Horatio Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Trying to decide if I should get a parts car or a pullout. Can anyone out there who has bought a parts car enlighten me on the recouped cash from selling leftovers of a donor Camaro/Firebird? I'm willing to give up the time to part something out but really don't want to get into it if I won't get much back from it. Looks like average donor in decent condition is running around 6k-ish (high mileage though). Pullouts look like they're running around 3-5K-ish. Sooo, i'm guestamating i'd have to recoupe around 3K to break even if I buy a donor and part it out? Doesn't sound too unreasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 For my LT1 swap I picked up a wrecked but driveable 94 Z28 for $1500. I sold off more than $1000 of the car and still have some stuff. So I got the engine, tranny and a complete wiring harness for $500. Tearing the car apart was fun for me, but then I intertain easily! The downside is it can be a bitch to get rid of some stuff. Anyone need a hatch or complete front suspension for a 94 Z28? LOL. Trying to decide if I should get a parts car or a pullout. Can anyone out there who has bought a parts car enlighten me on the recouped cash from selling leftovers of a donor Camaro/Firebird? I'm willing to give up the time to part something out but really don't want to get into it if I won't get much back from it. Looks like average donor in decent condition is running around 6k-ish (high mileage though). Pullouts look like they're running around 3-5K-ish. Sooo, i'm guestamating i'd have to recoupe around 3K to break even if I buy a donor and part it out? Doesn't sound too unreasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 If you have the room get the whole car. When I did Steve Cameron's T'hawk we did a pull out. This required several return trips to the yard for various items we forgot the first time. It would have been much easier just to have the whole car right there but I didn't have the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvincent Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 1. Buy 1 Totaled 1995 Trans Am LT1/T56 with 79K miles complete with all replacement parts to fix car for $2300 2. Give nose, fog lamps, front fenders, windshield, Taillights, tires and wheels to son for his 95 Firebird Formula. (Loose about $1200-$1600 there) 3. Pull Engine, Transmission, ECU, Wire harness, driveshaft, Fuseblock and Misc stuff and install into 1976 280Z 4. Sell off as much as possible. 5. Scrap Body shell for $120 AS of yesterday I have sold $4833.28 in Firebird parts and I still have some more stuff to sell yet. Cost of LT1 Drivetrain... FREE Money available to be dumped back into swap for suspension, radiator, JTR kit, Gauges,custom exhaust, Headers, Welding, etc $2533.28 Sold all parts through LS1.co, LS1LT1.com CamaroZ28.com and Craigslist Have not put anything on EBay yet! Car is Almost done. Oh, the 280Z with only a couple of rust spots, blown motor $2400.00 Started Parting the car last August, scrapped the shell end of October, still selling what's left slowly. When finished I will post my very detailed list of parts sold, for how much and parts and labor bought and for how much. Biggest pain in the ass....packing up big items for shipping, waiting for people to show up and never do, wasting your time getting shipping quotes. You make up your mind. Greg OH, one last thing, having to put up with your wife asking how long the yard is going to look like a junkyard...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 Yeah, I've already parted out a '77 280Z and had the left bay of the garage tied up for several months. Pretty sure the wife will be REALLY happy to have another car in there as well. Donor car sounds like the way to go. I'll need a low mileage 1998 or newer Z28/firebird. Seems to be more low mileage pullouts than cars out there. I've been considering getting a low interest auto loan to buy the donor. Problem I see with this however is what happens when i'm done parting it out, get rid of the shell and still don't have a title for a car that's technically gone and that i'm still paying for?! There's just sometihng not right with this idea but I can't seem to put my finger on it! Any thoughts? I'll assume that if I were to default on the loan (not likely) that the bank would have rights to my Z??? I had a salvage yard out here take away the shell to the 280Z I parted out without a title. Wonder if they'd be mroe reluctant to take away the shell of a newer car? gvincent, sounds like you made out pretty well. Seems like there'd be plenty there for me to sell to recoupe much of the cost, particularly if I get somethin with some simple upgrades, a nice set of wheels, and in nice condition. Thanks for the input! Still not sure what i'm gonna do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Buy a wrecked F-body. Don't bother with that loan BS.....will get you in trouble. Wait and find the right car to buy. Clive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvincent Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Listen to Clive, He knows what he is talking about and has a knack for finding donor cars, who do you think talked me into doing my donor part out. In my situation I just couldn't afford $3000+ for a wrecked LS1 at the time but had $2000 and scrounged up the additional $300 to do the LT1 deal when it came around and jumped on it because the kid who sold it to me had spent $1500 buying the parts to fix his car and then decided not to do it. So I already had a bunch of parts already boxed up! There are wrecked F bodies all the time, and the LS1's are getting cheaper and easier to find now, I knew of a couple recently. In the Northern climates where it snows Kids that drive their F bodies in the winter time are always sliding into something in the snow and totaling their F body cars. These cars are big sleds in the snow for inexperienced drivers who are used to front wheel drive cars. Late Winter/early spring is a good time to find them as they are freshly wrecked and the ones that are repairable will soon be looking for parts to buy and fix their wrecks. Save your coin and buy a totaled F body then make most or all of your money back. Greg Buy a wrecked F-body. Don't bother with that loan BS.....will get you in trouble. Wait and find the right car to buy. Clive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Call or email and find out what they want for the car, that way you get a sense of how much you are going to be paying for a pull out. These guys buy from a local dealers auction and only pay up to what a pull out is worth.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevrolet-Camaro-02-Z28-Repairable-CONVERTIBLE-LS1-SIX-SPEED-Drives_W0QQitemZ220219979669QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220219979669 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 bought an 01 trans am ram air with ws6 package for 6900-shipped. pulled what i need, sold the rest and got back all but about $130. of course, i didn't log any of my labor-i did have a good time stripping it. i sold parts on fleabay as well as to some members of the local f-body club [worked great for the larger parts]. with the donor car i kept; eng, trans, elec fans, some wiring and odd hardware. david Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 I was daydreaming on my way in to work this morning about my car and how to get my LS1/T56. I can get a 60 month used car laon at 4.25% right now. No problems with approval. I figure i can pull enough off a donor car to make payments on that without a problem. Add on top of that extra payents along the way and it shouldn't be a problem at all. I know, I know!!! Stay away from the loan... I can hear my wife rolling her eyes right now!!! Thing is, there's no way i can drop between 5 and 8K on a car right now out of pocket. I figured this may be a good way to secure my donor now... and i'm dying to get my car going! I'm not necessarily in a hurry, but it would be nice to at least have the engine/trans so I can get working this summer! Now, be easy on me... cause i'll guarantee i'll have a fight on my hands when I bring this option up to the wife!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvincent Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Stay away from a loan on a donor car, 60 months is a long time!!!!!!! Buy the donor car when you have the money, you can do prep work on your car in the mean time. Don't buy a pull out from a wrecking yard or any wreck from Ebay. Stay within an area you are willing to drive to and tow home a wrecked donor. Check all the Craiglists in your area of search, get the "Want Advertiser" type rags and look in the "Cars for parts" pages, I found my sons 1995 Formula for $2100 in one of the local car rags. Car was originally from your area with slight plastic only nose damage and needed a windshield. They can be found, be patient and look, look, and look some more, a good deal will come around. Be patient! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 great pointers greg! in addition, you can usually hear run & [sometimes] drive a donor. with a jy pullout or halfcut you don't get the same luxury-to me the donor car was a safer bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvincent Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Thanks 1 Tuff Z, 24TZ, I hate to see anybody go into debt to build a project car, A project car is supposed to be fun and to work on it during your free time, the last thing you want is the pressure of having to pay off a loan or rushing to get the project finished, it is a recipe for disaster or worse having an unfinished project and having to sell it off for a big loss to pay off some loan. I am an old geezer and I would hate to see a youngster with a family get into any additional debt when it really isn't necessary. Be patient Grasshopper! Start Planning everything out, make a realistic budget (then double it) and like I said earlier look, look, and look some more. Stay focussed on the primary goal and try not to get sidetracked, Like many have said before it is really easy to want to buy all the go fast parts or get caught up in the "while I am at" syndrome. You can do that stuff later a little at a time during the winter months. A lot of members have already posted some great advice here that I read and followed like the bible when I first came here in 1995. I would, and still do spend countless evenings reading posts getting ideas and printing out tons of info. I already had a 78 280Z car but I always wanted to build a V8 Z, so I devoured as much info and planned out as much as I could for over a year before I bought the 76 280Z. I am going to guess that 80 percent of of all are cars on this site are not our daily driver or we at least have a second beater car to drive. Heck It will be 2 years ago August when I bought the 76 280Z for my project and I still am not done but am almost there, I spent 6 months just finding the right donor car, but I yanked the 280 drivetran and sold most of that off and traded some parts for some welding work and prepped the car and bought items here and there when I had the extra cash from selling some parts. I mean I am sure there are some members here that have probably built their cars in a couple of months but I bet that number is low and they did a lot of planning up front to prepare for their swap. Deja, put those parts up for sale now, people are looking for F body parts right now, put them on several Craigslists in your area and on the forums, LS1.com, LS1LT1.com CamaroZ28.com, Fbody.com etc. If I was able to sell all my stuff on those sites you should be able to also, in fact I sold a lot of stuff to people mostly in GA, VA, TN, TX, OK OR, WA, OH, FL and MO almost everywhere except where I live in New England! I only sold a few big parts locally. Sorry for the long winded post, I had too much coffee today!! Greg great pointers greg! in addition, you can usually hear run & [sometimes] drive a donor. with a jy pullout or halfcut you don't get the same luxury-to me the donor car was a safer bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sstallings Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Local F body club is a good idea from 1 Tuf Z. Also look into local Junior College/Community College auto body shops for people looking for parts. I sold the front clip from my donor for $1000 which is cheaper than they could get it at a salvage yard, and I'm planning to part out the rest the same way. Keep the donor as long as you can get away with, since there will always be some other part you could have used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatio Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share Posted April 11, 2008 Sorry for the late response ya'll.... Been away at a conference. Maaaaan, Ya'll are downer's!!! And I had my wife nearly talked into it too! I know you're right though. And there's plenty for me to work on while i'm waiting for the right donor car! Thanks for all your advice/honesty! Here's a couple pics of my project: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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