64 wildcat 2dr coupe

[nipsit]

Hey all, I looked in and noticed some interesting things about wiring I may need at some point, but what I'm really wondering about is what my car is worth. I put it on craig's list and started getting calls right away, but now they want to talk me wayyyyyyyyy down on price. I've checked out N.A.D.A and The Gold Book pricing and I think fifteen hundred is a really decent price for this car. It's in fair condition, all orginal, but needs lots of tender loving care. Any thoughts out there? Thanks. Nipsit

[bob k. mando]

hard to tell with what you're giving us.

is the car road worthy? when you say it needs work, what does that mean? major rust damage, the interior needs re-upholstered, servicing of the major drivetrain components?

how bout linking us to the ad for a start ...

[a64wildcat]

Okay, this is the 4th time I've tried to respond to you.
There are picture of the outside physical damage to the car
on Craig's list at:
http://www.craigslist.org/eby/car/169131447.html
with links to more pictures, so you get a fairly complete look at body
damage (rust, minor dents).
The car runs, was my sole tranportation until a little over a year ago.
The interior needs redone, but the back seat is in good condition, no
rips or anything to it, just old. The front seat is unstuffing itself.
It needs a new headliner, I believe the door handles my need to help too.
(doing this by memory right now).
The rims need cleaned and shined, the engine has rust and deposits. I don't
know how to verify the severity. To me it looks like a lot, but not insurmountable
if one wanted to restore it. I really don't know.
I could take pictures of the engine (not sure how they would turn out).
I could get pictures of the interior as well if that helps.
Right now the battery has to be discounted or it drains when the car
is sitting. It needs a new wiring harness. It was registered up until
Feb. 2006. I registered it non-op this time because we weren't using it
and with the price of gas and electrical problems, hardly seemed worth it.
I've been offered $600, I asked for $1500. I may be willing to go down
a little, but not $900 since I think the guy plans to part it out anyways. My
son and I loved this car the first time we laid eyes on it. If its too far gone
I would like to know that, but I'm hoping its restorable for the right person.
According to NADA, or perhaps it was The Gold Book, the following is
what the car is worth in "fair" condition.
2D SPORT COUPE HT 1963-64 401/325 V8 2,700
I guess I feel the car needs a bit more work than "fair" implies which is
why I asked for $1500, not $2000.
Appreciate your help .
Diana

[bob k. mando]

hi diane

that helps a lot. basically, you've got a road worthy car that needs a little work. the headlights and battery will be a little basic wiring repair ... more labor than parts, probably.

my basic rule of thumb is that a roadworthy vehicle is worth $1000. this seems to work pretty much anywhere east of the Mississip. you have the added value of a very rare, old car.

the engine has rust and deposits.

don't let anybody talk you down because the engine is 'dirty'. for crying out loud, it's 40 years old and been getting oil/water on it and it's basically open to the elements when you're driving. the external appearance doesn't mean much.

the most important thing is, it turns over.

the second most important thing is, it runs.

the third most important thing is, it runs STRONG.

anyone interested in a rebuild will have to tear it down but that would apply pretty much no matter what. you've got an excellent base for an engine build up or restore it sounds like.

Strong Orginal 441 (or 401?) nailhead engine.

it's labelled a '441' but that's the factory torque rating. displacement is 401 ci.

as far as your sheet metal, guys in the NE or Midwest would kill for a car that looks that good. i can't see the bottom of your quarter panels, but if they're close to the uppers your car is in really good shape. from the pics, it looks like a little minor bondo work and a new paint job and the exterior would be sharp.

i don't think $1500 is out of line ... the only thing is that rust free cars are pretty common in the SW ... that might drive the going price down a little bit in your area.

some helpful tips to get this sold at YOUR price:
if possible, have prospective buyers deal with your son. quite often, the assumption is that a woman doesn't know what she has, so even if you do know, you'll still have to deal with a lot of lowball offers because they'll be trying to see what they can get away with.

some basic car care can go a long way towards eliminating some of this.

go to a parts store and buy a can of spray on engine cleaner. go to a car wash and follow the instructions on the can ... then they won't be able to complain about 'deposits' on the engine.

get a $20-40 seat cover for the front seat. tell em the upholstery is shot in front ... it'll just make the car look sharper.

use the free classifieds on THIS board ... that way you'll be advertising straight to Buick fans. if you start trying to sell this on some of the major Buick forums don't be surprised if you start getting interest from overseas.

a 64 Wildcat isn't one of the really high demand cars but try and get the word out to as wide an audience as possible.

Good Luck.

[a64wildcat]

I'd love to have my son deal with people, but before I put up the ad he was ready to sell it for $800. I will talk to him about it though. I know guys think women know nothing about cars, and by and large they would be right about me (in general), but I'll be fifty this year and I'm not nearly so easily cowed as I once was. Your comments will certainly help me hang tough on price. My son doesn't appear to know what he has. I will copy your comments to my desktop and have him read them. (He did get pretty excited when so many people responded to the ad though and wanted me to put a for sale sign on it in the yard for $2,000, so with your assessment of the old girl, I think he'll be convinced).
This month we are really short on cash, so I'll have wait on attempting to clean the engine, but we've had the car for about eight years and I'm not in a hurry to sell it if it means giving it away.
I also realized how little I know about the car when I came in here and started looking around. If I'm going to put an ad here I may need some help because I know what I've got in the most general way, and perspective buyers may want more specific information about the car.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Diana

[howpeculiar]

Diana, I have paid a lot more for cars in a lot worse shape (MN is harder on cars). That 64 is a cool car, and you should be patient in selling. There are a few inexpensive or even free things you should do to try and help it out. Not all buyers look at what the car could be with a little work, only what it is now, so you really need to clean out the engine compartment, passenger compartment, and trunk area. Vacuum really good, and clean everything. Nothing hurts a sale worse than garbage and dirt. DO NOT cover everything with Armor-All or other slippery products. They attract dirt, and are usually more hassle than they are worth. Mild dishwashing soap will clean almost anything, and won't hurt the materials. The above post about a seat cover is a good one. If you can sew, a simple slip cover should cost less than $20 to make, or you can buy a universal cover at most Auto parts stores. Make sure the dash and gauges are very clean, and that everything ni the interior is as nice as it can be. A lot of the parts are hard to come by, and a picture of dirty, grimy trim looks very similiar to a picture of rusted, damaged trim. A lot of people look for trim condition when buying older cars, most of it is very hard to come by. Get together a folder with all the paperwork you have on the car. Try to trace it's history back as far as possible. Better documented cars get restored. In the engine compartment, if you do de-grease it, make certain you don't get water in the distributor. If you do, you will be at the car wash for a while. In case you don't know, it is the round plastic housing that all the spark-plug wires are attached to. Also, leave the air-cleaner housing in place, you do not want water in the carb. It isn't easy to get along the transmission, or the rear of the engine, but get what you can. As for the wiring issue with the headlights, you will probably ahve to take the price loss on that one. Most likely a simple fix, but probably not an easy one. As far as the exterior, try to clean up as much road grime as possible from the grill, trim, and bumpers, but do not use anything abrassive. Some pieces of the trim are impossible to get, so you don't want to cause any further damage. If it is a good running car, with only some cosmetic/ minor rust issues, you should not have to come below your $1500. As mentioned before, try to get exposure in other areas of the country. As long as you are paid before it leaves, you shouldn't care whether it is driven, trailered, or shipped. They all cost you nothing. If I didn't already have so many projects, I would definately consider a 64 Wildcat. Good luck, and be patient, you will find a reasonable buyer.

[howpeculiar]

Diana, in reviewing your earlier post, this car is perfectly restorable. No reason that I can see for it not to be. It usually takes an awful lot of damage to make it not worth restoring a car. Now you just have to find someone that wants to restore it. It is not a simple endeavor, but it looks like the sheetmetal is all there, and in really good shape (in my neck of the woods, it looks almost perfect). You should try to get engine, trunk and interior pics as well. That would really help you sell the car.

[a64wildcat]

I wrote a long response 20 minutes ago and lost it, so I've written the admin to see whats going on and trying this again, but short this time.
Thank you. I've copied your response so my son can look at it too.
And, the more I here back about this car the less inclined I am to sell it at all LOL, but, I will if I can get what I'm asking for it. Thank you for so many good suggestions.
Diana

[a64wildcat]

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/nipsit...8bbscd&.src=ph

I put up some pictures of the engine, interior, under the hood and with the trunk open.

A guy is coming to look at it this week-end (unless he changes his mind after looking at the new pictures).

I did some cleaning today, but I'm not finished with the interior yet, or the trunk.
I have a question about some of the pictures I took under the hood.
There's a hose that isn't connected in picture (wheredoesitgo) and in the next picture there is a place for a hose (or it looks that way to me). Does anyone know if thats where the hose goes?
Second, in the picture called "moonshine_questionmark" -- does anyone know what that glass bottle is for. I've never seen anything like it.
Its always been there and it appears to have water in it, but I really have no clue as to whats in the bottle under the hood and its not connected to anything (but the frame) that I can see.

Well, I brought the floor mats upstairs to soak in hot soapy water for an hour or so, so I best get to it. I'm sorry if some of the pictures are fuzzy, its difficult to get what I want with my son's cell phone.

Thanks for all the help and advice.
Diana

[howpeculiar]

Diana,
This car is VERY restorable, and you are definately asking a very reasonable price. With patience, you could go higher. From the pics, all the sheetmetal can be repaired, brightwork is all present, but would need to be straightened, polished. Engine bay is MUCH nicer than you lead me to believe. The glass bottle is for the windshield wiper concentrate. Not sure on Buick, but chevy had Opti-Clean. Don't loose it, it is a very cool thing to still have in the car. The Hose you have loos just plugs into the air-cleaner, and vents crankcase vapors into the intake to be burned. No worries there. The interior looked better than I expected, though the green is not a very popular color in cars. Not sure why that is. Wish the picture quality was a little better, but overall, I would definately say you have a car worth restoring. Not only does it have the cool factor of a large, powerful motor, real wheels (not caps), and great styling; but this car is also a very complete unmolester survivor. That means there is very little for someone to undo if they wanted to restore it to original, or for those that want to modify, it is always better to modify from stock. You know what is what that way. Because this is such an unusual car (compared to the more commonly restored Impala, Chevelle, Corvette, etc.), it will take you a little more work to get it sold to the right buyer. Hopefully, the buyer wants to restore it, not part it out. Do not budge on your price, as you are being very, very fair. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. Wish I had room for one more, but 7 is the limit right now, and I think my wife would definately notice if another one showed up.
Aaron