Ok – Finally got it running to where I could drive it. If you all recall, I got this car off of Ebay for 24k (my mistake live and learn – time to move on). The car is\was a 1971 454 365 hp auto. This is the ONLY thing I am sure of. I am pretty sure the rest of what the guy told me is bull. These are the facts I have

I know the car sat for several years

The motor now runs, although it does not idle well, I have tracked and fixed several vacuum leaks. It shakes when sitting in gear at idle. Not like a cam or a miss but a fast paced shaking. This goes away when you start moving. Could this be another vacuum leak?

The motor has been gone through. It has roller rockers and a fairly new paint job. The exhaust manifolds also have been painted and still look new. I do not think it (motor) could have been painted in the car as it came out well and there is absolutely no over spray.

The motor has a sticky lifter. When I fire it up, it taps like hell but goes away quickly. After it warms up I can only hear it if I bend down and listen at the right side exhaust.

I do not know how the oil pressure is yet I will add a cheap set of gauges till I fix the factory ones. The car does have great compression and all cylinders are within a few points of each other

The only gauges that work are the speedo and the gas gauge.

There is no heater motor or core, they put heater deletes to cap off the motor and overflow heater core feed. I wanted to get a Vintage Air kit for it so I think that fixes that.

The transmission shifts well, and the car is fast

The rear “Seems” solid

The tires are new but they ride like they are square. I will replace them; I wanted 255’s all around anyway. The rally wheels have rust on them – fairly easy fix I think.

There is close to a ¼ turn of play in the steering wheel.

The brakes have air in them and squeal when you coast at low speeds

The E Brake does not work

The primary outside lights all work

The top is new, but one latch is totally missing

The center section of the dash is terrible; I will replace it and the carpet when I install the air.

It leaks power steering fluid like the Valdeze leaked oil.

The drivers mirror is almost falling off
The interior in general is just not nice – the seats can be cleaned but I will have to replace a lot.

Under dash wiring is a nightmare – should I just get a new inside harness and replace it all when I gut the interior to do the air and replacements?

The bumpers are all wavy and must be replaced
There are some stress cracks in the front fenders – I assume these can be fixed when I get the car painted?

The frame is solid, the birdcage has been repaired – it looks to untrained me that they did a fairly solid job of fixing it.

It (the car overall) looks pretty good from 5 feet away

The question is – do I just cut my losses and move on or try to fix it? At 24k for a real BB car, I still probably over paid. I would not want to re Ebay it and do it to someone else; I would have to make an honest description of the car. I assume that would eliminate me getting what I got in it back.

What would you do if you had another 10 grand to put in it, unload this and try again or take the winter and fix it all? I have the tools and most of the knowledge (the rest I get from here ) Time is tricky though – I do not have a lot of that between work and school.

Almost makes me want to drive to Fort Meyers Beach and beat this guy senseless. He did a superb job of convincing then taking me…

Could be worse at least the car was not hot or totaled or worse…

**EDIT** Oh yeah the water pump is also bad

 

I was probably in the same boat as you when I bought my '72 BB Vert a couple of years ago, lots of things to do and at times got a bit frustrating. Well the car is 36 years old, I was a bit the worse for wear at 36 and now at 56 it's a down hill slide.
Everytime I go into the garage my eyes light up when I see "baby". I just can't get over what a classic shape these cars are.
She now rarely lets me down and at my point in life if she needs something she gets it.
Best of luck

 

I think we all have been there & done that at one time or another in our lives. Yes you did over pay & you will not get close to your money back unless you make the repairs. Most sound very do-able and will not break the bank like steering & brakes. So my .02 is to take your time make the repairs right and enjoy the ca. In a year or two when the car is finished and now worth the 24k you will be a happy vette owner. G/L & post pic's

 

Listen, don't feel bad about your car. Being in the restoration business, I've seen a lot of cars that were bought and were'nt as good a deal as originally anticipated. A lot of the problems on your car are minor and can be fixed rather easily. I'ts a shame that people misrepresent things sometimes. I, myself, am paranoid at even the slightest panel missalignment when I look at a car on ebay. Still, even with my knowledge and experience, I haven't bought a car yet that I didn't find at least something little that wasn't described accurately. I suggest you work on your car and make it nice again. If nothing else, it will give you the pride and satisfaction of taking something wrong and making it right. A lot of us car guys have to go through this at one point or another.

The last car I bought,was the project that eventually became the car you see pictured in my avatar. I bought it for the right $(on ebay),and was just going to clean it up a little and drive it. As a started working on it I realised that everything on this car had been hacked.Even the spark plugs were all different brands!!! (the previous owner was a "mechanic").Needless to say, the more I worked on it the more I started to despise the previous owner for the crappy work he had done.
Well, I got over it and 7 months later I had a car that was featured in a major magazine,and won an award at corvettes at carlisle. I am sure most of us have similar stories to tell.

Keep your head up, take your time and make it right.

 

Do you like this car? Is it what you wanted? If you can answer 'YES' then I think you should continue on in a $ane manner.
It always costs something to learn and it sounds like you're learning a lot.
Be careful with the dash harness, the only thing worse than an electrical fire is a gasoline fire.
Regards,
Alan

 

Rob, your not far from me (I am in Millersville). I have a 74 454 and would love to see yours and give you a hand if you need it. Let me know.
(443)-864-0791 mobile.
Glenn