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1973 Corvette, 350 L82, 4speed rock crusher, P/S, A/C, power windows, leather, major numbers matching, about 94k miles, believed genuine. Heavy duty sway bars and tie rods. Trim 404, Paint 922.
I'm Australian and bought this car in January to do a classic car event, the 2nd Trans America Challenge (google it), from Halifax to San Francisco. We drove it from Breckenridge, CO in late May to the start and it's been pretty much trouble free - and a hoot to drive!. About 10 000 miles in the last 2 months without any real troubles.
Sorry for the long winded ad, but I wanted it all clear. The photos are from the original ad when I bought the car because it is currently pretty dirty from its long journey on this event.
It's a Tennessee car. I've had it on a hoist and can find absolutely no sign of rust anywhere. It's now titled in Colorado.
I'm still on the event, but when it finishes on 28 June in San Francisco, I'll drive it back to Breckenridge, CO, where it can be inspected. I'm booked on a flight back to Australia on July 19, so if it isn't sold by then, I'll put it in storage.
The good: I've spent near $15k (receipts for most) getting it ready for the event. A lot of the work was done in Bowling Green, KY by Jim Van Dorn of Pirate Racing fame (notoriety?). Some was done at Tony's Corvettes in Gaithersburg, MD. I can't speak highly enough about this shop.
The body has had a good quality paint job recently, by the look.
I don't have the receipts with me, but this is some of what I remember I had done:
Rebuilt rear trailing arms and bearings
New diff mounts
New radiator (hasn't even looked like overheating)
New heater radiator
All new hoses and belts
New fuel pump
All headlight vacuum canisters and parts replaced.
Rebuilt starter motor
Rebuilt alternator
New Wilwood master cylinder and calipers (D8-6 front, D8-4 rear). New front disks. Stops great. I've got the originals, if wanted.
New Bilstein HD shocks
Some gearbox work. Shifter rebuilt, reverse gear and output yoke replaced
Rebuilt steering box
New tires
Quadrajet and distributor rebuilt by Lars Grimsrud for the event
Stainless steel luggage rack
Sharkbar (from Vetteworks) and 4 point harnesses, and 2 fire extinguishers (the event wanted these). I've got the original seat belts and they go with the car.
We've replaced the half shaft outer uni joints on the trip. Also replaced the water pump: coolant loss, but it was a bit noisy.
The less good: if I was keeping the car I'd probably replace the seat leathers. We're using sheepskin covers on the event and they are excellent. We left Breckenridge on 19 May and spent pretty much every day in the car: no back ache!
Body: small (1/4" ish) stone chip near the front, chip on leading edge of driver's door (was there when I bought the car), a small crack near the LHS front sidelight: we hit a small animal and I think that caused it.
It didn't have a reverse light switch when I bought it. I've got the parts (repro) and they go with the car.
No choke fitted - starts easily without. I bought an electric choke kit and it goes with the car.
On the event, a couple of times the starter motor solenoid wouldn't kick in. I'm told it's likely the key cylinder. I've bought one but not fitted it. For reliability, I've wired in a temporary starter button.
It's got the original air con and it works, but slowly leaks through the compressor. I'd bring it up to date.
I'm not sure I attached photos correctly. If not I'll have another attempt!
I paid $22k for it in Jan, spent about $15k. I want at least $25k for it.
Ok, think I've got it now. These were all taken before I bought the car in January. I've changed some things (see first post) and the car fans done about 1000 miles in the last couple of months on the Trans Am event.
The event is over now and we're on the way back to CO. I had the car detailed this afternoon and she looks like the photos again. In the excitement, I forgot to tell them to do the engine bay, so that's still to do.
I'm flying back to Australia in not much over a week and would like to sell before I go. Have a look and make me an offer. A good looking and sounding car and very reliable.
I'm flying back to Australia in not much over a week and would like to sell before I go. Have a look and make me an offer. A good looking and sounding car and very reliable.
John
Hi There,
I'm a new member here and I just ran across your listing while searching for another topic. Is the car still in the US? Is it still for sale? I have a '73 L-82 with a 4 speed now but yours is really nice and I might be interested in buying yours rather than fixing mine up if it's still available and the price is right. Let me know! Thanks,
-Jon
Sorry, I only had a couple of weeks in Colorado after the Trans Am rally. Nobody showed interest so I shipped it back home to Sydney. Cheaper to do that than pay insurance for it as my only car in Colorado.
I'd probably sell it, but it's a lot of hassle getting it back to the US, plus at the moment I don't have time to do anything. I just got back from Europe yesterday, I'm in the middle of packing up to move house and then I'm coming back to Colorado at the end of the month.
Plus I've decided to get the motor rebuilt - we used more oil on the Trans Am than I was happy with.
So really, I'm happy to sell it, but the timing is a little awkward at the moment.
Sorry, I only had a couple of weeks in Colorado after the Trans Am rally. Nobody showed interest so I shipped it back home to Sydney. Cheaper to do that than pay insurance for it as my only car in Colorado.
Obviously nobody has told you about collector's insurance... My C3 costs me only about $200 a year to insure. Now, yours is a lot nicer, so you'd undoubtedly want to increase the limit (agreed value policy), but even if you doubled what I've got mine insured for you'd still be under $400 a year... That's still cheap. Can't imagine you could ship one to Australia for that. Someone I know shipped a Honda to Hawaii and that's only 1/2 way and it was more than $1000.
I did know about collector insurance, but I was told that only works if you own another car as your primary means of transport. I don't - I'm only in America 2-3 months a year, so it's cheaper to rent.
My insurance for the Corvette (not as collector) was a bit over $3000per year. I also get hit by the insurance companies because I'm a foreigner and can't get a Colorado license.
To ship from Colorado to Australia cost me $2150. I also got hit a bit in Australia from Customs and Excise, but overall it was a lot cheaper than keeping it in Colorado for a couple of years and not getting much use out of it.
06-25-2015, 09:10 PM
1973 Corvette, L82, 4 speed etc
