What is it worth? '69 Chevelle SS396 project

[SeattleCarGuy]

Sorry to put up one of these posts WITHOUT PICTURES, but I just got the call and will go look at sometime this week.

A guy that works at one of our companies that I am in an owner in knows that I am car guy. I was up visiting today and he pulls me aside for a quick car chat. He said his friend has come onto some hard times and needs to sell a car they've had in the family since 1972. Desperately needs money. This employee friend of the car owner assumed I would be interested in a Chevy muscle car so he tells me about it.

Anyway, the employee saw the car a week ago. He describes it as Light blue (assume Lemans Blue) with white side stripe, 396 (assume 325hp), 4 speed, console, factory tach and guages, white bucket seat interior. Complete car, says it hasn't been driven in around 10 years, but ran when parked. Normal rust in fenders and quarter panels, but not so bad that full replacement is needed.

I asked about A/C and which wheels on car? He wasn't sure.

To me, the Lemans Blue with white buckets and console and the 4 speed is a big plus. However, doing a full concours restoration on a 325hp car could quickly put you underwater.

I don't want to take advantage of his hardship, but I would likely look at this car just to bring it home, clean it up and then likely flip it. Slight chance I park in my shop and restore it in the future, but probably not unless I see it this week and it turns out to be an L78. I am nearing completion of my L78 Nova restoration and next on my restoration list is a '69 Z-28.

Knowing these facts right now without pictures, what do you think would be fair to pay for this car and what would be a steal?

Thanks

[mockingbird812]

Paul,

I'll get things rolling here...."Light blue" is more likely to be code 53 Glacier Blue or Code 55 Azure Turquoise (most consider L Blue as a medium blue). Or, it could have been repainted a non-Chevelle color years ago. You did not say whether car has docs/owner history, or original drivetrain. Floor and trunk condition are huge too. A rough wag would be a market value of 6-8K with my above variables changing value plus or minus. Get some pix and details as soon as practical. Good luck!

[SeattleCarGuy]

Thanks Sam. I will get some pictures when I see the car later this week and I'll post those.

I was told he is the second owner, his dad bought it in 1972 and he got it when father passed away. Was told it is original drivetrain, never apart. Was told car is "completely original" so I am assuming original paint and interior as well. My contact said he's known the car since he was in high school in the early 80's and when he saw it a week ago it looked the same, just dusty in the garage.

Thanks,

Paul

[69hurstSC]

4 speed helps. 5K sounds like a steal with true value around 8K IMO.

[chevelleshack]

put me in line if you get it & decide to flip , got some parts for a 69 i need to get off the floor .
Phil

[Bill Pritchard]

Hmmmmm.....depending on how much work it needs, that's pretty much <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">EXACTLY</span></span> what I have been looking for well over a year now....

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...upe#Post561575

[SeattleCarGuy]

Ok folks, I went an saw the car last night and I ended up buying it. It was not quite as described, but let me start with how the story unfolded:

I had left a message with the owner. I got home around 5pm and was getting ready to take my 5 year old to karate when my phone rang. I recognized the number as the car owner since I had called him hours earlier so I ditched into a back bedroom so my wife wouldn't hear the conversation go down. The owner says his brother bought it in 1972 from a dealer in Eastern Washington State and he bought it from his brother around 1980 or so. I ask what engine it has. He says &quot;it was originally an L78, but my brother blew that up so he put another 396 in it out of an earlier Chevelle with oval port heads.&quot; I ask about the trans and rear end. &quot;it has the M21 4 speed and 4.10 posi&quot;. He says both trans and rear end are original to the car. I ask if it has tach and guages and any other cool options. He says, &quot;yes, it has the factory tach and guages and also the sport suspension with rear sway bar&quot;. OKAY, this sounds pretty interesting! Real L78 and at least the trans and rear are original! I ask how much and first he goes on about stating that &quot;it needs a lot of work, but I have already bought lots of the parts to restore it&quot;. He claims he has two new GM fenders and a passenger side quarter panel, as well as new door panels and window felts and GM wheel well moldings, etc.

He then names a price which is lower than the estimates above and thankfully not the super high restored already price that some guys think they should get for a pile of scrap. Hearing that, and believing this is an L78 car with desirable color (he didn't know the color, just said &quot;light blue&quot, I immediately tell my 5 year old &quot;sorry buddy, karate is cancelled tonight!&quot;... (argument number 1 ensues)...

Then, I ask my wife to sit down as I have news for her. (argument number 2 ensues). Considering I have bought two cars and a fishing boat previously without telling her, I figure I can tell her about this first since its really not that much money. Said argument lasts about 10 minutes, which isn't bad.

I grab my 5 year old and jump in the truck, stop at the bank and grab the cash before closing time and fortunately, the car is only 15 minutes drive time.

I get there and the guy is very nice and leads me out to the garage behind his house. Big 2 1/2 car garage, and its heated which is a big plus since its around 30 degrees out right now. The Chevelle is buried behind all kinds of stuff and has more stuff on top of it.

He opens the trunk, its full of junk and there's an M21 sitting there. He says this is the original M21 out of the car. The trunk pan appears to be rusted, but not rusted through. The rubber seal is nice and you can see the paint and quarter panels are original. There is a mountain of other junk in the trunk so I can't see every inch of it.

First disappointment: I climb over the quarter panel to get to the driver's side. No bucket seats. It is parchment interior, but its a bench seat. Big tall Muncie shifter in front of bench with a T-handle on it.

Second disappointment: I look at the dash board. Original dash pad appears very nice and uncracked. Radio is missing. But, factory tach has a 5500 rpm redline. Yellow zone starts at 5000 and red zone starts at 5500. Not an L78!

I tell him that I don't believe its a real L78 as it doesn't have a 6000 rpm redline. He says he remembers the car having rectangular port heads, forged crank and 4 bolt mains. He says his brother sold the motor after taking it apart and then buying the 396 and trans that are in the car now. I suggest that maybe between 1969 and 1972 when they didn't own it, someone else put that L78 in, but it isn't there now and the tach redline tells me it wasn't born an L78.

Anyway, it is too cluttered in the garage to really get around the whole car, but I can see that there are dings all around and the passenger quarter panel has a pretty good sized dent just above the wheel well. The rust in the doors and fenders and behind the wheels is not bad, definitely would not have to replace entire panels to fix. In the interior, however, the floor behind the driver's seat has a baseball sized hole in it and there are holes in the driver foot well as well. Could use a new floor or at least patches.

The rear seat bottom is missing. I say what happened and he says he doesn't remember, but it was likely thrown out over the years. Bummer as there might have been a build sheet there.

I ask about documentation in general and he says he doesn't have anything like a window sticker or selling papers, but he will search the house. He does have clean title.

We finally open the hood.

Big disappointment: Not only is there nothing there from an original L78, but there is really nothing there from an original 325hp car either. Engine has headers, Weiand intake, Holley 750 and braided hoses and cheesy pulleys, etc. He does say that the car ran when he parked it and he says it ran real strong and that with fluid changes and clean fuel, he swears it will start right up. Ok, that's not too bad.

Anyway, he has a lot of extra parts he mentioned and they are all up on a high shelf buried behind more stuff, but I can see GM plastic wrapping around the new wheel well moldings and he claims that the fenders and quarter panel he bought 15 years ago are also GM (NOS) parts. He has one really nice parchment door panel on the passenger door wrapped in plastic because he wanted to see how good the new panel looked. Ok, it looks good. He says he also has a brand new headliner and carpeting for it. He says he also has a &quot;bunch of other stuff and everything goes with the car&quot;.

Ok, I say, &quot;I would like to offer you $500 less because its not an L78 and so many motor parts are missing, but I will give you your full price because you're throwing in every single thing that goes with it.&quot; Deal done.

Since the car is buried and this gentleman has serious health issues, he says he is going to have my employee that introduced us in the first place over on Saturday to help clear things to get the car out. I tell him I'd like to come get it on Sunday morning. I gave him a deposit and he agreed.

Ok, so picture time and questions for the gallery:

(1) It is a 10C built, Fremont, CA car, code 71 71 LeMans Blue trim tag.

(2) I spaced out and didn't photograph the interior, but I will share more photos next week when I get it home and clean it up.

Finally, I spoke to a friend last night that says it still may be an L78 as he claims some early (10C being early in his book) cars with L78 would have had a 5500 red line tach as the 325hp cars all had just 5000 red line. Still doesn't sound right to me? Your thoughts???

I didn't look for the big 3/8 fuel line, and the car has aftermarket wheels with all tires flat so I couldn't see the rear end code, but i could see 12 bolts and a rear sway bar. He swears the car has a 4.10 posi and it was always doing over 3000 rpm at 60mph. Will know for sure when I get it home.

What are your thoughts on value knowing what I have described?

What are the NOS fenders and quarter panel worth?

Any other random thoughts on this car?

Thanks for reading along,

Paul

[69hurstSC]

Congrats on the purchase. All the best in documenting.

[SS427]

Congrats on your find Paul. Some day my ship will come in.......

[Postsedan]

Paul,

I just answered and replied to your email.

Dan