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Sell it whole or part it out?

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alwaysride

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About 3 weeks ago I bought a 72 TR6. A week after that I found another 72 TR6 around the corner from my house. The 2nd car has a repaired frame, half-arsed homemade floorpans and amateur bodywork, bad seats, etc. The best thing about the 2nd car was it's rebuilt motor, tranny and clutch.

So, the rebuilt motor and clutch are going into the first car and I'm going to be stuck with this second car. By the end of this week I'm going to have 2 TR6s and a wife who wants me to get rid of car #2. Am I better off parting out car #2 or selling it as a project? It has it's full dashboard, instruments, steering wheel, wiper motor, brake master, new clutch master, all sheetmetal, glass, trim pieces, complete engine and tranny (out of the car), Michellin redlines, wheel trims rings, lights, etc.

Thanks for any advice.
 
It may depend most on urgency, and how you want to spend your time...
If you part it out on ebay, for example, are you ready to disassemble, clean, take pictures, etc., for all parts?
Or list it as one unit, highlight the good stuff on it... and get that other TR6 back on the road?
 
I would part it out on ebay. I think these cars are far more valuable piecemeal as buyers will pay a small premium for each select part they need. Selling the whole car will only create a premium if you find that one special buyer out there.
 
A lot of work to part out but will likely fetch much more. Plus, as you part it out you can assemble a nice set of used spares for shelf or boot with the smaller components. The ignition system, alternator, voltage reg, starter, water pump, hoses, etc are all prone to failure thru the years.
 
Parting out a car is alot of work but you'll make alot more $....personally I would put the motor/tranny in the car and sell it as a running car, if a car is running and driveable it's alot easier to sell plus you can ask much more for it.


Zack
 
The whole thing is time and economics. What did you pay for the 2nd car? From your description it does not sound all that good. No one really wants a used widget; they all want one that looks brand new at a price that is 10% of a new one.

In all honesty parting it out and trying to sell on ebay will be a long tedious and process. Did you ever notice just how many item never receive a single bid? So many pieces and parts are still available new that most folks don't want to mess around with the used items.

I tried the ebay road a few years ago with an older TR6 that I parted out. By the time it was over I was a few bucks ahead not counting my time to tear the car down. Granted I did gain a wealth of knowledge in how these things are put together. I have since torn down two other cars for various parts that I wanted and have most everything else stored. If I hear of someone that needs something, I offer what I have. If we make a deal, so be it. I will not go the ebay route again.

My advice would be to take what you want and just get rid of the rest as is.
 
I picked up a second '78 TR7 a couple summers ago, as a parts car, for $250.00 (Cdn. of course) I took off of it and swapped what was better then on my car, and started selling stuff on EBAY. I had sold over $2,000 U.S. by the time my wife nagged enough to have me get rid of the eyesore. If I had taken more out, especially the air conditioning unit, I would have done even better.
If you follow EBAY, people are willing to pay more there for used stuff then for new out of the Moss or VB catalogues. I guess it is convenience or hoping to dodge high duty costs?
It was easy to do, pull in the day, clean, then list at night.
Good luck

Paul
 
Thanks for the input. I'm going to use a combination of the suggestions. First I'll try to sell it whole and if I can't get what I want for it, I'll start parting in out.

As I said earlier, the frame has been repaired, it's got an amateur paint and bondo job, bad seats, no carpets or inner door interior trim, a bad top, the motor burns oil and the motor, radiator and tranny are out of the car.

The good points are:
It'd be a good winter project.
The tranny and clutch are good, new clutch master and slave, all lighting, Michellin redlines, trim, and everything else is there. It also has an extra set of doors.

So what do I ask for it? (Ignoring what I paid for it...)
 
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