Jvette73

Dont know why im saying this but yes my car was wrecked sometime before I bought it. I can tell by the fact that the passenger side was repainted. They matched the paint really well and you can hardly tell. The rear bumpers are not totally in line with one another and I had to add a longer rear spring bolt to get the car to sit level. Ive know all this for a long time but didnt know it when I bought the car. Had I known this I probably would not have bought it or pointed it out and offered less. I cant understand why the "professional" appraiser didnt notice these things. Nor did the alignment shop mention anything about frame tollerences, and they came well recomended from a close friend. Nevertheless I still love it and have improved it greatly since first owning it. Its so great to drive it around. It gets very much attention. Even when im not doggin it. Ahhh.. that felt good to get the truth out.

Alwyn678

Dude your CAR is SWEET........Evey one's car is jacked in one way or another no matter how perfect we try and make it. Just drive it and enjoy it and don't sweat the small stuff you can't change or let your eyes wander to the bad parts of your car. Take it for what it is Rolling art that has a history :cheers: :cool:

Jvette73

Thanks Al. We do love it. Love to drive it. Love the attention it gets. Love the way it whips yur head back as it chirps the tires going into 2nd. Young and old alike get drawn to it. Its amazing. It makes us feel good to own it regardless of the inperfections. It is very sweet. Plan on keepin it along time.

Alwyn678

:cheers: :cheers: That is the Spirit :cool: .........They all have their quirks but that is what makes them Unique.....I will probably never sell mine :cheers:

NHvette

Same here - in a way. When finally digging into the innards of my front
clip, I discovered that the headlight frame on one side had been repaired
with a steel strap and machine screws. It works, and I plan to rebuild it in the
same manner - but with aluminum and stainless.

The rear bumpers can be tweeked around a bit if you loosen the brackets up -
but yours may or may not be 'tweekable'.

Regarding the rear spring bolt: I have a friend with a 73. His is definitely
pristine. He has never been able to adjust out the left/right height
differences in the rear. They are off by ~ 1/2 inch.

So, while we all find the faintest flaws eventually - a casual going over may
appear that everything is 'normal'. Actually - it probably is normal, and we
strive for perfection. From my screen - your 73 looks close to perfect, but
I'm glad that you feel better after you 'confessed'.

:seeya


[Modified by NHvette, 5:12 PM 3/26/2003]

Eddie 70

When I rebuilt the rear suspension is when I found out the same thing. A giveaway should have been the fact that it has the wrong taillights in it. It has later taillight than it should have. But I didn`t know that either. Overall I am pleased with mine too. I probably would have offered even less too.

NHvette

Hey Eddie - FYI : I don't think that's the original hood, either. :lolg: :lolg:

cardo0

I don't know why I'm anserwing this Jvette73 but I can see my shark had a confrontation with another critter too. Bubba left me a different year core support and an insurance adjuster thinks all the front glass is replacement stuff. But what should I expect for $3800.
Before purchase I really took a good look at the frame - no bend marks or welding scars. Also followed down the freeway and car drove straight - no dog tailing. Couldn't find good'nough reason not make an offer.
Currently fixing Bubba's fixs. Planning on have'n frame shop inspect/measure and repair if nessesary before painting though. Too much time & effort invested now to start over. As long as it tracks fine it'll stay mine. :D Let the trailer queens stay inside and covered up - mine's a driver. :thumbs:
BTW wish I'd started with a '73 shark. :yesnod:


[Modified by cardo0, 10:45 PM 3/26/2003]

Jvette73

some links to fullsize pics of our 73 in this other thread http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=523495

PatsLs1vette

john my 73 is the same way i have to have a longer bolt onthe one side to sit level,ive had it at my friends frame machine,taken measurements new bodymounts when i had the body off and couldnt find anything.so i used a longer bolt to sit right.It drives nice and straight and runs good thats all i care.

vettfixr

I've had my car stripped to the fiberglass twice and I can tell you it's never been hit. But it still sits a little cockeyed in the rear and that's with new springs front and rear. Remember that it's basically a hand built car that's pieced together. I don't think there are two out there that sit alike. Don't sweat it. If you like the cvar and it runs well just enjoy it.

Clink69

How did you find what they had missed? I guess looking at it everyday :D

standup

Let's get real here.....back in the early 70's, in an era when drink driving was a slap on the hand, when coke and sex were free...a guy who could afford 7k on a new Vette wouldn't sweat it if he smacked it into a streetlight.....They're ALL jacked.....

but that doesn't mean you don't have a VERY SWEET ride :thumbs:

WashingtonRacer

Does anyone know if when you adjust your height from side to side like that, does that affect the cornering performance of it?

Desertdawg

My CE was hit this past Thanksgiving, by 2 harley riders while it was parked in front of my house....The repairs came out almost perfect, but it just makes our driver that much more of a driver.....
Enjoy it, and don't worry about it. :steering:

Mystery Machine

I wouldn't sweat it. I think mine was in some sort of front end altercation...as I was replacing the fron bumper a few weeks ago I found that there were a bunch of sheet metal screws in the iron bumper (underneath the old urethane), the best I can figure is someone reattached the bumper with them. :confused:

BTW - your car is beautiful and you already know that so keep on cruising and enjoy! :thumbs:

Twin_Turbo

I bought my car cheap because it was a basket case and I knew it had theft damage and a new VIN. I checked the frame out and it was all in very good condition, no rust, no cracks.Suspension was good, engine was not,electrics were not, interior was not.. and so on.

I thought I had checked it out properly and knew everything that was wrong with it but I was wrong. I had problems lining up the pass. side window and began to suspect there was something wrong with the A-pillar. I did some measurements and sure enough it was tilted forwards a bit. I suspected the pillar was bent but it was straight so I was confused what caused thgis... UNTIL I pulled the car apart and found this:





This explained why the stuff didn't align properly. It also explained why the floor boards were for non power seats and the seats are PS. The car originally came w/ PS. Someone had replaced the body w/ one from an 80 305LG4 calif. emissions Corvette (VIN 1Z87HAS415886), the front clip is an aftermarket one and the rest of the body except the rear bumper is from an 80. I don't know why they put a mangled body on a perfect frame, probably has to do with the theft and swapping the VIN's

So now I'm repairing that damage :( For the rest the car is very solid and this is not gonna set me back, it's just inconvenient.

You can do a very thorough job inspecting the car but you will never find all that is wrong with it. Unless you pull the thing apart you'll never know. There's a certain element of luck involved in buying these cars.


Your car is so sweet, I wish I owned it :)


[Modified by Twin_Turbo, 6:45 AM 3/27/2003]

MotorHead

Your car is nice and there are a lot of C3's that don't sit level. Before you start putting in longer bolts on one side on the back this is what I found.

The back of mine is on a slight angle and I could not figure it out, taking measurements etc. it looked like the frame ws OK and body was on properly.

I had to get underneath and look at the inside of the rear bumper before I discovered the bumper was slightly crooked. I do not think I can fix it without taking it off so I will live with it :D

MN-Brent

My car took a hit on the rear end but I think it was a low speed hit.

I can tell by the rear internal bumper set-up has round tubes on each side and they have markings on them that suggest they were pushed in and are now returned out to the original position.

The car looks very solid everywher else so I am happy with what I got. It was a southern Cali car and was super clean underneath. Every bolt Ive tried to move just pops loose like it was put in yesterday.

Brent...

QuickVet

:withstupid: