Beware...Before You Buy a Car
Beware...Before You Buy a Car. About a year ago, I was flipping through Thrifty Nickel paper looking for another
restoration project. I found an ad for a "69 Pontiac GTO repaired and prepped for paint. Just needs paint. $5, 000 or best offer." I called the guy and asked what he meant by "repaired and prepped." His response was "it just needed to be repainted and was ready to go."The vehicle was only 20 miles away so I decided to take a ride and check it outfor myself. Me and one of my buddies went over and inspected the vehicle. The description the man gave the impression that this was going to be a great car and wouldn't need much, but when we arrived we quickly found out otherwise.We started with the top side of the car and inspected the hood and underneath. First visible bad sign was the carburetor was missing.
The guy said it was a nice driving car, yet there wasn't even a carburetor. His answer was.."Oh I have it off cleaning it." How do you advertise a nice driving car without a carburetor?As we inspected further we started to notice how he had used spray paint to make it appear that the engine was new, but the reality was it was just a fresh spray paint can job.We pulled up the carpet to find rust pitted holes that he had smeared Bondo over, but it had squeezed through the floor board, which we could see through the other side. He must have used 2 gallons of Bondo on this car. This was just the beginning....I could go on and on, but will stop here. The lesson here is don't believe everything you read. Go and visibly inspect any car you are looking to buy or pay a professional to complete the inspection for you. It may cost some money to have the vehicle inspected, but you will find it to be money well spent because you can easily get ripped off.
PS. Don't get ripped off. Take the time to inspect your vehicle and get GTO Soup's Complete Classic Car Restoration Course to help you refinish your gem quickly and easily with our step-by-step instructions. Go to http://www.gtosoup.com
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How do I go about getting started with buying/restoring a 1957 Chevy Bel Air?
I've been searching the internet for months trying to find any info I can specifically about this model of car. I've learned a lot, but there are some major topics I haven't been able to learn ANYTHING about. I'm starting to get quite frustrated as it seems that nearly every resource out there is geared towards people who already know what they're doing and/or have had one of these cars for years already.
For example, on general guides I've read over and over that I need to research what typical problem areas are for the model of car I'm interested in. Do they have problems with fuel gauges breaking often, wiring problems, etc... But anytime I try to research this for the 57 Bel Air all I ever get is advertisements for replacement parts, cars for sale, or toys/models. None of the forums I've looked at have any stickies for novices, either. There is a local car club, but it seems to consist entirely of much older men who couldn't be bothered to give me the time of day.
Would anyone mind answering these questions for me in regards of what I need to get started, what to look out for, etc?
1. Assuming I plan to farm out complicated stuff like bodywork, paint, mechanics, etc... and only plan to do minor restoration myself/maintenance, what sort of tools would I need? Assuming I get average entry-level grade tools/hobby grade tools (as opposed to professional grade), about how much will this cost?
2. What are problem areas for a 57 Bel Air? As in, what should I look for when purchasing one, and what kind of problems often occur as far as maintenance for this particular model? (IE: what, if anything, requires the most frequent repairs on one of these cars?)
3. What kind of places would I want to check out in my local area if I wanted to get a look at one of these up close? (scrapyard, body shops, etc?) I can find these cars easily enough on the internet, but I'd like to get a better look in person so I can better understand/apply what I've read so far.
4. How often are these cars stolen? I've seen a few threads on car forums where owners report their cars being stolen, but I can't find any info in regards to how often this happens. My main concern is that I was considering getting this as a daily driver, but if I have a significantly higher risk of it getting stolen anytime I park it in public than I would with any other classic car (yes, I realize a classic car is more likely to get nabbed than a nondescript modern one) then I may have to rethink my plans...
5. Assuming I only want to do minor bodywork/restoration myself and leave the major stuff to professionals, about what kind of condition car (IE: price range) should I want to be looking at? I'm hoping to spend no more than $10k on the car itself and an additional $5-$15 on restoration. Is this even possible, or am I in fantasy land?
Sorry for being so verbose, but I'm sick and tired of fruitless internet searches.
Edit: This is a long term thing. I don't plan on buying anything for quite some time (10 or so years from now.)
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Where can I get restoration work done on my 1977 VW T2 Bay near Aberdeen?
I've a 1977 VW T2 Bay campervan and need to get full bodywork restoration done on it, eventually interior too. I'm struggling to find any places in Scotland never mind near Aberdeen. If there are none North of the border I'm willing to travel. Need someone to do sound work so rust won't come back, any suggestions?
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