I was looking at another car and come across this XR7 428 convertible. This car needs a full restoration but a lot of the parts are there. The 428 engine and C6 trans is missing. There are replacement floor pans with it. I do not have any good pictures as this was an afterthought, but I did get a picture of the door tag. I will post picture if I can if not below is the break down. Any thoughts of a value?
Thanks for any help
Nelson
9F94R 428 CJ Ram air
Plant F Dearborn
Body 76B XR7 convertible
Trans U C6
Rear 6 3.00.1
Color 6 Med Blue met
Trim FB White with blue
DSO 84 Home Office Reserve
Dec 10th
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A 428 Cobra Jet Converible is a dream car for many of us. The concern would be repair cost verses completed value.
First steps would be to contact Scott Taylor via email CobraJet@CougarClub.org who is the 69-70 Cobra Jet Registrar. Scott also owns and runs Taylor Restoration in Arizona.
Most people on the forum can give opinions on costs to repair with detailed photos. A photo of the door tag would be helpful to investigate. Phil Parcells who runs the National Database via www.CougarClub.org may have history of when and where the car was registered.
Scott could give you an idea of value as well as what it would cost to restore that particular car to allow you to measure the investment vs final value.
If you are able to do most of the work yourself as to metal work as well as paint & body or even a portion of the work will save money as far as output unless you total up your personal hours as well.
An unknown is how the current state of the world with the Corona Virus / Covid-19 will Impact car values. In my opinion the people who would buy such a car completed will need to determine income and investments for what they are willing to spend.
If I can help in any way, please reach out to me via email Chair@CougarClub.org
This is probably the most recent comparable car (late April)
I am in the process of restoring a '69 428 SCJ Eliminator that was missing its original engine/trans/rear end. I have spent over $12000 on only drivetrain parts so far and still need a trans/radiator/shroud/dist/lots of small parts. This doesn’t include machine work. Oh and don’t forget about everything else ie 25k on paint/body
This doesn’t make sense for many cars. Gavin is right about a CJ Convertible being a dream car for many but it has to make financial sense
Finding power trains is hard, but can be done. The less you care about date code correct the easier it gets. But it can be pricey any way you look at it. I found a F250 with a 1970 428 Police Interceptor in it. That gave me a long block and intake. I paid $3K for the running truck and sold the truck and a few parts from it for about $500 making it a $2500.00 start. I found a set of CJ heads that match with the rest of the engine for $900 with shipping. A carburetor fuel pump(Replacement parts but CJ) Some Power steering brackets, reproduction accelerator cable bracket, carburetor base plate and cast aluminum valve covers. for about an other $1500.00 So for about $5K I have an engine. Next is the CJ C8 transmission. For that I found a Police Interceptor C-6 from a different 1970 Police car. It has the cast iron tail shaft housing. But does not have the R servo. I plan to just live with it. I paid $300 for that. But it will need to be rebuilt. I figure by the time I have a running power train I’ll have between $10K to $15 K in to it. In comparison one could cobble together a 351 W power train for less then $3500 or a 351C 4V for $5 to $6000
My thought on finding a low buck 428 is to look for old F series pickups. People have been swapping 428s in to them for ever. Think about, in the late 60’s the best puller you could get from the factory was a 352, 360 or a 390. Not bad engines, but put 10 to 12,000 pounds behind one and you are not going to get where you going very fast. I know a old timer here that did a few hundred swaps using 390s, 410s, 428 thunder jets and Cobra Jets as well as 429s and 460s in to F series pickups. It is entirely possible he put this one in that old F250 I had.
Another side bar, about 12 years ago I had another F250 that had a 68 Thunder Bird 428 in it. I made a few dollars flipping that one.
So no drivetrain, and so rusty that the floor s need to be replaced. Pass. It will be phenomenally difficult and expensive to restore.
If the price is reasonable and you are able to tackle the job, BUY IT!!! Not often you come across a 428 convertible. So it does not have the drivetrain, I bet somewhere down the line it got blown up or it was used for another project and then the owner in the past sold the car and i wouldn’t put it past that person that they regret doing that realizing that these cars are going only up n value. So i say buy it, say build a nice 390 for now, till you can come up with all the parts for a 428 and then do the transplant.
thanks
pat