fenders, you should remove the rocker covers. Also look under the dash by the hood release/fuse panel . If you just point a camera up there and take a flash shot, you can see how far gone that area is. Also you should strip down the trunk , take out the back seat and have a look there. I bought a snake cam to inspect my Coupe. Gave me peace of mind that I wasn't overlooking much.
 
In the pictures you can see rust coming through at the tops of the inner fenders. That means there is significant rust inside the fenders, and to get to *that*, you need to cut the fenders off the car.

So, ask for more pictures, it'll be an education. But that car looks too far gone for any purpose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top