I looked at a 1928 Chevrolet 4 door sedan today and am thinking about adding it to my junk collection but I need an appraisal so I know what to offer the owner. No money was mentioned today but the owner said he didn't realize the shape it was in until we started going over it. The rotten wood is no concern to me and the driver's door is the only bad rust spot on the car. It belonged to the owners Grandfather and was bought new. Obviously I would like a fair estimate of its worth but also is it appealing to all here on the HAMB? Would you take it on or pass it by? Thanks in advance for any and all help. If I can add anything please let me know. The first four or five pics were sent to me by a friend and I didn't think to take more clear pictures of the outside.
Whether other people like it or not shouldn't even be a factor. If you buy it, you're the one who'll have to live with it.
Wood makes up a GREAT percentage of that car. It is a standing framework that the Fisher body panels are all nailed to. I use early ('25-'31) Chevy frames when I can find them...the rails, mainly. There are narcissists that reframe the wood in these cars, and will relate the tales. (you can visit with them if blood-related)
Did you find out he was selling it and went by to look at it? If so, he needs to set a price. If he doesn't, offer him a grand and see what kind of mood he gets in. Now if you just cold called him, continue researching for what's a fair price, but keep in mind..."Pappy bought it new in '28", is going to add more to his "worth it" value. It's tough to be both buyer and seller....
Hmmm. Not real desirable car. Up to the axles in the dirt. A lot of wood work. Not worth a second look to me.
Talk about sitting and rotting...... What a shame. Looks like it was a pretty decent car when they parked it there.
My second old car was a 1928 Chevy 4 door. And you should be concerned with the wood. Its a nightmare in these cars. Its behind everything. After a couple of years, I gave up on mine and got rid of it. Lesson learned the hard way. Unless you are a cabinet maker by trade then you may well regret buying that car. Its been many years since I had mine, but to me that looks more like a 27 instead of a 28.
The 28 4 banger has the 2 port head and is a cool unit if you're into early 4's. If it turns over, the car would double in value in my book. If its got a title and the engine turns, might be worth 2k to the right buyer. I wouldn't be a buyer for that car but that doesnt make it worthless. Sent from my LG-M153 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I was a cabinet maker/trim carpenter for several years so that is why the woodwork doesn't really scare me off. And, my buddy has done wood work in an old Chrysler.a I had $1,000 in my mind after looking at the car but wanted to get some more opinions before I made the offer. I did ask him what he wanted and all he said was make me an offer. He said he wanted the car to go to someone that would do something with it. And, both of us know some of the same old car people so I think there was a little connection there. I think I will go back to him later this week with my offer. He can only say yes or no. Would the trim tag give the year of the car? Where is the VIN? The guy that originally told me about the car said he thought the asking price was around $2,500 but, like I said earlier, the owner didn't realize the condition of the vehicle until we started looking at it.
- you can do the replacement but, needs to be considered when making offer and let owner know that it will add a lot of work to it - 2,500 sounds like a sentimental price. No VIN on early cars like this one.
a buddy of mine bought a really nice running, driving older resto tudor for 10k......this is one of those cars you're upside down on even if you get it for free....
Approach him slowly with that offer, might offend him, being Gramps old truck, I'd not tell you how to negotiate. I/e, I'm going through a similar thing with my 81 YO mother, she wants to sell my Dad's '03 PU...thing is it'snon-op'ed, and she thinks some one will just buy it when I tell them..."It runs fine, no problem, gimme the 7K for it, but you can't test drive it"...heck, I'm having a hard time explaining to her that unless she pays some bucks to get it licensed and insured so it can be test driven, she won't get anywhere near the book price for it...now where I draw the similarities with your potential purchase, and my mom's potential sell, is this truck has a need for a new instrument cluster...the cluster (think of the wood in the Chevy) can be bought for about 300bucks, but then it needs to be programmed $$$, installed $$$, etc, so if the average Joe can't do it himself, triple that cost...or more, to get it working...but in her mind, it's just "300 bucks"...so don't be surprised if he owner says "well, a wood kit is just XXXX$$", and doesn't have knowledge to what it takes to install it. Best of luck, I'd rather weld in patch panels, etc, than contour wood
It does have a '28 motor in there, but doesn't look to have the front brakes, radiator shell or headlamps of the '28 model from those pictures. It looks like there would be huge amount of woodwork to do on that body. The chassis and running gear would make a nice speedster though.
If you like it and your not worried about the rotten wood , offer scrap iron price and go from there .
It's a '27 with '28 engine, a common swap. It does look like a good project, that is so much better than what most people start with. I would offer $1000-2000 depending on condition when inspecting it.
If you would be happy with it for a grand i dont think thats an unfair offer. Make sure he knows about your woodworking background and your intentions to fix it. If you have to come up a little its probably still worth it. If it were mine I'd rebody it from the cowl back as a boat tail speedster, would eliminate a lot of the difficult work and its already got the cool drivetrain, but no matter what itd be cool to see it saved. Sent from my LG-M153 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Id say a grand also, i would make a sedan delivery out of it,after you weld the rear doors up. you would have a strong shell to start with, plus it would be cool.
Im thinking $1000 max too and he should be thanking you as much as you thank him for the transaction. It will take a special person to make that car happen. But I kind of like it. I just dont see a lot of people wanting that particular car
I had to go to the doctor today for a second opinion on having four vertebrae in my neck fused. Looks like I will be having the surgery if and when workers comp approves it. Anyway, I am going to call the owner tomorrow and make a date to see him in person. I am going to start at $750 and go as high as $900. I did find out that his original asking price was $1,500 and that was before we looked the car over and he saw what shape it was in. If I get it for 9 or less I'll take my chain saw over there and start cutting a path to get it out. Y'all wish me luck.
Consider turning it into a speedster; scrap the body, sell what you can to someone who needs it to restore one, and build/buy a speedster body to put on it. Would probably be no more difficult to build a speedster body than fix all that wood in that 4-door.
Well, I finally got around to calling the owner back. After some discussion I asked him if he had a figure in his head but he wouldn't give me one so I offered him $500 not really expecting to get it. He accepted the offer so I have to get my chain saw running to get to the car! Anybody got any suggestions for pulling the car about 150 feet through a yard on four very flat tires? I have a strong winch on the trailer but it will be tricky getting within the 150 foot distance. Once I get it home I'll be bugging you for help with it.
I have a friend with a small backhoe that should do the trick. I hope the wheels being buried about 8 inches deep wont be too big of a problem.
Lift it out of the holes first, fill the holes with some stones or dirt. You don't want to bend stuff that you might want later.
I thought about jacking it up and placing layers of 3/4" plywood under the wheels. The rears are not as deep as the fronts. I know it's a longshot but maybe the tires will hold air long enough to get it on the trailer. Will a regular tire chuck work?
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