Ignorant College Student--Need Advice!

I'm an Auto Tech student myself in Missouri, and bought a '71 Valiant 4-door (225) to rebuild as well... the big difference is;

I am in love with the car, have been since I was a kid.

I understand that I will likely dump $20k into the car over the next 10 years, and IF I decide to sell later on, I also understand that I will be VERY hard pressed to get half that out of it.

So it's clear that I'm in it for the love of the car/restoration, not a money maker...

That being said, every car I've ever owned I have sold for more than I purchased for. This includes cars that I have blown transmissions in, as well as others where I have blown fuel pumps/injectors, alternators, radiators... the advice before about cleaning up the car as much as possible and as cheap as possible is your money maker here. It really does make a WORLD of difference in the buyers' eyes.

Wash the car with care (maybe a light, quick wax), clean and treat the seats/dash inside, make sure there is no rotting/moldy interior to be found, vacuum it out (including the trunk), catalog/organize all the extra parts (even label them with tags if needed). All these things will show a potential buyer that you cared about the car as well as made it easier for them to continue down that path.

Also, try this for the wheels:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-TNsO33eqQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-TNsO33eqQ[/ame]

Mind you, this may not be something that the collectors like, but to another potential buyer... it could be the tipping point to get your money back. These are all quick, easy and CHEAP ways to increase the value of the car to a buyer. But like was mentioned before... getting the car running and stable (tune-up, brake check, etc...) is probably the best way to make sure it sells. Good luck and enjoy all these new "HYBRID/ELECTRIC" car classes... They suck!