BlackRocket

I have a beautiful custom SRIII frame and '69 body that is currently in the project stage...has tons of work...but little time to finish; (Avitar).

Frame was purchased from www.sriiimotorsports.com for around $8,000. That was two years ago....now I easily have over $17,000 into the frame alone!!!

I had the frame professionally sandblasted and had two-coats of automobile primer professionally applied followed by Lexus's stunning Iron Gray Mica applied which ran $1,300! I then purchased a 1985 front suspension for $600; (85's are 1" narrower on each side allowing wider wheels). The dissammbled A-arms were sent off to be professionally polished and then rebuilt with new ball-joints, urethane bushings and wheel bearings; total was $2,600! I then had Exotic Muscle build me a new cold-stabilized Dana-44 pumpkin at $2,500! The "bat wing" was shortened and powder coated for around $300. All rear-end camber bars, trailing and control arms are from Van Steel and all have been chromed and have urethane bushings installed. Coil-overs were purchased and all suspension components were installed with either chromed or Grade-8 bolts. The rear half shafts were professionally balanced and chromed with new U-joints. The rear hubs were professionally modified as required for the tubular frame, polished and rebuilt with new bearings! The C5 brakes and discs are new as well as the rear C4 discs brakes & calipers. The rolling cart was professionally designed and welded at nearly $1,000

Anyways, this was going to be a custom '69 vert with a tilt front-end and a tilt rear end that exposes the entire frame at car shows. I was planning on using Autometer gauges, C5 seats, and replacing the entire floor/firewall with steel for rigidity and safety. With little time and having interest in another Corvette I am considering selling off this project at a big loss.

The Corvette I am interested in is a 1971 numbers matching 454 LS-5 Big-Block coupe. This car is an easy 9 out of 10 as far as the overall condition.

Main reasons for considering the change are that the customized '69 vert although "cool" will never be worth the huge amount of $$$ and time invested....and two; the 1971 Coupe will always appreciate in value with little or no time required.


Please give some advice on which way you would go on this one!

1) Sell the tube frame, LS2 motor, and Tremec 5-speed and get the #'s '71 LS-5

2) Forget the #'s '71 and complete this project in maybe ten years!

3) Get the #'s '71, keep the project, take a loan and get the wife a new piece of jewelry; (I'm just a working stiff...not a walking ATM machine!)

Thanks for your input!!!!

Pics of each below;

Stroker-427

Just in case you will sell the RSII project..... did you have an idea of price?

Thanks!

Eddie 70

Wow, that frame setup looks so nice. If it were me, I believe I would finish the current project. It is going to be a very nice ride for sure. The 71 with the stock setup and 93K miles is going to need some updating unless someone has been through the car already, which is possible.

Le shark81

My choice would be 3, 2 and 1 in that order
If you sell that beautiful chassis you'll regret it forever

sly vette

Beautiful work on that chassis. Don't take the loss...Put it aside for now.
Buy the 71 and enjoy it as you finish the project. We all have more time than money. Why take a financial hit on what you already have invested in that beautiful frame?
Forget the flip stuff..Not worth the effort, IMHO!!!
As far as the jewelery thing goes...Cubic Zirconium(sp)!!!
Mark

akulhavy

Sell the C4, duh

Little Mouse

Keep it, if you have not cut on the body to make it tilt front and back
leave it like it is. all that tilt stuff does is show off at car shows
hell you know its all under there just drive it enjoy all the benefits of
a stiffer frame better suspension. The 71 if you want it just finance it
you will never lose any money on it like going out financing a new car.
When the temps are right there is no replacement for a convertible
not even a t-top can match it.

tmacb

If it is feasible to but the 71 and keep the project, have your cake and eat it too. I wouldn't finance the purchase of the 71. Who knows where our economy is going, and you don't want to have the extra burden of a "toy" if your situation changes at all. Choosing between them is really a personal decision. If you are planning to keep the car forever and want something really unique and personalized, go with the project car. If you are thinking about return on your investment down the road, there is no question the 71 will be a more logical choice. Be prepared to take a pretty big hit on the investment you've made on the project though. I'm sure you know that you won't recoup a lot of what you've invested. Down the road you can always build a modified car. It just takes some time and money. A factory correct original car may be much more difficult to acquire in the future.

Personally I would love to have that chassis under my 71 vert. I've always been more of a modified car guy though. Sign me up on the notification list if you decide to sell off chassis set-up.

2Much Trouble

I started a project 7 yearsago, and still working on it. Had several times where I wanted to quit and sell it just to get out of spending on
it. I haven't but every step it gets closer to being complete I realized how much I would regret selling. When your car is done, you will have something built just the way you wanted. A project car is never finished, you will always be tinkering. If you enjoy building it then I would say you would regret selling.

69427

Skip the tilt stuff. It looks cheesy on a Corvette, and only impresses the clueless at car shows. True enthusiasts know what they're looking at with a simple open hood, and anybody who won't get down on their hands and knees to look at a custom suspension isn't worth wasting time on.
Enjoy the crisp handling with the new suspension. You'll get more thumbs up from this custom suspended car than you will from a box stock C3.
JMO

tmacb

I totally agree. If you decide to keep the project, I would skip the tilt front and rear. It will save you a ton of work and $$$ and most real Corvette fans will appreciate it more with less gimmicks.

bthibodeaux

Agreed! And LOL!

tmacb

That does seem like a logical solution. that is unless you rely on the C4 for daily transport or roadtrips.

Kellys~hotrods

Any car guy worth thier salt would say #3, but then you have that jewelry loan hanging over your head...

Eddie 70

Looks like it might be a ZR1 to me. One of those collectibles that should start coming around with the new ZR1 coming out soon.

BlackRocket

Thanks for all the great inputs....

Some of my financial concerns are:

Just to get the LS2 running requires;
Zoops serpetine system with alternator and P/S pump.............$2,450
Stand alone computer & harness................................. ........$1,200
Stainless fuel tank with HP pump and sending unit; (Ricks).......$1,000
Braided SS fuel lines & mounting hardware................................ .250
Radiator set-up with Spal fans.................................... ........$1,000

Total on LS2..................................... ...............................$5,900

Wheels & Tires................................... ..............................$5,000

Body work.................................... ..................................$15,00 0

Interior with Flaming River column.................................. .......$4,500


Appx. Grand Total to complete project................................. $30,400


This would put the total invested at appx.............................$55,000


I am not sure that I want to put another $30,000 into a project that will never be worth half the invested value, but will probably keep it going for now!


Again, thanks for the input!!!

AndersT

$ 55K is might a large investment in a 69´ vert in the states, but I´m convinced that it would be pretty easy to sell to europe, if you ever considered to sell.

Here in Europe (Denmark) its very expensive to modify corvettes (and other us-cars) because we pay big taxes and large shipping fees everytime we order parts in the US. Therefore its a lot cheaper for us to buy a finished project instead of doing the job ourself, and $ 55K is not that big amounth for at vette like yours when its finished - compared to building a simular in Europe.

If you continue the exellent work on the rest of the car, I´m sure you´ll never sell the beauty, but in case you do it will be worth it.

BenUK

Wheels and tyres.... $5000?
Solid gold wheels are a bad idea BTW.

Some of your budget pricing seems on the high side. You're spending waaaay more than you need to and then complaining about the cost. It's a very nice project but $2600 to have the rear hubs polished and rebuilt? The workshop owners must smell money when you walk through the door.

markdtn

skip the tilt front.

markdtn

Are you farming this out mostly? Much of this looks high to me.
-Engine stuff is probably right, might do a bit better here and there.
-wheels and tires are way high, can't you get nice stuff for $2000 or less?
-body work-just from the avatar can't see why $8-10k wouldn't do it, especially if you don't do a tilt front.
-Interior with stock T&T column-$2000 (unless you are including the top refurb in that and your front bow is bad)

I'd finish what you have. To me there is nothing more satisfying than being able to tell people that I rebuilt this car from the ground up as opposed to saying I bought it this way. Nothing wrong with buying a nice car, but nothing beats the "I did it myself" factor IMHO.