Need suggestions for selling a rustbucket

[NasaGT]

Need suggestions for what to do with a rustbucket

Short version:
I've got a 69 Convertible with a 6 cyl., C4, good title, dissassembled but almost all original parts included, LOTS of rust. I'm thinking of selling it on ebay. Any suggestions? Should I bother with a reserve? When should the auction end (weekday/weekend)? etc...? If it were yours what would you do with it? Any help/comments are appreciated.

Long version:
I bought a 69 Mach1 this fall, included in the deal was that I had to take this disassembled 69 convertible with the Mach1. After several months of wrestling with the DMV the title has been re-instated (it had been off the books for about 10 years).

The guy I bought it from said that he got it from another fellow who was in the process of restoring it. This fellow apparently had a heart-attack and was no longer able to work on cars anymore. He had started work on the convertible, had disassembled the car and had replaced the floor pans but never painted them. Now they are partially covered in surface rust. Since then the car has been sitting in the garage of the guy I bought it from for almost 10 years. He said he wanted to work on it and the Mach1 but never had the time.

By my estimate the following needs to be replaced:
Rear frame rails
Rear quarter panels ( replacement panels came with the car! )
Trunk floor on both sides
Taillight panel
Both door skins
Drivers front fender is beat up, easier to replace than fix
Hood has bad rust under the front lip (big whole)
There is bad rust where the shock tower and the front frame rail meet on both sides. It'll need shock towers, maybe part of the front rails replaced.

The good news is that the firewall has no rust, the cowl area has no rust, the rest of the front end has no serious rust except the battery tray area, it has new floors (with surface rust), and the top still operates. All the interior pieces and trim for the car are there except the carpet. The cluster looks good, the dash needs to be recovered though. The car is currently a rolling chassis stripped of everything except the top and its components. Its ready for work to be done.

So, the vert is either an excellent long term project for someone, or a good parts car. A friend of mine has been nice enough to store it in his garage for me, but now its time to do something with this thing. If I were made of money I'd park it somewhere and fix it up after I complete the Mach1.

I'm thinking of selling it on ebay. Any suggestions? Should I bother with a reserve? When should the auction end (weekday/weekend)? etc...? If it were yours what would you do with it? Any help/comments are appreciated.

Looking forward to your comments!

 

[ForceFed70]

Tough question.

Since it's a convertible, you may get some money for it.

Can you get it to start/run? Having it at least start would be a big seller.

You may want to consider having it media blasted before selling (or try to sell it and if un-sucessful then media blast it and try again). When buying a rust bucket, the biggest concern is the "unknown". Everyone expects there to be alot more rust than what's visable. Having it media blasted will put them at ease. Since it sounds like this thing is mostly un-assembled anyway, this may not take too much of your time. Generally media blasting isn't too expensive...

 

[NasaGT]

Media blasting is a good idea. If it doesn't sell I may do that. Thanks!

The engine is out of the car. I was told that it ran well when it was pulled, but I've got no proof of that. Plus its been sitting for roughly 10 years.

I'm tempted to part this thing out. I just can't decide what to do with it.

 

[dennis112]

Short version:

I'm thinking of selling it on ebay. Any suggestions? Should I bother with a reserve? When should the auction end (weekday/weekend)? etc...? If it were yours what would you do with it? Any help/comments are appreciated.

Looking forward to your comments!

A reserve is a good idea on ebay because it helps protect you should the bids come in too low. What is the minimal that you would accept to let the car go? If you just want rid of it and don't care what you get for it, put it on Ebay and let her go with no reserve. Being a convertible, you will probably receive a fair price.

You will get the best price for a complete car only if it is assembled. Do you have the time to do that?

The best time to close an auction is late on a Sunday. I try to time my auctions to end at around 10-11pm, Eastern time. To do this, list your car either on a Sunday for 7 days or Thursday for 10 days. I truely believe that listing it for 10 days is well worth it (40 cents more) to get the most exposure. Never close on a weekday--people have other things on there mind besides ebay and project cars. Saturday evenings are OK to close too, but Sunday evenings are the best.

Post plenty of pics on Ebay so that the buyer knows what they are getting and be honest about the rust and stuff, just like you did in this post. Watch your auction and answer questions promptly. Beware of those that try to buy it early, unless they are local and you feel comfortable with the person and the price being offered.

If you sell the car as a whole, you can get rid of the car in short order. As parts, you will have lots of time invested in listing, packing, and shipping parts. I find that shipping anything over 5-6 packages a week is a little tough with a full time job.

Without seeing pictures of the car, it is really hard to decide what it might be worth. If it is too rough, it might be best to just part it out. Ebay does offer you the ability to get a decent price for parts. Some parts sell well, especially the convertible top stuff. Some common parts are not worth too much and are better off being sold as scrap.

 

[unrealmach1]

Not to be negative, but it has been my experience that 69 verts on ebay are not worth a whole lot. Most people would rather have a sportroof. If you are looking to get the most you can you might want to part it out or make it a 30 day auction. 30 day auctions allow more people to see the ad and bid, it also give you time to sell locally. I would sell with no reserve and put that in the header of the ad as it is a plus. All you need to do is set the min. bid for the lowest amount that you would take for the car. As for blasting the car I wouldn't do that. In my area it costs around $1500 to strip a car plus you would need to prime it or it will start to rust in a day. I found a good deal to get mine stripped, but still have $1000 in stripping and primer. It could be just me, but I don't think you could get back extra cost. Just my $.02

 

[simplyJ]

if you do decide to part it out I need some firewall sheetmetal. I'm in NoVA.

 

[69Rcode_Mach1]

Got any pics of the car? If I had some cash I would take it.

 

[NasaGT]

The best time to close an auction is late on a Sunday. I try to time my auctions to end at around 10-11pm, Eastern time. To do this, list your car either on a Sunday for 7 days or Thursday for 10 days. I truely believe that listing it for 10 days is well worth it (40 cents more) to get the most exposure. Never close on a weekday--people have other things on there mind besides ebay and project cars. Saturday evenings are OK to close too, but Sunday evenings are the best.

....

Thats good to know - thanks. I've always done the same for ebay, but wasn't sure if cars should be handled the same way.

Not to be negative, but it has been my experience that 69 verts on ebay are not worth a whole lot. Most people would rather have a sportroof. If you are looking to get the most you can you might want to part it out or make it a 30 day auction. 30 day auctions allow more people to see the ad and bid, it also give you time to sell locally. I would sell with no reserve and put that in the header of the ad as it is a plus. All you need to do is set the min. bid for the lowest amount that you would take for the car. As for blasting the car I wouldn't do that. In my area it costs around $1500 to strip a car plus you would need to prime it or it will start to rust in a day. I found a good deal to get mine stripped, but still have $1000 in stripping and primer. It could be just me, but I don't think you could get back extra cost. Just my $.02

Yeah, what little searching I have done looks like the 69 verts don't sell well for whatever reason.

if you do decide to part it out I need some firewall sheetmetal. I'm in NoVA.

If I part it out I'll let you know.

Got any pics of the car? If I had some cash I would take it.

 

[69Rcode_Mach1]

Don't part that out, that car has potential, I wish I had money right now, but I blew it all buying a 5.0. Sell it whole so someone can bring it back to life, you part out the ones that are far beyond saving, but yours has a good chance of being saved, I would do it. Wanna hang onto it for a year, and I'll buy it off ya.

 

[FallujahMedic]

I'd agree that the car has potential, my '69 was pretty rough when I got it. A few months on a rotisserie is all it needs.

 

[NasaGT]

It's definately savable. If I had a place to keep it I wouldn't let it go. I've barely got room for one project car, much less two.

I think I'll put it up on ebay, start it low with no reserve and see what happens. Thanks for all of the comments guys!

 

[NasaGT]

To closeout this thread - here's what happened: I put it up on ebay, started the auction at $300 with no reserve. The car went for $2400 - it far exceeded what I thought it would go for.

 

[dennis112]

To closeout this thread - here's what happened: I put it up on ebay, started the auction at $300 with no reserve. The car went for $2400 - it far exceeded what I thought it would go for.

At-a-boy--Good Job. Thanks for the update.

 

[5.0StangRacer]

congrats on the sale, seems like a nice price for both buyer and seller!

 

[mudbilly]

At-a-boy--Good Job. Thanks for the update.

+1

i hate it when there is no closure on threads like these...:SNSign:

 

[Pakrat]

Damn, wish I had seen this sooner, I was so excited when I saw the thread. There are some parts I still need that I just can't seem to locate, I would paid that and more for it.