# back again after a long break - need more purchase advice 72 lemans



## jasonmrenda (Aug 6, 2008)

hello everyone. i was on here almost a year ago when i was contemplating trading a sportster i built for a 68 GTO that needed work. i ended up selling the bike outright and paying some bills and found another harley project. well i just finished that project and feel like i am done with bikes for a while. i posted my bike for sale and have a guy interested in trading me for a 72 lemans - straight up. dont have many pics as of yet but i will go look and take some this weekend hopefully.

here is all the info i have currently:

from ad:
"1972 pontiac le mans 
great frame good body(rear quarter panels could use a little atention) runs strong rides smooth. lots of motor work push right around 450hp at the motor 
NON posi rear.price is firm at 4500. the car is not registered or inspected at the moment. it will need new tires for inspection and last week when i was doing new trans fluid , cause of the winter sitting i stripped one of the pan bolt holes out. so it leaked all the fluid out and will need the one hole re-tapped so i can not be driven right now. i will give you my motor cherry picker for the hassle. auto trans it has the turbo 350 trans and it is now a floor shift"

here is a link to my bike ad so you can see what i am selling. my reserve is close to his asking price.

eBay Motors: Harley-Davidson : Sportster (item 280334835477 end time Apr-23-09 16:16:56 PDT)

so i guess i need help determining if this would be a fair swap or what that car is worth? just ballpark as obv with no pics it is impossible.

thank you again everyone.


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## Ranger01 (Nov 14, 2008)

Thats not a bad paint job for just rattlecanning it... looks to me like it couldve just used some sanding pre and post clear.

But to the matter at hand,
From what I read that does seem to be a good deal, but without pictures of the car its kind of hard to tell either way.


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## jasonmrenda (Aug 6, 2008)

well i went and lookd at the lemans today and i am really excited. sounds great. needs a bolt hole drilled and tapped in the tranny pan and thats it. the paint is a crappy maaco job but i can live with it for now. interior is great. disk brake conversion on front done already. 

pics here:

Kodakgallery.com: Slideshow

course i forgot to get a front end shot - duh. 

what would you guess this to be worth? 2500-4500?


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## Ranger01 (Nov 14, 2008)

Your getting a steal! That kind of car up here would be going for twice that (at a minimum).

The paint actually aint too bad for a mako job.

A couple things to look out for is:
- Bondo, how much and where. (a "good" bondo job can make a $500 car look like a $9k car)
- Frame rust (depending on where it came from)
-The engine
- The rust that seems to be forming under that paint job. (as in the door jams)


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## jasonmrenda (Aug 6, 2008)

cool - i am pretty stoked. i have less than 2500 into the bike (some may say thats too much lol! but for a harley of any kind thats pretty low cash for a bike). he was asking 4500 for his car and just wants to trade straight up.

i believe the motor is the stock one but with a bunch of bolt on perf mods. cams rockers heads?? etc? motor sounds good. brakes are nice and solid. there is def some bondo work and it will need attention at some point but i just want a decent and safe daily driver. have 3 other motorcycles besides the sporty i'd trade him, so i am very very fortunate to be able to have both. i also think that should i need to unload this for cash, i have a better cahnce of getting it back with the car vs. the bike. auto trans (i also have th400 in my garage off a 68 buick (and the engine too)).

thanks for the advice. anyone else have any pos/neg regarding this deal? def interested in as many opinions as i can as i just dont know enough about what the value of the car is. ebay has from 1k to 30k and everything in between.


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## Petey D (Feb 14, 2009)

Looks pretty good, go for it.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Is it my understanding that you were unable to drive the car because of the tranny leak? That concerns me a little. Why wouldn't the guy fix a bolt so people could test drive it? Without driving it, you don't know the condition of the tranny or how tight/loose the frontend is. Sounds like he slapped some paint on it to make it look respectable. Probably would be more surprises under the paint than just the rear fenders, but maybe not. Rear bumper was painted too, so that was in need of rechroming. Seats have obviously been dyed/painted with a black strip to breakup the green. Actually, doesn't look too bad really. It was mentioned the car is not registered? Does it have a clean title? That would be a must. As far as that car going for double the asking price in Mn, 9k, no way. Maybe some guys are asking that price, but I can bet they're still sitting on those cars unless the "right guy" comes along. If it was a GTO you'd still be hard pressed to get that kind of $ for it even in the rust belt of Mn/WI.
Ok, now that I'm done being a negative nelly. If you have less than $2500 in your bike and the title for the car is clean, I'd say you could put a fair amount of money into the car and be able to sell for more than what you put into it.


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## jasonmrenda (Aug 6, 2008)

thanks again
he is having the trans bolt fixed wed night so i can test drive it. car was registered last year and inspected. he has the title and documentation. i think the interior looks great, no clue if it was an original pattern or not but that isnt really important to me.

i just cant gauge what this car is worth. i see some on ebay at 6k that look worse and some for 3k that may be better. same with the bikes. i am going to let the auction end regardless so i can get an idea of what people would pay for the bike. i put a reserve of 5500 which obv most likely wont happen but thats fine. i think 4500 for the bike is a fair price but then again i built it so who knows. depends on if anyone wants it. i've had a few people offer other items in trade so it seems like i did a fair job on the bike and all i really want to do is make sure i get a fair trade in return. i hope that makes some sense. certainly not expecting a barrett jackson car just dont want a ****box. yep the paint on it i am sure is just a "hide the major imperfections" deal but again i dont really mind. i like hunting for parts at swapmeets and the web so i can always look for nice chrome pieces or whatever. i just love this body style and i think the interior is great. has a few hop up mods to then engine and floor shift which i wanted. wish it was a std shift but i guess i could convert it over the winter. i gues it comes down to - is this car worth either the 2500 i have into the bike or the possible 3-4k i may pull on the auction for the bike?
hell if i miraculously get 5500 fror the bike i'll buy it for 4k and have some left over!


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

If you were to restore the car correctly, most the back third will end up being replaced. The inner/outer wheel wells are full of rust as is the wheel openings on the quarter panels. The trunk floor looks like it has already been replaced with various pieces of sheetmetal. If you aren't concerned with a correct resto and just patch everything, it may be less work and time. You don't have any good pics of the front fenders or rocker panels to see what's going on there. 
As for the sporty, all I can say is it's not my cup of tea and I would take the car and push, pull, or drag it out of there as fast as I could. 
Good luck with your decision.


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## jasonmrenda (Aug 6, 2008)

just found it that the engine in the car is a 68 olds rocket 350 withsome bolt on performance mods

does that significantly devalue the car asa a daily driver? again not looking to make a show car.


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## Petey D (Feb 14, 2009)

Sure, it devalues the car 'cause it's not original, but if you're only looking for a something to cruise around in and tinker with, then it's not a big deal provided it runs well, and that you know which parts to get for it when you tune it up and in case it breaks.


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

Petey D said:


> Sure, it devalues the car 'cause it's not original, but if you're only looking for a something to cruise around in and tinker with, then it's not a big deal provided it runs well, and that you know which parts to get for it when you tune it up and in case it breaks.


There ya go......:agree......if you don't care that it isn't original that's all that matters. You can always be on watch for a correct engine for a better resale in the future. If looking at a cash sale, I would think that would be a negotiating point in your favor. I don't see the car being worth $4500 anymore but it's still worth at least what you have in the bike. If you get more than $2500 for the bike, go after the car with $2.5-3k cash.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Too Many Projects said:


> I don't see the car being worth $4500 anymore but it's still worth at least what you have in the bike.


In otherwords, if you don't sell the bike, trade him even up. That's exactly what I did to get my goat. All we had to do was sign titles. No cash was transferred, just a hardy handshake!


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## jasonmrenda (Aug 6, 2008)

actually GreenGoat that is exactly what the plan is - i had just put the bike on fleabay when i heard from him that he'd do a trade straight up. so i dont need to sell the bike and then pay him. i can just give him the bike and take the car. my biggest concern is establishing a baseline of value for this car in particular as i just have no idea what it is worth. as i have 2500 into the bike it also represents a "possibility factor" - meaning that MAYBE i could sell it for xxyyzz dollars. he put his lemans for sale at 6k then 5500 then 4500. so i guess what i was trying to determine was if his car is worth 4500 as that is the bottom line i'd sell my bike for. i'll keep it before selling for less as i dont have to sell it. i hope this makes sense. the thing is no matter what else i do to the bike it will only yield a smaller return if any. anything i do correctly to the lemans should help me recoup my costs and possibly make a small profit - though i am not in this to buy/sell. i want to enjoy the car for a while.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

I completely understand what you're saying. All you want to make sure is, the car is worth the $4500 which you need for your bike. I looked on e-bay and saw your bike is struggling at the moment. No big deal since most of the bidding can happen in the last hour or even 10 minutes! It also sounds like you're ready to get away from bikes for awhile and into a cool Pontiac. You're absolutley correct, the bike will go down in value and the Lemans will go up. Even at the worst case scenario, after putting money into it you'd break even. Given the low $ starting point. But more than likely you'll make money. You can't say that about the bike. Drive the car first. If it puts a smile on your face going down the road and doesn't feel like it's trying to come apart. Go for it. Only you can make that decision. You're the only one that can see it up close and drive it. You will put money into it, but who on this forum doesn't??!! :lol: And besides, it's not like we're talking $30k here. For something that sounds like is already road worthy, it's tough to get in this game much cheaper....... Let us know what you do!


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## jasonmrenda (Aug 6, 2008)

thanks GreenGoat - i guess thats exactly what i needed to hear. Thank to everyone actually. If i hadn't built the bike it would be much easier to trade it. part sentimental value but then again i know i can build nother one. Thanks everyone. i'll let you know how it pans out. Good thing is the car is having the trans issue fixed today and then gone over to make sure it is safe.


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