JXAce

PRICE REDUCED to $7,900 - 11/28/2009
Just recently PASSED GA Emissions on 11-21-2009

Hello all!

I have finally come to the decision to let my Corvette go. It's black with Graphite Interior.

I bought this car in 1999 as a restoration project. The car had 160,000 miles on it before I completely disassembled the car and restored it. I have just recently finished this project and am looking to move on. It has a clear title and has never been in an accident. I have had the original engine (350 Tuned Port Injection w/cast iron heads) professionally rebuilt.

I have been using this car as my daily driver to make sure the car is running and functioning as it should. There is about 6,300 miles on the car since I started driving it (this mileage reflects how many miles are on the restore).

Below are some quick facts about what has been done. I have 10 years of receipts and tons of pictures to show the work that has gone into this car.


Engine:

I used the original engine for the rebuild. I had it professionally rebuilt and balanced. It has been bored 0.030” over. It has new everything: forged pistons, new studs, rings, Competition Cams cam kit (which is not that much more aggressive than the stock one). The valve lift is .446 on both intake and exhaust. New 2.02 and 1.60 valves were installed in the original cast iron heads. I used the original intake manifold, but replaced all fuel parts (pressure regulator, all new injectors, o-rings, etc…) Also, new power steering pump, smog pump, and water pump were installed. I built this engine to be a reliable replacement. It was not built for mind-numbing power. It was intended to get good fuel economy and have a little more power than stock. I have all documentation and receipts for the engine rebuild to prove that it is what I say it is.


Transmission:

The automatic transmission was rebuilt by the previous owner right before I got the car in 1999. It operates and shifts fine.


Interior:

New mass-back Carpeting

New Leather on the Steering wheel

New seat foam and leather for the seats

All interior plastics and dashboard have been re-conditioned

Ran new “high-end” speaker wire and installed a Sony head unit and Infinity Speakers (with custom mounting boxes in the doors so that you can install any 5.25 speakers)

Under the carpet is a layer of sound deadening insulation and then on top of that is a layer of heat barrier to keep the interior cool (have pics to back this up)


Exterior:

New windshield

New Weather-strip

New ZR-1 wheels (17” x 9.5”) from AFS Wheels (with the correct offset for 1986)

New Tires

I painted the car with a professional PPG paint system. From 10 feet the car looks perfect, but up close you can see that the paint job isn’t as good as it could be. It won’t fade or bubble, but maybe a good compound job will fix some of defects and overspray.


Suspension:

The front and rear suspension has been completely re-conditioned with the following When the car was disassembled EVERY piece was sand blasted prior to reassembly:

New C5 front brake conversion

New rear brakes (calipers, pad, rotors)

New Polyurethane Bushings from Energy Suspension

New Moog Ball Joints

New Moog Tie Rod Ends

Reconditioned Steering Rack

New KYB shocks

All U-Joints Replaced

AC Delco Hub Bearing Assemblies at every wheel (Yes, the AC Delco branded parts)


Miscellaneous:

The radiator, water pump, and new hoses have been installed.

ALL new vacuum lines.

AC Delco Keyless Entry System

New air conditioning (condenser, evaporator, compressor, hoses, accumulator, switches, etc) is installed. It was just charged two months ago and is working great!

Replaced front exhaust Y-Pipe with a no pre-cat version and installed a Hi-Flow cat in the car. It passed emissions last year with no problem at all. It has stock style mufflers.

The Electrical System in the car has been gone over with a fine tooth comb. Anything that was “questionable” was correctly repaired with the appropriate GM harness.

EVERY sensor in the car was replaced.

There is a custom ‘PCM for Less’ piggy-back chip (installed within the ECM) that is matched to the new engines specs.



There are a lot more parts that I am leaving out because there is just too much to list. If it looks new, it’s because it is new. I have created a “Master Parts List” in MS Excel that detail what was replaced, when and where it was purchased, as well as what everything costs.

NADA value on this car restored to this condition is around $18K. I have in the mid $20K range invested in this car (receipts to back this up).

I will consider all SERIOUS offers.

Email me if you would like more information. Absolutely no trades considered.

designerRob

The car looks phenomenal(except for the paint). Absolutely awesome job!!! Too much $ for me right now unfortunately.

From the pictures the paint looks really cloudy. On new black paint it should look like a mirror. You might look into really polishing that paint job.

Again, great restoration.

JXAce

Thanks!

Yea...in certain light the paint looks really good.

So is there anyone willing to make an offer?

Bobby Simone

you can buy a lt4 with low miles for a couple grand less than you are asking. No offense but you have a $7500 car tops.

JXAce

Hmmm....I might agree with the $7500 price *IF* this car was an original 1986 with 100,000+ miles (with the wear and tear that shows it).

But, seeing how everything has been replace/reconditioned with new parts, an engine that was built to handle power adders, and that the whole rebuilt car has 6800 miles on it, I think $7500 is a bit low of a figure to throw around.

yosshimura

You can't get out of a sale all the $$ you put in it when you sell it... for that...well, let's see how much it is selling for a year from now..

Good luck, looks awsome, other than the paint..

dpd3672

An 86 with 100k and normal wear and tear is more like a $3-5000 car, depending on how "worn and torn" it is...even well cared for cars just don't seem to hold up well, the interiors and weatherstripping.

One in fantastic shape, pristine and refurbed/refreshed is going to get you the $6-7k or slightly more. This one sold recently for $6400 after the seller tried to get $7500 and had no luck, and it was absolutely beautiful:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4s-...near-mint.html

You've got a beautiful car there, don't get me wrong, but there's just too many cars for sale and not enough buyers to go around. You put a lot of money into it, clearly, but I doubt you'll come close to breaking even. My advice would be to enjoy the car for yourself and hope the market improves. As said earlier, there are a lot more desirable models for sale in that price range...you could pick up a ZR1 for that price.

No intent to gang up on the seller, it's a beautiful car that's been restored well, C4s, especially early ones, just aren't great candidates for restoring and selling at the moment, sadly.

Good luck,
Dave

JXAce

Man....this news is not good for me to hear! Well....I know I will take a loss on this car, but I guess now, it has come to how much I am willing to lose...truth be told, whatever loss I end up with will be worth the experience I gained from this restoration (at least that's what I'm going to tell myself :-)

Thanks for the input!

HWoods

I am in the same fix, I have an 86 with a lot of mods. If my drive train was in a 67 Camero, it would bring $30K, in a C 4 Vette?? $16K, guys with that amount of money to spend on a Vette will be looking at a C5, not a C4.

But Good Luck with the sale

kenv

Good luck with your sale.

dpd3672

For what it's worth, the number of these cars getting junked, parted out, modified, and/or beaten to death is eventually going to impact the values. Way down the road, when the love/hate relationship people have with C4s becomes nostalgia, and well-kept examples are harder to find, I do believe they'll be worth some money.

Look at the '66 Mustang. They made over 200,000 of them, and they were a dime a dozen even 20 years later (My first car was a '66 Mustang coupe that I paid $500 for in 1985). 20 years ago, when they were about as old as the C4 was, it was hard to find one selling for more than a few thousand dollars. 20 years later, well preserved, rust free models are selling for $10,000 to $25,000, depending on condition and options. The rare models (Boss, Mach 1, California Specials, Shelbys, etc...the Grand Sports and ZR1s of the Mustang lineup) command considerably higher prices. The C3s are doing the same thing now...they were frowned on and depreciated in value, now they're climbing as they get junked, parted out, and folks look at them with different eyes. I plan on picking one up sooner or later, just 'cause I've always liked them, and I feel I need to hurry while they're still somewhat affordable.

It seems to be the consensus that C4s are either bottomed out or close to bottomed out in value. The fact that certain parts (interiors, headlight motors, dashes in the early ones, etc) don't hold up very well isn't helping very much. It can only go up from here; I really don't see a drivable, solid car ever selling for much less than $3000 or so, and that's where a lot of them are at this point.

I'm wrapping up a deal to buy my first one and very excited about it. It's cheap enough to enjoy, and as an investment, it can only appreciate in value.

I don't know what your situation is, but if you can afford the time, space, and money, I'd recommend keeping your car...it would put you way ahead of the curve when prices start climbing again.

JMHO, yours may vary.

Dave

JXAce

dpd3672,

You make an excellent point. I am not hurting to get rid of the car, just anxious to move on from this 10 year project. I have toyed with the idea of storing it. Something I have to hash over. I calculated how much the minimum I would need to get out of it now so that I don't commit suicide from the loss...it came out to about $11,500. I guess this number is still too high based on the market. If I can't hit that number now, then I guess I won't sell it :\

RC000E

If you'd intended on restoring a car and putting 20K+ into it, you shouldn't have chosen a 1986 to do it to. Your gonna lose...big...point blank. If you put that kind of money in, did you really think you'd get that money back out? You better just keep it for 25 more years.

Relic

Ok, now this is piling on. First, this is a "for sale thread", how does that advance the sale?
Second, there is not one shred of constructive criticism in your post. Can he choose not to do the 1986 now? No.
The OP has a great car. When it doesn't sell, he'll figure out where the right price is, and IF he wants to sell it.

JXAce

I agree, no constructive criticism at all...I did not "choose" to restore a 1986 Corvette. The car kinda landed in my hands in very poor condition. I never planned to get all of the money out...just thought that is what it is worth (to me at least).

So over these past few weeks...I have decided to let it go and get what I can get for it. I am asking $9,900 as a starting price and I will entertain and consider any SERIOUS offers.

96LT4

If anybody is interested, he can't be that far from me, and I'd be happy to look at the car for you.

RC000E

Well, I suppose the pure meaning of the post was just that, it's a decision point. Either decide to sell and accept the loss or keep the car with the intention of preserving it.

I'm in the very same boat with the car I have and it isn't pleasant. I built a car just because it was what I'd had and inevitably you cross that line of no return. Your car looks very clean for the year and it's clearly due to the money invested, but for the sake of the sale you need to hear it point blank and decide the cars fate.

I do say, for the sake of enticing a buyer, that you lower the ride height. These cars just look goofy sitting so high. Get rid of all that fender gap and the car would be much more aggresive looking.

designerRob

JXAce, I saw your Autotrader ad and you talk about the paint job. How bad is it really? Does the paint need to be redone anywhere?

JXAce

When it is waxed and buffed, it looks great. But the paint job could use a re-spray to make it show stopping-ly "right" . You have to understand what the car looked like before this paint job; it was sun beaten down to the primer. So this is a HUGE improvement over what is was. I have all the PPG paint components (primer, base, clear, catalyst, etc - expensive too) to probably spray 2 to 3 more cars.

The paint doesn't bother me at all, and I've never had someone say anything negative about it.

hip

I live in Temple,Ga. about 25 mi. from Marietta the best thing to do is to have your car appraised. I have an '84 totally restored with a 427 sb. I had it for appraised for 12.5 back in spring. I totalled it Sunday morning. I hit a p/u pulling out of his drive way I was going about 40 hit him before I touched brakes. The front end is totally wiped out but engine was not touched. I paid 4 grand to insurance co to buy back + I got 8 grand. It is truly a total restoration with 2000 mi since completed, not for sale & don"t want a C5 or C6 or a later model C4. Your car is what you are willing to sell it for but the $200 it cost to appraise mine was truly worth it