What's it worth?

[myfirst36]

i was wondering if The FordBarn Model A members could help me determine a solid price on something. 1930 Model A Coupe chassis. All original. From an all original car. Very clean, no rust no rot. Includes the original 4cyl engine with trans, etc. Starts right up, drives, stops, etc. No issues. Basically, a complete chassis without the body on it. Ideas?

Thanks very much for the insight.

[Jason in TX]

"What's it worth" is much different than "What will actually sell"

I would say How fast do you need to move it?

I've seen a few on Ford Barn stay around for 6 months asking $1500. Obviously no one is wanting to buy it at that.

I think a frame would move within a month at $600 - $800 price range. If it was all painted and nice, maybe $1000

[Tom Wesenberg]

I agree with Jason on the values.

About 12 years ago I made a big mistake when I didn't buy a complete running gear from a 1929 being rodded. It ran great and was complete from a mint radiator to 4 new 21" tires for $450.

[Wick]

$1500.00 if the tires are good and you have the Tidal. Deduct $250.00 for "No Tital" and $200.00 for bald tires.
Wick

[Keith True]

In N.H. an unrestored chassis does not seem to bring much money.A lot of guys pull the body off for a street rod thinking they are going to recoup some good money on the chassis.After trying to sell it for a couple of thousand,then $1500,then $1000,it sits out in the snow for a few years.That's when they discover that Model A people are the biggest cheapskates in the world,or at least close,british bike people are worse.If we don't need it,we won't spend anything on it to have it sit in our backyards.A friend bought a 31 coupe about 15 years ago for the body.The chassis had been done,the car was being done from the ground up when the owner passed away.It had a Knight Engineering motor,(local shop),the slip for that engine was $3450,cast brake drums,thorough brake overhaul,trans,rear end,Firestone WW tires,nicely painted wheels etc.The builder was sparing no expense and was starting from the bottom up.My friend tried to sell the chassis for $2500.for a couple of years.He offered it to me for $1500. then dropped to $1000.I had just bought another house to work on so I passed on it.He sold it for the $1000.I do know of one like you are describing,the body was removed for a rod,the engine and frame numbers match on it.He has been asking $1000.for a couple of years,but he is getting sick of meeting guys at his garage and have them spend two hours going over it only to offer him $300.At some point this will be dropped off at my place,and over the next two years I will be welding 50 little things for him for free.Your location will make a difference too.If you are near a civilized area where there are a lot of people with jobs there will be a lot more interest.If you are up around Pittsburg N.H. or Presque Isle Maine,a couple hundred dollars will be a lot of money for it.If you're south of the N.H. border you can expect to find buyers that are willing to spend what something is worth.New England is a big area.

[Mike V. Florida]

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Yea the title can be worth as much as the hardware.

[peters180a/170b]

I must be in LA LA Land.. i would of said $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 just because that's what i paid for such a chassis. 9 years ago i paid such a price $1,800.00 .... I t was a super complete chassis with only 13,000 miles on it. I figure time saved on , filling in pits , filing the edges. nuts ,bolts and lock washers all perfect , wheels match, nothing bent or twisted up, just the time saved looking to complete a chassis it was all there. That's how i look at it.. same with sheet metal.

[myfirst36]

thanks for all the opinions. It will not be selling with wheels and tires; we're going to put rollers on it. The wheels and tires are brand new and are going to their new home tomorrow. I figured we could probably get decent money on it considering its in really nice shape and all original. thanks again for the ballpark!

[buyitsmart]

Does it have a title and do the engine and frame numbers match?

[myfirst36]

well the car is going to be a hot rod but if we sell the chassis with title, etc then how do we register the car when we're done with our build, stamp new numbers? Sorry; never done this before so it's all new. It has a title and everything matches. its all original.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Legally the title stays with the numbers. So, sell the frame and engine with the title.

[Keith True]

With an A the numbers are the engine and chassis number.Those numbers don't show up on the body.If somebody buys that chassis they will be using those numbers that are on it.We have a little situation going on right now with a couple of friends here in N.H. One guy took apart a 31 Tudor,and built a street rod with the body.He used the original numbers to register the car with.The car got sold,and the chassis went to a third friend.Now,the guy with the chassis used all the numbers on it to register,and it shows up as in use.The guy that built the car is actually in violation,as he was supposed to go through the process to get a street rod certification.It is very simple,no title or tax is involved here.He was NOT supposed to use the numbers off the chassis he sold.It would help to know what state you are in.If you are in a title required state and you plan on stamping the numbers on your body and keeping the title you just drove the price of your chassis down a lot.

[myfirst36]

probably will drive the price down but we need a vin # for the new frame so we're going to have to keep the title and sell the parts off the frame, rid the frame of the vin and scrap it OR someone can take the entire chassis and i'll remove the vin. It is what it is i guess. I'm in CT, land of the hellish DMV. If i have to register the car as a composite then i have to bring it to the other side of the state, pay lots of money, and then attempt to get it to pass the hellish inspection by the state....and then it'll be registered as a 2012 Ford coupe, not a 1930 Ford coupe.

[Keith True]

I see your problem now.CT.I've passed up on some opportunities to sell things there because of the title and DMV problems there.Not really my problems,but I do know what people have gone through there,so I always felt it fair to warn them.I did sell a Jaguar kit car to somebody there,I had titled it legally in N.H.as I was allowed to.Here we have to register as,the year it most resembles.Title is not required here,but now we can title by request on vehicles 26 years and older.It was titled as a 1937 Jaguar SS100.He was kind of a wheeler dealer,and knew his way around the CT lawbook pretty well.Six months later he was caught running a composite car registered as an original.They could have done a bunch of things to him,but they just pulled his tags and made him go through the process to register it properly.I had a few sessions with the DMV there,they finally figured out that I had done things properly,overly so,but it was for my state, not how it was done there.One thing that helped him was that the car had actually been constructed here in 1972,so it already was an antique,and had a N.H.state issued number issued in 72.We have no sales tax,or value tax.They sent me some affadavits to sign and have notorized, I did them and sent them back.The engine number is really the ID number on an A.Not all frames were stamped,I had two from Canada with no sign of stampings.

[pooch]

IF that running chassis was down under, it would fetch 4 grand.

[Ross/Kzoo]

I guess I don't understand why you want retain the VIN on the street rod when no number will match the VIN when you're done. How will the next owner be able to prove that he is owner of that VIN unless the DMV assigns a plate with that #. If they make a plate with that # couldn't they instead make a plate with xxxxxxxx-R for reconstructed?

[Wick]

If you buy a Frame from a vendor the invoice# will be your Vin number. Check the h.a.m.b. site,good information over there.
Wick

[myfirst36]

Well in CT we have the good, the grey area, and the bad. We try to stick to the "grey area" because CT DMV is absolute hell to deal with. First of all; if we walk in there with the title that we have for the car; they confiscate it and you never get it back. If we were to sell the car to out of state the only thing that goes with it is a legal CT state bill of sale paperwork. CT does not title anything older than 1980 so if you have a title; most keep it and then walk into DMV with the proper vin verification and a bill of sale from the person they bought it from.

If we purchased a new frame I do not believe that the vendor invoice # would cut it in CT as being the new vin#.

Our DMV does not issue "plates" with any numbers on them. You have to go to an emissions certified station and have them do a vin verification on it and then you take that paperwork with you to DMV. DMV constantly changes the rules and as of June 2011 theyre saying that the car must have the vin on 2 places (engine and frame). Most cars obviously dont have this and they make you go to the main DMV branch all the way across the state to make formal inspectors look at it. Some will tell you that the car needs it in both places and then other inspectors will tell you that the Model A has it on one of two places at all times...the engine or the frame. If you have one or the other, or both...they'll pass it....but that's IF you get stuck with a "good" inspector.

If you have neither the vin numbers on the frame or engine that you must take the car to that same, main DMV branch and it has to go through the irgorous state inspection. Its an absolute hassle and they drag you through the dirt over and over again. The car will fail multiple times; no matter what and eventually on the 3rd or 4th try they'll likely pass it if you fix absolutely everything they could possibly think of. At the point the car will no longer be registered as a 1930 ford. It will be registered and titled with a state given vin# as a 2011/2012 ford coupe and as a "composite/homemade vehicle"

We have a friend who is a DMV inspector who called and fed us a bunch of info and told us what we should do. We're going to go that route

[1931 flamingo]

Had a friend with a t-bkt, made about 4 trips to main insp station, diff inspector on the fourth trip, wanted bill of sale for the tranny. Fellow's wife worked at the main office. he went upstairs and talked to a supervisor, he got his plates and inspector got a reaming. Insp said why didn't you tell me your wife worked upstairs? So many things wrong in CT it's unbelievable. When I registered my A 2 yrs ago I could still go to local DMV for vin verification, borrowed a dealer plate, had the MA title which matched eng #, insp came out and asked "Where is it?". Showed him eng # (4-1-31), he checked his paperwork and I went home with new plates. I'd sweated for 4 days hoping I wouldn't get a jerk who wanted to see a frame #. Kept the MA title.
Good luck.
Paul in CT

[myfirst36]

thank you!!!!