Vincent130

Hello I am pretty new to corvettes and I have been looking for awhile and think I finally found one that may work for me. This is my situation and I am wondering if there are any red flags and what to look for.
It is a 1974 L82 with 80000 miles has sat for 10+ years comes with new gas tank, fuel pump, sending unit cap, small cap electric distributer and a brand new cover. All of which I would replace. The starter is also shot which I would replace. The owner says the engine should be good as he turned it over manually so it is not locked up. The owner is selling because he doesn't have the time to work on it. My main concern is it is a couple hours away and I dont know what condition the bird cage is in and I would rather not drive there twice.
the owner is asking 5000
thanks for any help/advice

Bikespace

Read post 107 of this thread:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...orvette-6.html

There are also videos online. Ask the seller to remove the kickpanels, and take photos of that, and other, likely rust areas.

Or try to find someone local to check it out. Contact the local Corvette club, or find a buyer's agent.

$5K for a non-running C3? I hope it has a 4-speed, at least, and the paint is mint.

Vincent130

thanks for your help the seller claims to have 1k in brand new parts and I am hoping to talk him down to 4k

Bikespace

Be sure to check the rust, and paint. Everything else is easy/cheap to fix (if you are handy). Rust will kill a car, and is VERY expensive to fix (i.e., not worth it for many cars). Paint is crazy expensive if you farm it out.

Good luck, and please post some photos!

C3Cliff

If a car doesn't run, then the safe assumption is that it has some major engine issue. That you can manually roll the engine over is only indicative that it isn't locked up. Nothing more. I learned a long time ago that most sellers of non-running vehicles that "only need some minor part" to run again are liars. Make an offer based on that assumption, and if you're wrong then you'll be okay with the purchase. If you're right, then at least you won't find you've been screwed by some dishonest seller.

ratflinger

2 hours is not too long of a drive to insure it's not a rust bucket. This is one of those cars where $1000 might get it in driving shape or it might take $10,000, I'd bet closer to $10k. That is fine if you have the money and the time to fix the car, otherwise it's better to pay more for a running and drive-able car.

Vincent130

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Vincent130

what would you say is a fair offer he says he has 1000$ of new parts I wasnt going to pay more than 4k

rabinaba

My ‘81 didn’t run or drive when I first picked it up. It sat for like 9 years beforehand. Fuel pump, spark plugs, and a battery got the engine running. Then I had to uncease the rear wheels, replace all the rotors (FU.KING. BI.YOTCH.) and calipers, and drop in a new brake booster. Alternator died about a month later. It wasn’t bad to get it running and driving - probably $1500 or so - but the real problem was the engine leak and the fried carb. It ran, not great, but it ran. Blew smoke out the back constantly. Burned oil, and dripped oil. I could not drive the car for three months and there’d be fresh oil on the ground whenever you looked underneath. It was probably a gasket somewhere, but not knowing what other bugs were in that engine made it a nightmare. I never even bothered with a compression test.

So yeah, you can get it running for cheap…but what condition is it gonna be in?? For how much work was gonna have to be put in to get that thing running nicely (just to make a measly 190 hp), it wasn’t worth it to me. We pulled the engine and have an LS we’ll be dropping in in a few weeks…and now my bank account hates me.

These cars are fiberglass, you’re not going to see rust on the body. You have to crawl under the car and look at the frame and floor pans. Also, those photos aren’t great, but from what I can see the paint looks like it needs work. Also, the interior looks rough.

This is all going to depend on how much you like the car/what kind of money you want to put into it. If you want to drive a shitbox, you can probably get it running for cheap, do a detail just to brighten up the paint and clean up the interior. That’ll give you a car, but it won’t be fast and it won’t look pretty.

If you want it put together, you’re going to have to do engine work (at the very least, the carb is gonna be to be rebuilt), gut the interior, and get a paint job. Not to mention all the factory rubber bushings will likely need to be replaced after four decades. Oh, and you’ll almost certainly need a wheel alignment and probably new tires too. And then there’s all the little things you don’t know until you get the car running (like I said, I need all new rotors, calipers, a brake booster, and an alternator). Do the windows work, do the gauges work, do the wipers work? You’ll almost certainly have a vacuum leak somewhere or other that will make the engine run rough and headlights not pop up right, and will cause you to pull your hair out looking for it.

So to answer your question about what to offer, you have to consider that you’ll likely have to do all the work above. Personally, I’d offer $2500, especially since it doesn’t currently run and is an automatic.

I don’t want to sound like this a bad car to buy. If there’s no rust, this is one hell of a project car. But do you want a project car? Because that’s what this is.

What do these “$1000 is new parts” consist of, anyway?

Vincent130

thanks for the advice. The parts consist of new gas tank, fuel pump, sending unit cap, new emblems, small cap electric distributer, with nee plug wires, brand new cover. I am willing to put as much time as needed into it and understand I will be spending some money. With my situation I would like to be able to get out what I put in if needed at some point.

rabinaba

Sounds like he bought parts thinking he knew what the problem was, and either never got around to fixing it or found other issues and gave up. There’s no telling whether those parts will get the car running. And if they do, as has been said before you very well could have other engine issues.

$2500 - maybe flex to $3K with parts included, but that’s where I’d personally draw the line. If he wants amore, tell him to install the parts and get the car running, and you can talk again. Those parts sound great on paper, but if you install them and the car still doesn’t start or you have compression issues or are missing a cylinder or something, it’s going to cost a hell of a lot more than $1000 to buy a new engine.

A running and driving car increases the value more than the $1000 he has invested into parts, so it seems fishy to me that he wouldn’t try to get the car running before selling it if he actually thought those parts would do the trick.

Again, that doesn’t mean he’s for sure pulling a fast one - all this is to say do your due diligence and know what you’re walking into.

Bikespace

Do you have better photos that you didn't share? I can't even tell if that's original paint, or a repaint with peeling clearcoat, or what.

If you can get it for cheap, you could quickly win the lottery by getting the engine running, or use it as a basis for a Restomod. It might be worth $1500-2000 in parts. If you can get it running, it is old enough to sell in California without dealing with emissions.

Sorry about the automatic, though. That will be expensive to fix. But if you are up for a project, I've seen worse. Just MAKE SURE that the car has no rust, or only surface rust. Get photos of the chassis, and the trouble spots. Even a clear image of the VIN will help, as the window frame is often the first place to rust, if the car has been left out in the rain.

RickM Z06

ANY vehicle that is not running is worth no more than the sum of its parts. No matter what the seller tells you.
Looks as though current owner is focused on the fuel system. What if he found out the steel line from tank to fuel pump has a hole in it and is forgetting to mention it? Believe the body needs raised up to replace it. If you think it will be a great learning experience working on it, offer 3K. You could likely resell it for about the same and not be out too much.

Mark.uli

OP you seem to be avoiding all talk about frame and birdcage rust. DO NOT make a decision on this car without having the frame and birdcage (at least the body mounts) inspected, or have photos provided. No amount of "new parts" is going to fix a rot hole in the frame.

rabinaba

Vincent130

yes I know I am assuming that those are good and moving forward when I go look at it that will be my final inspection and will decide from there.

4-vettes

Seems a lot of people on here are really putting this car and it's price down. But ask them how much they want for there's!
truth is you can't buy a lot of car with 4 grand anymore.
Yes, you will spend much more than that to get it into good shape. God only knows what I've spent on mine over the years! Well over 30 grand in paint alone! It's been done more than once over the years.
It's not what a C3 costs up front. It's what it costs to get it nice, then nicer, then............
It never ends!
Best of luck.

socal_tom

4-Vettes
Now that is a fact what you said about how much it costs to make em nice and by asking guys how much they want for there's. For $4,000 I feel your buying a money pit so you better have some serious love for that car.Over the years I have found out the hard way you will have a lot less money into a car if you just save a little longer and buy one in better shape

60 SHARK

So,,, that being said , most of us will tell you that will NEVER happen. These are not investment cars, even at $2500.00. And for this car, that's the most you should offer. Keep looking and buy the very best condition C3 you can afford. If this is that car , then $2500.00 is it..
..
P.S., my C3 is not for sale