Saw this in person yesterday- guy was going to rebuild it into a fun daily to thrash on, and what I have learned about AMCs points me to thinking I'd really like this car for a Mad Max-inspired project. It's a 290 with a 3-speed auto- engine is complete, has oil and turns, carb and cleaner still on, fuel tank smells of varnish with no rust aside from a pinhole above the windshield and the passenger rear in the trunk. Car does roll. Floors are gone, but interior is still there. Underside is nice and crusty, but the framerails seem solid throughout. Sweet patina. VIN comes back clean, but will need a bonded title as NE has no record of it despite NE plates. Also needs a new windshield and has a couple great dents when something fell on it.
He says $2500 on CL, I was thinking of offering about $1800-1900. Any opinions before I text him back with an offer?
I have far more pictures, naturally. What does the GRM hivemind think? For cheap performance and fun it seems like a good idea but that might just be me.
Look at the cost of parts for those. It's going to be a bit more to restore that than the equivalent Mustang/Camaro.
I like the AMC stuff but that has always been a concern. Plus with the 290, That's not going to be a really good motor to build out. You'd want to look at least at a 360 from the FSJ linage to get something worth building in there.
In reply to bmw88rider :
Oh, I'm not restoring.
I know about the 360's, but I think I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Few people do anything with the 290s, but from research it looks like the 304 heads bolt directly to them and a port/polish quickly brings better airflow- some AMC boards say about 52cc-54cc per cylinder, only outdone by aftermarket from Edelbrock.
In reply to AngryCorvair :
Oh, so *just* a Javelin then, my mistake. Thanks!
NOHOME
MegaDork
8/19/19 11:57 a.m.
What exactly is the plan that this carcass will enable? How much does $2000 mean to you? How realistic is it that the project will ever get done and what it the expected total cost of the project? ( Most of my projects are pricey enough that 1k one way or the other in the purchase price is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things)
I myself get zero visions when I look at that. Restored is about the closest but then my senses tell me that is NOT a candidate for a restoration.
Your vision seems to entail some kind of zombie apocalypse chariot and you see this as a unique starting point that enables your vision. So, if there is a working drivetrain and raw material for the finished sculpture, then yeah, it could be worth it TO YOU.
I know you wouldn't be doing a full restore but just stuff like glass and weatherstripping is more than a Mustang. Just factor that in before you go too far. Glass and weatherstripping is $1000 easily to get it weather tight.
The price isn't unreasonable if it's solid but as others have noted definitely don't use Ford/GM/Mopar pricing as a yardstick for what the parts are going to run you.
That looks like a $500 to $1000 car to me. Anything more seems a waste of cash for anything "Mad Max".
Looks like a decent car to me for $2k, but I kind of cringe thinking about what a Mad Max project would be...those sorts of things tend to end up with a car that never gets finished and eventually goes to the scrapper.
The Roadkill guys pay more for less.
Go for it. There’s a million ways you can justify walking away compared to the ONE justification for doing it. To me, that ONE outweighs the others.
Don’t waste time on making it perfect. Just get it running and driving and enjoy it.
If you want, just out the price for the pieces to remake the floor. Pretty responsible.
https://www.c2cfabrication.com/collections/all/amc+javelin+1969
FYI - that roof hit is going to be $$$$ to fix. That's an ex-vinyl top car, and roof skin is one of the metal pieces on a Javelin you CAN'T get, it's why I sold mine. That windshield is going to cost you a ton, too. Also, Javelins are unibody, there are no frame rails. If the floor is gone, that car is structurally hammered.
Look, I'm the first guy to try and rescue any AMC, *especially* a Javelin, but this is a parts car.
stuart in mn said:
Looks like a decent car to me for $2k, but I kind of cringe thinking about what a Mad Max project would be...those sorts of things tend to end up with a car that never gets finished and eventually goes to the scrapper.
While it is true that a car you spend so many hours and thousands of dollars to fix, the purchase price is not that significant, however that same logic says to start with a much nicer
car that doesn't need as much work.
Personally I spend as little as possible, because chances are the project will end up never finished and then sold for peanuts or just thrown in the trash.
From what I can see the body appears to be fairly solid the floor looks like the most challenging spot might potentially good for a fun patina driving car.
Javelin said:
FYI - that roof hit is going to be $$$$ to fix. That's an ex-vinyl top car, and roof skin is one of the metal pieces on a Javelin you CAN'T get, it's why I sold mine. That windshield is going to cost you a ton, too. Also, Javelins are unibody, there are no frame rails. If the floor is gone, that car is structurally hammered.
Look, I'm the first guy to try and rescue any AMC, *especially* a Javelin, but this is a parts car.
THIS is what I was hoping to hear- in the sense it was something I didn't know before. I'm gonna PM you more pics just in case.
Cooter
UltraDork
8/19/19 2:25 p.m.
ebonyandivory said:
The Roadkill guys pay more for less.
They get paid to build thrashed out hoopties that they then abandon in a back lot, and have deadlines and deep pockets.
Pinhole near the windshield.
More interior.
Passenger rear.
Other side.
Proper hood smack
See if you can get it for a grand and then hang the body over a nascar chassis.
(I feel like I suggest this in every thread...but that's because it's awesome)
_
HalfDork
8/19/19 2:41 p.m.
Screw the roof. Screw the windshield. Lexan and a patch panel beat into submission. Or just bondo. If it’s mad max theme, then the beauty of that is it doesn’t HAVE to look right.
Run it as is. Throw a SBC in it. It’s YOUR canvas and your pallet, don’t let Bob Ross tell you how to paint. Lol.
Cooter said:
ebonyandivory said:
The Roadkill guys pay more for less.
They get paid to build thrashed out hoopties that they then abandon in a back lot, and have deadlines and deep pockets.
Are you sure the company buys all their projects? I’m not. I’m not sure how exactly Freiburger, Dulcich and Finnegan all seem to personally own several of the cars featured on the show. Maybe the company was generous and gave them cars?
The roof isn't that bad. The floors are shot. It's a 68. All the valuable pieces are missing or broken. The trans is a Borg-Warner.
I agree with NASCAR frame swap, but only if you can get it for $1000 or less.
Cooter
UltraDork
8/19/19 3:13 p.m.
ebonyandivory said:
Cooter said:
ebonyandivory said:
The Roadkill guys pay more for less.
They get paid to build thrashed out hoopties that they then abandon in a back lot, and have deadlines and deep pockets.
Are you sure the company buys all their projects? I’m not. I’m not sure how exactly Freiburger, Dulcich and Finnegan all seem to personally own several of the cars featured on the show.
Where did I say the company buys all of their projects? The company certainly buys most of them, as it has been mentioned many times where they either bought or considered buying RK vehicles from the production company.
Watch one of the latest Roadkill Extras (S37, E12 "Goodbye Ugly Truckling") where DF himself is explaining how they overpay for vehicles for the exact reasons I mention above. "We spend more than you would in the real world. Often"
In reply to Cooter :
I don’t want to hijack this thread but seriously, you wrote “They get paid to build thrashed out hoopties that they then abandon in a back lot, and have deadlines and deep pockets.”
If by writing that you meant to say you believe they actually paid for some of their projects out of pocket and not on the company dime, you failed. It’s ok, we all make mistakes.
So anyway, like I initially wrote, that the Roadkill guys pay more for less, was true and didn’t warrant correcting.
Cooter
UltraDork
8/19/19 7:33 p.m.
ebonyandivory said:
In reply to Cooter :
I don’t want to hijack this thread but seriously, you wrote “They get paid to build thrashed out hoopties that they then abandon in a back lot, and have deadlines and deep pockets.”
If by writing that you meant to say you believe they actually paid for some of their projects out of pocket and not on the company dime, you failed. It’s ok, we all make mistakes.
So anyway, like I initially wrote, that the Roadkill guys pay more for less, was true and didn’t warrant correcting.
Sorry you are still so confused. What I was correcting was your assumption that if the RoadKill guys overpay, then it is okay for the OP to overpay. That is a seriously silly assumption, as "they are paid to build thrashed out hoopties" OP is NOT getting paid to do so. Whether said hoopty is originally bought by the production company or not is moot, as they are very well compensated for their time, and for said vehicle's air time. Again, OP is not.
If OP had a lucrative show that he was getting paid to do, and had a deadline to meet, then by all means, overpay for said hoopty, as the extra grand or more would be a mere pittance compared to what his compensation for said lucrative show would be. However, he does not have a lucrative show that I am aware of, and overpaying for a rotted out car without a title* is a horrible idea in his situation.
*Side note- DF refuses to buy vehicles without titles.
If it were an AMX, I'd say yes. But that isn't one. Run.
