WIW '72 340 'CUDA

What should I do with Shelia?

  • Restore her?

    Votes: 8 28.6%

  • Part her?

    Votes: 11 39.3%

  • Sell her to you for $1

    Votes: 10 35.7%
  • Total voters
    28
-
M

mopardug

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2012
Messages
480
Reaction score
167
Location
Central KY
Good afternoon Sportsfans.
Shelia's a 340 Pistol Grip car. No fender tag, and I've not looked for a build sheet.
She's been sitting outside since around '85, and off of the road since about '89.
Should she be sold to someone that can restore her, part her, or???
More pics to follow.
Thanks for looking.

20201006_080701.jpg


20201006_080749.jpg


20201006_090356.jpg


20201006_090413.jpg


20201006_090447.jpg


20201006_090503.jpg


20201006_090518.jpg


20201006_090530.jpg


20201006_090600.jpg
 
Someone deserves to own and drive that car when repaired since in your description you mention selling to someone to restore it. Hopefully they wouldn't part it. IMO
 
That car is worth a restoration. It's gonna be a lot of work. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at the time.
 
To me, that's a parts car. BUT, if you've seen what E bodies are going for, someone may be willing to give it a try (ugh...) or have a base Barrcuda that they'd like to turn into a clone... it'd be worth extra to them just to have all the parts together. So I guess I'd try to sell it whole before I parted it.
To restore it, I see a 5 year, $50K moneypit that'll be worth $25K when it's done.
No fender tag, and without a build sheet you can't get one made.
 
Last edited:
Better hurry and get the panels from AMD before they begin discontinuing panels for it and start making them for Ford Fiestas
 
The frame rail condition is what does it for me.
If you add up the obvious exterior sheet metal, the floor pan, trunk floor, dutchman, roof, tail panel, hood, cowl, inner fenders, doors, and a few more, what would be left of the original car anyway?
Not much, and a hell of a lot of work and money to boot.
Think of the car being chemically dipped and what would remain.
There's your answer..........
 
She's got 16,*** on the clock. A body guy looked at her today, and said the floor pans and the rails are in pretty good shape.

20201006_090629.jpg


20201006_090644.jpg


20201006_090658.jpg


20201006_090726.jpg


20201006_090747.jpg


20201006_090819.jpg


20201006_090858.jpg


20201006_090907.jpg


20201006_090919.jpg
 
BTW, I have seen a lot of cars parted in the 80s and 90s that were a lot better than that.
I look at rust two ways.
One is just regular rust from being used on a daily driver that was taken care of in general. (regular washings etc.)
And then there's the ones that were left to go.........(rarely washed or taken care of)
The difference in the two is that the car that wasn't taken care of will rust from the inside out.
This is what I call corrosive rust.
It is easy to spot because you see the rust bulging from between the spot welds, and the frames usually are thin in spots and will have holes in them.
There will be rust everywhere you look structurally and scabs of rust on the body panels as well.
Those cars I consider part out cars unless they are a rare high dollar car, but even then..........
The others that have some rust in the quarters and floors, but everything else is pretty good, I would consider as a builder.
The main thing to consider is if the car is a rotter or not.
This one looks like a flip a coin and go with your gut type of car.........
 
Go to AMD and start a list of the metal you can see is bad...
From the photos:
2 full quarter panels
Trunk extensions
Roof (need donor for the pillars)
Dutchman panel
Trunk lid
Metal around the trunk opening
Trunk floor

And I can’t imagine it sat outside 35 yrs with all that rot and it still has solid floor pans and frame rails. Looked like the bottom of at least one door is rusted. Is the body still solid at the door hinges? What about the doors? What are the valences like? Does the front end have bondo?

Make a list of everything you can see, use the AMD restoration estimator and you will have a very basic idea of the sheet metal costs - expect more damage and expense after blasting.

And this is only sheet metal. No tear-down, body work, paint, electric, grille, trim, upholstery, engine, trans, diff, etc., or re-assembly.

IF you can do everything, or the bulk of it, I would guess more like $60-$75 K. Find one with a good back end that is wrecked in the front (if you can) and go from there.

Just my humble opinion.
 
Yeah as others have said, that bodyman who says it can be saved has a business to run and needs an income stream!

How can you be sure it only has 16k miles? Likely 116k since it was on the road for a solid 12 to 16 years before being stored in 1989.

What’s the going price range for a fully restored ‘73 Cuda 340 4spd? Someone else has said it but it’s likely not going to exceed the cost of the parts and labour required to fetch that price range. If it was your Dad’s car or someone’s in the family then go for it for sentimental reasons.
 
I found my old 73 Challenger I owned back in the late 70's. With a little coaxing it started and drove down the street but when you started adding up all the sheet metal it needed I had to turn my head ad walk away. Pretty much every panel had rust holes in it and needed patching or replacing. I added up $15,000 in sheet metal only and it was a project I couldn't afford or handle myself. I hope to see it at a car show someday. Restoring a solid car will cost you $35,000 or so. Even more in this bad of condition.

101701951711[00] (2).jpg


Capture.PNG
 
You'd have to be up for a hell of a challenge to take that car on. If it were an AAR Cuda maybe I'd consider it. As it's sits, it's worth more in parts. IMO 65'
 
Plymouth 65 said:
You'd have to be up for a hell of a challenge to take that car on. If it were an AAR Cuda maybe I'd consider it. As it's sits, it's worth more in parts. IMO 65'
Click to expand...
In my opinion I would part it out. Not much left of the body. The Ralley dash is worth some money, as well as the pedal assembly and the interior parts.
Drive train worth money. You'd have $6000.00 worth of AMD parts and then the labor to restore. As you got more into that vehicle, the bigger can of worms
it would become. Some times it's better to walk away.
 
I normally would say parts car but being its a 340 4 speed car I would have to personally inspect it before drawing a conclusion. All cars rust differently and its possible the frame rails are good. Floor pans....highly doubt it.
The lack of fender tag and build sheet hurts the value because you cant prove the options it has. However you can prove its a real 340 car so it has that going for it. Check the engine and trans numbers and see if they match the car.
I would at least try to sell it complete before thinking about parting it out. Myself, I like punishment so I would restore it.
 
I had an opportunity several years ago to buy a 70 'Cuda, original 340 4 spd car from a good friend of mine who had co owned it with his brother for about 12 years. The body and paint had been done before they bought it, paint was enamel, B5, with a black gut. Original motor was long gone, he had 2 440 blocks included, no build sheet, or fender tag, no glass, no upholstery or wiring, very little trim pieces, dash was there, no gauges, one 727 and one 833, both in need of rebuilds, basically a bare shell. He was firm on 16K, I thought about it for 2 weeks, he wasn't in a hurry to sell, but ultimately passed on it after I started adding up what it would cost to buy all of the parts to finish it, easily 25K, without labor. Would have been a cool ride, but out of my reach.
 
A 340 4 speed 'Cuda without a 150 speedo or rally gauges? Did they come like that?
 
RustyRatRod said:
A 340 4 speed 'Cuda without a 150 speedo or rally gauges? Did they come like that?
Click to expand...

I think in 72, they could come either way. The VIN should be either BS23H2Bxxxxxx or BH23H2Bxxxxxx. It appears to be a plain jane 72 Cuda 340 4 spd, that was originally Lemon Twist yellow. The OP needs to jack it up, put it on jack stands and see if the VIN stamped on the motor and 833 match the last 6 of the VIN on the dash, radiator support, and top of cowl.
 
Also, if it's a numbers matching car, it needs to be saved. They make every piece to restore the sheet metal on an E body. It ain't the 80's anymore, and somewhere, somebody is wanting a real 340, 4spd, yellow 340 Cuda like he had in high school. That guy may not care if he gets upside down in its cost. My 2 cents! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top