Long story short:



Well my dad ordered a 1980 corvette with split cloth leather, black ext, t-top, auto trans and the suspension package of the day. I was born in 1980, and this almost caused the cancellation of the order. There was already a 1971 corvette in the family that had been bought used (now my long term resto project)


Its a one owner car that has about 54-58k miles on it. Dad and I rebuilt the front end with poly bushings approx 9-10 years ago, I drove it for a while and when I went off to school my mom drove it. Not long after that my mother rear-ended a truck and somehow reeved the motor and we now believe it has a possible spun bearing, at least it seems to have a knock in the motor. It has sat since some in a barn until my parents sold the property and for a few years now in the garage of my mom's condo.

I know it will likely need a motor rebuild, new front clip, and headlight cover to get it back into shape. Paint and some other fixes too, obviously.

I am looking to get an esitmated value for the car as it sits.

I know photos would help, but the car is approx: 2 hours from my location right now so I would just like to get a general idea of its value at this point.

 

No ideas on values?

 

From your description the car will need everything replaced or rebuilt except for the undamaged body parts and the rims that are on it. I assume that everything that was usuable has been sitting in the garage too long to be serviceable, therefore I will say that if someone offers you $1500 for it you should not immediately say yes. Wait about 30 seconds then take the offer. To immediately jump on $1500 would say to the buyer that he could probably have gotten it for $1000.

Anyone who has done a car like this knows that eventually everythingwill be replaced or rebuilt because it fails or is bleeding all over the place.

 

The only body damage is on the front clip and headlight cover (passenger side) from the hitch on the truck.

From there back the body panels are ok, could use new paint, but they are not broken or damaged.



"3 more characters to post this reply"

 

Unfortunately kevinator80 is probably right on the mark. If the interior, glass, doors, and remaining body panels are still good you'll make more parting it out. The 80's in "great" condition are only fetching $10k-$12k now, and it sounds like it will cost a lot more than that to get it to the same condition. It cost me $17,000 to completely redo my 81 and that was 9 years ago ... I still couldn't sell it for that much today.

If you don't want to part it out, you might want to think about Frankenstein'ing it (ie; find another 80 with a good motor, no front-end damage, and who cares what the rest of it looks like and merge the two together).

 

Put an ad in the Saturday/Sunday paper & Craig's list for $3,000 bring trailer. You'll get every vettehead in the region over to kick-tires. Make sure the title is "clean" (no liens) ready to sign over to the best cash offer. Push the car out of the condo garage into the sunshine and have it cleaned up.......a dusty, ratty looking car will bring ratty offers.
Sit back with the cellphone and a pitcher of lemonade and watch the action!
JU

 

Thanks for the input. I am actually hoping I can pick this up myself and get it into decent shape againl.

 

If it has some sentimental value to you, go for it and have fun doing it ... but if you just want a nice vette to drive, you can buy one for a lot less than you're going to spend fixing this one. I paid $4,400 for my first vette (the 81 I mentioned above) and thought I was getting a deal ... I really wasn't given that it cost $17k to get it worthy of the Corvette badge again.

 

What value are you looking for hear? There are to different values of the car.
1st Market Value: How much can you actually sell the car for?
2nd Personal Value: How much is the car worth to you?
By the sounds of your posts the car holds a much greater value to you then it is actually worth on the market. If that is truly the case then don't worry about the market value of the car and the amount you spend fixing it. If it means that much to you you aren't doing it with the indent to sell so who really cares about dollars in vs dollars out.
Just make sure you insurance policy is and agreed upon value when you get it done.

 

 

Then you should have worded your thread title a little differently because the above statement changes everthing.

To get it back to "really good" will take 8-10k and that is you being very careful and patient with what you buy for the car and doing all the work yourself. Remember, rebuild when you can; replace only what you must. Good luck.

 

I wanted to get some up front "market values" for the vehicle so that I know what the car could sell for, so that I can pass that onto the owner and purchase it.

 

Offer $1,500 and see what he says then. If the answer is no, offer $1,550. By only raising it $50 he'll get the message that the car isn't worth much as it is. If he wants to give you any crap about what they're selling for, go out and get the latest Ecklers or Mid-America or (insert favorite parts vendor) printed catalog, go to the parts section under C3, and add up every part. That's what it will cost to fix it up.

 

Oh he understands the value of it, or lack there of at this point. I will dig around and see if I have some photos...just to add to the thread. I use to have a few digitals I took really quick one day.

 

Honestly, it might not be that bad to repair. It's hard to say, even with pictures, but if it was light damage, the parts are out there and right now not that expensive for a 1980. In fact, some guys are gelling in fiberglass front ends and discarding the hardware behind the bumper cover that you would need. You might be able to pick these parts up cheap. Other than that, you'd need some patch panels or a complete upper section and some fenders. If you need a new radiator, so what? At it's age, the original radiator is probably not that good anyway, probably go out in a yr or two. All the stuff you'll need is available out there. If you have sentimental value in this car, like it appears you have, and some money in your back pocket, I say go for it. Once fixed up, it will be a nice car and you'll really enjoy it.

Just to put some numbers to it: Ecklers OEM SMC front fenders= $300ea., Front top= $2k, Bumper Cover OEM= $500, Pieces behind the bumper (used) $250. Total=$3,350. Another $300 for paint. That might be all you'll need. You might not even need a whole front top piece, and you might also buy it used for less. You could also go cheap and buy a whole one-piece hand laminated front clip for $1,050. You could also find out you need inner fender panels and other parts. Hopefully you would be able to find them used for cheap.

Personally, I'd put all OEM SMC parts on it from Ecklers and it'll be as good as original and keep it's value. If you stick aftermarket hand laminated fiberglass on it, sure you're going to save some money up front, but you'll loose on the back side should you ever go to sell it. With the right stuff you'll fee a lot better about it too knowing it was done correctly, no compromises. In a few years, the 80 will be worth a few thou more and your investment up front won't seem so dramatic. Given it's age and mileage, the interior should be in really good shape. I bought Ecklers OEM SMC fenders and they are really nice. To me it's worth it to pay a little more for the right stuff.