I am goign to look at a 63 comet tonight. I want a spare beater that get good gas mileage while I work on my 53 truck. It is a 63 2 door, 170ci, 3 speed. Looks pretty solid overall, new floorboards where installed and has a new gas tank. The kicker is I cant hear it run. The usual story came we had it running a year ago but it needs "excuse" and its only 30 dollars. Also interior looks semi rough. Seats look okay from pics but door panels and headliner are shot. What is a fair price? She is saying make offer but no sure what to offer. Also any things I should look out for on it?
Thirty bucks? It's worth more in scrap value. I'm going to wager you meant 300 bucks, right? If you can bring a spare battery, crank it over and then buy it and start cleaning it up.
Offer what you would like to pay. Then walk away. If she calls you back, give her the money, and take the car, NOW. Do not: offer what you "can get", dicker excessively, then say you can pick up the car "in a few days". Remember, too, this car is pretty low on the collectible scale, too rough to consider restoring, but if you want it, make your best offer first, and expect her to say no. Then walk. Call in a week or two to see if she's come to your 'vision'. If not, keep looking. Cosmo
I think he meant that the part to repair is only $30. And I have seen people who have 'had it' and wouldn't spend that. Cosmo
Yeah I am sorry. She says she thinks it needs a coil and said its $30. But if i bring a battery and coil still a iffy. Is $800 fair not trying to dick her or get dicked. Was goign to start there maybe but wasnt sure if thats high for it. Oh also it needs a windshield its badly cracked.
$800 sounds like way too much to me, my friend sold a comet 4dr w/rebuilt engine running good and decent enough shape for that much. Unless you;'re lucky that windshield will be at least a few hundy before installation/gasket, and you *may* get lucky and fix it with a battery and coil, but me personally I've never been that lucky. I wouldn't offer more than I was prepared to lose or thought I could re-sell it for in non running shape. In other words 2-400 dollars. I won't pay above parts car value for a car that 'potentially' only needs a cheap fix. Not to say that someone else won't come along wwith the money and they'll get their price, just that I'm not willing to. good luck whatever you decide, and pics are always nice
I always figure that if they believe it only needs a $30 item and they aren't willing to replace it to make sure ut likely needs more. I'd price it as if I had to rebuild or replace the engine.
if you buy the car and end up needing a windshield i'll give you one for it. it'll be up to you to come to Charleston SC to pick it up, though. Comets may not be "collectible" but Falcons have a pretty solid fan base. the 144-170-200 engine family shares a lot and upgrades are easy and fairly cheap due to the popularity of that "OTHER" Falcon derived car and it's following. lived most of my life in Virginia; check that car ALL OVER the bottom and especially the rockers and frame "rails" over the rear shackles and under the front floor. these cars are notorious for giving way in the rear, and the front is a rust trap well known to Falcon owners. get under the dash and shine a light up to check the under side of the cowl. THIS area is a motherfucker to fix and what you want to see is solid, clean metal (not very likely) or very little rust. you CAN cheat and cover the cowl air intake and buy some time, but if it's rusted out (holes) and you've never tackled repair work like that, WALK AWAY from it. to PROPERLY repair the cowl requires thr removal of the windshield, heater box, driver side air duct, and the COWL TOP, which in turn requires the removal of all the front sheetmetal basically. removing the cowl top ideally should be done with a spotweld cutter although it has been done with air chisel, sawzall, and still welded back. the vent tubes invariably will have collected 30 years' worth of shit and rusted through around them, requiring that first you have to replace the more-or-less flat portion of the cowl floor and then cut holes to weld in the tubes. here's where a generous helping of POR-15 will save the car from this needing to be done AGAIN... then, it's a reversal of the removal procedure. shit, go give the girl 200 for it and drive the thing till it falls to bits.
She said she wouldn't drop below 1500. Then today she is asking 800 now ha ha. I emailed her and offered 400. Waiting on a response.
go take a good long look at it and if it doesn't have the pitfalls outlined above, wave $200 cash in her face. that's $75 less than i paid for the shitbox Ranchero i'm using for a donor car.... and you can always flip the paper and tag here on the HAMB if it turns out worse than imagined!
WTF no photos? A two-door 1963 Comet that is not a total POS must be worth a grand. Remember it's a two-door.
Dude. You need to learn the power of positive money; Your luck will POSITIVELY improve when she visually sees the MONEY. In other words, go wave some Benjamins under her nose. A promise of money isn't worth a fart in a hurricane compared to actual pictures of dead statesmen that can be held and fondled. Cosmo
For comets, falcons, or mustangs, 62 rebel gave the best advice you will ever get. Check the cowl from inside. Don't ask me how I know.
Last year paid $200.00 for two 63 comet’s one a two door post and the other is a convertible with a new top.
I bought 3 falcons for 100 bucks when scrap was starting to climb. Held them awhile and got 165 a piece at the local shredder. Best part was I didn't have to deal with dead beat wannabe buyers. Best falcons I ever owned.
Also check the front frame rail and shock tower under the battery box. Some of the suspension attaches there, making rustout a real nightmare.
Here is what a $1,300 car looks like a real nice solid car with mechanical issues. But a blast to drive.
$ 500.00-800.00, check inner cowl for leaks. Check sub-frame under cowl section(torque boxes)real good w/ a screwdriver. Rear frame rails where springs, and bumper mounts. A solid 2dr, that would be a great price.