General idea

I know it is hard to put a value on these vans, but I have a chance to buy a 1966 no door, 95 % of body is done, 350 installed, needs assembly. What do you guys think it is worth?

What are you going to have into it to finish it? What about will it be worth to you when you are done with it? Putting a $ value on an already started project is very hard to do. There are alot of ways to put a V8 in a 1st gen, not all of them are good. What have they already done to 95% of the body? I have a 66 that someone had started a V8 transformation on, ,looked like they used a can opener and had an odd assortment of parts that would have been difficult to use. Bottom line is the least you can pay for it the more room you have to finish it. To me a "good" skin would be worth 600-1200 $ everything else just bolts on. JM2C

I already have a 66 panel, and a 67 A108. I am planning to go look at it on Saturday. He has a nice shop that it sits in, I will go over it with a fine tooth comb. Pics to follow.

The value of a nice unmolested van is "X".
The value of an older van needing work is "X minus Y"
The value of an older van that has been pulled apart and mods started but not completed are "X minus Y Minus Z".
Notice there is no Plus here.

The seller will try to point out all the money spent. Sorry, that's not the math that matters. The math that matters is what a similar van complete is worth MINUS what it will cost to complete this one. This is often a negative number.

You nailed it Rod.

Thanks Exto. I see far too many projects started and not finished. Guys loose the drive to see them through or were just plain over their head to begin with.
Stinks, because good stuff gets torn apart. The seller always ends up loosing money.
When I'm cynical, I call it the stupid tax. If they had just bought it and parked it, they wouldn't have lost as much money. Some deserve it more than others, but let's face it; A Rolex disassembled is worth a LOT less than a complete running one. Even one that doesn't work but hasen't been taken apart is worth more. Same with a boat, house, motorcycle, anything!

Digz is right, these vans a simple and if the basic shell is good, they still hold value. Problem is, how was it disassembled and how were the mods done?
Is everything there, bagged and tagged? Were all mods done properly and how the buyer would do it? Were all missing parts noted? Were they all found and purchased? That's the stuff that adds up quickly!

Thanks for all the information, and advice guys. I have done several projects over the years, and am in the middle of a frame off on a 57 Chevy right now as well. I know all too well how much it hurts to lose money on a project, and I will look through the desire to own the van, and if it is worth buying, it will be bought knowing fully what I am getting into. I appreciate the help, and will post pics if I add this one to my collection.

I speak from experience on that. I'm upside down financially on more projects than I'm 'in the black' on. (The worst one so far is a PWC that's probably worth about $500, and I'm about $1500 into it right now. Though I could make at least two more of them out of the spare parts bin and still have spare parts left over... ) Fortunately, I didn't buy any of these projects as an investment, they're all toys I intend to keep long term.

There was a formula I ran across on a Jeep site for calculating the value of a project:

KBB value - value of modifications x percentage of vehicle still assembled = value of project

Note that the mods are subtracted from the value, logic behind this is that it is unlikely that all the mods are good or desirable.

Multiply that by the state of assembly, so if it's half assembled, it's worth half as much.


Funny thing is, if you actually plug numbers in there, it works out pretty close.

every engine ever installed and not yet running is allways just rebuilt and the tranny as well . oter that that every one above is correctso take a look how much to finish the body and paint, then elect, and so on if it's nice and you want it offer $800. the worst he can say is no...

After much consideration, I have decided this guy wants way too much for it. When he sent me pics of the rear doors and they are caved in from venting frustrations, I just dont want to take on that much work. Thanks for the advice, I am still searching for my next van!!!


Tom