new guy seeking wisdom.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,458
Likes: 331
From: Indy Indiana
always have a spare car.. and keep both running, if you are not mechanically inclined you will spend a fortune keeping the vette running.. parts are fairly cheap, but labor will be double the parts, plus if the car breaks down you will be down for days waiting on parts or your mechanic doing your work for you.. of course it will be cheaper than the 500/month a new car will cost you, but down time must be a factor to consider.
start with a occasional driver and try that for a year before you jump right in and use it as your primary car...
start with a occasional driver and try that for a year before you jump right in and use it as your primary car...
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 23,419
Likes: 22
From: In limbo
St. Jude Donor '13-'15, '17 thru '22
Let me tell you about my latest repair:
6/4 Car running like poo. Suspect loss of vacuum advance. Tested vacuum can with indeterminate results. Decided to replace vacuum can
6/5 Ordered vacuum can at auto parts store
6/6 Picked up vacuum can, installed in car
6/7 Test ride failed, car still running like poo. Dropped off at local garage
6/8 Picked up car from local garage. Mechanic reports carburetor problems that were resolved. $100 charge
6/9 Car running great
6/13 Changed fuel filter at mechanic's suggestion, $5
6/20 Car running like poo again. Feels like the same problem as before, so drop the car back off at the mechanic's.
6/22 Mechanic calls and asks me to pick up the car, they cannot resolve the problem. Brought car home, still running like poo. $0
6/23 Decide to take the carb off the car to try to make the replace/rebuild solution. Realize the carb was not well installed, nuts only finger tight etc. Suspect leaks around the carb causing problems.
6/24 Order new gasket for carb $13
6/26 New gasket arrives
6/27 Properly install carburetor. Test ride fails, same problem. Remove carb from car again, notice that new gasket is soaked with gas, conclude carb is leaking from somewhere, decide that in the interest of time, I will just order a new one and figure out what is wrong with the old one sometime later.
7/6 After lengthy search and selection process, ordered a new carburetor $413
7/8 New carburetor arrives. Installation instructions raise more questions than they answer
7/13 After receiving help from forum members and two phone calls to Holley technical service, I decide to order a ss plate for the installation, $15
7/15 ss plate arrives. Installed new carburetor. Attempts to tune properly were not succesful
7/16 Call to Holley technical service, figured out where I was dorking things up.
7/19 Re-tuned carburetor, took car out for test ride. Test ride succesful, car running better than ever and I hope it stays that way!
So, my car was off the road for a month (6/20-7/19), and I spent $546 total fixing the problem. As a hobbyist, using the car for pleasure driving on weekends and nice evenings, that's not a big deal. If it was my daily driver, it wouldn't be so much of a disaster for me since I take a train to work and my wife has a car for weekend necessities etc. But if you need the car for work, that might be a different story.
A month is a long time for the car to be off the road with a carburetor problem, but a lot of that time was spent by me on educating myself. Better, more experienced, car guys could cut a lot of that time out, because they would already know what they wanted. But the fact remains that your local auto parts store is not going to have most of the parts you need when something goes wrong. That means that I expect even the simplest repairs to require 3 days, since it usually takes 2 days for parts to get to me from the regular vendors.
6/4 Car running like poo. Suspect loss of vacuum advance. Tested vacuum can with indeterminate results. Decided to replace vacuum can
6/5 Ordered vacuum can at auto parts store
6/6 Picked up vacuum can, installed in car
6/7 Test ride failed, car still running like poo. Dropped off at local garage
6/8 Picked up car from local garage. Mechanic reports carburetor problems that were resolved. $100 charge
6/9 Car running great
6/13 Changed fuel filter at mechanic's suggestion, $5
6/20 Car running like poo again. Feels like the same problem as before, so drop the car back off at the mechanic's.
6/22 Mechanic calls and asks me to pick up the car, they cannot resolve the problem. Brought car home, still running like poo. $0
6/23 Decide to take the carb off the car to try to make the replace/rebuild solution. Realize the carb was not well installed, nuts only finger tight etc. Suspect leaks around the carb causing problems.
6/24 Order new gasket for carb $13
6/26 New gasket arrives
6/27 Properly install carburetor. Test ride fails, same problem. Remove carb from car again, notice that new gasket is soaked with gas, conclude carb is leaking from somewhere, decide that in the interest of time, I will just order a new one and figure out what is wrong with the old one sometime later.
7/6 After lengthy search and selection process, ordered a new carburetor $413
7/8 New carburetor arrives. Installation instructions raise more questions than they answer
7/13 After receiving help from forum members and two phone calls to Holley technical service, I decide to order a ss plate for the installation, $15
7/15 ss plate arrives. Installed new carburetor. Attempts to tune properly were not succesful
7/16 Call to Holley technical service, figured out where I was dorking things up.
7/19 Re-tuned carburetor, took car out for test ride. Test ride succesful, car running better than ever and I hope it stays that way!
So, my car was off the road for a month (6/20-7/19), and I spent $546 total fixing the problem. As a hobbyist, using the car for pleasure driving on weekends and nice evenings, that's not a big deal. If it was my daily driver, it wouldn't be so much of a disaster for me since I take a train to work and my wife has a car for weekend necessities etc. But if you need the car for work, that might be a different story.
A month is a long time for the car to be off the road with a carburetor problem, but a lot of that time was spent by me on educating myself. Better, more experienced, car guys could cut a lot of that time out, because they would already know what they wanted. But the fact remains that your local auto parts store is not going to have most of the parts you need when something goes wrong. That means that I expect even the simplest repairs to require 3 days, since it usually takes 2 days for parts to get to me from the regular vendors.
Last edited by Derrick Reynolds; Jul 27, 2009 at 10:56 AM.
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
Well then, considering that,,, GO FOR IT, just try and find one that s mechanically sound but may need a little bit of TLC in the appearence dept. which could be done at your leisure , just beware that a lot of people want top dollar for junk, have someone knowledgeable (mechanically) check out your intended before you fork over any ca$h, and when you think about paint work be prepared to have your heart stopped at the prices you will get, Good Luck. Peace,,,Moosie 
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,541
Likes: 0
From: Chicago
My biggest concern in using a C3 as a daily driver would be safety. It all depends what you consider tolerable. What starts out as neat will likely become annoying after a while daily driving. Like interior heat, lack of A/C (unless you're lucky enough to find one with working air), leaking weatherstripping and the wind noise that comes with it, the gas guzzling etc.
That being said, you're only young once. If you want it, go get one!
Good Luck
That being said, you're only young once. If you want it, go get one!
Good Luck
