Thanks to all that responded to my question about purchasing the 79 spit
for $3500. The great advice from Rick, Andy, Tom, Jerry, Sam, David, Nick,
D.T. and Hector were very helpful in making my mind up and I thank you all!
I ended up not offering the $3500 the seller was asking, instead I offered
$2500. In an effort to be magnanimous with someone that I have a work
relationship with, I offered another $200 if he delivered it to my home (it
would cost me $150 to hire a tow truck anyway, but he has a closed trailer)
and he accepted it at $2700 delivered. Probably still a little high but I
cant tell you how THRILLED I am to finally have a rust free spitfire after
fighting a continual battle with the tinworm since 1981.
Im not going to restore it to concourse or even near-concourse condition,
at least not at this time, but a $500 paint job, some new carpets (the
generic stuff you buy in the auto parts store gives acceptable results),
good quality seat covers and re-vinyl the interior and I will have a car
that I will be very happy with. That will more or less bring me up to the
$3500 I was going to pay for just the car.
Now I get to make the fun decisions swap over the 78 cooling system with
the professional re-cored radiator? Swap the chrome bumpers over? Swap the
air shocks over? POR-15 the floor pans? What color paint? I guess the
first order is to get the brakes working! (Actually the first order is to
find space for another car.)
Again my sincere thanks to all!!!
Best!
Greg
On Feb 22, I wrote:
>
>A business acquaintance of mine who has an antique car hobby just
>contacted me about a 79 spitfire he received in trade and doesn't want.
>I looked at the car and the good news is that it only has 62,000 miles,
>an OD transmission and the body is totally rust free with completely
>straight body panels. The bad news is that the interior was restored
>with a cloth interior that looks it came from a used car salesman's
>sports coat on the seats and on the door panels (although the fit is
>pretty good). The carpet is shot. The car was re-sprayed an
>unattractive reddish-brown, looks like with handheld cans of spray-paint
>and the top (hood) is in tatters. The car has been sitting for a number
>of years and there are some niggling things associated with disuse -
>passenger door sticks, tach doesn't work, brakes leak - and I'm sure
>others will crop up. Because of the brakes, I couldn't take it for a test
>drive, although the engine started immediately and ran and revved
>smoothly. All the emissions gear is still in place.
>
>The guy is asking $3500.
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