3k is a lot for a car that needs everything. You will never get back what you put into it, so unless you have some sentimental connection to the car, it would be cheaper to sell it and find a better car. 7k will buy you a very nice 3rd gen

 

 

Are you doing all the labor yourself? You would be way under 5K for an interior and a full rebuild on a SBC if you're doing all the work yourself and just buying the parts. What's the rest of the car like? Like you said, it would be all fresh when you are done with it. But yeah, it's a lot of work, and for the same $$ you can prob get something nicer looking. However, I've found that the grass is not always greener.. You might buy that 7K better looking car and still dig into it and find things that need attention. All of these cars are 25-35 years old remember. If the 87 you have now has all good metal and decent paint and you have a good idea of it's overall condition, that's worth something.

 

Not always true. Here is a recent thread about a guy with a later model Camaro who fixed a few things, repainted it and sold for $14,000:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...nvertible.html

 

I completely re-did my interior and carpet for about $500. I bought brand new carpet for around $250 and bought seats, center console, and interior plastics from a guy parting a car out locally for around $200. has the new car scent again too. just need to get a new headliner and dash pad and the interior is done.

Not sure whats involved with a convertible top though, sounds pretty expensive but you can definitely save a ton of money on the interior at least.

 

If the frame is in good shape and you do the work yourself, you can replace the fabric top for about $400. A little more and you can upgrade to a glass rear window....