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Necoa #: 7515
Location: 13(TX)
Joined: May 20, 2006
Posts: 117
Year: 1981
Model: El Camino
Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:09 pm Post subject: Appraise my '81
Sigh, I need something that gets better gas mileage. My parents are making me sell my '81. I love the car, but I'm tired of getting screwed at the pump. I'm going off to college soon and I need something newer and more suitable for my needs. The El Camino is either extremely practical for a certain person or highly impractical; I happen to be the latter. It is the car that holds no people and the truck that I don't need.
The car itself has 160,000 miles on it. It has an unknown mileage 1980-1985 350 with a Carb Shop (in California) rebuilt Q-jet and 64cc camel hump heads. The rest of the engine is stock. It has the stock TH350 that shifts great. The filter was replaced about 200 miles ago. The rear end is stock, but regularly serviced. I took the cover off and everything looks great. The car needs a new exhaust, bad. It was new before I got the original 267 pulled out and replaced with a 350, but the mechanic had to frankenstein some crap together and it sounds like crap, leaks, and I'm sure is as restrictive as hell. Needs new rear shocks and new ball joints. Otherwise, mechanically, the car is sound. I work at a Jiffy Lube and everything fluid has been serviced to the point of obsession. I change my oil once a month.
The body of the car looks pretty bad. It's in primer. I wrecked it back in September and I had to get some body parts off of other cars and just bolt them on. My drivers side door hangs crooked, the window wiggles back and forth and doesn't seal at the top. The left front fender is from a 79 El Camino and the grille and front clip are from a '78 Malibu Wagon, which I don't think correctly lines up with my El Camino. The hood is from an '81 Malibu. The whole driver's side is mottled with bondo and rattlecan primer. Everybody who only sees the passenger's side of the car says it looks badass, which I guess is good. The wheels are 15" IROCs.
The interior is alright, better than I expected a 27 year old car to be. The windshield is cracked, AC was recently recharged, but doesn't blow that cold, and that is important in Texas. The fan motor switch needs to be replaced, as does the switch for the windshield wipers. Sometimes they stay on. Stock AM/FM and 8 track.
Anyway, what do you guys think I could get for it? I could probably spend some money on like a $300 Econopaint job, maybe get the AC blowing a little colder, get the exhaust redone, and get the door fixed. I think all of which will make the most difference in what will get the car sold. It gets over 100 degrees here in the summer with 90% humidity, so I pretty much have to have the AC in tip top. All of which I think will cost about a grand, which I guess I could spend.
If you could post a picture could help us out a lot more _________________ El Camino Nation the second best El Camino forum on the web http://elcamino.freeforums.org/portal.php
i will say the buyer will determine the price. you know what you have, and know what it will take to fix.if you get a buyer that knows el camino, and wants one, you can highlight the good on your car, and point out the not so good. he will determine if it is the right one for him. i have seen "pretty good ones" go for cheap, and some not so good ones go for
not so cheap. a knowleageable buyer will risk more, he knows what hes getting and what he wants to do with it. thats how i sold mine. it wasnt pretty, but it was a good candidate.mine looked kind of like yours.
look at this link and see this one in the miami market... going by the looks alone, yours wont compete. but beauty is not allways what we want.. good luck.
ps: went back and read your tread again. SPEND 1000.00 to sell for 1200.00 ?.dont do that. if it is that bad to you, sell it for the best offer . just my opinion, and you know what is said about opinions ...lol.lol
mine was 1000 miles away from looking like that, but i got almost that price..so do your homework
I've got 400 cash right now I think you can get 1000 to 1200 in its current condition, granted there is no rust. You will get low ball offers around 6 to 800 but as long as you are not in a hurry to sell, you should be able to get it... just my .02 _________________ 1996 Ford Thunderbird Pearl White - NO MORE
Necoa #: 2111
Location: 19(AK,ID,OR,WA)
Joined: Jan 06, 2004
Posts: 805
Year: 1971
Model: El Camino
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:12 pm Post subject:
It's very hard to make any determination of course with just a description and pics so I'm going to abstain from giving any numbers. I will say that "if I spend this much on the car I can sell it for this much" rarely works out. What you need to do is just tell the next prospective buyer that HE can get this work done for this price at such and such shop.
I've fallen into that trap before myself. I had a '74 Lincoln with a 460 in it. I started it one day, left it running to warm it up a bit, went inside and forgot about it.... Went back out about 3 hours later and it wasn't running anymore, even though the tank was fairly full, so it shoulda been... Noticed a green puddle underneath and running down the drive..
Anyhoo long story... err long, turns out the top rad hose popped, the engine ran and ran as long as it could and then once the heads warped and it had no compression it decided it didn't want to break the laws of physics to provide internal combustion any more. Well $2400 worth of new heads, intake, carb, hoses, and labor I thought I'd make a pretty penny selling the car for big bucks. I eventually after many months sold it for $2500. A whopping $100 back on the repairs.
Luckily, it really was a profit as that car was given to me by my father who'd bought it and never really did anything with it. So I wasn't out any money, but I still would have been better off just selling the body with the engine needing work than doing what I did. Live and learn. _________________ 1971 El Camino, Slow!
1984 Grand National, Fast?
That's a sad story about your Lincoln Vic. I just got lucky, was replacing a few of those small hard plastic vacuum lines today that were braking up due to age and discovered a heater hose clamp that I had forgot to tighten.
Had just completed a valve stem seal job on this '87 and drove it 70 miles after. I don't know how that hose held on other than it was new and a tight fit.
Doug _________________ 85 El Camino 305, TH350, K&N, dual exhausts
87 El Camino 305, 2004R, K&N, dual exhausts
1964-1/2 Mustang conv, 260 V8, dual exhausts
2002 Jaguar XJ8, 2000 Harley Road King
Lakewood, CO
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I think you can get 1000 to 1200 in its current condition, granted there is no rust. You will get low ball offers around 6 to 800 but as long as you are not in a hurry to sell, you should be able to get it... just my .02
Went back out about 3 hours later and it wasn't running anymore, even though the tank was fairly full, so it shoulda been... 
Noticed a green puddle underneath and running down the drive.. 
