How to buy a 68 Cuda.

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Fisher

Fisher

Old Guy with a Cool car.
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I was at a car show this Saturday, and there was a 68 Cuda Notch sitting there with a for sale sign on it and no owner. Its a 318 car, buckets consul, nothing fancy. Body looks tough like it has been mudded over in several places. Glass and rear bumper are nice, the grills are nice. Front bumper has a smack in it. Looks like a complete original car to me that is to say that all the body panel line up pretty well, so i assume they are original to the car.

What if anything do i need to ask this guy about the car, and what should i look for personally? My Duster was an easy purchase, it was a 20,000 mile car with no rust and was a virgin in complete original parts the way it came from the factory. This Cuda makes me nervous!!. What would be a fair offer to this guy as well? I know its hard to make assumptions without pics etc, sorry i forgot my camera at home. Just looking for a place to start before i call him.
 
Buddy i was with took a picture.

263cyrs.jpg
 
Looks like a driver mabey crawl under with a small screw driver check the usual places for rust those harsh prairie winters you know. What’s he asking ?
 
Has the reproduction Industry got on board with this car yet? I could buy everything i needed for the duster, are the Cuda parts as available?
 
There’s a bunch of mud in that car. Fender is wonky in the lower front and dog leg. Door fit isnt great. Look at the lower rear corner of the door/rocker/quarter, that interface is all jacked up. Hood fit is pretty lousy too, look at the driver rear corner to fender/cowl. Contour on the quarter looks off.

You’d want to take a REALLY good look under that thing for rust, and at the backside of any panel you have access too. It could be hiding a TON of damage.

One thing for sure, whoever painted it didn’t do the old girl any favors.
 
Yes i agree its in rough shape. I would have to bring it down to bare metal and see whats underneath it. This is why i want to get this car cheap. I paid $5000.00 for my duster and it was a mint rust free car. I would not be giving this guy that same kind of money for this Cuda.
 
The problem is that with bodywork that rough you don’t know what you’re going to find under it. You already know it has bondo, but is that bondo a 1/4” thick or a 1/2”? Is it bondo over rust or just a dented panel? Makes a big difference.

It’s a roll of the dice. Maybe it’s just crappy bodywork and cheap paint over a relatively solid car. Or maybe it’s a bondo sculpture of a Barracuda that’ll take multiple panel replacements to make right. If it’s the first, picking it up "cheap" and fixing it might work out great. If it’s the latter, it could easily turn into a money pit that takes far more money to fix than it would have been to just buy a more solid car to start with.

The other thing is, that's a running, driving '68 Barracuda. You're not going to get it for $2k like it's a '74 Duster. Rough bodywork or not, I would bet that guy doesn't even want to take $5k for it.
 
How long ago did you buy the Duster?
I'd think that a reasonable Duster would be $12,000 and need some work...a 20,000 mi "no rust" must be considerably more. If the Barracuda is mechanically sound, it's gotta be worth $5,000.....from what I can see.

Lots of parts available for it anyways
 
I bought my Duster 6 years ago. Was sitting in dry heated storage for ten years prior to that. HAHAHAHA $12K for a duster that needs work??? OMG thats funny, That better be for a number matching 340 H code stick car.

I am thinking this Cuda is a $1500.00 car at best by the looks of it. All a guy is really buying, is a shell, there is nothing there that a guy is going to re-use. The car is going to need a complete drivetrain with all new brakes suspension etc. Will most likely pass and keep looking, too many TV show's making guys think these cars are worth a fortune.
 
It's a 68 notch. You won't be getting it for $1500. If you do, congratulations.
It appears to be a complete car. All the right 68 stuff. It likely has mud, what old car doesn't? Fenders that are usable are hard to find. Quarters are cheap. A nice grill, console, seats, dash, tail lights equal $1500 alone. Good glass and the trim on the rear? That trim has a value of it's own. The rims and tires look to be very nice. Those aren't free either.
I would suspect $5000 minimum. If it was my running and driving 68 notch in Canada, you wouldn't get it for less than that.
I would be careful with the insulting offer.
 
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Look on the "Mopars for sale " part of FABO and see what your Duster ( or similar ) is selling for. Look on Ebay, I'd be willing to bet that the seller is looking for more.....and will get it from someone, if not you.

$1,500 is not realistic

But best of luck to you on it. Please let us know what transpires
 
yeah your not getting that car for 5k cdn even , as to your opening question , the trunk floor extensions where they drop to the quarter panel and the frame rails are real good places to start looking .That car looks rough but nobody is selling anything for the dollars your talking about .If you don't believe us go find another clean low miles survivor duster for 5k .
 
Biff said:
Looks like a driver mabey crawl under with a small screw driver check the usual places for rust those harsh prairie winters you know. What’s he asking ?
Click to expand...
Really start poking the guy's undercarriage and frame rails with a screw driver....lol....
 
R4Sedan said:
Really start poking the guy's undercarriage and frame rails with a screw driver....lol....
Click to expand...
Yep ,you don’t have to be a gorilla about it but you want to know what your looking at ?
 
Just finishing a resto on a '68 cuda. Seems these cars are getting harder to find, especially one in good condition. Asking prices seem high to me, but maybe I'm just getting too old. Good help is available here. Many repro parts are available but beware! The quality of many of them is poor, sometimes even bad. This car is a runner- already it is a surviver.
 
5k -9k would be a ballpark price. 1500 is a roller only. The adjustment price would be like stated is how much "mud" is in the car. How solid is the under carriage. What condition is the interior. Condition of bright work. Things like that. Could be a 12-15k car if all is good.
 
Close the loop with us on how your conversation goes with the seller. If the seller bites on your offer of $1,500 then race over there with cash and get it! You will have scored a great deal.

As others have said, unless the car was rolled off a flatbed or towed to car show, it’s worth more than $1,500. It appears to be a running 30 footer even though white does the best job at hiding poor bodywork. How was the interior?
 
Lower rear quarters, trunk extensions, rockers just in front of the rear wheel wells, front frame rails where they kick up to meet the front suspension, torsion bar crossmember where the hex sockets are welded, front floors. All these areas need to be checked out for rust.
Front and rear bumpers are the same for 67-69 cudas, not hard to find, and they're reproduced. Grille and especially deck trim are important as all 3 years are different. New tail lights are available but it's not like buying just the lenses gor a Duster. Repop sheet metal is available but the full quarters are fastback only. Full skins also available. Check AMD web site (for one)
As a driver it's fine as is. Show car, not there yet. Depends what your plans are. Notches are less valuable than fastbacks. Expect mud in lowers quarters, more likely than not.
If it's fairly solid, I'd say 5k.
 
Yes the notchbacks are really hard to find ,the last 2 decent rollers I saw were $7500 and $9000US no drive train or interior .
 
H22A4 said:
Close the loop with us on how your conversation goes with the seller. If the seller bites on your offer of $1,500 then race over there with cash and get it! You will have scored a great deal.
Then ask him if he has any other cars for sale
Click to expand...
 
If this helps any, this is my '68 Notch. Originally a 318/2 barrel, now a 360 4 barrel and typical street rod. Bought it for $5000 in the fall of 2015. The body is rough but the chassis, floor, and drivetrain are pretty solid. To be fair, I'm in Alaska, so muscle car prices are a little different.
 
I just sold my 67 fastback for $19 at the scrapyard
Fisher said:
I was at a car show this Saturday, and there was a 68 Cuda Notch sitting there with a for sale sign on it and no owner. Its a 318 car, buckets consul, nothing fancy. Body looks tough like it has been mudded over in several places. Glass and rear bumper are nice, the grills are nice. Front bumper has a smack in it. Looks like a complete original car to me that is to say that all the body panel line up pretty well, so i assume they are original to the car.

What if anything do i need to ask this guy about the car, and what should i look for personally? My Duster was an easy purchase, it was a 20,000 mile car with no rust and was a virgin in complete original parts the way it came from the factory. This Cuda makes me nervous!!. What would be a fair offer to this guy as well? I know its hard to make assumptions without pics etc, sorry i forgot my camera at home. Just looking for a place to start before i call him.
Click to expand...
I just sold my 67 fastback for $19 at the scrapyard. Thats what 90% of em are worth once you dig down to the bones.
 
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