looking at a "basket case" this weekend..

my wife brought me home from work a lead on a 55 chevy two dr hardtop, "basket case".. the guy said he's had it for about 20 years. at the time, he drove it home, disassembled it, i guess lost interest in it and put it in the corning of his shop and bought a nice 55 driver instead of building his first 55... says it's complete, just in pieces... i've got a couple of questions. is there anything particular i should be looking at? from what he told the wife, it came from calif and is pretty much rust free.. also, any kind of ball park figure i should be thinking about before i go see it??

 

a friend bought a 55 basket for 58,,,,it needs everything,they hung quarters wrong=== junk,,,no floors,,car was racked,,,is there a motor trans????...interior,,,,front seat brings up to a grand...if he has a 55 he knows the game throw 6 grand and see if it flys

 

Check out the quarters very carefully...

 

i was just talking to the wife, she said he said he had been offered $8,000 for it and turned it down, wanting $10,000 for it.... she didn't know how long ago he was offered that, i'll get back to ya's when i find out more this weekend.

 

Just because HE has a bunch of money into it doesn't mean you should have to pay a bunch for it. You can buy a nice, driving car for 10G, this ones been torn apart for years and YOU have to put it back together. Would have to see it, but this guy seems high to me, just my opinion..... Good luck and post some photos of it if you have a chance.

 

Wow, I guess I better rethink my 2 door post. I paid 3500 for my 55 210. It was totally apart with most of a shell sitting on the frame. It did come with alot of parts but it needed everything including floors , braces, body mounts etc, I mean everything and there was engine, trans or rearend and also had been taken apart and left sitting for 20 years. My point is even though it's a post car and not the hardtop I didn't think mine would be worth more than 10g and yeah, bryan6902 haas it right. You can buy a running driving 55 in a 2 door for 10k or maybe less. Good luck

 

I don"t know where you guys do your shopping at but where are you going to find a 2-door 55 Hardtop running and as you say descent for $10G Two door posts yeah,but not 2-door hardtops.

 

Been my experience over the years that regardless of "everything there" claims, "basket case" indicates some things are sure to be missing. Even stuff I tore down and thought I had organized myself.

Those small nickle and dime items can add up to big dollars fast, not to mention the time, effort, and expense needed for the searches. Figure any value comparisons accordingly.

Ed

 

10K seems like a lot for a totally pulled apart '55, unless all the chrome is nice/has a good running engine with it or ? something else really good.

Granted, rust free is a big deal, so that makes it valuable. But I've heard about a lot of "rust free" cars that turned out to be pieces of shit, so beware.

I have two '55 2dht Chevys and they're rust buckets, so look them over carefully. Above the headlights on the front fenders, floors and floor supports, inner and outer rockers, and rear quarters below the quarter windows (ahead of the wheelwell, not behind) seem to be the common rust areas.

I've got a rough one I'll sell for $2500 if anyone wants in cheap.

 

I would remind the seller that it is now the buyers market. what he hs isnt really a car it is a bunch of parts. be shure he has good paperwork before shelling out a lot of cash. Dont borrow the money to buy any old car. Only offer what you feel comfortable with paying. There are plenty of project cars if you have cash and are patient a real bargain can be found. Oldwolf

 

I paid $6500 for mine last year, it's not "rust free", but it is fairly solid. It came with a small journal 275 horse 327, and I had it running and driving with a few weeks worth of tinkering, and about $500 in parts. I know that I got a great deal, but $10K for a basket seems way high to me....If the drivetrain is included and rebuilt, and all the stainless is in great shape, it still seems a little high for a "kit". But then again, they aren't making them anymore......and 10K wouldn't buy mine from me



Squablow, got any parts for sale ??? I need the outer stainless window trim for the drivers door ...

 

If you find a basket that is 90% complete you have done good. Something that you should bear in mind when you are looking at it.

Take whatever you drop on the project and add 10K to assemble it. thats conservative for most fellas. Is the car going to be worth that to you (you being the operative word here) when you are done. That is how you decide what the project is worth. Not what someone on line or the seller told you it is worth.

 

I paid 10k for a running 57 hardtop, before the market crashed. It needed brake adjustment. Had no windos or interior, needed all trim put on. But it was painted, had kinda shity rust repairs tho. I put like 4 to 5 k in it i think. 3k was just interior.

 

Maybe it's just down here, But I have never seen a "decent" 55 (post or hardtop), running & driving for 10g. I prefer post cars, but any complete rust free '55 project would easily bring 10g here in TN. A good friend bought a rust free '55 hardtop last year for 17,500. It was complete, would barely run & drive,came with tuck & roll interior that needed to be installed...but made a nice car...
My 2 cents...
Sam

 

I guess you could see how quick he turns down $4k?

Look on ebay completed auctions, look at the ones that are either "green" (sold) or that had bids but are "red" (reserve not met).

I looked at what they're going for recently, I was surprised how few sell and how reasonable they are.

 

I searched the whole thread, and can't find the word "title" anywhere.

 

Good point. In 2000 a friend bought a '55 HDTP from Arkansas for 900.00. It was a basket but complete enough for him to build. After he got it home he discovered that it was titled on the engine number and couldn't be titled in MO as it didn't have an engine in it when he got it.

I offered to do a numbers job on an engine for him but alas he was too honest for that. So it got parted out so he could get his money back.

 

Tell him good luck and keep looking

 

Granted, rust free is a big deal, so that makes it valuable. But I've heard about a lot of "rust free" cars that turned out to be pieces of shit, so beware.


Beware some "rust free" cars have just had their rust replaced with huge chunks of bondo.

 

I have never bought a basket case where at least one basket, box isn't missing. Keep that in mind.

 

Here's 4 local (to me) listings... OK, three. I threw one of 'em in because I was feeling like a smartass.
http://dayton.craigslist.org/cto/2084256192.html
http://dayton.craigslist.org/cto/2084251887.html
http://dayton.craigslist.org/pts/2064611383.html
http://dayton.craigslist.org/cto/2074643821.html

 

for sure that'll be the first thing i ask about....

 

Hell, I have a really rough one that $1200 would take away. No title and the tags are gone too, might make a good stock car shell and sell the seat and some of the other parts out of it. But I have seen complete, rolling ones on eBay in the past sell for under $2000. Not drivable, and they looked like a lot of work, but not fresh off the scrap pile or dirt track either. Can't think the prices have gone up?

As noted the biggest issue with a basket case is even if you took it apart yourself, there's always going to be crap missing.

 

Tell him even CALIFORNIA cars have rust...........and bondo............I could keep going. I love me a 55 Chevy, but to invest 10k for a car that is in pieces, probably requires an engine build/engine, assembly, body work, etc. YOU WILL have a 40k car before you're done.

Good luck ever trying to recoup that.

 

I found that out with my truck. Not much rot but enough to open my eyes.

 

Ya my California to Vegas back to California car has enough rot, rust and bondo that it looks like a wicker basket.

 

Arizona cars have rust, but it's special Arizona rust. The headlight eyebrows never rot away, but the pass side floor, inner rockers, cowl vent box, bottom of the front fenders, front lower quarters, etc do rust. Enclosed areas down low get dirt built up in them, and when it rains in the summer the dirt turns to mud and goes to work on the metal. And the heaters all leaked.

 

Does that make the price of the car go up?

 

i can't figure out which one you threw in to be a smart ass, was it the post car or one of the 3 four doors? because none of them are two door hardtops

in this economy, 10k sounds high for a basket but depending on what that basket contains it might not be a bad deal

 

Apparently it does. Especially in Wisconsin.