I was looking at a 1981 coupe yesterday. Non original engine with RV cam and Holley double pump. Has auto 400 tranny with B&M shifter, complete power flow exhaustsystem with headers. new radiator, direct fan (no clutch). Engine supposedly has around 1000 miles on rebuild. Car has around 80K. Pile of reciepts. window tag. mostly original. has front left crack around wheel well but is intact, rims and tires OK, Power windows, brakes and steering, interior is driver quality, radio not original, has "some" parts but nothing really worth talking about, Hood needs latch work on one side (he said he has part and would fix. I'd just take the part and do it myself. speedo don't work, some small minor details need fixing. Overall the car didn't look too bad, but not a gem. Basically a driver quality car that needs a little work to get all details working. The guy wants $7200 for it.

Does $7200 sound OK for a driver quality. I would not have plans to restore it. Just for bopping around.

 

Check the frame and birdcage for rust and rot, very carefully. How are the bearings and suspenion?

If the car checks out, then hand the guy $6500 in cash and see what he does. If he hands it back, give him the other $300 you had in your pocket. If he hands it back walk away, if he keeps it you saved a few bucks.

 

B&M, speedo doesnt work and the trans has been replaced. I'd look long and hard at the rest of the drive train.

My guess is the cruise control has been by passed or just ignored with the 400.

Look for other tell tale signs. Is the front sway bar rusted? How about the shocks. (basically looking for general upkeep condition)

 

Like it or not that baby sounds like you will sink money into it each and every month until you sell it. If that prospect scares you run...if not go for it!
JU

 

Thanks guys,

I'm thinking about it. Not sure I want to deal with another car yet. At least I wouldn't have too much into it and I can fix it myself, so that's not the problem. There are a ton of reciepts for the thing and I know I'm a much better machanic than the previous owner.

I'm not going to be in a hurry. If when I come back from my weekend vacation, maybe I'lll go take another look, If it is gone.....I won't loose sleep over it.

 

Sounds like a lot of parts in a bastardised car. If the car is clean on rust you might be ok at that price, but I would sure work it down some. Cruise control is probably not hooked up causing the speedo no workie. Like mentioned above non original motor and trans. That car came with a TH350C with the lockup converter. Change that fan system out for dual electrical 12"s. The crack isn't a big deal to fix, but it means paint, that is a big deal. More $$
Your going to end up around $15k to have that car dependable, clean and shiney.

 

I honestly think that's way too much money for an 81 with that description. This ignores other potential issues. If you decide to sell it later, it'll be hard to move as well.

 

Sounds just like my car. It's a white 1981 with 180,000 miles. Tach says 80,000, but I don't believe it.

Ended up putting a new motor, rebuilt trans, new ball joints and tie rods, new stereo, exhaust, and right now I'm POR-15'ing the frame.

Guy wanted $7,000, I takled him down to $6,000. You're going to spend money on it, no question. If you can talk him down some and aren't afraid of getting your hands dirty, I say go for it. But get ready to know that car inside and out by the time you're done.

 

Wasn't that because of a 120 MPH redline jaunt on the freeway one night?

 

I'm sure that the car needs some work. It looks like a car that the owner's couldn't bring themselves to finish on the details. They tried to make a hotrod out of it and couldn't finish the little things. They spent more money on it than they knew they had. I will comb it over pretty good IF I get around to taking another look. "Without" taking another look, I might make a hesitant offer. What I noticed was a time span of 5 minutes looking and 3 minutes driving as I was in a hurry. I could see that the car was basterdized, but then again, that is what I did like about it also. It is a more comfortable C3 year, non original so getting it back to original wouldn't be my plan. The engine/tranny is better than the original setup (HP and Torque), Cheap enough to make a summer everyday driver and I wouldn't be afraid to bastardize it some more. A beater car is what it would be to me.

I know the engine builder too. It's the engine installer that I'm worried about. The rear springs felt weak. Is that common for the 1981 models?

I do have plenty of cars and trucks, so another car wouldn't change things for me much. It would be the difference between driving one old car, or an old corvette that doesn't have enough value to insure past liability.

It won't break my heart if it were gone when I get back from my vacation next week. It did look fairly clean from what I saw with the exception of the little details I did spot. But then again, how many little details did they miss when they swapped motor, tranny, exhaust sytem, etc., etc? The little detail things are what tell me that the car needs lots of attention to a lot of details.

 

I took a closer look at the reciepts and the car last night. The guy doesn't really know much about COrvettes and got it becasue someone owed him money.

What seems OK....new rocker panels, rims and tires look great, less than 20k on windshield, I know the engine builder and apparently the engine has around 1000 miles on it. It has a new Holley Avenger carb on it, radiator was rebuilt/replaced. Its a Bowling Green car with silver/dark blue enamel paint.

It seems like a pretty full reciept history, but I don't think the car has been wrecked. The birdcage is solid. I checked the windshield corners and under the side panels. The frame looks really good and not much surface rust. Its a South Dakota car and it is hardly ever practical to drive them in the winter here. It doesn't look like it has seen winter driving. Interior is a 78K interior. Minor wear and fairly clean. The B&M shifter got screwed right to the top of the console. It looks out of place. The car seems to run and drive nice, shifts good through all gears. That exhaust sounds good. Stainless headers and full stainless dynaflow exhaust. Has a factory service manual, owners manual and window sticker. It still has stock suspension. Window seals look pretty good and no rips in seats.

He claims the engine IS the original, but the pad numbers have been decked off. The tranny is a 700R4, not a 400. Here is what don't work...one headlight is burned out, horn doesn't work, one of the electric seat buttons doesn't work(forward and back), backup lights, A/C compressor is out (apparently it was blowing cold, bu tthe compressor locked up), one of the PVC valves on the valve cover isn't hooked up, one hood latch cable is broken (he will buy a new one), electric mirrors don't work,oil temp guage don't work( he didn't hook it back up he said), speedo and cruise control. It has cheap shocks and the rear end is sagging approx 1 1/2".


My suspicions of the previous "main" owner of the car was pretty **** and stuck more money into the car than he ever had to. The later owners were more careless about what worked and cared less about the details. I made him a low ball offer and he was reasonably thinking about it. We'll see.

 

SHHH!!!!! It had 180,000 miles on it, so I figured I was putting it out of it's misery. It probalby wouldn't have held up to the new cam and heads I wanted to put on it, anyway.

 

Based on everything you've said, I'm guessing it will cost about $2k-$2.5k to get everything that's broken operational again.

So the final question is is it worth $7,200 to you. If my estimate is accurate (others can chime in), you would have a finished car for just under $10k. If that's a good deal for you and you're going to be happy with it, then go for it.

 

....LT

 

I offered $5850 for the car and he wouldn't take it......So, I left the car there.