Hey guys, need your expertise here.

'82 Vette with 141,000 miles. Seller says wheel cylinders need to be rebuilt and bled and needs new battery, valve cover gaskets, and one heater hose.

Car has been sitting in storage for past 14 years (before was a daily driver), and seller has just cleaned out fuel system and replaced all filters, fuel pump, and injector filters. As far as I know, everything is stock and seller says it runs great with smooth idle.

If I were to make this my daily driver, what's a conservative (meaning overestimate rather than underestimate) number that I should expect? Cheers!

 

If it's actually been sitting for 14 years, chances are your going to have to replace tires, radiator hoses, vacuum hoses and a lot of other stuff. Have you actually seen it? driven it? Sounds like a project to me.

 

I have not seen it yet or driven yet. Seller noted that it is a project car...

 

I would think that making a 27 year old car with 141K miles into a daily driver could be quite an expensive proposition.
Maybe you need to think of getting another DD and make this car into your FUN CAR?
I guess there are reasons you don't see lots of 25+ year old cars in weekday morning traffic.
Regards,
Alan

A Project Car and A Daily Driver are VERY different cars.

 

wheel cylinders ?you have brake calibers that need to bled or replaced .if it is what you want and you can do some of the work yourself go for it .i did all this on my car plus interior and cam.but i did all of it and it still cost alot .how much work needs to be done on the rear end?it would not make a good dd,fun car for the weekend .price out the parts you will need before you buy .

 

That means pretty much anything rubber has to be replaced. Hoses, Gaskets, Brakes, Etc. Do a thorough inspection, Check lights, wipers, ANYTHING you can. Price out the parts and get quotes for the work you cant do yourself. Think about when you want to complete her and see if you have the amount of money per month that you'll need.

Good Luck

 

Thank you all for the replies, they have been very helpful. I am not familiar with this car and potential issues, so I appreciate the input.

I noticed that some of you are emphasizing the distinction between fun weekend/project cars and a DD. I am selling my 2001 Mustang and getting a Corvette thinking that a fun car can become my DD, and acknowledging that it will take a certain amount of money. Maybe the first 2 weeks of putting miles on the car, it will be in the shop for a lot for repairs... but afterward I assume it should be pretty reliable after some point and a certain amount of parts replacement.

Is that the wrong expectation of the C3 for <$3K?

What he said was: "I had a hot rod / performance shop quote me a complete rebuild on the motor, fuel system, water pump, flushing out the radiator and hoses and it was 2800.Other than normal maintenace, I had the cam replaced and top end redone about 20,000 miles ago, trans rebuilt about 40000 miles ago, and the catalitic converter replace about 10000 miles ago and stainless lined rear brake calipers put on at the same time. but that was 15 years ago. Oh, it will need tires also to put it in tip top shape, the ones that are on there are cracking."

Terry82: I have no clue what "wheel cylinders" are either lol.

 

 

 

That $2800 estimate was [obviously] from 14 years ago, too. If you would have some shop do the labor, maybe $5K would be more like it.

 

Once it's in running condition, maintenance costs are less than a modern car. It's just a Chevy. I just paid 3 grand to have a new clutch put in my wife's Porsche. That same job on my '71 Corvette would be just under 1 grand. Plus, since I could do it myself, I should be able to do it for under 500.