Friends, take a look at this 73 BB, 4-spd.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=320299502230

Seller says it is not quite a show car, as it has some chips, and stuff in paint. Also no radio and A/C doenst work

What should I expect from a 73? How is the power?
Anything look out of the ordinary? Is 20K a good price? Bad? Great?
Thanks in advance, all your feedback will help,
frank

 

Not bad but without looking at the birdcage and underside its had to tell. I would wait to see if it doesn't sell and then take a look and offer a lower price than the but it now price provided its all as clean as it looks and also has original engine

 

Hey Frank

Are you going to go to see the car in person?

Do you have someone in Ohio, that knows vettes, to look at it for you?

If not you could be taking a $20,000.00 gamble.

Not to rain on your parade but it`s better to be safe then sorry, you hear so many horror stories, it looked good in the picture. So did my 80 year old grandmother...when she was 20.
Just food for thought.

Rod
Love the Vette

 

Good advice, my brother lives in Ohio and will check it out.
What type of power can I expect out of this big block?

Also, here is some more feedback from the seller-your thoughts???
Paint/Body:

The car was repainted prior to me purchasing it in 1990. Overall the paint is excellent (no fading, wear or oxidation) except for several nicks. As you mentioned the nose piece is scratched up. The paint has cracked and flaked around the drivers side door and lock also slight flaking in the innermost part of one of the vents behind the front wheel. There is a nick on the passenger side fender and just over the rear taillight. There is some very faint hairline spider webbing on the rear decklid. The minor paint nicks all occurred at various times while the car was parked in the garage. The chrome bumpers are in very good condition except for 1 erasure sized rust hole.

Electronics:

The turn signals have never worked and I never had them repaired as I have only put a few thousand miles on since acquiring the car. The a/c does not blow cold. I have never investigated why for either items nor do I have an estimate of what it would cost to repair. I don't have the original radio but I do have a replica replacement that will be professionally installed prior to sale. When I removed the old radio (after it stopped working) I nicked the oil pressure gauge line (which I found out the hard way runs right above the radio slot) so now the oil pressure gage does not work (however that should be a simple repair. The horn is weak. All other electronics function well (flip up lights, pow windows, wipers, brake and reverse lights, gages, etc).

Mechanically it runs very well. It fires right up after sitting for a while. The clutch, brakes, tires, 454 engine, suspension are all strong. Interior is in very good shape. It's obviously not show car ready by any means (due to what I mentioned above) but to the casual observer or just driving by you'd think it was a show-car

 

If you do get it tell him not to bother installing the aftermarket radio, especially if its one of those Custom Autosound things. Get the original one fixed.

 

....ad says "1972 Corvette Roadster T-Top Coupe"...

...with that "00339" VIN#, it is a second day production car. Super early '73, so I guess it could really be a '72.

...well, it would have been built in '72 anyways.

 

Hi Frank,
The car seems quite nice in the pictures. I think for $20K, everything should work. If you decide the car needs paint it becomes too high an asking price. It might be a few thousand $$ too much in any case.
Regards,
Alan

 

thoughts...if it was THAT good a price it would have sold two days ago.

 

Except nearly a big block anything is worth some consideration unless its a real rat and I dont mean a Rat engine. I mean cosmedically a rat..

 

By the pic's it looks good. Looks like fairly recent paint, but can see some scuffs on the bumper. All appears to be there on the engine except the ignition shield and the air cleaner hood seal. Interior look decent.

But the key will be under the car. What kind of rust is in the frame and in the birdcage. That is what will make or break the car.

If no rust and the engine is the original engine, then yes it is worth the $20K.

 

What kind of performance can I expect out of this big block?? Any basic mods I can do to make the BB roar like it should?

 

It's 275 net/~350 gross horsepower, so it should run pretty comparable to the low compression 1971-1972 454s. (365 gross - 1971 / 270 net - 1972). For a rough comparison, outside the Vette camp, I have two 1972 lo-comp 455 cars that aren't as unrefined/free breathing as my 1970 hi-comp 455 car, but the 1972s are very strong pulling torque beasts. They have no hesitation at all with burning the rear tires until you get off the gas. Good luck if you go after this '73 seriously - it looks very nice.
Terry

 

If you are looking for a high performance car, then forget this one. A new Honda has more power.

If you want to mod it then there are alot of things you can do. But if it is a matching number original engine car, you would ruin the value by mod'ing it.

All depends upon what you want the car for......

 

If it's an Ohio car, rust would be the first thing to investigate. Also, a garage kept 38,000 mile car probably wouldn't need a paint job (or at least I wouldn't paint over the original lacquer), so investigate. Also, how many 38,000 mile cars "would make great everyday driver". A low mileage rig would ordinarily not be classified as a DD. And if 38,000, I'd want to see "all receipts for parts and services" because, though 35 years old, it wouldn't much. Not saying it's misrepresented, but some of the descriptions need further validation. Obviously a clean title is soothing. If you have someone inspect the car, I'd want to know if there's any evidence of prior accdents,..pretty easy to tell on a fiberglass car.

If everything checks out, $20k is about right. Do it.

Power? It' a 454. Some aftermarket heads, some compression, a lumpier cam, and you're puttn' out 500 HP, which is about all the drivetrain can handle.

 

I don't know if it's worth $20K, but is sure is Purty. Reminds me of my '75, minus the chrome.

 

Beautiful car for sure. But for 20K I would be expecting to get a 68-72....but it could very well be worth it.

 

The whole point of a car like this is to leave it stock. A big plus is it's got the factory smog. Engine compartment certainly needs some attention cosmetically. Needs orange valve covers, ignition shielding, braided plug wires, air cleaner seal and painting/refinishing. AC could be an expensive fix. Also states heat isn't working - might have the heater core bypassed because it's leaking (major PITA to fix). You'd best know what you're looking at or find someone who does. Good luck - I love my '73 454!

 

$20,000 is too high

 

From what I can see from the photos, it looks like the stuff that is there is original. It would be great if he had the original radio....even if it doesn't work. $20K is what the owner would like to get. In today's market, he'll be lucky to draw $12-15K.

 

I don't have confidence in a person who has put on a "few thousand miles" without turn signals.