mikek556

i found a 1969 olds 442 4-speed neer my house. its been sitting there for about 5 years. it has some surface rust on the roof and down the side of the rear windshield. the body is in good condition and it is a 4 speed. what should i offer the guy for it?

z11375ss

I'd first ask him what he wants for it if it's for sale. Then go from there. If it's been sitting outside for that long the whole car will have to be gone through. Lots of cash. You will put an easy $10,000 in it to make it right. I'd say $3000 tops.

joe_padavano

Check the rust around the windshield and rear window closely. Remove the chrome trim if possible. The pinchweld areas where the glass is bonded frequently rust out due to leaves and debris that collects under the chrome, particularly on a car that's been sitting. This is expensive to fix correctly and should factor into the sale price. Look for evidence of water damage to the package shelf under the back window, for example.

mikek556

i checked for water damage under the back window. here is some pictures of the car. you can see the 4 speed through the steering wheel. what do u think. also is it a post car? and is it a 68 or 69. im only 16 and need a project for the summer. also what kind of motor is in it. big block. thanks i need all the help i can get.
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mikek556

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mikek556

what do u think?

mikek556

i forgot 2 say there is no water damage. its kind of sagging. it has front disk brakes rear drum. i talked to someone that lives in the apartments and they said its been sitting for 4 years now and hasnt moved. do u think it will need tie rods, brakes, sway bars, ect. ?

mikek556

the car is solid and the rust is only surface rust and probaly no bondo will be needed.plus the interior is mint and reeds no resto at all.

69droptop

Your first order of business is to find out who owns it and if they're willing to part with it. If it is for sale, your biggest worry should be why no one has driven it. Probably means there are engine problems of some sort.

It should have a 400 big block engine. Interior may look mint, but if it's been sitting that long, probably has some condensation issues on the interior - mildew inside, pitting in chrome, etc. This sometimes makes the door panels wavy and curls the package tray. You haven't indicated where the car is, so I don't know if winters are an issue.

It may not need any suspension parts. But if it's been sitting quite a while, it may need other things - probably brake work, including new brake cylinders or at least a rebuild and bleed, probably will need tires, fluids changed, perhaps exhaust work. You may run into fuel issues as well if it didn't have fuel stabilizer in it.

I'd also want to know what the trunk looks like. Even a small seal problem at the rear window can allow water to run into the trunk and rust it out.

The exterior looks okay from what I can see. Definitely needs paint. Matching it up would require some $$$.

If some of the above things aren't much of a problem, I could see spending up to $6,000. 69 442 4-speeds are good resto candidates, and fairly rare in good shape.

mikek556

i live in the western suburbs of chicago. like i said there is no leakage in the rear window.

69droptop

Have you been able to contact the owner yet? He/she can help with answers to your questions. But it might be more than a summer's worth of a project.

BTW - it's definitely a 69. Not a post.

Let us know what you find out. If it is for sale, but you decide to pass on it, post the contact. I think I speak for most that this is a car that deserves to be saved rather than just sit in a parking lot rusting...

Good luck.

mikek556

i havent been able to contact the owner b/c nobody knows whos car it is. i keep leaving notes on the car. i want this car because its goin to get towed soon and that would really suck! also is this a rare car. i mean how often do you find 4 speeds. i have a few other ?'s. do you know if these cars came from the factory with a posi rear end?

thanks for all your help. im only 16 and need every bit of info possible b/c i need to beat those dam rice burnners !!!!

John inNH

If you have a friend who is a cop, have him run the plate number or vin to see who the owner is. It may be an abandoned vehicle for that matter.

John (who has seen this before)

mikek556

seen what?

John inNH

A friend of mine owns a towing service. He will occasionally get a call from one of the local apartment complexes to remove cars that no one at the complex will claim. Usually the owners has either died, been arrested, moved quickly (non-payment of rent, divorce, etc) or just disapeared. There is a process where he can get the title for the abandoned car and sell it. Probably not the case with a 442, but you never know.

John

mikek556

yea somethin like you have to put the car in 3 newspapers and show proof?

mikek556

any other help can any1 give me to find the owner?

Bigfn68olds

OK, after reading and seeing the pics I would say it is worth 2 to 3 thousand. If it does not run you can try to go lower on the price.

I have a 68 Cutlass. I have had it for 27 years. I am restoring it for the third time. All I have left is to paint it and reassemble.

If you do get it and you want it to be worth anything, You will have to put a minimun of 5 to as much as 12 thousand to bring it back to street/show condition. You are looking at: engine/trans rebuild, interior redone, Front end rebuild to make it drivable.As for the body, the whole thing needs to come down to the metal. Either by media blast($$$), or sanded off because of the rust and old paint.It probably has SOME rust holes on it and that will need to be [correctly] repaired. The entire car needs to be etch primed after it is stripped to prevent future rust. Naturally all dents filled and then comes the paint. If all this is done properly, and all that money spent on preperation, do NOT skimp on a high quality paint job. It will last 10 or more years. The paint these days is much better now,[ that is why I had to keep restoring mine, the paint did not last back then].

Good luck and if u do get it I know u will LOVE it.

mikek556

i have found the owner!!!!! and he is an older gentleman

mikek556

I found the owner of the car. He is a total a**hole. He said he wouldnt take less then 15,000. Thats is rediculous. And he said hes goin to restore it, and he lives in an apartment complex. Where the hell is he goin to restore a muscle car in an apartment complex. Let me know what you think about this ordial.

Oldsguy

I feel your pain dude! This kind of thing has been discussed on car websites before. They think they own a solid gold car, "won't ever sell it, not for a million bucks", but will take 15,000 for it when it is worth a couple grand at the most. Barret Jackson auctions hype up the prices somewhat but there are just real mean people out there too.

88 coupe

You have your answer. Get over it and move on.

Norm

perro

no offense dude, but i sorta sympathise with the owner of the car. maybe he doesnt plan on living in an apartment complex forever? just cause he lives in an apartment complex doesnt mean he cant rent a house next week.

i own a 57 chevy, and a 68 olds convertible. If i had a dollar for everytime someone knocked on my door, left a note on the windshield, tracked me down inside of a store, or came up to me at a stop light wanting to know if the vehicles were for sale, id be rich long ago. Sometimes it can get rather annoying. i tell them that everything is for sale for the right price and then give them some astronomical price i would accept for the car.
I dont blame the guy for telling you $15,000.00 if he didnt want to sell the car. If that was too much money for you then you would leave and stop bothering him. If you were silly enough to pay it, then he could buy another one in much better shape with less to restore on it.

you should be a bit careful with just going up to someones vehicle without a for sale sign on it - i had the 57 sittin in the drive way and had came inside to a nap, and was awoken to a noise outside. a quick peak revealed 3 or 4 teenagers and it looked like they were trying to slim jim the car. I came out with a 12 gauge shotgun and it turned out they were trying to slip a note inside of the window asking if the vehicle was for sale.

my opinions only

i have to commend you on your desire for american 60s iron over import tuners. The kids these days LOVE import tuners and cant see the beauty in those "old big outdated heavy slow dinosaurs that waste gas" (as my nephew tells me).

good luck in your hunt - try craigslist for your area - ive found lots of stuff on craigslist locally that was decent in shape and price compared to say ebay prices.


Mike

FourFourDeuce

nothing better than the look on someone's face when they get beat by a 40 year old car