Finally got a 69 and I stole it!

I posted this in the new memeber area as my very first post tonight. Long story short... It belonged to a friend of a friend, its a true SS350, auto, Factory Air car. All original sheet metal, original floor pans. I ran the numbers on the block and it is the original 4 bolt main 300 horse turbo-fire 350. It's really too good to be true. Anyway, he had a fire under the hood, it came through the firewall and got the dash and smoked the interior before he could get it put out. He had it insured for $25,000... the insurance company (idiots) totaled it then offered it back to him for $5,000.00. He didnt want to fool with it only because he bought it already finished just to drive it. I think he was still in shock. I jumped on it! check out the pics, please let me know what you think.




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please dont tell me you got that car for 5000, why would you sell that for that much. your lucky. congrats!

Great ride. Too bad about the fire.

sorry but I did! I couldnt belive it when he said just give me the $5,000 and you can have it. He was still pretty upset about the whole deal, he just wanted it out of his garage ASAP. So I got it out that day before he could change his mind or **** forbid... he would tell someone and they would offer him more. I've already got the motor ready to come out so I can repaint the firewall and engine bay. Thanks for you comment.


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It's all about in-the-Right-place-at-the-Right-time...some stories do have a happy ending...wish it were me

Hey, I'll give you $6,000 for it and you can pocket a quick grand...what a deal!

I'll keep that in mind when I get frustrated and run out of money! Thanks.

great deal it will not cost much to fix that car back to where it needs to be, i would not sell it .

Wow, great deal, looks nice on the outside with some hood and front valance repair. What about the inside? Need dash, seats, carpet etc?
 

yeah, the interior is all going to need replaced. It was white which to me is not practical for a driver so I am putting black back in it. I'll attach a pic of the interior before the fire that the owner gave me and one I took now. I plan on ripping it all out this weekend so I should be posting a good pic monday (hopefully).


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damn

quote:

ORIGINAL: Blade
damn

Oh damn! I was gonna say that!!

Telling u gonna have to put the wrenches to it

Wow!! Yur kill'in meee!! Was the cowl tag melted?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Scooch

yeah, the interior is all going to need replaced. It was white which to me is not practical for a driver so I am putting black back in it. I'll attach a pic of the interior before the fire that the owner gave me and one I took now. I plan on ripping it all out this weekend so I should be posting a good pic monday (hopefully).


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While the white interior/black carpet is not super practical for every day, it does look quite good when it is clean. The Z/28 I bought in '69 came with that same white/black interior and it really set off the Rallye Green paint, black Z stripes and black vinyl top.
Clyde 

the cowl tag was not melted but everything else on the firewall was.

well, I finally got the interior out today. Got all the dash, wiring, heat and a/c stuff out too. went ahead and removed the brake booster/master cylinder, inner fenders and core support while I was wrenchin. pretty much got everything off the firewall inside and out. Now when I pull the motor I can start prepping and painting. The floor pans and everything else look great by the way... what a relief. So far, so good. please comment, and give any "free" advice also on my next steps.


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Great deal but...did you get stuck with a "salvage" title?

Salvaged Title is not that big a deal anymore. I see 1st Gen salvaged titled Camaro's sell for decent money. Fire damage if stopped right away, is much easier to clean up and repair rather than straitening & repairing a bent frame along with untweaking everything else. Got this info from a local body shop a few years back.  

quote:

ORIGINAL: frostlime69

Salvaged Title is not that big a deal anymore. I see 1st Gen salvaged titled Camaro's sell for decent money. Fire damage if stopped right away, is much easier to clean up and repair rather than straitening & repairing a bent frame along with untweaking everything else. Got this info from a local body shop a few years back.  

 
 
If they're not a big deal, have you bought one? From what I've seen in Calif you can't get more than about 60-70% of what they would sell for with a clean title.

yes, unfortunatly it has to be a salvaged title since the insurance idiots totaled it. Kind of a shame becuse its not a "totaled" car. To me a totaled car should be one thats not fixable at all. Anyway, It's fine with me because I know what the car is and it will stay in my family for many years. I'm sure my 13 year old son will have it long after I'm gone. Even with a salvaged title its still a nice SS car. It will actually be a better running, driving car when I finish with it. And, I'm very happy to have it for what I got it for. These days all you get for $5000 is a non-running rust bucket. Thanks for your comments.

It would be nicer to have the title clean. Don't know where you live but I had a car totalled one time (Calif) It was still running driving (rear ended). I bought it back for the salvage value. The insurance company sent me instructions to mail the pink slip to them since I had both the car and the pink slip. I didn't send it in and the car never got a "salvage" title! Did the guy you bought it from send the pink in? Hopefully not.

Salvage title issues differ from state to state. About four years back I knowingly bought a theft recovery vehicle, and it had a salvage title because of it. When I transferred it to my name, the new title came back clean as a whistle. It might show on a carfax report, then again it might not since it wasn't in an accident, but either way it's not on the title now, and I have documentation as to why it was issued a salvage title in the first place. There are different reasons for a car to be issued a salvage title, and just because a car is issued a salvage title, doesn't mean it was "totalled". It just means that an insurance company payed off the claim for whatever the reason. The owner then has the option to buy the car back, but the large majority of the cars get sold at insurance auctions. Scooch, I would wait to transfer the title to your name. Take plenty of before pictures, which it looks like you already have. After you get it fixed back up, take the car and your pictures to your local DMV office and see if they can give you some sort of document giving it a clean bill of health. You might get lucky, and the "salvage" stigma could get washed off the record. Since you have documentation and pictures, the circumstances pertaining to your car receiving a salvage title isn't going to hurt the value of it one bit. A lot of old cars (that have clean titles) that have been restored have started out in MUCH worse condition than yours is in. If I were a potential buyer of your car, and looking at all the facts, it wouldn't bother me at all.

thanks for the info Camaro 69, I will be waiting a while to do anything with the title and or registration. I am documenting everything as you said. Plus I have everything all the way back to the original invoice on the car, protectaplate, warranty info and stuff. Thanks for your comment.

I pulled the motor and Transmission Saturday. Everything came out easy enough. Didnt run into any surprises. The intake Manifold is a Holley Contender... Does anyone know if this is a good intake for street? I am planning on putting a new Edelbrock 650 Carb on it. Due to my budget I didnt want to change the intake if it is a good one. Also, I was planning on putting electronic ignition back on it since the old distributer and stuff got melted, any recommendations? I've decided to media blast the firewall inside and out before epoxy primering it all. I'll post pics when I get finished with that. Then I can start the fun part... putting in all back together so I can fire it up. Please post comments and advice if you have any.


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