ryandicus

Greetings! I have been given the oppurtunity to buy a '77 Vette for 5200 dollars. This is a deal from a "friend of a friend" who owes me a favor, so the car isn't really for sale. This gives me enough time to become truly informed about the car before buying it. My biggest issue is I didn't grow up in a car family, and my knowledge is limited. I would greatly appreciate if someone could give me some guidance before I buy this car. Im not begging for someone to do the leg work for me, but alot of this forum is still over my head (I just learned what a birdcage was 3 minutes ago). Can anyone link me to a "Corvette's for Dummies" type link or pass on any wisdom?


Thanks to all of you. I appreciate the knowledge I have already gained, and the knowledge that is yet to come.

PS. He sent me 4 pictures from the outside of the car. He told me it was numbers matching 350 auto, 64xxx miles, never been wrecked.

- Ryan

bj1k

I would assume that from your admitted limited amount of car knowledge that you would have too many questions for anyone to cover here in a short amount of time so your best bet would be to start by doing some searches on the subjects that concern you the most and ask specific questions when you get to that point.

Railroadman

1. Don't give up - you will learn with each post you read, and each time you look at a Vette.

2. It is good that you're willing to learn ,and by doing stuff yourself you will both increase your knowledge and skill, and save money vs. paying to have everything done for you.

3. Fill in your profile so we know where you are. See if there are any knowledgeable members from here near you who would be willing to look at the car with you. This is important - I have owned 2 C-1s, 2 C-2s, and a C-4. Despite all that, if I was looking at a C-3 I'd ask for help because I'm not familiar with the particular nuances and things special to a C-3.

4. Don't be afraid to ask questions here. It's a great resource.

5. An unwritten rule here is if you DO buy it, you are required to post pics!

TEXASDESERTVETTE

A couple of low cost books that you may get are, the "Chevrolet Corvette Restoration Guide" by Lindsay Porter ISBN 0-7603-0325-8 and "How To Restore And Modify Your Corvette 1968 -82" by Richard Newton ISBN 07603-0052-6....the latter has a 2 to 3 Chapters on How to Buy a Corvette and a Check List..."Lotta Pictures"...they should be available at any big book store....they cover alot of basic stuff ...the rest you can get here to help you "getgoing"

ryandicus

Thanks guys! I will post pictures, I promise! I will also be going to the nearest book store to pick up one of those books.

Also, profile filled in! haha

- Ryan

oldsarge

Your best bet for finding sourse books will be thru one of the parts suppliers, like Willcox, Corvette Central or Paragon, there are many others, but that is a good start, good luck and keep us informed, with what you do.

mds3013

Ryan. If you can, look at car yourself and take pics.. Lots of pics.. Post them here and the guys can tell you if it is even a candidate for you to buy. Most important are engine compartment, frame behind doors/in front of rear tires, area behind kick panels on both drivers and pass. sides and interior. Look closely at paint and signs of poor repaint like overspray around door handles and windows. L82 engine is a plus. It should have emblems on hood and a Turbo 400 transmission. Take pic. of trans. pan. Also get pics. of front and rear suspension, especially the rear differential. This is a good start. Car originally looked like these. mike...

jordan89

You've come to the right place. All of the information you need to know about a vette can be found here. You just have to do some searching. If you need help with anything just ask and you'll usually get a response in a couple of minutes. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here. Good luck.

anonymizer

From someone who also got a "deal" on his car, have enough money in reserve for those times when you want to take it somewhere to get it fixed when the problem(s) exceed your level expertise. Good luck.

terry82

http://www.100megsfree4.com/corvette/1970/vet77.htmhave someone who knows cars and does not want to buy it go with you to look it over .it is easy to get excited about getting your first vette.check to see if everything works[headlights ,windows, locks, any noises from the rear end ,does it stop good ]ask the owner how long he has had it and what he has replaced.theres lots more to look at but that will get you started.

75+78 Corvettes

As a novice you have come to the right place. Go and take a lot of pics of the places that have already been suggested as well as any other areas that may look questionable to you when you look at it such as a small rust stain or leak. Ideally if you can find someone in your area that can go out there and look at the car with you (this forum is a great location to find a person, although you may have to venture to the regional forum to find someone) you will be able to get some good advice for maybe the cost of a dinner or a case of beer.
We are all picture ****** here so get some pics and we'll tell you what we think.
Good luck and welcome!

ryandicus

So, I attempted to take some pictures, but I was unable to take any due to cheap camera phone/sunlight issues. There appears to be a fair amount of what I call "surface rust". I did not see any areas where it had rusted through or anything of that nature.

The interior is in decent shape. Probably worth redoing at some point, but is definately is usable condition as is.

He started the car for me, and it started right up, and sounded awesome. I anticipate a rebuild of the motor in the not so distant future anyway, so I wasn't very concerned with that. The one thing that did concern me was that only some of the gauges worked properly, some didn't work at all, and some bounced.

The paint is crap. But I "know a guy who know's a guy" who owns a bodyshop who owes me a favor.

I've promised myself I'll pay off my last credit card before I purchase this car, and I only have about 2 more months before it's done!

- Ryan