How Bad is this Rust

[chrome sentinel]

Hello Forum,

Its been awhile since I posted, but I had question.

Just wanted to get some opinions on how bad the rust on this Delorean is. BTW, its a 82 manual.

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[djdogbone]

Looks like a lot of surface rust....look at the welds and joints...look for flaking and swelling or bubbling of the metal, if you've got that, hen you have issues.

[Nicholas R]

I agree, not all that bad. If you were to hit it with a product like Ospho right now, you'd probably have hardly any section loss of the material.

[Rich_NYS]

What's the update? Are you going to (or did you) buy this car?

If you're interested in an opinion, I think they're asking too much for the car since it's a non-runner in addition to what you've posted here.

[djdogbone]

And get that car out of the grass. The condensation is probably the reason or the rust.

[chrome sentinel]

I think the price is higher than it should be. I would prefer a black interior, and probably an automatic.
How much would you guys offer ?

Sitting on the grass is not helping the rust situation.

[Rich_NYS]

I think the price is higher than it should be. I would prefer a black interior, and probably an automatic.
How much would you guys offer ?

IMO, the price is at least twice what it's worth. I think that although a reasonable offer varies from one person's situation to another, I'd agree with the 2K-4K shown in the guideline below depending upon what I saw in person. Assuming the pics tell everything there is to know about the car (I'm thinking not,) I personally would want to know a bit more; what's the story....was that car a "floater" somewhere in Florida? If so, I'd be pretty worried about saltwater damage. Also, something looks pretty funky with the T-Panel on the drivers' side...is that from a really nasty situation with the roof box?

I think this is still considered an accurate guideline to follow: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?371-Please-read-before-posting-%93I-want-a-cheap-DeLorean%94-or-%93Project-Car-Wanted%94-threads

I'm a fairly new owner and by no means an expert, but I personally wouldn't pay more than 5K for a non-runner (in good condition.) :cool1:

[Denverdelorean]

I personally wouldn't pay more than 5K for a non-runner (in good condition.) :cool1:


I offered 7 for my non runner and they laughed. This was from a dealer of MANY non running deloreans. They came down to ten but would do no less. Complete non runners seem to get 8 to 11 on the open market. If you know someone, it may be different.

[Henrik]

Looks like it's sitting on cinder blocks and 2 x 4s. Are wheels not included (=bad) or are they not wanting to flat spot the tires(=good)?

[Some guy]

It seams like these cars are getting "more" as a none runners. I have been watching ebay. A good looking running car went for 17,000. The same week a car that had the front end bashed in went for 5 and change.

If the frame is good and complete, IMO, the car is a great price for under 7.

[Rich_NYS]

I'm somewhat of a new owner and certainly not an expert, but I think this car is the one that SEO Motorsports sold for 5K....the frame needs to be replaced.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?10083-Parts-car-with-low-miles


Like I said, I think reasonable offers vary from one person's situation to another; I personally wouldn't pay anywhere near the asking price for this car (and certainly not twice what it sold for a couple months ago.

FWIW, Chad paid a helluva lot less (a few months ago) for the Hurricane Sandy floater he's restoring.

[chrome sentinel]

I have noticed some wrecked cars on E - bay selling for more than I thought they were worth. Is the buying price guide out of date ?

[djdogbone]

If it's got a good left fender, then that's $3k right there so....I can can see where the money goes on some cars.

[Rich_NYS]

For the answer to the OP question: the rust appears to be really bad...car needs a frame (according to a PO.)

I mentioned it to NightFlyer Josh to get his .02 on a reasonable price and will post it here shortly. Josh has a good track record of assessing cars & restoration costs.

[Rich_NYS]

Josh's response:



~snip~

The car definitely needs a new frame and maybe even a lot of new chassis components as well - $3k-$12k (depending upon how fancy you want to get with things). Sounds like the engine is OK - it just needs a fuel delivery system - $1k-$5k (depending upon whether you go with carbureted, EFI, or K-Jet). It also appears to need new carpets, a few other interior parts (maybe window/defrost switches and a few other little things), and let's say that the wheels need refinishing and that the tires need to be replaced - estimate $1.8k+ depending upon how fancy you want to go. Otherwise, it's a very complete car with very usable existing parts - it just needs a good deep cleaning.

You could probably get the car safely and reliably running for somewhere around $6.5k (new frame, brake system rebuild, fuel system, and all fluids changed) in parts. Thus for $16.5k and an investment of your time, you'd have a fairly decent car. For a few grand more, you could get the car up to 94%+ and have a nice car for around $18.5k. The biggest problem with value here is the rebuilt title status. The car, even if otherwise perfect, will never be worth more than around $18.5k because of the title, thus the value is going to be limited by such. If D's were rarer than they really are, then the rebuilt title status wouldn't play as much of a factor as it does, but that's just the reality of the situation.

Thus, for someone looking for a project car who can do all their own labor, it's not a bad investment at $10k, as you'd end up having a car worth the money in parts that you'd invest in it in the end, but there are better deals out there for such a car, however traveling to find/access the better deals may negate the savings you'd experience from buying a cheaper car, thus for a local, it'd represent a fair market price. As you would never be able to recover anything for your time/effort in restoring it on a subsequent sale, it definitely isn't a DIY flip candidate, as you wouldn't make any profit on a subsequent sale. Nor is it a car for someone who would be paying for all the labor to have a vendor restore it, as you'd end up under water fairly quickly.

~snip~

I put a current average fair market value on the car of somewhere around $7k +/-.

~snip~

My $.02, for whatever they're worth.

7K was mentioned in another post, so that looks to be popular number and should answer the OP's question of how much is reasonable. Shows what I know....I was thinking half that number :mallet:

[Josh]

It doesnt need a new frame.

[Rich_NYS]

I'm somewhat of a new owner and certainly not an expert, but I think this car is the one that SEO Motorsports sold for 5K....the frame needs to be replaced.
***Correction, I missed a post that mentioned it sold for more than the asking price of 5K.....disregard my 5K comment.




It doesnt need a new frame.

Maybe not, but when Eddie was selling it he insinuated that the frame needed to be replaced, mentioned the roof box is rotted, and said it looked like it was driven in road salt. If the frame doesn't need to be replaced, I'm guessing it looks like it does.

[Rich_NYS]

Based on this, I'm definitely not even close to knowing what the originally posted car is worth:

http://www.beverlyhillscarclub.com/1981-dmc-delorean--c-3470.htm