nascar03kc

I bought this 85 for $1800 thinking I'd take it home, get it running right and I'd flip it. It ran terrible and needed paint. SO I THOUGHT. I got it home, started tinkering and found I really liked it. I tore out the dash to the firewall because the blend box didn't work. Found the dash cut in half by some hack I can only assume didn't know how to do a heater core. So, I rebuilt it, new foam, vacuum valves, everything. Played around with different techniques to repair plastic dashes and found something that worked exceptionally well and fixed it. went through EVERYTHING inside and around the dash repaired as needed. Repaired electrical issues, removed crimps, soldered, heat shank wiring, stripped all interior plastic and prepped for paint, lots of stuff. At this point I should tell what I found engine wise, water in the fuel, drained and dried the tank, new pump, filter, injectors, R&R the fuel rails, cleaned them, new rubber boot and fuel system worked. BUT car still doesn't run right when in closed loop. So back to my story; stripped the interior to the carpet, repaired the messed up door innards on both doors. found replacement door panels, (thanks NUTZ4c4 ) but SOOOO MUCH else to do AND the paint. (and then depression hit) I'm ready to box this thing up and get rid of it. I reach the point of "what did I do. I knew it might take a while, I've built cars in the distant past, but I don't see an end. I Feel like I need a psychiatrist or maybe suicide hotline. LOL! Money is tight with 4 kids, but EVERYTHING repaired so far is mainly just time, maybe $600 invested in parts. So I need some words of wisdom and yes I'm a big boy I can take it, maybe; was it stupid to do this or does everyone go through this with these c4 corvette builds? My 68 was a mess, but it came out nice. Of course that was 40 years and no wife and kids ago. OK I'm done. Thanks for listening. KC

FASTAZU

Sounds like its time to step back and take a break, just let it sit awhile and come back later.

ColaBear

It’s good to have a plan. When I got mine, clean up and fix the oil leaks first. Now that that’s done, I moved on to the suspension (shocks, bearings and bushings). After that I will work on fixing up the interior. It’s taken 2 years to get to this point. Little by little, it gets better with every fix, one at a time.

Greg Gore

I would say many of us have been there and done that, I got over my head with a project 96 that also needed everything. After a few thousand into it and car all apart everywhere I got to where I began to feel overwhelmed by all the work that was needed and realized I've got to consider whether there was a positive side of it. I began to change my attitude and see it as going to C4 school which provided knowledge and experience I could not have gotten any other way. I can look at a potential purchase now and size it up fairly quickly and you will too. This is the kind of experience which leads to advice many here will be quick to offer: "Be careful of "Corvette Fever" and don't buy the first car you see." The problem is unless you've been through it you will not really know what it means.

I would leave the project alone for now and take some time to think about it and assess where you are with it. Do you decide to keep the car for yourself and finish the project or cut your losses and sell it as-is. As for me I probably should have cut my losses because although I finished the car and it is nice now I would have been much better off to invest that much time and money in a ZR1 or LT4 convertible instead.

Yellowgreenwood

Trying to consistently make money from flipping low priced cars is ALWAYS a gamble. Price you paid sounds good, but depends on quality. $1800 initial plus a paint job (big range of cost here), and for as little as 85s sell for, mechanics and interior would have to be in pretty good shape. And there is always the timing of sale. Feb-Apr is best time to sell a hobby car.
Sometimes you have to take a step back and weigh in your labor/free time that you are giving up.
GLWS.

ch@0s

Look at it as a hobby and not a car. It sounds like you don't need it. So look it over and make a plan. Do you want to drive it while you work on or do all the cosmetics then the engine? I like to get them running then slowly fix everything else.

Firemanray

I was there on my last C-4, six years ago. I bought an '84 on the cheap and fixed it up. I had an offer on a trade that put me in the +$+$ so I bailed out. I missed the car ever since. This time I was going to do it all over again until I found my '96. It was way over my budget but it needed NOTHING to be a great driver. I had my wife with me at the purchase and she mentioned that my "purchasing budget" did not include what I would spend fixing it up. Smartest money I've spent on a toy yet.
Having said all that it comes down to what you like to do, tinker with your toy or drive your toy? No wrong answer here it comes down to time and personal satisfaction. As others have said step away for a bit, if you start missing it, go for it! If you continually feel relief by not pushing to finish it, sell!

Jerry Roubos

NASCAR, what a good find! You have made lots of progress and it sounds like it didn't cost a bunch.
You purchased a hobby car, people that purchase 20+year old cars should expect lots of projects. I have restored old cars for almost 50 years and I will tell you from experience that everything changed in respect to the ease of restoration during the 1970s. Things really changed when the 1984 Corvette arrived on the seen, it is called electronics, which makes repair and restoration more difficult. Before 1970 you needed a bunch of wrenches and a VOM and you could do almost anything. I had a 1968 Vette and it was a piece of cake to work on compared to my 1986.
I find it very challenging and rewarding to work on my 1986 Corvette because it has forced me to learn a whole new skill set- ELECTRONICS.
Get rid of your car if you are not looking for a hobby, if you are I congradulate you on a good find and wish you much enjoyment.
My advice, take it one day at a time, one project at a time. Divide what you have to do into small projects and look at what you have accomplished not at how much still has to be done.

okinawa86vette

Honestly, for only having about $2400 bucks in, I would slap it back together so it looks like a whole car and sell it. I know everyone's saying to stick with it, but you said this was a car to flip, not something your doing for yourself.

I won't touch a vette between '73 and '95 that needs paint....ones with good paint that run decent are selling for less than what an average strip/paint job costs unless you're doing all the body work yourself. But even then, how much is your time worth?

There's enough cheap good ones out that it's tough to make much money them. I did it once with an '86 I got for $2200 about 5 years ago, but it had good paint. It just needed new carpet, seat covers, and some trim in the interior. A few mechanical things needed work, but nothing I haven't done several times. Still, my clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder failed on the way home from CA, so there was some money I wasn't expecting.

I ended up making about $1000 on it when I sold it a few months later and it was a nice car when I was done, but the amount of time I had to spend on it wasn't worth it at 5 bucks an hour or less.

There's just not enough resale value in these cars to make them good flips unless you can do all the work, especially paint, yourself and you have plenty of time.

Chris

Greg Gore

Good point Chris! nascar03kc... will it slap back together again without having to shell out more $$ to get it running and driving again?

jsdomino

I felt like I made a mistake once, but I was wrong.

PLRX

The mistake I would love to erase or to travel back in time to stop me from making it was marriage.

Marriage got to be invented by women long time ago as a way to punish men.

NuckinFutz93

It's only a mistake if you don't learn anything!

Ranman#1

I had the same idea when I bought my 85 earlier this year. got it for a song but it needed some TLC. during the resto I found out how much I have enjoyed it now I want to keep it. I also learned there is not much of a market for C4's so I am might as well keep it and enjoy it. So as Nuck says, I have learned so much while doing this so I could never call it a mistake.

2HIP4U

KC -- is there a Corvette club near you? You might be able to get expert help for nothing. Many Corvette guys love the hobby and are willing to help. Hard parts are another issue. They are usually expen$ive and/or hard to find....

Just a thought.

Greg Gore

Anybody have any success flipping C4s? You'd have to be a pretty sharp buyer and as complex as C4 is miss seeing a couple of big items and you'd be done pretty quick.

chstitans42

I think this was mistake number one for the OP. It is very difficult to flip a C4. Most parts are expensive, and the end value is just not there, especially considering the early ones.

shawn 84&92

I buy and flip some cars, but only if they run, drive and look decent.

it is a risk on each one I buy, but as long as I stay ahead I feel good about it. My last "mistake" was my 3rd Porsche that I bought to flip. It was a 944S, I did belt service and all maintenance, as I ended up wanting to keep it. It ended up breaking a valve spring which would have meant putting in a lot more money. I sold it at a loss, but I don't regret it.

We all make mistakes, I say cut it loose and look for another one later.

85corvettec4

I'm going to enjoy mine as long as possible then put cash on top for a c3.

PLRX

I learned a great lesson.

STAY SINGLE