are there any daily driver on this forum?

I am trying to get my first vette, and saw a few c3's that I really love!

However, not really into the whole spending money just to look at it, I want to drive it, mostly every day. It will be somthing like 250 miles a week. If I got somthing with a new engine, and has had pretty much everything restored, are they pretty reliable?

Also, anyone here know of any good places to buy interior parts? seats, dash...etc to re-do an interior.

Thanks, love the forum!

 

There's not a lot that can go wrong with them (No computer, almost no sensors). Try Ecklers.com for almost anything you need.

 

Just finished my new interior tonight. Couldn't wait to drive it again.
It was in the garage for three weeks, boy did I miss driving it. I drive
mine about 150 miles a week. Or more. There are many suppliers of
parts you can shop around and search the forum for opinions. I have had
good luck with all of my purchases so far.

 

also check C3 parts for sale here in the forum.

 

thanks guys, am I allowed to post a ebay link in here, asking what you guys think of a car?

I don't want to break any rules is all

 

Just link the pictures

 

Better get yourself another car or truck to drive to the parts store while your working on your vette.

 

when its not raining.. i drive my car EVERYDAY!.. got a 5 speed, 260 crate engine.. and go to san jose and back atleast once a week.. ( about 120miles to and back)..

gas is ok i guess.. 15-18..

 

Nine was a daily driver for the last year. Its currently undergoing a major retrofit and it will return to daily driver status later this year.

 

Daily driver for the last 6 years--I am now within days of finishing a complete overhaul.

Parts seem expensive until you take into consideration what the depreciation on any new car would have been.

The secret for keeping C3's reliable is when something breaks, change the whole system. For instance, if a brake caliper fails, replace all four calipers at the same time instead of just the one that broke. You will see that the catalogs price things accordingly. Buy new parts instead of rebuilt.

And, before buying parts, search this forum for recommendations.

 

However, not really into the whole spending money just to look at it, I want to drive it, mostly every day. It will be somthing like 250 miles a week. If I got somthing with a new engine, and has had pretty much everything restored, are they pretty reliable?

Also, anyone here know of any good places to buy interior parts? seats, dash...etc to re-do an interior.

Thanks, love the forum![/QUOTE]

We would all love to drive the vette's more however some of us live in states that do not allow that pleasure. Snow, rain & cccccccold. So they are not all garage queens in the C3 section. Glad you will be able to drive yours daily. Buy a car in the best shape which you can. There are many vendors on the left hand size of the forum which can sell you the parts needed. If the vette you buy runs good just do regular maintance and enjoy. If the engine is old & tired, smokes replace it w/a crate motor. G/L

 

Not as pretty as most, but driven all the time.
Proper repairs done as required. All the smaller stuff will give you down time. The engines are very reliable. Overall, cheaper than a new car.

I just carry a tarp with me.

 

I bought mine about a year ago to be my daily driver rain or shine (200+ miles per week). My biggest concern was rust since anything can be rebuilt if the basic car isn't rusted out. The bonus I got was a nearly brand new crate motor and great wheels/rubber. I was not too worried about other restoration since I wanted to keep my initial $$s outlay as low as I could.

It took a couple hundred $$s and 6 weeks to get the car to pass state safety inspection (some wheel studs, pbrake, lights function and vacuum operation, horn, basic engine plumbing for emissions, wiper function, etc). I do all of the work in a standard 2 car garage shared with my wife's car.

From then on all refurbs and repairs have taken place during the weekend (except one) since I need the car running again Monday morning and the list has prioritized itself:

april - fluid leaks (oil, coolant, brakes and steering, rain)
june - cooling (shroud, seals, fan clutch)
july - economy (timing, qjet, fuel pump)
sept - climate control (flappers, vacuum controls, ductwork, fan)

The car is about 85% back to original function (currently collecting parts to restore factory AC) and has NEVER left me stranded. It was down for a week waiting on a rear wheel bearing assembly to be delivered in early dec (swap out time was only 8 hours, but 4 business days for delivery...).

I drive mine every day. I do live in a part of the country where the weather allows daily use (driving in the rain is ok for me), but if this is what you want to do it can be done. And you can have a blast doing it.

 

My '80 was a daily driver the first 3 years I owned it. Now it gets driven almost every weekend and some nice days in between. It's garage kept and gets regular maintenance. It has been no less reliable than any other car I've ever owned.

 

Wha?!? Huh!? We must not be talking about the same C3. stuff breaks on mine all the time. Remember, these are 30+ year old cars. You should expect continuous and ongoing repairs ESPECIALLY if your going to drive it on a regular basis. Fortunately, if you have any mechanical skill at all you can learn to fix most of it yourself (like the man said, no computers, sensors, airbags, etc.) This is old technology and much of it is pretty straightforward. OR you can pay someone else to fix it and save yourself some headaches. your choice.

 

Drove my 82 daily and put 200K miles on it at a rate of 21K per year. About 400 miles per week. Now retired. New motor at $85K so only 115K on motor. Alot of other things replaced, but only as normal for a car with 200K miles on it and 82 technology, etc. BTW, crossfire never caused any problems in all of those miles. Recently dropped a 3.55 rear end in it and really woke it up. Should have done a long time ago, but then the 200K mile mark might have been more difficult to reach.

 

can't thank everyone enough.

The one I am looking at is a 79, all new interior.

A lot of stuff was replaced, however the engine is still orig. with 66K miles on it.

only $8300, steal, looks really solid. Seller calims it could be a DD easily.

What do you guys think? Price is really low....

 

drive mine everyday, well when it isn't broke down. Have had it about 9 months so far and only a week of down time. not to bad. My 01 tahoe has had more down time than that in the same amount of time.

 

actually, i would think that's a good thing lol... well for me anyways. many problems with cars today involve the computers, sensors, etc.

even though i didn't grow up in the 70s (i'm 17), it's so much easier to diagnose a problem with a car that is simple and has a carb

 

btw mine's a daily driver. i have NEVER had any problems. engine has roughly 40k on it since reman'd, car was cosmeticly restored only. it's a wonderful car, and my girl loves it