Hey. I'm considering buying a 1971 firebird. It has a pontiac 400 which the owner said is not the originial but it starts up fine and runs smooth. Theres a lot of new components under the hood such as radiator, distributor, carb, hoses, etc., and its pretty much rust free except for a small spott by the rear wheel well that needs to be cut out. The body is just primer and it needs some little parts here and there. The guy said he would except my offer of 3900. I'm 18 with not much restoration experience and looking for a nice project car. I was wondering whether this would be a nice fit. Also, what would I need to look for when buying a car like this and also problem areas of this year. Thanks a lot for your help.
buying a 1971 firebird
- Thread starter justsoup
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according to www.nada.com low retail for a fully painted car is about 7K so you have alot of room to restore the car before you exceed it's value. Youve already seen the body weak spot, the rear wheel well area. If you want to know what engine is in the car there is a pad on the engine block, passenger side, in front of the cylinder head with a letter code, something like YH. Post it here and I will try and find the original application. If you need a history of what the car originally was try www.phs-online.com. Good luck.
68firebird400
New member
If that primer is not not hiding a lot of bondo, then it sounds like a decent deal (at least it would be in florida) Do your homework on it. Any smoking when first started or when accelerating? What's interior like? Much cheaper to fix if it's still original seats, ect...
Enjoy and show us some pics
Enjoy and show us some pics
The exhaust was perfectly clear. The interior was decent black leather but it was missing the headliner and the piece behind the rear seats under the rear window. Also, how do I tell if there is rust if it's covered by primer and is it worth a hundred bucks or so to get it professionally appraised? thanks
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68firebird400
New member
I'd ask if there's any "before" primer pics around (probably not, but worth asking) Would probably be worth getting a body shop guy to inspect it. A lot of problems can be hidden by primer. Where was the car from? rust belt or desert/dry area?
If it's solid it's probably worth it