Hey guys i have a 1968 buick GS 400, that has a rebuilt motor with only like 600 miles on it and the interior is almost perfect condition, but it needs a paint job. i have a guy coming to look at it but i have no idea how much to ask for it? if you guys could give me any kind of starting point i would greatly appreciate it.
Would need more info such as, is the body in good condition, no dents/bumps/bruises, no rust? Is the drive train all original? How's the chrome and glass? Trunk and floorpans rusting at all? Lots of variables to consider. If you could post pics, that would also be a plus.
pics... glass is all intact, floor boards have no rust, driveline is all stock, chrome is all there, has a little surface rust in the trunk, has a small rust hole passanger side front corner panel, bumpers are straight, i took the vinyl top off, i mean its in pretty good condition besides the paint. there is some surface rust on the roof which can be cleaned up and some rust spots on the hood but other than that its clean.
ya i wish we were closer, but could you give me a price range. thats pretty much what im trying to figure out now, i dont know what price to ask for o No:
Thanks for posting pics, they help. It does appear to have some items incorrect for a 68 model. The front grille is a 69 version, for instance. The rims don't appear to me to be Buick rims either. On the passenger side picture, there appears to be a long body-side stainless steel molding, sweeping back from near the headlight, or is that a painted strip? Hard to tell. I don't see it on the driver side pic. Can you post the VIN also? If you are able to determine if the engine and transmission are original to the car, that will make a difference in value. On the front of the block, on driver side behind where the power steering pump is, you should find the engine serial # stamped into the surface, probably vertically stamped. The transmission would also have a # on it to match up with the VIN. I'm not trying to pick apart the car at all, but these all factor into a value determination.
Rule #1; Always start high, you can always lower your price accordingly. :grin: Assuming a numbers matching drivetrain I don't think you'd be too out of line asking around $6000. Interior looks like it may have been recovered with some "questionable" fabric in one pic. As Dave says above, some items appear "non-original" so we really need more information and pictures to set a fair price. For comparison, Kelley priceguide says low retail $6200, avg. retail $12,850, #1 pristine condition $22,800.
the long-body molding you see on the passanger side is not painted, but i just removed the driver side molding, to see what it would look like. i do have it in my garage. I also noticed the wheels didnt look like buick wheels, almost like the mustang wheels, but they i do have the buick center caps for them. i dont know about the grille, i dont know the difference in 69 or 68 grille wise... but here is the vin (according to dash plate) 4 4637 8Z120013 this is the # off of the back of the block 400 1389790 i looked behind the power steering pump and i got this 22103 -it was stamped on the head
pics... I even have an old radio in the back that says BUICK accross the buttons and its all chromed out. i dont know if thats the stock one or not? i dont have any pics of it. here is a pic of the engine before i owned it pic of the back seats (the seats dont have any black marks on them now)
IMHO, the 6k figure is on the high side. There is considerable work needed, though it appears to be a good candidate for a resto. You should be able to find more digits/letters stamped on the front of the block. I believe it should start out 4....... with the last numbers matching the "120013" in your VIN to be the original block. The 44637 in the VIN does match up to a GS400 model. But the body side molding is a disputable item. Technically it wasn't an available option on a 68 GS, though there have been a very few owners that claim it is on their cars as from the factory. A buildsheet for the car would help with that issue. They can usually be found in the rear seat springs, or on top of the gas tank. My 68 has those side moldings, but I know they were transplanted from a 69 Skylark Custom. I would think more along the lines of 3k-5k as a broad range. But like Ken said above, you can start with a high figure, so you have neg. room. I bought my 68 GS350 4 years ago, non-matching rebuilt drive train, but fully restored interior, decent newer paint job, good glass/chrome/stainless,vinyl. Totally ready for the road, drove it home 1400 miles, and made a 2100 mile trip last summer. I paid a little over 6k at that time. A GS400 is somewhat more desirable, but not a huge difference maker.
Does it have the 68 rear bumper, or the 69 version, with the reverse light set into the upper middle of the bumper?
The guy I bought it from lives in Oregon and is the original owner and also a good friend of my grandpa's. i talked to him and he hadn't done any modifications that he can think of (although he might have put on those wheels). so i dont know how the grille and the body molding could be non-factory.I believe it does have the 68 rear bumber and it has been re-chromed and straightend I have a pic of it when i got it, it was bent pretty bad on one side.
grille I see what you were saying about the grille. on mine it has the chrome bar going accross the middle of the grille, which is what the 69's had, i looked in my trunk and found the 68 piece which goes around the top but not through the middle. so that is an easy replacement. also to find the build sheet would you have to drop the gas tank?
Yep, the rear bumper is a 68. I suppose it is possible that if it was a late build 68 car, that that plant could have been out of 68 grille and surround, and used the 69. The chrome surround is a 69 model only style, and the plastic grille looks to be a 69 Skylark version, different than the 69 GS grille. Over the course of 38 years, it's possible the owner didn't remember having to swap parts at some point, due to a little front-end mishap. Hard to say.
You won't want to use the 68 chrome surround with the 69 grille. they "might" go together, but the grille has a mounting surface where that middle bar is, and won't look very good exposed. A good 68 GS grille is hard to come by too. Looks like the 69 in there needs some repair work too. If the buildsheet is on top of the tank, you would need to drop it, yes.
by taking off the vinyl top that didnt drop the pricing down at all did it? because I have seen a lot of them without it. thank you for all the help I really appreciate it. this should help me figure out where to start off.
The body side molding that is shown is the dealer installed type and not the factory stainless steel version, so it may be been installed by the dealer. The build sheet may also be located behind the bucket seat back so you may want to check there before you go through the trouble of dropping the tank. Your car may not have had the build sheet hidden in it at all. If the car is numbers matching and solid you may be able to squeeze $6500 out of it since it is a big block car. A 350 car in my opinion would fetch 2K less. There are a few costly things that would need to be replaced like the interior (carpet, seat covers, package tray, headliner possibly). The grill should also be replaced with a correct '68 version (that could be costly). By correcting those issues, detailing the engine compartment and a little body work with paint someone could have a very nice big block GS for around a 13K investment depending on how handy they were and that there are no hidden mechanicle issues.
