Done!
Picked her up this morning down in Corvallis.
The good:
- Body is absolutely straight, with no rust at all except for where the previous owner "backed into something". Even the bumpers have no wrinkles, except for the aforemetioned backing into, but it is not creased, so should be easy to deal with.
-Interior is immaculate, re-done with original materials, back seat re-stuffed. Front seats have new vinyl, but were not re-stuffed (and need to be). New carpeting. Headliner has no stains, but one very small tear at the rear (should be fixable).
- All trim is present, dash has not been cut for a new radio, all electrical works, except the clock
- Owner has had the car for past 10 years and it has been well pampered, judging by physical appearance.
The bad:
- Someone in the past put on 15" wheels with a different bolt pattern, thus rendering the spare useless. I am hoping it will be easy enough to get original wheels back on.
- Owner did not tell me that it had been in storage for the past 2 years until I arrived. She said that she drained the fuel, but when she started it up last week she did nothing but add gas (arrghhh!). No oil change, no tune up, no valve adjust, no brake inspection. She has been driving it all week and told me it was "cutting out sometimes - might be the fuel filter". I checked the oil and it was 1.5 qts down and dark black. I added oil and drove it 2-3 miles during which it started bucking and the oil light came on at idle.
So, I told her that I wasn't expecting the mechanical condition that it was in, and told her that I hoped there was no damage from her driving it around all week. In the end I offered her $2300 (she was asking $2800).
With shape the body is in, and the interior I still think I got the best of this. I will attack the engine, brakes, fuel lines, etc this weekend and hopefully a little love brings her right back into shape.
