'74 tii with carbureted engine...value?

[dlacey]

I guess it would cost you 5-8K in parts to return the engine to tii spec.

 

in the pics you can see all the tii specifics...so all the other bits are there.  Not sure why the engine bay is so black.......

 

If its not rusty and you wanna either stick with the carb, invest in tii parts, or convert to EFI then its a good starting point.  

[Mike G]

The rear shock tower rust could be the tip of the iceberg. Everything on a tii is more expensive, water pump is 4x more expensive than the carbed version, one injector costs more than a carb, etc. If you plan on modifying the car I wouldn’t pay the premium for a tii. If he’ll take 8k it could be worth it either way. Definitely get it on a lift and look for rust. 

[cdn97986]

Interesting comment on the shock towers, needed to lighten up the pic a bit to see what you were referring to. Owner is saying they are clean and rust-free. Looks like I'll need some more pics to confirm. Good pick up there Mike.

[Mike G]

Looks like the spare tire well has rusted through as well as the muffler, I doubt the rest of the car faired better. If you can’t view the car yourself a PPI at a shop familiar with 02s would be a good investment. 

[1936spyder]

Heartwarming at least to find out that it still has its original block and head.

 

There does appear to be some bubbling to the paint on the left rear shock tower but that's all I can make out. As for the spare tire well, it's hard to decipher what exactly is going on. The interior shot illustrates some surface rust, dirt/grime and leaves but I'm not sure if the outer left edge is rust that has made its way through the sheet metal or not. You obviously can't see it from the rear underside shot.

 

The rocker panels look good, but more shots of the underside should be requested.

 

It's a non-sunroof '74 tii in Siennabraun, but it's still a tii w/its original block and head and of course all the other tii bits besides the induction system (don't think it would cost 5-7K to source all those bits though). The Behr AC console is a plus too as it's the most desirable of the three aftermarket AC units available new through dealers at the time.

 

With tii prices seemingly going nowhere but up, I think it would be a worthwhile investment if you have the financial means to restore it properly. It does need everything but it does appear relatively solid.

 

It WOULD be the perfect opportunity/time to do a complete color change if you so desired. That would not hurt the value at all if it was complete and if it was changed to a more desirable color such as Inka, Colorado, Fjord blue, Polaris, etc. However, that would totally be up to you; perhaps you're a fan of Siennabraun and would want to keep it original which is totally cool as well.

 

 As it's been for sale for quite awhile I would offer 8K TOPS as I mentioned before, even though it's a tii, given everything that it needs.

Edited June 29, 2020 by 1936spyder

[NYNick]

Doesn't need everything, but it needs a lot. I didn't see you mention the VIN on the right fender and the steering wheel column matching the block. Check them and ask for pix.

 

If you're restoring this car, meaning engine out, glass out, interior out, subframes dropped with all new stuff and a brandy new paint job, trim, wheels etc, not to mention the rust you're going to find, you're looking at $20K plus all day long. $30K would be easy and sky's the limit after that.

 

What's a nice 74 Tii go fo these days without you doing the work? Gotta ask yourself that question.

[Conserv]

It seems not particularly rusty, which is certainly good. And there don’t appear to be recent attempts to conceal rust — there don’t appear to be recent attempts to do anything! Still needs an in-person inspection by an ‘02-savvy person (PPI).

 

But $10K for this car seems high to me. It’s a ‘74 tii, and there’s a clear price break between the round taillight and square taillight tii’s. Stated differently, if it’s truly low rust, runs and drives, and was a round taillight tii, $10K might be a very attractive price. I’d probably be saying, “Stop whining and start buying!” But the market for ‘74’s is measurably less than that for ‘72’s-‘73’s. And yet the cost of restoration is the same. Remember this!

 

I keep adding up the cost of assembling all the needed injection components: $1K if you’re incredibly shrewd, savvy, and patient, $5K if you’re a sucker ready to pounce on the first tii system you see on eBay! Then.... you’ve got to decide how much work you need or want to do on the tii components: you could drop anywhere from $0 to $4K restoring the tii components before you even install the system. But unless you’re spending top dollar on an already-overhauled pump, injectors, etc. — a true rarity — you’ll probably want, at minimum, the pump rebuilt and the injectors cleaned and evaluated: budget at least $1,500, but easily much more. Once the system is back on the car, it needs to be set up properly. So bringing this car back to “full tii status” is an expensive proposition, and that should be reflected in the price.
 

Do we know anything whatsoever about the condition of the engine, transmission, differential, brakes? Anything? Any receipts from anything?

 

Let me say, I now love Sienabraun-metallic — perhaps this car’s original color — after hating it for a three or four decades. And I love tii’s. And I love the idea of returning a matching-numbers car to its original configuration. So I’m, in a sense, smitten with this car, envisioned in fully-restored condition. But I also recognize that getting from here — the car today — to that fully-restored condition could be a very expensive trip!

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Conserv

[cdn97986]

Thanks for all of the responses. I've asked the seller to get me some more pics of the undercarriage, more towards the front of the car since the ones provided so far are mostly of the rear. If that rear left shock tower is indeed rusty, that's a dealbreaker for me, so I've asked for additional pics of that area as well. In terms of restoration, I'd be in on this for the long haul, with an eventual glass-out repaint in a better color (no offense to Sienabraun, OK color, but would like something else on a tii). I'd be able to assemble the needed injection parts for the motor as I found them to save some $$$ since the car runs as-is, so no real hurry there. The VIN on the cowl, fender tag, fender stamping, and block are all matching, have pics that show all 4. Since the car is not local to me, I'm getting some more firm shipping quotes from uShip as part of the process to see if that might be a showstopper (CA -> PA). I know the bids get better the longer the listing is up, but all seem pretty high at the 24 hr mark, well above their estimate by more than 50%. Depending on how the undercarriage and shock tower pics look, and where the shipping comes in, I was looking to offer $8-9k for the car. Anyone recommend someone in the LA area for a PPI? Car is actually for sale at a specialist shop currently, they have been giving me the info on the car thus far.

 

Thanks again!

[SydneyTii]

So it looks like the front timing case is non Tii as well, the alternator is an 02 alternator as it sits up top and not down low per the Tii type.

id go Jenvey Heritage ITB’s on this.

[Mike A]

Buying this car and doing it half-assed is a waste of resources. This car is worth and needs a full resto. If you are not looking for a Tii , leave it for somebody who wants to do it right.
Cost for a nice driver quality job?  How much work can you DIY? The answer to that affects the cost by a factor of 2 or 3. At $10k for the initial investment , if you can do it on a budget of $50k to come out with a nice driver quality $60k car , you would recover your cost. 

[cdn97986]

Am I hearing $50k to restore to driver quality? I was thinking more along the lines of $20k, with me doing a lot of the work, outside of final cosmetic bodywork and paint. Am I off-base here? No way I have a $50k budget, even spread over some years.

[NYNick]

I think Mike is high here, but he's in the middle of a 73 tii full restoration and he doing nothing half assed. I'm betting his car will be top notched and command top dollar if he ever goes to sell.

 

When I said $20K, I also said "all day long and $30K would be easy". For $20K, you probably won't get paint, or an interior, or fix a lot of rust. You'll end up with stuff not done and wishing you had spent an extra $10 or $15k. How do I know? I took a beat up 74 tii and restored it over 3 years recently, doing a lot of work myself. I didn't bring it back to pure stock, but went a bit of a resto-mod hot rod look and approach. No stone was unturned, but I didn't need an engine rebuild. I think Mike's and my cars are different beasts and would bring different money, not just because of Roundie versus Square tail, but originality and approach.

 

I think you've fallen in love. I encourage you to span the world looking at finished cars or cars needing just a little work by comparison. It's a good time to do this. You'll save yourself a lot of time (and money) and learn a lot in the process. There are some nice cars out there that will get you where you want to be without the hassle.

 

Good luck.

 

Nick

 

If this isn't a scam, take a look.

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by NYNick

[Conserv]

I suppose you could simply pass on restoring the injection system, and drive/use the car as it is. That would save you $4K to $10K. But you’re not going to get tii money for it if you sell it in that state.

 

And what do you know about the state of the engine? Is it freshly overhauled by a reputable shop — it certainly doesn’t look like it — or is it on its last legs, a 150K-mile car with compression of 115? The same goes for the transmission and differential. To be clear, it doesn’t appear anyone has spent any money on this car in a long, long time. What’s in that $20K budget towards engine, clutch, transmission, and differential?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Conserv]

52 minutes ago, NYNick said:

I think Mike is high here, but he's in the middle of a 73 tii full restoration and he doing nothing half assed. I'm betting his car will be top notched and command top dollar if he ever goes to sell.

 

When I said $20K, I also said "all day long and $30K would be easy". For $20K, you probably won't get paint, or an interior, or fix a lot of rust. You'll end up with stuff not done and wishing you had spent an extra $10 or $15k. How do I know? I took a beat up 74 tii and restored it over 3 years recently, doing a lot of work myself. I didn't bring it back to pure stock, but went a bit of a resto-mod hot rod look and approach. No stone was unturned, but I didn't need an engine rebuild. I think Mike's and my cars are different beasts and would bring different money, not just because of Roundie versus Square tail, but originality and approach.

 

I think you've fallen in love. I encourage you to span the world looking at finished cars or cars needing just a little work by comparison. It's a good time to do this. You'll save yourself a lot of time (and money) and learn a lot in the process. There are some nice cars out there that will get you where you want to be without the hassle.

 

Good luck.

 

Nick

 

If this isn't a scam, take a look.

 

Well said, and from precisely the right person: a guy who restored a once-sad ‘74tii, using lots of his own time, energy, and talent. The noticeable difference is that Nick’s car still retained the fuel injection system, an expensive... “detail”!
 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

[otisdog]

What's the VIN? Just because the numbers match doesn't mean that it's a tii.