1968 Valiant Help

[halfafish]

Many knowledgeable racers have weighed in above with good advice. My first thought when viewing your original post was, "half-finished project". Which just about guarantees surprises all over. I suggest verifying EVERYTHING the seller says, to make sure it jives with the car's description.

I bought a half-finished project car, because I got it dirt cheap. The PO had passed away, which means I have to inspect every single part of the car to see what's been done, was it done right, did it use good parts, and so forth. I'm OK with that process because of the dirt cheap business. IMO the car you list is moderately overpriced for coming in mid-stream and trying to carry on.

 

[junkyardhero]

This was incredibly informative and helped me actually evaluate the car as opposed to looking at just sum of parts. And yes, car needs a lot of work. I just now need to figure out a way to let the owner of the valiant down easy because I was pretty serious about buying it but told him i’d do research and what not then we would talk about price. And you’re right, Spring Fling is coming and i’m 30 minutes away!

it's so easy to get all swirly eyed at a big pile of parts and swept up with some really nice rims and expensive rubber, especially when that's not only a key element of how you envision the car to look but also a big line item on the expense list.

i always try and evaluate a project from a stand point of what it would cost to get to an ideal end point or finished product. this approach usually sorts out the woah factor of that big shiny pile of parts by weighing the realities of other considerations that are generally overlooked-- lead among them when the discussion of skill sets comes up. cuz if you're gonna be paying somebody to do a lot of the work, it becomes a whole new ball game.

another factor that tends to get overlooked is the "why" portion of the car being up for sale. what are the particulars: ran out of money? space? time? lost the desire and vision? bought somebody else's project and got in over their head? got to the point where it's time to spend the real money on the big expensive stuff? all of that can be critical in making a decision.

all this is not to say that buying a project is a bad idea. far from it. but you just have to be realistic and truthful about what you want, what work you are willing to do or pay somebody to do, and if you have the drive to see the build through.

 

[Les Gibson]

There's a lot that I don't like in the pictures of that car. It still needs a lot of work to finish. If you have the time and skills to do the finish work yourself then this may be a decent buy. If not you'll be spending thousands more having someone else finish the work for you. Personally I would pass on this car and look for something that's more finished and suitable for the type of car you want.