That is pretty steep and also you do not know the quality of the work. You would need to do some measuring of the chassis to see if it is square. Might be the reason he stopped work. Also did he do the cowl? Every cowl has rust no matter where it came from.
For reference what someone has invested in the car has little to do with the price. I picked up a 72 Q code vert off CL with the following.
Car had been dipped stripped and was back to rolling chassis with all NOS Ford parts used.
Just built 351 C still on engine stand.
Just built C-6 with extra clutches added.
Ram air complete Ford set up.
Three sets of fenders.
AC set up but did not come with air.
Boxes of extra parts.
Complete new screw kit.
31 spline Detroit locker rear.
Magnum 500 wheels.
Had new floors installed and new trunk.
Cowl was replaced.
The car was on CL for 9 months and I was first to go look at it. His friend had invested $16,000 in parts, labor and materials. Divorce made him sell to this guy his friend for $9,000. He dropped price,$7,000 and I took $5,000 in cash with me. He would not take it so I left. Two weeks later he called and said he would take $5,500 so I bought it.
I will be turning it into a track days car with full roll cage this summer and fall. Have a CC 4 bolt I am going to do a full build on and might switch to 5 speed for the track.
I have turned down quite a few on CL in past couple years. Lots of failed builds out there some were painted and going back together for pennies on the dollar invested.
I turned down an M code 4 speed vinyl top Mach 1 for under $2,000 on CL. I have too many now so trying to stop buying.
Do lots of looking at the car. Went to look at one and the floor pan was 1/2" off of the frame rails but was welded in, total POS for sure.
Better to get a better bone to start with. There are lots of them on CL in the south. Check Charlotte, Atlanta and all around.
I was at a show last Friday and guy came in with a nice 65 coupe black with air, console, bench seat car and 289 C code. He had just bought for $3,200. Great driver and solid car.
Finding all the missing pieces of this car will get expensive quick. You can buy one built for much less than you can build it for. Just stay away from the big shiny used car places that say they are Collector Car Dealers, lol.
