newb

[kheath50]

im thinking of trying to restore my first muscle car but i dont have a lot of money, i would love to get a 68 or 69 charger or a chevelle. One of my friends suggested a late sixties cutlass, i want to get something that would be pretty cost effective to start with would anyone have any suggestions about what would be a good car to start with? i dont want a showroom car i want to drive it on the weekends and take it up to the racetrack but at the same time be able to trade it or sell it and make a decent profit

[wrenchboss26]

how deep are your pockets?

[kheath50]

i could spend 2500 to 3500

[whatugiv]

Hey everyone! where would you suggest I sell a Chevelle?

[wrenchboss26]

2500 to 3500 doesn't get much muscle, unless its a complete basket case. I'd look at early to mid 80's Cutlass/Regal/Grand Prix/Monte Carlo. For your budget you could find one and have still have some money left for mods. You may find cheap muscle but rust can get very expensive to fix, if there is a little rust you can see, then there is probably a lot you can't. Little expenses you don't even think of can add up, such as weatherstripping, ball joints, control arm bushings, tie rods, shocks, body mounts, and so forth. Restoring old muscle can get very expensive, and unless you do an excellent job yourself, its hard to recoup your investment. The cars you see going for big money, had big money go in them.

[kheath50]

thanks man i appreciate the advice, hopefully i can get my hands on something and turn a somewhat decent profit on it

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by kheath50

sell it and make a decent profit

ohhh noooo!
Unless you come across a tremendously undervalued car, you will never, never make any money on a restoration. It has been proven over and over again that the costs and effort in restoring almost any car far exceed the resale value.

People buy and restore for enjoyment and to have a cool car to drive. If you are lucky, you will get a decent chunk of the value back after all the driving and enjoyment.... but profit........ virtually never.

[kheath50]

oh yeah i only want to do it to have a cool car to drive and enjoy, the only reason i would want to make any money would be to get another one to restore or i would like to trade someone straight up for some thing of equal value. ive always wanted to start rebuilding muscle cars and ive now got a good job that might allow me to get into it, so im pretty happy. all the money i would make on a sale would just go to another vehicle to play with.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by kheath50

oh yeah i only want to do it to have a cool car to drive and enjoy, the only reason i would want to make any money would be to get another one to restore or i would like to trade someone straight up for some thing of equal value. ive always wanted to start rebuilding muscle cars and ive now got a good job that might allow me to get into it, so im pretty happy. all the money i would make on a sale would just go to another vehicle to play with.

Okay, that sounds reasonable.

Here are a couple of other suggestions.

1979+ Mustang (302 GT, forget the rest)

'83-88 Thunderbird (302, or a Turbo Coupe)

Chevy S-10 pick up..... no kidding. A small block Chevy slides right in. They are compact, manoeverable, decent-handing and can really go when modded.

[kheath50]

cool man! thanks for the advice!