What is an epoxy primered '68 coupe shell with all rust repaired worth?

C code with title, roller although none of the suspension would be restored or tight. This would be if you had a rusted out coupe or a restored car that was crashed. Something that you swap over all the parts. Lets say all the body work is done, just a final sanding and paint.

I looked at a coupe today and it's in pretty nice shape, needs a lower quarter repaired and rear floor pans and the lower back of the wheel tubs that I could see, the cowl looks decent except where the vent and heat box attach. The frame rails aren't rotted or beat up, it does need a battery tray, but someone cut out the rot, it looks like maybe some sheetmetal the same thickness could be welded back in as it's just the floor of the tray that's gone and cut out with a zipper wheel. It has the normal rot just in front and behind the shock tower aprons. Oh, wait, the shock towers are cracked, so the Boss 302 shock tower kit would be welded in as well.

It would be nothing but the shell, there would be no other parts to be able to be removed without cutting them off, just as bare bones as you can get with seam sealer installed, like I said, ready to paint. Would that be worth say, a grand or more? It seems a shame to turn it into a race car, although I wouldn't be cutting it up.

So, if you bought a shell, and a car needing everything, you'd have, say $5k in them both. Then paint, say $2k? and spend, say $2k in various other small items that would need to be replaced in the change over, another grand in wheels/tires, you now have $10k in it, what's it worth?

I understand the whole deal, "it's only worth what someone will pay", but there's that one company that's making the Camaro 'verts and Mustang fastbacks and those things are going for around $10k for a complete shell.

I guess my $1k-$1.5k for just the body, minus the hood, fenders, doors and valances isn't too far off. I've got front fenders and headlight buckets, front and rear valances, no hood and the doors I have have had the inners gutted as they were on a drag only car.

65ShelbyClone said:

Just to give a little perspective, I paid $1900 for my whole car. No rust. Not including speed parts, of course.

I'm a little confused about what you want to do. Do you 1. have complete car with rotten sheetmetal that needs a new unibody.......or 2. do you already have the prepped shell and are looking to assemble it with parts from a rotted-out car you are looking to buy?

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Problem is, those $1900 deals are getting fewer and further between. This is a shell that I'm looking to get for super cheap, almost free in fact. I was looking for a super cheap '67-'68 coupe to throw a 390/C6 combo and a '57-'59 9" I have laying around in. But, on my initial inspection, this body is pretty decent. If I end up getting it, I may get some DP90 rounded up and take the car across the street to my neighbors and media blast the car and have him spray it for me.

I had planned on my car just being DP90'd but after blasting, if it looks like it'll be worth bringing back 'from the dead', I'll be in a delima on whether or not to fix the little bit of rust that I've found and either sell it or find a rusted out complete car and transfer everything over. I don't plan on cutting it up for what I want to do, so it's not like I'd be destroying it, but it might be worth restoring.

I realize it'll be mine and I can do with it whatever I want to do, but I also respect a nice shell, albeit a C code coupe. Like Chelle's console she cut to put a DIN sized radio in, I wouldn't have done, but if it was pretty beat up and not practical to restore, I wouldn't have had much of a problem with it.
I'm not looking to make a fortune if I fix it and sell it as a shell, but I'd want what money I had in it, not so much for my time.