I need some advice please. I just located what I think is a genuine 1973 Stage 1 car in a yard near where I live. I ran the VIN number and it indeed came back as a 1973 Century with the Stage 1 option. Problem is the Cowl tag is missing. The car is complete minus exhaust, and definately has had some body work done to it in the past, but all in all is in reasonably sound condition. From everything I looked at, all the Stage 1 options are still on the car including all the exterior markings and emblems. The engine is dressed like the 455 Stage 1, and head markings are X. I didn't get a chance to find the block marking as the guy was closing up and shooed me out. Posi is there, but couldn't get far enough under the car to check the trans (four flat tires and rims buried in mud). Here's my dilemma. The yard owner is willing to sell it "at a fair price". He says he's had it in the yard for over 8 years. Is the missing cowl tag a definate deal buster? He says the car came in exactly how I saw it (I don't doubt it considering the amount of crud covering it). I saw the Title and it matches the VIN plate on the car. So, would I be a fool buying this car without the Cowl Tag?
This may be a longshot, but if the car is legit and you can obtain a buildsheet for it (through sloan or something like that), I believe someone posted that you can have new cowltags made. It would be challenging to make it look original, but if you did a frame off resto and replaced/repainted everything, I think it could work. Sounds like a very cool find, maybe someone else will share their imput.
Now that would work. I have Sloan working on the VIN as we speak. This car would need a frame-off big time. Road worthy is a long way off. I'm not a dyed in the wool by the numbers restorer by any stretch of the imagination. I don' t hack, but am willing to make performance and reliability upgrades as needed, so everything will be painted and redone eventually. I just don't want to pay too much for a "maybe" car without a Cowl Tag unless the VIN is enough to validate the car's authenticity. Absolutely blind luck I found the car. The yard I went to is an old "non-advertised" place a friend of a friend said I should go look at. This car is literally "in the woods" at the back of the yard. I happened to need to relieve myself when in the process of looking for a secluded spot stumbled on this car. I almost p#%$ my pants.
I would just make it very clear to the yard owner that the cowl tag is missing and it is almost as important as the VIN. I don't know what he means by "fair price" but sometimes they think they have a collectorcar on their hands and want a couple grand for it. I think that $500 cash would be reasonable considering all that it will need. Keep us posted, and post some pictures when you get a chance!:TU:
go to TRIM TAGS and you can have one made for $295 sounds like alot unless you need it. looks exactly like GM.
Hopefully his fair price is right so you can at least get it for the parts before they rot in his yard! I know guys who sit on stuff like it's the rarest thing in the world it usually isn't worth jack buy he time they let loose of it!:af: Good Luck! :TU:
Update to my initial post. Good news = Sloan confirmed the Stage 1 VIN Bad news = Yard owner is out of his mind, he wants $2500.00 Engine is not the original mill. Its not even a GS motor, much less a Stage 1. The X I thought I saw actually was a grease indulged optical illusion. The block has 1975 cast on it. Trans is a TH350. Basically, someone had a nice Stage 1, blew the driveline, cobbled it back together, then dumped it. Too good to be true I guess. When I told the Yard owner, he just shrugged and asked if I still wanted it. Politely told him $250.00 for the car due to its lack of accuracy and condition. He took my offer pretty well considering.. He refused, then countered with $1000.00. I then negotiated for some of the parts (Stage 1 specific) which I unbolted and took home that day, including the posi for $250.00. Moral of the story, really glad I did my homework.
That's too bad. It's sad to see that the owner didn't have the foresight to realize that you were probably that car's last chance at servival. It will probably just be fertilizer in a few years. ou: I guess you did what you could thougho No: .
It is a shame. I think he only looked at the money and could really care less about the car, especially considering he was willing to part the thing out. One comment he made stuck with me through the whole day. He said "the rest of the car isn't worth much, the engine is where the money is at". So I tried the 'car less motor' strategy, but he wouldn't go for it. I probably will go back in a couple weeks and pull the remaining pieces from the car that I want and be done with it. Thank everyone for all their feedback. I really appreciate it.
He didn't give you the "Well, they don't build them like that anymore " bit did he? :moonu: He probably gave the previous owner less than $50.00 for it. Dale
No, he tried the "Its a classic" line. Actually, now that I think about that conversation, I believe he knew I wasn't going to roll over because he didn't do the really hard sell on me. Maybe I'll pull a few more parts, pay him reasonable cost for those, then see if he will sell me the shell for 50 bucks or something. That way he doesn't lose face with me, and I pay maybe closer to 500 (even though he said 1K was his best offer). We'll see.
