BSCC- Winter Corvair Projects?!

[John Weigel]

My winter project?  Get to at least one meeting :)     Actually I have an engine to rebuild.


For those who might be curious about the 66 sedan that was listed in a Skinner auction on Oct 28th, I went to the preview the Sat before the auction.  They had appraised its value between $1000 - $1500.  110HP, AT, Monza, not running, but I figured it was worth a look - for that price it should be fairly solid, right?

Wrong.  It didn't look good from 100 feet away and got worse as I got closer.  Just a quick walk around - rusted out quarters, bad rust around front and rear windows, surface rust under the paint on front and rear lids, overwhelming mildew odor when the door was opened, smell of stale gas in engine compartment, etc, most likely it's sitting outside for who-knows-how-many-years.  And no special features or options, just a vanilla 66 sedan.  I filled in a bid form for $50, in case there were no other offers, but it was refused by the lady at the front counter: "I don't want to burst your bubble, but that would be offensive to the consignee."  I said thank you and departed.

The next day at work I was telling this tale to my coworkers and went to the website to see if the picture of the Vair was still there.  It wasn't, but the auction results were.  The Vair was reported as sold for $588, which works out to $500 + 17.5% buyer's commission.  One of the other vehicles I remembered was a 64 4-door Rambler.  It was listed as not running, but I thought it looked pretty good - shiny paint, decent interior and so forth.  Most probably, it had been sitting in a garage, not outside too much.  It's value was appraised between $500 - $1000.  It was reported as sold for $294, which is $250 + 17.5% buyer's commission.

Interesting that both cars went for exactly 1/2 the low appraised value.  I wished I had gone to the auction just to see how it worked.  This is a big name auction house, so maybe people or businesses bid 1/2 the low end hoping to get some deals?  All I know is every item on the auction list was reported as sold.

In my opinion, the offense to the consignee was a poor appraisal.  Or on the other hand, maybe I'm way under-estimating the value of my collection of Corvairs and parts.  Like John Wingle's visit to see the Krylon White '63, this was an interesting experience, but really wasn't worth the time or the drive.

John 


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Schwab 
  To: 'Bay State Corvairs (MA)' 
  Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 7:25 PM
  Subject: RE: BSCC- Winter Corvair Projects?!


  My realistic list:
    Replace convertible top
    Replace or repair rusted area in floor panel
    Weld in new battery tray
    New carpets
    Get all the gauges working
    replace incorrect engine shroud parts, and paint engine compartment
  and if I run into some extra time: 
    Find/Install some comfy seats
    redo rest of interior
    replace gas tank
    rebuild differential (or at least replace seal so it stops dripping)
  and if the stars align themselves just right (and unexpected money arrives):
    Clean and repaint underside of car
    Fix a few rusty spots on body
    Prep body for new paint
    Paint the car
  Do we compare our acheivement lists next spring?

  /John




------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: bsc-list-bounces at corvair.org [mailto:bsc-list-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of rick macdonald
  Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 7:08 PM
  To: bsc-list at corvair.org
  Subject: BSCC- Winter Corvair Projects?!


  What are you guys planning to do to keep yourselves busy this winter?

  here's my Corvair Agenda:

  1. Convert Gen to Alternator (almost done!)
  2. recover Seats and door panels
  3. Sheetrock ceiling in garage
  4. Finally fix axle noise by replacing diff, or wheel bearing
  5. Brake job

  That's it, plus the usual "detail to an absurd level of cleanliness"......-Rick




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