1973 Pontiac Grand Safari

400 V8. Looks like rust/leaks are issues.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Pontiac-Grand-Safari-Wagon-/151561650809?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

 

I'd probably be a buyer at $3500 but not $6000.

 

Duct tape on the roof, torn headliner, dirt and rust in the rear area, rust around the wheel wells, rust around some of the windows, torn up front seat, almost 150,000 miles, and all for a mere $6,000. Mother, this isn't fun anymore. Please take me home.


$2,000 would be generous.


At the moment at least, he doesn't even have one bid at his $3,500 starting point. What does that tell you?


What is the duct tape doing, anyway? Is it just cosmetic and he's covering rust (it appears the tape has been painted to match the car), or is it an attempt to keep water out or something like that? Whatever the reason, it is as ugly as sin and looks like it's been there a while.


Maybe $1,500.

 

Really does look to have serious leaks/rust trying to be disguised.

 

His auction listing says this about the tape:

"The body has some significant bubbling under the tape you see in the pics."

So apparently the purpose of the tape is cosmetic, and it's to cover rust (and he admits that the rust is "significant"). If so, then why not cover ALL the rust? Put some around the wheel well rust that he mentions, too. In for a penny, in for a pound!

It comes closer to at most a $1000 to $1500 car every time I read the listing.

 

Look at the mold in the headliner. Car definitely has had water getting in for a while.

Worst part about these types of leaks is they are usually caused by the window channel seals drying out and debris getting in. Removing the metal trim and cleaning\resealing will fix this when the car is newer before the rust takes hold. Once it's started, it is so difficult to get out before it eats the channels away and then you get *this* creative method for covering it...

 

Whats up with that roof rack? if the top leaks that bad for that long GOODBYE FLOORBOARDS.

Take the chrome moulding off the bottom and I bet there is hardly anything there

 

Unfortunatly with the amount of workthat car needs, and the fact it has 140,000 plus miles on it would make it just alittle better than a parts car to me. Plus it has the dreaded clamshell passenger side tail gate sag. Ususally indicates a cracked tailgate regulator on the drivers side.

Also who ever replaced the stock 4bbl intake itake with a Performer on a stock engine had more time and $$$ than sense.

 

I didn't even see the tape. I guess that's why you look at all the pictures not just the first couple. You guys are right this is a $1000 wagon at best!

 

The car is a classic example of a 20-footer, although in this case it's more of a 50-footer.

In this particular photo, the car looks gorgeous. Straight, clean, undented, unrusted, complete.




It even looks better than the other side, which does show a bit of rust around the rear wheel opening and down low behind the rear door.




It's when you get up next to the car that all the warts become evident.

 

Are we 100% sure the car has a power tailgate?

In this photo, it looks like it has the handle for lifting and lowering the tailgate in the center top of the tailgate. At least, there looks to be a little gap where that handle should be.

It's difficult to tell if the key switch on the right has the little ears that indicate a manual gate, but at first glance it doesn't appear to have them. The description in the auction listing doesn't address the tailgate, and none of his photos gives a view of the dash that shows the area where the power tailgate switch would be.

I agree, though. It's sagging on the right side.




Here's a couple of '73 Grand Safaris with power tailgates. No gap in the center of the top of the tailgate.

 

I see what you are talking about, my guess is that it does have a power tailgate, and it is just missing the trim piece that covers that area. I take it a manual tail gate would have a different trimpiece with the handle accessable?
I am not a Clam shell expert by any means, so if I am wrong feel free to explain why.

 

My guess is no on the trim piece as these cars had a single piece of trim running all the way across the top of the tailgate. It wasn't a piece-by-piece thing. The two Grand Safaris I noted above show a continuous piece of trim, and here's a photo of the rear of the '73 Custom Cruiser I owned. It has a power tailgate, and that's one continuous piece of trim across the back. (I apologize for the reflection on the right side. It's just so $@% sunny around here!)





A clamshell with a manual tailgate has an obvious handle in the middle of the top of the gate. Here's the rear of a '73 Impala wagon with a manual tailgate.



Note, in addition to the handle, the "ears" at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions on the key switch on the right side. All GM clamshells of all years had power rear windows as standard equipment and controllable either by a switch on the dash or by turning the key a certain amount right or left in the rear key switch.

Power tailgate cars were also controllable either by a switch on the dash or by turning the key a little further to the right or left in the rear key switch. But manual tailgate cars of course had no dash switch, and you released the tailgate for manual raising or lowering by inserting the key in the rear key switch and then twisting those ears a little bit one way or the other (I don't which as I've never seen a manual tailgate clamshell in person) to release the lock and allow the gate to be raised or lowered.

So there are two external indications that are dead giveaways for whether or not the car has a manual tailgate. The presence of the handle in the center top of the gate and the ears on the key switch indicate a manual tailgate. The absence of both of these indicates a power tailgate.

 

Interestingly, as a safety feature so as not to hurt your hand, the manual tailgate lock was interlocked with the rear window, and the gate could not be unlocked unless the rear window was raised at least 8 inches. If the window were all the way down and you wanted to raise the manual gate, you could ram the tops of your fingers right into the bottom of the window. Ouch!

 

I have a manual tailgate:



This car has power as the key switch is not the right type and the trim piece is just missing. You move the window up a certain degree then you can slide the ears and the tailgate will drop down (completely) into the housing. Personally I prefer the manual as it is MUCH simpler and easier to maintain, but they are pretty rare. The power ones are great when they're working...

The tailgate on this car could actually be just fine and need lubrication, my '74 needed it pretty badly when I first got it as the gate wouldn't go down nor would the window go up or down. But considering the rest of the rust, it's pretty much a given that even if it needs lube, the tracks and rollers are probably shot\rusted.