Hello again, Customer!

First regarding the paint thing (something I meant to touch-on last night) -- yes, you are absolutely correct. The cost of paint work is high and only keeps getting higher with all the new regulations coming down the pike. As a result of new regulations put in place last year, even little shops like mine have to have a booth now for so much as painting a fender, and it drives up overhead. Not to mention if you buy a car to repaint, you never know what you'll find below when you strip it. Add to that a color change, which is labor intensive, and finding one the color you want it looking more and more appealing all the time.

Please bear with me while I comb over your links.

I think they're all pretty fairly priced, probably a little on the high side, but they're dealers and by the time you negotiate them down about 5% they're where they ought to be.

That said, They're all over the place with regard to how they were done. All but one has custom wheels. One even has aftermarket bucket seats. The blue one with the white stripes is probably the most correct, unmolested one, but the blue one in Texas is probably the nicest in terms of condition. That makes it a little hard to compare them all equally not knowing your preference for aftermarket modifications, etc.

A couple of them list manual brakes with no power steering. Where you might have some latitude with regard to color choice, etc., you ought to narrow down how you want it optioned because you don't want to get one and hate it later when you're tired of fighting the steering, etc.

You're on the right track, though. You're immersed and learning. I will also say the geography you're covering is wide. At the very least you need to have someone inspect the car in person for you if you can't do it yourself. These cars are 45 years old and a lot can happen in that period of time. Photographs can hide a lot and, while a dealer may not intentionally mislead you, human nature dictates that sellers tend to overlook some of the less flattering details of what they're selling and only hit the high points.

Most of the stuff you see on these other ones are aftermarket wheels, aftermarket seats, aftermarket chrome stuff on the engines -- all of which have nothing to do with making it a better touring car. If I were you I'd narrow the field by finding cars with power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, etc. As far as starting and running reliably, so long as they're restored correctly, they will. They did when they were new.

That's hard to say if the price would go up a lot with modern engine and suspension, but I would steer clear of that because A: you wind up with a car made out of a lot of different parts you can't look up by application anymore, and B: for how you want to use it, not much has changed between cars from then and now. We're not comparing something with a buggy chassis to something with an Indy car. They're great cars just how they rolled off the factory floor.

As long as you can find an inspector your trust, you'll be good. That can either be a friend depending on how you're networked, or a professional service like the guy I linked to yesterday. That sort of thing is exactly what he does.

From what I can tell from the photos, yes. Mind you it has aftermarket wheels, etc. That's a preference thing. No power assist on the brakes or steering, though, so it will be a bit of a beast to drive by comparison of one that does.

Wheels would be an easy swap, all things considered.

Power brakes would not be too bad, just a booster with accommodating master but the power steering would be a bit of a chore and expense because of having to change the steering box.

$4K might be about right, but as with the paint, finding the car you want ready to go is the hot ticket. That car is out there waiting for you, you just have to do your searching. Take your time and find the one you really want.

A heavy base-clear job will tend to look that way. Sorry for the delay -- I'm hopscotching between tasks.

Most metallic paint jobs these days are base-clear and look that way unless the painter is skillful enough to avoid that. Many people prefer it.

How long have you been looking?

A little patience now will pay off later. Look at it this way -- the car optioned the way you want it (or closer to it) probably won't cost any more than what you're looking at now and you'll still have that $4K in your pocket to take care of future repairs. Call someone like that car hunter I recommended and see what it would cost to have one found for you. Guys like that have connections for cars that aren't even listed or were taken off the market. A little spent with someone like that might go a long way.

You bet -- anytime! I'm always happy to talk.