Australian Pagoda , sell it ? or Wreck it?

[Soulman]

Hi Guys,

A Question more so for the Aussie guys!
I purchased a 230 sl with a 280 motor thinking it was an easy fix , but........

My question is  , given that the level of repairs is beyond me financially and physically , should I sell it  or wreck it?
The car is complete with both roofs.
It's a Euro model, red manual
The panels are in very good condition
The interior is very good
The sun visors are missing
The grill is average
And mechanical it is very good, with new distributor,fuel pump,petrol tank,
The car had been stored in the States for 11 years
The motor runs well but needs check valves in the pump
I was told that the car had a lot of money spent on it 11 years ago and then went into storage for 11 years. All this is evident to be true.
Floor panel rust is minimal

But.....

It has severe rust in the rails both front and both rear.

I have been quoted  a lot of money to repair and paint.

So ...
Given how much dearer Pagodas bits are, should I sell it as is? given I have unmasked all the hidden rust?

Or do I wreck it ?

I am into it for about 25 k Aus.

I have also purchased a lot of new stuff , around $2000 worth.

Be honest!

Thanks ,

Soul.

[w113dude]

Soul,

I guess it comes down to money, a good example of these cars brings a lot more than 28K in Australia. so you do the math if you find don't have the time to do a project like this then sell it. but you can be sure a good Pagoda in Down Under fetches a lot more than what you have in the car.

It seems you are a bit overwhelmed with the amount of work involved with the restoration. My advice take your time. do it right and enjoy the process. a good one will cost a lot more in addition you'll find out so much about the car.


Shaun

[kampala]

Your decision will not be easy ... it's good that you are dealing with it early in your project ... you may have considered this option, but just in case .... If you have the patience and the space you could consider keeping your eyes open for a mostly rustless shell or more than a shell but without a drive train and without other parts you don't need, or you could sell the parts you don't need from the second car.   You can really only do this if you have time ...

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hello Soul,

I like to give you another idea and that is ... since you are in the Victoria, Melbourne area this may be an option for you.

First as you know if you wreck the car you will loose most of your original investment of the 25K you already spend also you need to recuperate the 2K you have on hand for the new stuff you have. Therefore the option to wreck it is defiantly a bad financial decision.

Why not think about finding a restoration place in the Victoria, Melbourne area discuss with them the possibility to restore the car at there cost then pay out your 27K this way your loss would be ZERO. The other option would be to find someone that is willing to take on the project to restore the car and go into partnership with you. Once restored you can sell the car and split the profit. As Shaun mentioned in your part of the world this car will fetch a good return.

Good Luck with whatever decision you decide to go with.

PS. It would be sad to hand something like this over to a wrecker.

[Larry & Norma]

You can save a lot of money by stripping the car yourself, then pay for professional
welding and paint.

[stickandrudderman]

There's a 1000 hours in restoring a shell alone so if money's tight it's a non-starter.
Trying to recover 25K by selling parts is also going to be very difficult and time consuming but not impossible.
Advertising the car with its known faults but without going into too much detail will likely lead to a sale at good money to someone who does have the funds and the inclination to restore it.
Finding another incomplete car with which to make one good car used to be possible but every man and his dog knows what these cars are worth now so you'd be very, very lucky to find one that fits the bill, especially danunder. (strine).
trying to find an investor to fund the resto in the hope of you both getting your money back is only going to disappoint both parties in the end.

[Cees Klumper]

Advertising the car with its known faults but without going into too much detail will likely lead to a sale at good money to someone who does have the funds and the inclination to restore it.

X 2

[pj]

Please don't destroy the car! There are no new ones being made.

[franjo_66]

Soul,

I was in a similar position to yours many years ago, only that I had a far greater rust problem than you !

If you liook at it soley from an aussie market perspective, you are NOT in a bad position. To get into a decent daily driver you would need to cough up around $60k which buys you a pagoda that would still need many more dollars to bring it up to scratch.

So the way I look at it, you still have a $33K" buffer.

If I were you, I would address the rust in the rails. Honestly you can get this done for around $5-7k. If the other panels are good, then you have the option of delaying a total respray for further down the track when funds allow. You could send off your injector pump to Gus (Pacific Fuel) and have it totally overhauled together with the injectors & CSV. Cost me $2300 including shipping both ways.

To do the total body overhaul will set you back at least $30k to have it done as it should be.

Even then, you have a pagoda that is way better than all the daily drivers being advertised in the $60 - $75k rang. And this is applicable to the Australian market.

Hard decision, but I think that if this is a car that you would want to keep long term, then I would fix the rust issues at a minimum. The fact that the interior and mechanicals are good is a huge bonus.
Some of the aussie pagodas being offered have oil leaks, etc. So tobuy one here that needs no spend would set you back around $120k at a minimum. So from how I see it, you are actually in an ok situation!!!

BTW, is your car RHD? If it is a LHD then that changes things totally.

Best of luck with it and I hope that you get to bring her back to her former glory !!

Regards
Franjo

[Garry]

I am with Frango,

The cost of a good Aust RHD driver will be more than $60k so you have a lot of value in the car.  Again if it is a LHD car than that changes the equation as LHD cars here are only worth half the RH cars.

If you feel you dont have the $$ or time/inclination to do the fix, remembering after doing it you then know what you have, then you should be able to get your money back or near to that but then you are looking at shelling out $60k ++ and even then you are not quite sure what you will be getting.

Better the devil you know than the one you dont.

Let us know where you are going with it and maybe some of the locals can help with recommendations etc.

Garry

[Soulman]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the advice and personal messages, along with all the words of encouragement.

I was a bit overwhelmed with all the over priced quotes i was getting.

I have decided to go ahead with the restoration and have found an old school tradesman happy to do the job at the right price !

It seems that anything that is more than replacing a panel and painting it only these days is just too hard for a lot of panel shops , and the ones that do that sort of work go for the jugular !

So the journey begins !

Again thanks for all the help !

Soul.

[andyburns]

Fantastic to here Soul,  am sure you wont regret it.  I  would love to see some photos of your restoration journey.  How about some 'before' photos to kick it all off?

[getsmart]

Hi Soul,

I'm not in too disimilar situation to you although I have a really good body but it is completely stripped and I'm doing a lot of work myself or farming out bits I can't do. I'm in Melbourne too so always happy to swap and compare notes...

Best Regards, Joe

my link

www.getsmartpagoda.tumblr.com

[w113dude]

Hi Soul,

I'm not in too disimilar situation to you although I have a really good body but it is completely stripped and I'm doing a lot of work myself or farming out bits I can't do. I'm in Melbourne too so always happy to swap and compare notes...

Best Regards, Joe

my link

www.getsmartpagoda.tumblr.com

Hey Joe,

How is the project coming along?

Shaun