[armyadarkness]

This is live on eBay.

1971 Pontiac GTO GTO | eBay

What are you looking to get for it?

 

[Grjones]

I'm not being a Smart A, I'm honestly just curious... What do you think is reasonable in this market to expect for it? I have a hope to recover what I have invested, but I have seen worse condition cars go for more than I would be happy with tbh.

 

[armyadarkness]

The real wild card is the unverifiable condition of the engine. That's going to hurt you... because in my opinion, that means it's no good. At least, that's what a savvy buyer will assume.

We just had a "ran when I took it out" in here last week. The engine was a complete loss.

That being said, I think you should be able to get $10-15k, from someone who knows what they're looking at... based on what I see. And that's just an educated guess.

 

[Grjones]

The real wild card is the unverifiable condition of the engine. That's going to hurt you... because in my opinion, that means it's no good. At least, that's what a savvy buyer will assume.

We just had a "ran when I took it out" in here last week. The engine was a complete loss.

That being said, I think you should be able to get $10-15k, from someone who knows what they're looking at... based on what I see. And that's just an educated guess.

I can totally respect that statement. I honestly have no idea. I have only turned it over with a big ratchet. I do know that it has not run in a long time. I bought it fully understanding that it was a posibiltity. I wanted to get it running before I sold it, but I cannot find anyone with an opening at all. The shops are backed up a year or better around here and I just don't know where to start to do it myself mainly just because wiring. I wish really bad that I could get it fired up to alleviate that concern and prob get a lot more for it.

 

[Grjones]

The real wild card is the unverifiable condition of the engine. That's going to hurt you... because in my opinion, that means it's no good. At least, that's what a savvy buyer will assume.

We just had a "ran when I took it out" in here last week. The engine was a complete loss.

That being said, I think you should be able to get $10-15k, from someone who knows what they're looking at... based on what I see. And that's just an educated guess.

I really wish I could keep it but if I'm being honest, TV kind of had me disillusioned to what a restoration costs. I had a budget of 50K for restoration and I got laughed out of every shop in town.

 

[armyadarkness]

You could get that engine started with ease, if you so chose.

Based on what I see, looks like you could put $5000 into paint, and if the engine runs and runs well, you could be done.

Yes, reality TV car shows are scripted BS, 100%, however, if you ignore them and get your info here, you might not be as far off as you think

 

[pontrc]

It’s really based on how much of the work you could do yourself and farm out Gr. Project cars unless rare are a hard sell. I think army has zeroed in on the price

 

[Grjones]

You could get that engine started with ease, if you so chose.

Based on what I see, looks like you could put $5000 into paint, and if the engine runs and runs well, you could be done.

Yes, reality TV car shows are scripted BS, 100%, however, if you ignore them and get your info here, you might not be as far off as you think

I couldn't find a shop willing to sand it down for 5k except maybe maaco, every single paint shop I talked to said their paint jobs start at 20k. I mean EVERY shop like 20k was a memo that went out. One shop told me that he isn't interested in projects under six figures, the rest of them honed in on 75k. I considered just getting it running and driving and then doing a maaco job and having fun but it quickly started losing its glamour the more I got shut down.

 

[pontrc]

I feel your pain with body shops. Most don’t won’t to mess with it, like the crunchers to get in and out in a hurry. Talk to some people at a car show to get a back yard guy to do it

 

[Grjones]

I feel your pain with body shops. Most don’t won’t to mess with it, like the crunchers to get in and out in a hurry. Talk to some people at a car show to get a back yard guy to do it

I was going to shops that paint classic cars, I've read to never take a classic to a body shop. I did find one "backyard" guy that only paints classics that said he could do 12k but his wait list is almost a year out, and I feared that if I took it to his shop it would end up in hotrod purgatory! I will see where my listing gets to, and if it doesn't get me where I need to be I may try a mechanic that I have heard about to help me get it running and driving and then start exploring the back channels for a private painter. In Houston there is just so much work to go around that it seems like shops just name their prices. My local Maaco actually posted some classics on their facebook that they did that looked really good for 3500-4k but they said that they don't do any panel alignment and that makes or breaks a cars appearance imo, and there is an art to getting that right.

 

[Grjones]

I feel your pain with body shops. Most don’t won’t to mess with it, like the crunchers to get in and out in a hurry. Talk to some people at a car show to get a back yard guy to do it

I just get overwhelmed when I try to look at getting it running myself because I don't what I need to wire it up, like voltage regulators and other electronics and how to wire it all, and it sure would be nice to have a lift... ugh.

 

[pontrc]

Yes I wish people would see to do these cars have some mechanical knowledge. If not you are looking at frustration and expense with shops. A lot of helpful people here but you really need hands on experience with dealing in this hobby

 

[michaelfind]

I have a friend with a 72 near San Antonio. He has some decent contacts with people that are not that high in their prices. Have you looked at shops outside your local area?

 

[Grjones]

I have a friend with a 72 near San Antonio. He has some decent contacts with people that are not that high in their prices. Have you looked at shops outside your local area?

I'd be glad to take some recommendations!

 

[Grjones]

I have a friend with a 72 near San Antonio. He has some decent contacts with people that are not that high in their prices. Have you looked at shops outside your local area?

Heck, I would love to find someone with a 71 or 72 that would just let me look at some stuff on their car!!

 

[Grjones]

Yes I wish people would see to do these cars have some mechanical knowledge. If not you are looking at frustration and expense with shops. A lot of helpful people here but you really need hands on experience with dealing in this hobby

Thats decent constructive criticism. I can agree. I have troubleshooting skills, and I am a process technician, I have plenty of mechanical skill, but I've never started from scratch before with an empty firewall. I'm sure I could figure it out, I just have no experience doing so.

 

[PontiacJim]

I'd be glad to take some recommendations!

You would be selling yourself short by not getting the engine running. Any machine/engine shop can put the engine on a run stand and fire it up. Houston also has a number of trade/tech schools and some of them will take on projects to aide students in automotive repairs - to include the older cars.

Why does the car have to be restored? You don't think you, or anyone seeing your car, wouldn't enjoy the car unrestored and simply cruising down the avenue or set in a car show lot? The prices you have been given are stupid TV prices - nut & bolt rotisserie prices. You already have much of the car done and it would not take 50K to bring it back. A 20K paint job? - ABSURD! With the right equipment, you can do most of your own work UNLESS you just prefer not too. You can easily sand the primer with an electric flat sander or step up to air tools and use a DA. Paint? Go fast & dirty with a Rustoleum semi-gloss black paint for a hot-rod look that many will be turning heads to see - you may even get a good resale price with it like that.

If it is a car your really love and want to keep, then make it work for you and forget about the stupid priced restoration route and get it on the road and running/driving. If you can read, the Shop/chassis & Body manual will be a great guide to start with.

It is your choice.

 

[Grjones]

You would be selling yourself short by not getting the engine running. Any machine/engine shop can put the engine on a run stand and fire it up. Houston also has a number of trade/tech schools and some of them will take on projects to aide students in automotive repairs - to include the older cars.

Why does the car have to be restored? You don't think you, or anyone seeing your car, wouldn't enjoy the car unrestored and simply cruising down the avenue or set in a car show lot? The prices you have been given are stupid TV prices - nut & bolt rotisserie prices. You already have much of the car done and it would not take 50K to bring it back. A 20K paint job? - ABSURD! With the right equipment, you can do most of your own work UNLESS you just prefer not too. You can easily sand the primer with an electric flat sander or step up to air tools and use a DA. Paint? Go fast & dirty with a Rustoleum semi-gloss black paint for a hot-rod look that many will be turning heads to see - you may even get a good resale price with it like that.

If it is a car your really love and want to keep, then make it work for you and forget about the stupid priced restoration route and get it on the road and running/driving. If you can read, the Shop/chassis & Body manual will be a great guide to start with.

It is your choice.

That is some great ideas. I am going to see where the auction lands and if it doesn't meet my reserve, I have found a fair shop highly recommended that said he can take it in next week and help me get it running and driving. If I can do that, it will be huge because I don't have a nice car trailer with a winch to cart this thing all around. Going through this process is actually forcing me to learn that I have a better car than I even realized! I just need a little help getting moving in the right direction.

 

[PontiacJim]

That is some great ideas. I am going to see where the auction lands and if it doesn't meet my reserve, I have found a fair shop highly recommended that said he can take it in next week and help me get it running and driving. If I can do that, it will be huge because I don't have a nice car trailer with a winch to cart this thing all around. Going through this process is actually forcing me to learn that I have a better car than I even realized! I just need a little help getting moving in the right direction.

Well, if you don't get what you want, just stick around here and there are many who can help/coach you through it and get the car back on the road.