Helping a widow of a fellow Mopar nut
Found out that one of the Mopar guys I used to horse trade with passed away a few months ago. He was just 53 and I've known him for about 20 years. Broke my heart to hear about it. I'd tried to stop by his house a couple of months ago but did not see any Mopars laying around so I figured he moved.
Long story short, his widow is ready to move on and wants to clean out the garage. I stopped by yesterday (forgot to take pictures - sorry) and he has a few things left. I have no idea how much all of it is worth so I figured I'd check with the crowd here.
The first thing (and most valuable) is a 73 Scamp that he mini-tubbed and put a radical 340 in. It's a fully done car that runs and drives great and sounds awesome. It's originally a 318 car and is painted a deep green metallic with a green interior and factory style dual hood scoop. It's got Weld Pro Stars and street slicks on the back. Car looks very straight and interior is perfect. I only saw one small knick on the paint.
Secondly, he has a bunch of engines in his garage. All are pretty much complete. There are 5 small blocks - at least one is a 340 (72) and one is a 360. I could not pull out the others to see what they were. He also has a 69 440 that looks freshly rebuilt.
Lastly, there is a 74 Scamp that he had at a restoration shop when he passed and the shop has since gone out of business. He spent about 20 grand on the car and, frankly, when the widow saw it she was heart broken. It's merely a shell with the engine compartment painted (that deep burgundy metallic from 74 - not sure of the paint code) and the engine in it. Engine is a 340 with edelbrock air gap intake. Not sure if it runs yet or not. The car looks to have had all of the body work done and just needed to be blocked and painted. It has a fiberglass bolt-on six pack style hood on it. The bad part - there are no windows in the car and it has been sitting outside for months. I told his buddy, whom I met with yesterday to discuss the stuff, and he agreed that the longer it sits there, the less it is worth. He's got most of the parts to put it back together in a trailer. Seats are tan velour with a factory style pattern. New carpet in box, new package tray, and good door panels. It's got front disc brakes and a 8-1/4" rear. The way the car sits, it is basically a parts car or a project for someone that has the ability to do it. I'd say it needs about 100 hours or so worth of blocking, painting, and re-assembly.
They had previously advertised the mini-tubbed car on eBay and Craigslist for about 20 grand (which is WAY less than he had into it). Obviously it never sold for that amount and she knows it won't get that much. She's had offers of 11K and has turned them down. I think she is looking to get 15K for it. I think that is a very fair price for the car. You could not build it yourself for less than that.
Bottom line - what are complete 340's (assume they need a rebuild) going for? What about 360's? What about the "project car?"
I am going back over this afternoon to talk with the widow but figured that if I could have some knowledge of the market ahead of time, that would help.
It still seems surreal to me that he is gone. He was always kind of my "go to guy" when it came to A-body parts...