Howdy, first post here. Been lurking for a bit trying to learn anything I can.

I'm looking at a 1980 dark green automatic Corvette for sale. Seller is asking 6,500. I took it for a test drive last night and man was that fun. I'm just looking for some opinions on it.

First what I know is wrong: the battery was dead and we had to jump it to get it running. Seller mentioned he was in the process of locating the drain and might be replacing the alternator. The A/C leaks and won't hold a charge much more than a season.

The engine was refurbished 20,000 miles ago and had an aftermarket CAM put in (not sure what kind, I'll ask about the refurbishing tonight).

Otherwise everything appeared mechanically sound to me. No sputtering or hiccups, transmission shifted smoothly, and the brakes seemed just a little soft (My first car ever was a 1984 Chevy Caprice Classic which had pretty much the same thing. Not so soft as to be dangerous or a problem, just took a little more push than other cars).

The body is in fair condition. Paint was chipping near the door handles and a few spots on the rear bumper. The front bumper looks to be the worst with cracking and flaking of the paint and some damage to the fascia that extends to the side body panel for an inch or two. The front insignia looked to be completely missing and the one on the gas cover was missing the left flag.

The interior is in great condition. No rips or obvious wear on the seats, the carpet looked and felt fine with no stains or rips. The radio had been replaced with a crappy cd player.

So, I'm planning on offering 5,000 and seeing where it goes from there. I'm hoping this car will give me the opportunity for customization projects but that it won't cost me another 5,000 just to keep it running.

Thoughts? Is it a fair deal or is it worth less given the info here?

 

It's really hard to say. Pic's would help. However if the engine checks out, the frame and birdcage are clean and the interior is as you describe, 5-6K sounds reasonable to me.

 

 

Sorry, no digital camera yet. The first ones you see might be me sitting in my vette. We'll see what he says about the power problem and my offer.

--::EDIT::--

The damage to the paint and front bumper is limited to the driver side front corner

 

Haggle nicely.
She's worth the $6500.

 

 

You didn't say anything about the frame.
Take a look at the section between the door and the rear wheel.
Where is it parked right now? If it's on grass, that's a bad sign.

The 79 I bought had a bit of frame rot and I had to get some reinforcements welded in.

 

Its worth more as parts

 

The seller is a mechanic and took me to his shop where we put the 'vette on a lift. Frame looks good, few rusty spots but not much and it is not rusted out. Took a hammer around with some light taps and it sounded solid all the way around.

So I bought it.

Haggled down to 6,000 with a new battery. I'll post up some pictures. First items on my list of to do will be changing the oil, giving it a wash, and learning everything I can about it. Eventually I'll do the exhaust.

WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

 

Awesome! Congrats.

 

Great buy I paid way more for my 80 and ripped everything out and started from scratch.

 

PUUU-LEEEEZ Dean!!!!

 

good deal

 

Sounds like you got a fair deal. Congrats. Post pics when you can.

 

Congratulations!!!!

Cheers on your new ride!!!!

Awaiting pictures too...

 

From your description, $6k was a pretty good deal for that car.

 

6K doesn't sound bad at all

 

Pics!!!!!

 

here goes!

 

looks like somebody got a great deal