So, straight off the bat, if you’re buying this car with any kind of “investment” rationale I would say it’s not a great choice. It’s a non-numbers matching slant 6 car and a ‘74 to boot. So not a desirable year or model, and it’s already near the top of its value for what it is. So if you have visions of making money on resale, probably not gonna happen.
That said, if you’re buying it as a driver, it may be a great choice. It has a number of options, it’s already a big bolt pattern disk car, has AC, etc. If the paint is in decent enough condition that you don’t have to repaint it, you probably couldn’t build it for the asking price. Assuming it’s been done at least fairly well. Buying a slant six car, converting it to a V8 and painting it for less than $15k isn’t a slam dunk if you do a good job or if you have to pay someone else to do it.
On that note, you have to really inspect this car. It’s had a bunch of work done to it with the V8 conversion. If it’s been done well, awesome. If it’s been cobbled together on the cheap, not awesome. If that’s the case, it could easily be more trouble than it’s worth.
So you really have to pay attention. How was the engine mounted? What radiator is in the car? What rear axle? Was any of the suspension upgraded? That’s all stuff that could cost you money. To me, just looking at the engine compartment, it looks like they had access to a V8 donor car. There’s a bunch of original looking V8 stuff there. But the pictures are pretty small.
Bottom line is, you have to inspect this car or have it inspected by someone that knows what to look for. If it looks fairly clean and well put together, and you’re looking for something to drive and enjoy, it might not be a bad deal if you can negotiate down a few grand from the asking price.
