Keep the Parts?

Whether real estate, cars, or about anything else you buy and sell, it’s been engrained in me to Always consider the resale value.

I’ve been doing some upgrades here and there and some deletes like the home plate, air box, and radio and plan to change out my springs soon. I hold on to some old and original parts because I figure if I ever sell the car the buyer might find value in being able to take the car back to original. After all, it’s the pristine original condition cars that go for the most. That’s great and all but I have two problems... one: my car already had 160k miles and even if it looks great that number isn’t rolling backwards. Second: I rent and am being booted from my house as the owner is selling the property. This means I have to move all this stuff I’ve been holding on to.

My real question is if it is even worth it to have these parts? Has your experience been that someone will pay more to have the stock radio, home plate, yada yada? Or should I just dump the stuff when I move? This brings up another question of deleting things like the AIR pump and pipes or other unnecessary things like the ELC compressor (if deleting that is a thing). Do you think this will hurt the resale on a higher mileage car?

Thanks for your opinions and experience!

It really depends on the parts. While it is absolutely true unmolested cars always resell for more than "modified' ones, the difference on vehicles like ours is generally not worth the attempt to restore things back to stock.

There is not too much demand for any of the original AIR system hardware, but functioning ELC components have value.

You might want take a quick inventory and see if Fred has any interest in your items.

My take as someone who is going through this I have a modified Pontiac Solstice which at this point will never go back to stock so I've got a barn full of parts I've kept .Like the Roadmaster /Caprice these cars are no longer produced and some parts for them at times can be hard to find especially for people restoring or maintaining their cars . Wagons especially B bodies are very popular and I can't see that diminishing anytime soon just go to a cruise in and see how people gather around them . People who restore cars (I've done a few)look for items that people consider useless and through away especially smog stuff to make their cars period correct . If your not going to give this stuff to the next buyer put it up for sale on the forum or stash it . As for the comment about these cars not worth restoring to original I respectfully disagree look what a nice wagon is going for these days I looked for over two years to find mine and looked at more than a few what I consider big dollar cars . I'll be doing some changes to mine and anything that I remove is getting stashed in my barn just my two cents

Home plate, air box, and stock radio may be worth holding onto, but springs are a wear item and replacements are readily available.

""As for the comment about these cars not worth restoring to original I respectfully disagree""

I may have worded this poorly. My intent was to say that if you are planning on selling a wagon you have modified over the years, you will not get an appreciable difference in what you can get for the car if you go through the effort to "unmodify" it.

Quality restorations are almost always an act of affection. These fine cars should be cared for and kept in service.

I've sold many modified cars in my lifetime and the general rule of thumb is the money that you put into the mods you won't get back .Of course there are exceptions to the rule and I've been lucky enough to sell a few that the person just had to have the car and appreciated the changes I made . I follow the auctions and have attended more than I few and I believe that the B body cars will hold their value in the coming years especially when you have people like Hagerty list these as cars to own .I'm an old school hot rodder so for me a modified car if done correctly will be worth money . I put together a documented 70 Chevelle SS 396 for my wife 5 years ago it had a color change and non original motor (small block ) but other than that everything was original to the car . This was her car and I wanted to make it as dependable as I could so I upgraded all the major components with modern aftermarket pieces replaced the engine with a correct big block and I've been offered way more than I have in it and probably a price close to a restored one .I think if you have a tastefully modified wagon and find the right buyer and they are out there you'll get a nice return on your money especially now as they are "hot" cars in the market

Thanks for the input, folks. I think overall I’ll hold onto the original components unless it’s a wear item or otherwise useless. I dont really see my car as an investment, but I would hate to throw money in the trash but l by getting rid of components someone might want in a deal.