So I've had to tow my C3 for the 5th time today and have started to question whether or not to sell it for a newer vette...I bought it for 9k and have put in about 7k in work (off top of my head: new engine, water pump, master cylinder, front bushings, rear wheel arms, fuel pump) but do you guys think its viable or even practical to sell?

I can get a list of work that was done to it but what could I even sell it for - being non-matching - and all?

 

Why have you had to tow your C3? What left you on the side of the road? Don't take this wrong but do you wait until something breaks to fix it or do you do preventative manitanance?

 

Yea, let's see what's wrong first. Be patient. It might be something very simple. Don't do something you will regret later.

 

"my NOM C3 that I have $16k into" is not much information.

Clearly it sounds like you would take a beating, but a little more detail would be helpful.

 

sounds like you have the major things down like new engine so what else is leaving you stranded. usualy the engine is the most complicated out of it all. ifs its an electrical gremlin heck we can fix that! or wheel bearings no problem. dont sell it only to kick yourself next year after you spend the money you got from the vette on an Obama coin collection!

after i first bought my vette i was looking through it all (ignition wise) see what i needed what been replaced etc. well when i was done the car wouldnt start and if it did it stumbled! i had a tough time justifying the purchase then. so after an hour of rational thinking it was two plug wires backwards and that was the start of it all from there. not to give up! i love working on the car now and the most major things can be so simple to fix. thanks to this forum

 

Unless your going to buy a brand new vette, your still going to have problems and most likely way more complicated and expensive. think it over!

 

I would work through the problems one buy one and get them fixed. Whos knows what problems youre going to inherit on the next one you buy. Besides that, right now is the worst time to sell your car. Keep it.

 

Do NOT sell, you are facing a bad market, you will lose allot of money at this time.

The C3 is one of the easier cars to work on.... Post some details about the car and I am sure someone here can give you a place to start.

Think this over.... sounds like you have most of the big stuff replaced.

 

Ok, I'll keep her...btw, the rear right wheel bearing is what went out this morning...Its probably going to be about $800 to replace the entire arm just like the left side a few months back

There is one problem is really annoying that you guys may be able to help with though. As you might have read in a post by me a few weeks ago - my gas and oil were mixing causing the engine to not start. The mechanics fixed the problem the first time by replacing the fuel pump and flushing.

A few weeks ago it did it again, and they traced it back to the tank. Turns out the return pipe is so rusty, gas pressure is accumulating (I could hear a large hiss opening the cap every time - thought nothing of it) and not exiting so they just drilled some holes in the gas cap as a quick fix.

Now I sometimes smell a heavy width of gas and get teary eyed - I'm assuming from the methane - but the mechanic says the cost for replacing the pipe is not going to be pleasant times for my wallet.

Has anybody had a similar issue? Sorry if I got some of the diagnosis wording wrong above, I'm still not too technically inclined about my baby.

 

Driving old cars is hard on the wallet if someone else does your work & a lot of times they get it wrong! ...maybe try tackling small projects & using the help here on the forum it feels real good when you repair it yourself & or with the help of friends

 

Yep,,, Keep it and get to enjoy it some, Peace,,,Moosie

 

If you have a rusty ruturn line.. you could try to blow it out with some compressed air or replace it.
Also, buy a vented gas cap from pepboys or autozone ...etc. they are not much money, less then $20 dollars.

For the gas smell, it could be a number of things most likely old fuel lines that are weeping and but you do not see dripping. You might have a bad line to the fuel vapor charcoal canister....

The best thing to do with old cars is learn to work on them yourself, this is an easy car to work on with a set of standard tools. You have this Forum and the Internet to get any answers and pictures and how to's documents.
Your local auto store will have most of the engine parts in stock

 

I learned 25 years ago, being a teenager in high school with a part time job. There would be know way I could afford to have someone else work on my car. So I started buying manuals and researching and doing the work myself. In doing so I have become one with my 1968 Corvette, if I hear the slightest noise in a particular area, my mind is running down the possible issues. I know every centimeter of the car now.

 

I think I have seen complete trailing arm/hub bearing assembly and all available rebuilt for a reasonable price?

 

From your descriptions, I think you need a new repair shop. They are soaking you 'big time' for every problem you come up with. A good shop will tell you exactly what your problem is and what optionS you have to fix it. Sounds like your present shop is a "..you need a NEW xxxx ..." type of place.

This is especially important if you [personally] don't have the repair skills necessary to make the diagnoses/repairs on your own. A 'shoddy' place will take advantage of such folks and 'bleed them dry'. Call a local Corvette club and ask for some recommendations from their members on where to take your 'Vette.

 

I agree, you are being "soaked". I live in a small town and spend a lot of money maintaning 7 vehicles. I can tell you from experience that shops here will vary sometimes by 100 percent the estimates on some work.

If you want to keep your corvette then the key to your success is your own knowledge. The difference between needed information and knowledge on my two corvettes is astronomical.

C3 ownership is not a spectator sport.

The older the car, the more YOU need to be hands-on.

 

 

They replaced the u-joint, shocks, wheel arm, bearing and other stuff that broke when the wheel dislocated for about $1,300.

I really doubt they are sponging me because they have done a ton of stuff for free and at about half their rate $45/hr...But now it looks like the gas/oil problem has returned. The other factor is that they're an only-corvette shop.

=UPDATE=

This morning I was driving to work and it just shut off at a red light (I felt the car shake right before and RPM level down in a few seconds). When I got it to run again, I parked it and checked the oil...looked fine and didn't smell like gas. I had to hold brake and gas in neutral at every stop to get to the office.

This afternoon I tried to get the oil changed but the shop closest to me had an hour-long wait time.

When I came back to the office, it shut off in the middle of parking and I just backed in on neutral.

I'm obviously taking it back to the shop but what do you guys think it could be this time?

 

A stalling car....
Again, this could be a number of things. But I thought you got a new engine, I would think that maybe the tuning is off.

Weather changes can affect how a carb car is tuned. something as simple as bad gasoline could also cause these issues.

You can do the oil change yourself it is really very easy...

 

I got this engine about 5 months ago...this issue started about 2 months ago.

Can it still be a tuning issue?

It was raining today...If it helps at all, at some red lights on the way to work, I hit the gas and it paused for a millisecond before continuing to accelerate.