the first rule of mopar club....

but he also expressed finding another same color hood rather than body work and painting the car.

Yeah, good luck with that. I can see going to a junk yard and finding a bumper cover for a 1999 Caravan that would match, but I hood for a '61 Lancer that will match and not need paint itself? Like I said: good luck with that. I take it this guy doesn't get out much...

am i jerk? am i breaking the rules??? obviously people paint cars all the time on this site....i'm just trying to figure out where he's coming from.

What rules? A gentlemen's agreement that you continue to let the car deteriorate? Stone chips, flaking paint, dents, dings, etc, expose the metal under the paint to the elements. Surface rust now becomes rust holes later. May take a while, sure, but eventually the car will need to be painted.

If the paint was in good shape, then you'd be sitting on a survivor, which puts the car into a different category on the collectability scale. If you've been to Carlisle or any of the other bigger shows then you'll see cars in the survivor tent that otherwise wouldn't get a second look on the show field.

After the deal is made it's your car to do with as you please. By selling to you he is releasing all responsibility of ownership to you. He longer has any say in what - or what doesn't happen - to the car.