Hey, my name is Jay & am excited to find this site! Been in love w/novas since highschool friend & his dad restored a '63 nova. Now, almost 20 years later Its my turn! I need advice please! I'm looking at '63s & '64s. Lots in market but trouble deciding... Goal: resto-mod, classic original/stock body styling, lowered suspension and upgrade, exhaust,and beefier engine to "move" when told. The dilemma BUDGET. Several in the market but choosing... In the meantime, for a car that's not quite the "slow poke," is it more cost efficient to buy a slighty beefed engine (ex. rebuilt 327, th350 trans) but NEEDS body/interior work, and slowly build up, OR a stock car (V6) but clean interior/exterior? i.e. can a V6 recieve engine work on a budget but still be power-improved until a small block swap can be done? The "completed" status is never really acheived, but reaching my basic goals in this decade would be nice! Thanks for any advice!!! Take care, Jay :thumbsup:

Find the cleanest body you can. In the last couple of weeks I have seen 2 or 3 62-65 novas with decent bodies but no motor or transmission in the 1500 dollar range. Of course you would have to go pick up or have shipped but probably worth it.

I agree. The body is much more of a black hole for money than the motor will ever be (look at the cost of crate engines compared to the price of a restoration mag with all the parts numbers added up).

Welcome to the board by the way!

Big Dave

Definitely the body is the most critical. It will eat up the most time, and can cost a lot in tooling alone if you are a due it yourself kind of guy and you like to do things right. If you have someone else do the work the shop hours and incidentals add up quickly. If you find a shop that is willing to actually give you a quote on the repairs you will be lucky! Most shops will not quote a complete job as once the stripping process starts all kinds of problems can come up. Also getting help with mechanical issues tends to be easier than getting someone to help with body work!

Thanks for the welcome, and the advice! A clean/straight exterior sounds like it will definitely be better cost-wise in the long run, not to mention better motivation for a beginner, compared to a rolling ugly-duck. I've seen a few clean cars (that also run) but in the ~$5000-6000 range... Not too bad i guess but still seems a little pricey??? I'm keeping my eyes peeled and checking under every stone though for the proverbial "diamond in the rough" but at the price of coal! Any particular locations more common than others for frequent decent finds (Auto Trader, Ebay,etc.)?

Thanks again!

Jay

Jay,

Welcome!

The days of the $3000 "clean and complete" SS cars are gone. If you haven't stumbled onto www.craigslist.com (http://www.craigslist.com), you should check it out. You Lower 48 people have a definite advantage to finding a good project. I drool everytime I check out the West Coast for cars. I don't know why I look :confused: , it's only 2500 miles to Seattle from Anchorage by road. Shipping a vehicle costs about $1000 - $1500 bucks from Seattle to Anchorage.

Keep looking and tell all of your friends that you're looking, ask at the local parts store, etc. Try and tap as many resources as you can and something will turn up. Be persistent, and most of all be ready. The good deals don't last. I missed an original 70 SS 350 4-spd with a dealer swapped 396 because I was a little bit hesitant about the $5000 asking price. Car was untouched with a little bit of rust in the quarters. Man, I blew that one.

Good Luck and let us know what you find.

Harv

Also just because you buy a relatively clean body doesn't mean it doesn't need work! My 72 SS is pretty clean, but I still have to shell out another $900.00 in body panels alone, not counting what labor would be at a shop. Things will catch your eye as you go through the process that didn't catch your eye when you bought it. My example would be the drivers side quarter had a lower skin replacement done before I bought it. While the work was done good for a daily driver status car and while I hope to use the car in this capacity during the summer, I've decided to buy a full quarter and replace the whole thing as I can see the work in the trunk and don't like knowing it is there. Also if I do take it to a show on occasion I would like to be able to open the trunk! Unfortunately you have to pay to play in the hobby anymore. You also have to figure out the areas you will let your budget breath or the areas you are willing to sacrifice and keep it tight. A top of the line 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen car done to exacting standards is going to cost more than you can get out of the car in the near future. At times I think I would have been better off buying a completed project for 20K or more when I start laying out my costs to date and time invested to date. Ultimately though the skills and knowledge I am slowly learning buy building from a hollow shell up are worth a lot to myself also. Personal experience can't be bought!

I couldnt agree more with the Craigslist reference. i found my 72 on there and the price was awesome. Ebay can be good but there are a ton of scams going on there that are not as wide spread as that of craigslist. Look at some of the bigger cities on that site and you can find some good stuff. It cost about 400 dollars to rent a uhaul car hauler for a week. Look at San Diego. It might be worth the drive to pick up a clean ride and enjoy the so cal sun a little.

welcome to this site of misunderstanding, you have to have one to understand. im new also so i will be asking alot of questions? and dont you wait to ask questions also..:hurray:

Hi Jay!

Keep in mind also that what may look straight with a shiny new paint job may have a bondo nightmare underneath. If you can, try and bring someone that knows bodywork(If you don't) and have them look over the car. I bought a '66 roller from someone who told me the body was clean and had no rust. YEAH RIGHT!:mad:(Click on the build update link in my sig and you'll see what I mean!)
These cars are old and have seen their days so I would bet that whatever car you buy it's going to have some measure of rust on it that you will have to take care of. It really depends on what level of car you want and how long you think you'll keep the car. If you think you'll have it for a while then you'll probably want to reskin the quarters, doors, etc.

John

hmmm... Feb 16th of '07. i wonder how he's doin' lately :D

hmmm... Feb 16th of '07. i wonder how he's doin' lately :D

Hahaha! I just noticed that!:o

John

that's why I'M paid the BIIIIIIG bucks !!!!


yeah... RIIIIIGHT ;)

Well welcome... If you have question ask away.....