What are the thoughts on upgrades (chrome, performance, comfort, etc). I have a 78 with 32XXX original miles with 100% original paint (good condition except for front and rear rubber bumpers), all mechanical is original except for maintance items. For long term value, is it better to keep all orginal or to upgrade and make it "shiney".

 

More of a personal preference question than anything else. My opinion is to keep the car as stock as possible with a few exceptions. I think a modern radio/cd player, upgraded shocks / tires and some suspension improvements are a must do.

I believe in keeping the car the original colors (interior and exterior) along with the seats, door panels etc.

Post some pics of your ride so we can see what you are thinking of doing.

Good luck,
Dino

 

IMO the plastic bumper cars will never be worth as much as the chrome bumpered ones. You might as well have fun with it & mod the way it makes you happy. However, if it looks stupid, we will come & get you.

Just have fun. These plastic bumper cars are just the ticket for a hot rod.

BTW - I have a 79.

 

Not sure how to attach pictures, but mostly anything changed would be bolt-on, upgrading to some chrome on the engine. At some point I would like to upgrade the cam, intake and carb (probably not anytime soon though $$$). I would also like to add the rear spoiler, this would be a good time, since I need to get the front and rear bumpers painted.

 

I think that dollar for dollar, the best upgrade you can make is putting some nice shoes on your Vette. Nothing else (in my opinion) can take a car as quickly from BORING to OH WOOW as quickly. Best bang for your buck for sure. Keep the originals and there's nothing but lugnuts to return it to it's current state.

 

Currently I have the rally wheels with the crome beauty ring. I like the older looking wheels on older cars. I have seen some with wheels so big, there wasn't any room left for the tire.

 

It's your car- do what you like.

 

 

The main reason for the question was in terms of value. Realizing that there were a lot of units produced, does having a low milage original car increase the value, or can you get more value by customizing and "improving". The car was bought because I like the C3s, but also in terms of investment. It doesn't appear that orginal carries alot of weight unless it's a pace car.

 

i personally dont like chrome with the exception of a nice air cleaner
and mabe small items such as bolts and valve cover hold downs
heck i even painted my zz4 intake gm blue so it looks stock

 

When I bought my 77 it was a $4500 POS that I looked at as nothing more than a platform to build the car I always wanted when I was a Kid. That includes chrome wheels, big tires, loud exhaust, scary fast and all the other things that were cool in the 70's. If a completely original car is what you dream about thats cool. If you dream about a custom hot rod thats cool too. There are a lot of nice cars out there that need to be left original because the ones that are unmolested are few and far between but there are plenty of other C3's out there for the rest of us to play with as we want.
Anyway, to answer your question, its your car so have what you want.

 

[QUOTE=FireMedic5...For long term value, is it better to keep all orginal or to upgrade and make it "shiney".[/QUOTE]

personally i believe that the real 'value' of a car is how much enjoyment it's able to give you everytime you switch it on...thinking of a future sell will make grimmer the present somehow

 

Not the best way to enjoy your ride.

 

Modify the heck out of it.

Stock is for those rare documented L88's

 

Go to one of several big vendors for some tru-flex fiberglass replacements front and rear. Get the rear with the small wing already formed in - like on a '78 or '79 Vette. Then your shop can paint to match your current good paint. This will get rid of the wavy rubber POS bumper covers on there now. My '73 had the front cover rotted off. I like the tru-flex - and it does have a little give in it - doesn't split at first contact.

 

I have a '78 also, and my goal is to modify it. I respect the pursuit of originality, but to me it's more fun, more interesting and more rewarding to improve certain things, in order to make the car perform better. And that's what I care about--performance. With the wealth of aftermarket items out there, from suspension to engine to sound systems, etc., it's pretty easy (but not cheap!) to mod it to whatever level you wish and bring the car more up to its potential.

One thought about these cars as 'investments'. Many current owners dreamed about having a Corvette for a good portion of their lives. They grew up seeing them and reading about them, and the cars represented a standard of performance that was really attractive at the time--but largely out of their reach financially.

Younger people these days are drawn more to smaller, mostly imported high performance vehicles. These represent their 'dream cars', much as the Vette was for a largely older generation. I fully expect that as these car fans grow older, they're going to be drawn to the Subaru WRX STi's, the hotter Hondas and Mitsubishi's and Toyota's, etc. In other words, the cars that they drooled over in magazines and movies like "Fast And Furious". Large, heavy, V8 powered RWD American cars simply aren't a part of their lives to any degree--not the least because they tend to be pretty expensive.

So I don't even begin to think of the C3 as an investment--not in the financial sense, anyway. There are too many other, better ways to make a good return on your money than gambling that there'll be an active, enthusiastic audience out there just waiting to pay you back for all the time, energy and money that gets poured into our cars.

Watching an evening of Barret-Jackson illustrates what I'm talking about; lots of older guys bidding on the 'dream cars' from their youth. Fast forward a few years, when that bunch is out of the market, and I strongly suspect things will have changed quite a bit.

 

I agree that people who grew up with these cars are buying them now and there are much better ways to "invest" money. According to my information, late C3s will appreciate @ 4-9%. My goal is to keep the car for several years and when I save enough money, sell the vette to go towards a 1st gen camaro. They doubled and tripled in value in the last 5-7 years. I think in a few years the later C3s will also increase, however, not nearly that much unless its a pace car or similar rarity.

 

I would replace all the suspension wear parts (balljoints, tie rodsa-arm bushings) and any rubber suspension component that shows signs of dry rot. Even though the car may have only 32000 miles, 25+yrs will cause dryrot, and corrosion. I would also go throught the brakes really good, especially the calipers checking for any signs of wear, or leakage.

I hope thats the advice you were asking for