Should I buy this car?

[miatawnt2b]

Hey all,
I'd like to get some opinions if you think this is a decent price for what I'd be getting myself into.
Background. I am looking for a LM Corsa coupe, prefer white/white, 140, 4sp, with A/C.
I thought maybe a $15-18k budget would get me a rust free, complete car that I don't have to monkey with all the time.

I have found a car that isn't exactly what I am looking for, but it's probably going to be hard to find exactly what I want anyhow.

65, 3 owner, Corsa, 140 4speed. It's a southwest car, numbers matching. Current owner has had the engine and diff rebuilt, as well as all new suspension and bushings. There is absolutely no rust on the car other than some minor surface stuff.

Now the bad. Some jackhole repainted the car about 10 years ago, not orig color (orig is Glacier Grey). The paint job was not proper, the clear and color coat are failing. IMO it wasn't prepped properly to paint over the old paint. There are minor dings, so the exterior needs some repair (minor door dings) and a complete respray, door jams, the works. Given the condition of the failing paint, I'm thinking it may need a lot of prep. I'm not a paint guy, I don't know.
The interior coverings are trash. Needs dash pad, seat covers, carpet. Headliner is still nice. Relatively easy work here that I can, and would be willing do myself.
The car does not have A/C. This is a must have for me. I plan on driving it, and I live in the desert. I can install A/C myself, just don't know what the cost is to do so properly.

The guy wants $13k for the car. Seems a little high to me based on what it's going to take to do body/paint/interior/AC, but I keep going back to the car has no rust, and the mechanicals are new.

Just wondered if this group has any thoughts on it.
Thanks!
-J

[terribleted]

13K sounds high for one that needs a paint job, but, engine, diff and suspension rebuild if done properly with all new wear parts could pretty easily cost 10K to have done. IF it is rust free and the described work has been done well (engine fully rebuilt, not just sealed and repaired for instance) it could be a good buy at a 13K asking price. The real problem is that the paint issues you describe would really require disassembly and paint stripping of the entire car to metal to remove all failing and or incompatible coatings that are there now in order to get a truly excellent lasting finish. This process would cost over 10K and maybe even near 20K to accomplish. At 23K there are some pristine Corsas that appear and 33K is well beyond the normal top of the market for these cars (and still needs interior work, yes?). Almost always dollars ahead to buy one that is fully done the way you would be happy with it as doing restoration on these cars usually exceeds the value at resale. Buy one done well and let the builder take the loss. The trick is to make sure the car is really done well. A lot of body issues can be hidden with filler repairs and slick finish over a poor surface which while it looks great now, will not last. You do not want a lipstick on a pig car. Only close in person inspection by someone who knows just where to look can usually avoid such a mistake, but, not always as some cosmetic repairs look very well done. By the way, technically it is not recommended to apply a base/clear paint job (or any catalyzed finish for that matter) over old original paint jobs, which were not catalyzed. Non catalyzed paints are somewhat unstable swelling and shrinking due to their nature. Once a catalyzed paint (which has almost no such properties) is applied over this the old layers continue doing their thing and the new catalyzed layers can lose adhesion and bubble or flake. or crack etc.

A complete aftermarket A/C kit from Clark's Corvair Parts costs $2100 for a 140 engine late model. That number plus any install and charging costs would get you in the ballpark for cost to add A/C to the car.

[flat6_musik]

I agree with Ted here, pretty much. And if A/C is a must-have item, you're going to have an extremely narrow group of cars to choose from. Get ready to drop $20K or so for what you're looking for. That one for $13K doesn't excite me too much, but lousy paint jobs tend to turn me off immediately.....and scare me. Because fresh bondo at the base of the windshield and quarters, rockers are highly probable.

[miatawnt2b]

Would the orig 65 Glacier Grey paint have been acrylic lacquer?

-J