Gday guys, Ive been reading these forums a bit lately as I've finally decided to get around to building a car Ive always wanted - an XW or XY sedan with a worked 351C and a touch of class all around.

Now, what I want to know is how much is an XW or XY worth these days? I did a search but couldnt find anything (sorry if I missed it). I
m looking for something with little to no rust (hard to find I think) with a body in pretty good nick, but I dont know how much to pay for something like this.

I recently saw an XW sedan with 200,000 kms with a good looking body which they wanted about $6000 for. Is this reasonable do you think?
I probably wont be starting the project for at least 6 months, since I want to get some money together before I start; but if I see a car thats too good to pass up, I want to know about it!

Cheers.

PS: Id also be interested to know what an already built street machine goes for, nothing too fancy just a standard rebuild with a strong motor. nice paint etc, more out of curiosity then desire to buy one (since I want learn things as I build the car). I was thinking $30,000+.

$6000 sounds very reasonable, if you got the cash buy it, and your other figure seems close to the mark unless you looking at gs/gt or k code cars then you got to save your $$$$ Much longer

hey there i own 2 xy falcons i bought one for $1800 and i paid $12000 for my other one 12thou got me an xy fairmont in mint nick with 53thousand miles on the clock 2 female owners from new with the original purchase slip dont get ripped off most of them are over priced and not in good order when you have close looka good site to look at is carsales.com and go to the small colum accross the top of page and click on unique cars then click on aussie muscle cars and then refine serch on right hand side to xy or xw and presto !!! there they are
look at the stock ones then you got a good shell and good bass to start from remember mine only cost 12thouand that was 6 months ago

 

 

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Thanks for the quick response fellas, I actually saw your car around the forum already 409Stroker, very nice!
I'll check out carsales.com, though I havent really tried buying cars online before, they tend to be all Eastern States!

Also 409Stroker I see you're in Paraburdoo, I'll be up there (there or Pana) with in a week or two, do you live up there?
Thanks again.

mate you just cannot find a market value for old cars like these. you can sometimes pick em up for a give away sometimes will cost you thousands, depsnds on the condition, the model, blah blah blah. there worth however much someone is willing to pay and no more.

Dont go out looking for schmick paint jobs, I suggest you go out and look for a faded original colour. That way its easier to see where repairs are done as most often cars that have freash paint jobs can hide alot of bog......a real lot.


Often the best way to find old cars is to see one in a driveway and just go up and knock on the door to see if they want to sell. you can get some real bargins this way

take a magnet with you, they have trouble sticking to bog...

lol, way ahead of ya mate, my old man taught me that when i bought my first car Definitely sound advice nonetheless.

wats some other tricks to find out dodgyness with older cars....

Look for overspray around area's that arnt usually sprayed such as wheel arches underneath the car. This is a good sign of a rush paint job for a sale.

Check around rubber seals such as window seals. try and pry them up a little when the owner isnt watching. Look for moisture inside the boot. U can often also hear a sound differnce between bog and steel so a few taps here and there are good. Also take a chick or a pen pusher with you to run there hands along panals to feel any rippling (chicks and pen pushers dont have sandpaper hands )

Make sure you see the car in direct sunlight. No dusk or garage inspections

Looking for an old car is really a pain in the a*** as its such a large investment these days. I looked at a heap of landau's and always had my beater/painter and mechanic with me. Sellers no your serious when you bring your own tradespeople to check the car out for you. Strangly enough the best landau i found for my price range was the one with the most "visible" rust. All the others were bogged up dodge jobs

hey there any luck yet most of the rust that ive seen while looking for xy & xw have been in the boot and in the bottom panel just in front of rear wheels and if finding one with lots of crome like mine back window under the crome can hide some nasties
most have had there floor pans cut out and replaced to or covered with bog so if you are forking out big cash make sure you get right under there and have good look not just a glance most are 2 low to get under so take a small hand mirror or somethingand also check radiator suport panel from underneith if you can get your head in thereyou will definatly need a mirror to see there most of its covered up by te cooler and real hard to see

A few more have been mentioned, which were good ones. Other then that it's mainly mechanical stuff I learned from a mechanic I know. Like looking for white/creamy s**t in the radiator cap/oil cap which indicates coolant/water and oil mixing somewhere.
If auto trans fluid smells like honey, then its been burning and has possibly not been changed.
Blue-ish smoke on startup = possible valve stem seal problem.
White smoke = possible cracked head or buggered gasket letting coolant in.
Black smoke = oil in mixture, possible worn piston rings.
hhmm what else...check under oil cap for excessive blow-by...ask them if the oil dipstick has ever popped out
If they let you, pull a spark plug and look for fouling or wacky gap setting, which could indicate an ongoing problem.
You can smell the exhaust if youre keen and see if it smells like burning oil, makes people think youre weird, but who cares

Obviously these are all mechanical things and most old cars get a thumpin rebuilt V8 in them, but the condition of the car in general does tell you if they looked after it or if theyve just prettied it up for the sale.
The small things are important because they can indicate an underlying problem.

yer mate i live up in paraburdoo im a local so ifyou go there mesaage me and ill catch up with you and you can check out my ride there is a couple of gts around and some real close i might be able to take you around for a look at them

In our local SA trader there was a XY GT replica about 12 k in good nick...I reckon best thing is to do a search at tradingpost.com.au or loacal papers ect but if u can look in rural ads, or if you know someone in the country or can get hold of local country papers at all.... an old fellah selling his XY in a country town is still looked at as just an old car up there for the most part, prices around 500 - 1000 are still there if u look for them... plus a country car depending on where can often have less rust than a coastal car.... As an example, I nearly bought a car a while ago that I'm kicking myself over - very straight ZA fairlaine, 302w with 4 speed, lpg, nice wheels, $1,000 - I checked this one out and it had a really strong motor and at the end of the day it was just I had no way of getting it home...I only wanted motor and g'box and probably still could have got a grand for the car....

but yeah, keep your eyes peeled, even go for a drive thru the country if possible, (me mates and I used to do this heaps) - see a car out the back or up someone's drive and just knock on the door and say you heard there was an XY or whatever for sale for 500 bucks - is this the one? If the owner's not a car person often 500 bucks sounds better than this old unregistered car clogging up the yard...BUT if u try the same thing in the city most people have a much greater idea of what stuff's worth cos they get asked all the time - I drive an XB coupe and I get asked if its for sale or find notes under my wipers about 3-5 times a week....

Talking about decent cars my mate had a ZL fairlane he got rid of a few years back. It had the usual rust for a old car.

He had a 6.2L v8 in it. Crocked and Scamed (thats what i call stroked and camed). Had a strong tranny and diff.

It was on gas with a nice holly on it i think. He had 2 of the carby barrels pinned shut so hes wife coulnt kill herself but still it was fast.