htown81vette

A friend of mine is wanting to sell me his 1982 Corvette (with crossfire injection and overdrive auto) and I am seriously thinking about taking him up on it. The reason being is that I want something to play with while my other toy is being rebuilt. I also need a "reference guide" while I am rebuilding my 81 vette. What do you think a reasonable offer would be without insulting this guy?

Facts about the car:

-Has a ZZ4 crate motor with less than 10,000 miles
-Garage kept
-87,000 original miles

The car is reasonable sound, but does need a few things:

-Needs power window motors (both)
-A/C needs servicing, possibly needs a new compressor
-Glove box door needs new latch

F22

What's the paint look like under the huge bra on the front? Many times, this is to hide the damage to the paint or nose. That's going to make a big difference. Not a fan of these, because they also cause the paint to not fade at the same rate as the rest of the front end and also, the dirt that gets trapped underneath will become a convenient abrasive as the material flexes at freeway speed.

Overall, though, it's a good looking car, easy glove box fix. AC is an undetermined. Could be cheap, could be expensive, depending on what's wrong with it. Next, the power windows; if they need replacement, it can get expensive. New power window regulators aren't cheap and they are difficult to install. The regulators themselves are $300 a pair and the motors are $99, depending if you need one or not. Pricing may vary among vendors and you should have the capacity to work on it yourself (I imagine you do, as you have another project going).

Similar Corvette in AZ, but everything including the AC works, $10.5K

http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/4355226605.html

Another, $8K with a little over 100K miles

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/4358061079.html

$9K

http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/4334581104.html

$14K

http://bloomington.craigslist.org/cto/4360306805.html

Your neck of the woods, $9K

http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/cto/4369047727.html

74 LS4-454

looks in very nice shape, I know you don't want to hear this, but without looking the car completely over in person, and driving it, it is difficult to put a number on it. you need to look at all of the adds you can to help you determine what the going prices are for 82's. they can be in a very wide range. I would ask him what he is asking and go from there, that way you aren't insulting him with an offer that might be to low. No original motor, unless he still has it, so on and so on.....based on your pics and if it drives good, I think you would be very happy with the purchase...Tom

Easy Mike

Ask your friend what he wants for the car. Doing it that way avoids the possible insult.

qwank

Roco71

Last week a good friend of mine bought a 82 with 62,000 org. miles for $11k. The seller had it listed locally for two years for $15K. The car is in great shape.

htown81vette

Ok I will admit I was witholding some information. I offered him 6k and he accepted. I think I could flip this thing and make some cash, but actually I'm gonna hold onto it for awhile and play until my 81 whip is finished! Thanks for the responses...

hugie82

An unmolested 82 vette seems to go around $10,000 give or take depending on condition of paint and interior!
They are the best daily driver highway cars IMHO. With all the power options and cruising at 80mph @2000 rpm with well over 20mpg

htown81vette

Yeah, I was looking forward to driving it to work everyday! I'd better get the AC fixed though before summer.

htown81vette

Can you tell I am obsessed with the C3?

qwank

$6K seems like a good deal especially with a ZZ4 (although I am skeptical since those don't look like centerbolt valve covers)

htown81vette

That's a very good point. It may have just been the shortblock that was a ZZ4, and they just bolted the stock heads back on (I assume this can be done). I also know the previous previous owner and he knows the previous previous previous owner that actually installed the motor. I'll try to find out what they actually did.

F22

Good one! I have the same heads and yep, you're right.

htown81vette

anyway, I'm pretty excited about this...

taylor34

I would be careful flipping things from friends. If they find out about it, there's a pretty high likelihood they won't be your friend anymore.

qwank

if he drives it for a year and then sells it next year with the excuse that he really needed the money for whatever blah blah blah reason he can make up, i'm sure his friend will be cool with it.

Shark Racer

I bought a truck from a friend and kept it for 2 years. Paid $400 and sold it for $2k.

He was totally fine with it.

I also had $3200 into the truck (all in) so...

alconk

Wel if it's a real ZZ4 the stock ECM can't handle the cam profile. I'd be interested in what he did about that.

qwank

I thought the stock ZZ4 cam was mild enough where it would work?

htown81vette

The previous owner is in Nigeria working a rig job, so I e-mailed him, and waiting for a response.

The current owner did say that the car has some surging issues and this may very well be because the zz4 is abit too much for the ecm, which entices me even more because if I can get the tune straight this thing oughta run pretty good! (wishful thinking)