Came upon a 1970 wildcat that a lady was willing to sell in my home town. Its a 455 car that has been sitting outside for a lot of years. one owner, all there and not molested at all. Original hubcaps=, interior, etc. the body is in really good shape, i couldn't find even a scrape on it. windshield is leaking so the whole interior is wet, floors can push right though with ease. headliner and seats sagging from the moister. 68000 org miles on it. sinking in the ground about half way up the tire. didn't get to the trunk, figured just as bad. engine all there expect there is a rot hole in the hood size of your fist. i have never had one of these, skylarks and gs's sure but not one of the bigger ones. Is it worth restoring or just get it and part it out. The price is really cheap. Can someone who has one of these or is familiar give me some insight? thanks.
There are few parts to be had for these cars been looking for parts for years for my brother, so parting it out is probably your best bet, if it is rusty. I found a '70 LeSabre Conv. same body it came apart when we tried to get it out of where it had been parked for years. Good Luck!
Great car , restortit you will be upside down in it, parts are hard to find.that being said a great car
It's the last year of the Wildcat, the only one with a 455.....beautiful car. Super-desirable to my mind, but then I am only here for the Wildcats, really. Depends how deep your pockets are and whether that depth matches your desire for a 1970 'Cat. Because have no doubt, that will empty your wallet getting it roadworthy.
If it's $500 cheap, and you're up for the work of parting a car, I'd say go for it. If the 455 is a good core, you may get half of your money back right there. All the rust issues that are mentioned are probably just the tip of the iceberg. This car is certainly not restorable in the sense of breaking even on it if the idea is to then sell it. If you can afford it and are up for the search for impossible parts, by all means buy it and let the resto begin. It won't be easy or cheap, or quick. All that said, I wish I'd bought a decent condition 69 about 15 years ago, but I just didn't have any place to put it. When I'm working again, a driver 'cat will be among the Buicks I'll be considering.
good info. i hear "hard to find parts" which ones are they. exterior looks good. all grill headlights taillights all there. interior is gone plus floor pans and id imagine the trunk. Didn't know was the only year with the 455. cheap in the neighbor hood of $200. if taken on to restore is it worth it in the end? i know its not a gs and a bigger car. is it desirable or just eh..
It's worth that for scrap after you sell stuff. At that price it'd be worth buying as a 'learn to weld/redneck fabricate' floors and trunk pan if you can get it running. If you answered this I missed it-cuantas puertas? (how many doors?). In all seriousness, I'd go for it if you have room to store it; assess it as a project, try to get it running, and part it to scrap if it's too far gone. There's not much money to be made on Wildcats, but they're great cars. Patrick
I say fix it if all it pretty much needs is floor pans and trunk pan and if you can do the work yourself. Exterior body parts would be hard to find with that car but should be the same floor pans and trunk as an Impala so not so hard to find those parts. If the back window stayed sealed and the weather strip for the trunk kept the water out, the trunk pan might even still be in decent shape? I'm sure someone probably makes replacement interiors for the car as well or find good used and you have a cool old car. Shouldn't be to hard to find a new hood or perhaps the hole can be patched if in the rest of the hood is in good shape? Replacing interior pieces is a hole lot easier than welding quarter panels on and all the rest of the work involved to get paint back on it. Besides the seats and carpet need to come out to restore those and while they're out you can fix the floor. The best part about replacing the floor pans is that it wouldn't have to look perfect if this is the first time you've done this sort of work because they get covered with carpet anyway. Just would have to be structurally sound so the seats don't fall out while you're driving the car. :eek2: Sounds like a simple restoration if the body looks as good as you say, you might even get lucky and be able to start the engine in the car if its not damaged already. Even if the engine is seized you still may be able to get it back to running. If the body is nice but the floors AND the frame are toast the resto would involve installing a new frame which if you can get a deal on a good frame would make this a little more involved but still doable. GL Derek
I would pay a great deal of attention to Roberta in post #2. Even with her career connections she can't find parts for her brother. I would imagine anything interior is not reproduced, nor body panels, exterior items. Car sinking into the ground, you stated halfway up the wheels, an invitation for lower body rust. But for $200, you don't have much to lose. Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Fix it. Here the one place that sells the carpet; http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-70-Inv...m5691422e2c:m:mcX7a6NtL4IRzc-5xd6GXaA&vxp=mtr Here are others; http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...carpet.TRS0&_nkw='70+wildcat++carpet&_sacat=0 The interior can be done using sister car or custom components if need be if you can't find decent used that is reasonably priced. You said "the body is in really good shape, i couldn't find even a scrape on it", in my book that says save the car. It would be a WHOLE lot less work fixing it than parting it out, plus you don't have to deal with the people that want a "deal" so they can resell the part(s) they buy. I may be wrong but it kind of looks like the part it out crowd may be drooling to buy some of the parts from the car? o No: I love driving my B-body car more than my A-body cars if I am only planning on cruising or for long trips, its like sitting on the couch in the living room watching a big screen TV when you're driving a big B-body car. :Brow: Anyway, if its a 4 door car then probably part it out, if its a 2 door car fix it, save the Wildcat from extinction and enjoy it. If you can do all the work yourself and get the engine running without having to rebuild it(maybe it was parked because it had transmission problems?) and if you can do the work yourself, you can at least break even or perhaps make a few bucks depending on who is interested in it when you're ready to sell it? Having a TH400 rebuilt should cost less than 1K if its the trans is why it got parked? I believe you can get a complete fully welded together floor pan for a '70 Impala which would be the same pan as the Wildcat for around 1K IIRC. Or it can be quite a bit less if you can get away with piecing the floor in if it doesn't need the whole thing? There is the 2 piece floor pan option as well that would be easier to install with the frame still attached. Plenty of advise on how to install floors here if you choose to save this endangered species and plenty of help here for interior advise as well. If you said the exterior of the body was rotted out I would of said part it out as well because that is the most expensive hardest thing to restore on any of these cars. Floor pans not so bad to do, and in the above link you can cover up any cosmetic mistakes you may have done with new carpeting. Let us know what you decide. GL Derek
Definitely buy it. Get it home and the assess what you have. Take a lot of pics of everywhere on the car. Post them here. That will make it much easier for anyone to advise either way. And, if there is some member (s?) close to you they can possibly stop by to give their first hand opinion. Just my 2 pennies.
ok i'm going to go buy this monday and take some pictures and post them (working all weekend) but ill try to get a buddy to do it. then i can go from there . ill see what the the reaction is after i post it. i know its green with white interior. the car was just parked after the husband died. it was running driving car then just sat outside. my only worry is if it will pull apart pulling out of its ruts. its not sitting on the ground but darn close.
Yup, good call, let's see pictures then we can help you with thoughts on what to do or not do with it!
Don't just yank it out of the holes the tires are in, jack up each corner one at a time and fill the holes in or bridge them with some wood or something before you start to pull it out of where its at and you should be more able to get it out of there in one piece. Maybe bring a shovel to cave in the sides of the tires holes with the car lifted to get it up higher, plenty of options just use some good ole redneck ingenuity.(you don't have to be an actual redneck to do that)GL Maybe take some video of moving it to post? :eek2: Should be good entertainment? :TU: Derek
I'm all for buying it, then deciding which way to go with it once a proper evaluation can be made. I have ZERO interest in parts, and honestly there's no call for implying that anyone who suggested parting it out, did so for personal interests. :spank:
Don't just yank it out of the holes the tires are in, jack up each corner one at a time and fill the holes in or bridge them with some wood or something before you start to pull it out of where its at and you should be more able to get it out of there in one piece. Maybe bring a shovel to cave in the sides of the tires holes with the car lifted to get it up higher, plenty of options just use some good ole redneck ingenuity.(you don't have to be an actual redneck to do that)GL Quote" Good advice but be careful, jacks and jack stands work great on concrete, not on dirt. Bring some plywood or similar to put under jacks and stands. AND DON'T GET UNDERNEATH IT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE WHEN ATTACHING TOW CHAIN, ETC!!!!
