I came into possession of one of those rare dealer option hood birds that so many seem to want, and I was wondering what people were actually paying for these things. I've seen the reproduction ones from Mid-Fifty for $450, but I wanted to know real-world value. Like what would one of you guys pay for one? I've attached some pictures that I took, trying to get all the pits visible. I haven't cleaned it up yet and I'm positive those black smudges on top will come out and it will only brighten up more. EDIT: I just noticed these pictures were pretty blurry, I'll try to take some better ones.

 

That one is pretty pitted, so the cost of restoration would be quite high, rendering the initial buy in of the part fairly low. Each one of those little pits would have to be ground out by hand with a tiny grinder then filled by the plating company. Lots of expensive labor. The best you could hope for, imho, is you find someone who just has got to have it and will spend crazy money to get it.

 

Let's say I got time, what would it get if it were cleaned up and replated? How much does it cost to do something like this? I already got an offer of 100 so if that's the best I can get, then I might just consider replating, unless it's not worth the time and I should just go for that.

 

Filling and replating will be a couple hundred dollars or more. White metal pit repair isn't a DIY project. The repro ones are stainless steel hence the price. These things used to go for crazy money before the repro became available.

 

Take the money and run!

 

I would second what Ross said. And I think 2 bills to have it restored is an underestimate. YMMV.