Posted by ...tom on June 20, 2002 at 18:57:21 from 64.12.102.152
In Reply to: buying a parts donor car, what to expect? posted by Adam Wilson on June 20, 2002 at 10:26:07:
adam,
i've purchased 635csi's and parted them out three times, twice intentionally, and once unintentionally. the things that have value on the 635, if rust FREE, are the front fenders ($2-300), nose clip ($1-200) and to a lessor extent the doors ($1-200). spoilers, front and rear are also popular. the hood and trunk appear worthless. the cr 5-speed in decent shape will bring $800-1000. interiors aren't worth much unless perfect or you find some sport seats. i haven't sold an euro-spec engine (ask me what's in my e12) but the us-spec engine seems to be worth little (i've sent many to the crusher). the vented rear rotor setup and lsd make nice additions to the e12 also. i've always managed to break even on the cars, with a few e12 upgrades left over, but this assumes that my time is free and i can successfully ignore the withering looks from my wife and neighbors when they look at the cars in the driveway. ymmv greatly.
also, call you're local salvage yards, here they'll pick up a scrapped car for free, tow and all. they'll even drag it out of my garage with no wheels on it.
...tom