I'm a new forum member and am looking for some answers to help my neighbor - he recently purchased a 1979 with the L-82 option.

The car has 11,300 documented original miles, is black with oyster interior.

He is the 3rd owner and we've contacted the other two...the original owner sold the car in 2005 with 10,500 miles on it. The second owner traded it in at a dealership for a Mercedes convert and my neighbor bought it.

The weird thing is that the car appears to have been repainted. The paint job is not perfect and you can see some sanding marks in one of the doors. There is also some kind of sealant used in the firewall area just below the windshield and covering some of the hood latch adjustment nuts.

Both original owners swear that no paint work has been done to the car...they would have no reason to not disclose that as the car was sold by the dealership.

I have no doubt the mileage is accurate. The carpet/interior is like new. The exhaust looks original and in near perfect condition, wheels look mint, etc. etc.

Could it be that the factory paint job was really bad? Dust in the front door jambs was painted over and it just did not look original. And, it was not isolated...I feel the whole car was re-sprayed.

Anyone have any thoughts for us?
Thanks in advance.

 

It was definately repainted.....

 

I've looked at a lot of low mileage late 70s Corvettes with known original paint. This one does not sound unusual, but without pictures.................. who knows.

 

does not sound unusual - meaning that some of the factory paint jobs you examined were bad?

I'll take some close-ups and post them tonight. We did find a supplement page in the original owners manual that talked about paint job quality for that year...just seems weird thats all.

 

Not just bad, very bad. The dribbled sealant (looks like thick tar) below the windshield is typical also.

 

if that's the case - how would fixing the problematic areas (spot painting) affect the value of this low miles car? Or is better left alone?

He really wants a 71-72 and will sell this car.

 

This area was sealed at the factory. What you see is likely to be original unless a previous owner resealed the area. Post a pic.


Massed produced, but not particularly "bad."

Sounds like a repaint. Bare fiberglass body panels were often stored outside at St. Louis due to space limitations, but these were cleaned prior to body assembly and again prior to paint. There would have been no dust to paint over.

 

Mine still has original paint and there was no dust in mine.....

Factory paint jobs varied a bunch in the mid & late '70s. Production was at all time highs, and not every Vette got lucky. I was thrilled with my paint job the night I picked it up. I'd seen some bright blue '75s that already looked bad at one year old......

Get the pics & we'll see..........

 

Let me know what you think, repainted or factory job? If factory....should I fix the small areas?
Here's the car...



The interior...



The odometer...



Goo in wiper area...



Door sanding scratches....



Painted in dust in front door jamb...



"factory" scrape painted over....



cracks in paint on fender...

 

Wiper bay "goo" is factory.
The sanding marks look like some bad body work was done. Maybe the dealer drove it a bit and had a little mishap and did a quick fix.

 

It got repainted in the dealer's hands....most likely......something happened after owner #2 let go of it....

IMO, make a hotrod out of it....

 

Don't you just love that goo? I found this to be the easiest way of getting rid of it.....



Check the weatherstrip in the door. If it's like mine they used to much yellow glue, & you can see it outside the strip........

 

Yup, not even the factory got them that bad.

 

Wouldn't that be up to your neighbor? It's his car.

Factory

Happened after the car left St. Louis.

I see it but can't honestly tell what that stuff is. Not factory.

Ding, Yes. Factory, No. This would have gone to Paint Repair if it occurred while on the assembly line.

Could be age. Could be a repair underneath.

Personally, I think she's an otherwise nice '79. She's had a little work, but she can still turn heads.

 

Thanks for the help.

Yes, it's the neighbors car - I'm the one believing in how forums can provide information that "word of mouth" can not. I belong to several. Next stop is grilling the dealer that sold the car.

 

Get your neighbor on line. Good luck with the dealer.

 

I'm the second owner of an 80 and I too ,asked the PO if the car was painted and he said no , he bought it new , but mine also has sand paper marks on certain places on the car I think it was touched up at one point but he says no. It even has a drip on the left front fender
I've had friends look at it and they seem to agree it must have been touched up,it only had 29k on it when I bought it 11 yrs ago , 02 worth , Ron

 

I can buy into the sanding marks - they are only in one small area on the door. But the dust in the front door jamb area seems shoddy. The rest of jamb looks like a factory job.

Did you notice anything like that on yours? Located near the drivers side left kick panel in the jamb.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if all that you posted was original.

The "dust" you have in the door jam area I've seen before, though not usually that bad. That is the forward door jam area, around the hinges. This was not an area that GM spent much time detailing. I can see the lower inside edge of the door and the weatherstrip with what appears to be it's original yellow glue showing. If someone went to the trouble to repaint the door jams, I think they would have painted the inside of the doors in this area to.

The wiper area, what you see there is original, no doubt about that.

Sanding marks in the fender and the painted over scratch????? Could be repairs, but I think it could be factory, too. Chevrolet wasn't building show cars. 79 was the Corvette's highest production year with close to 54,000 Vettes being built. That kind of volume was taxing the St. Louis plants capabilities. Also, rumors were begining about that time of the new Bowling Green plant coming. This surely wouldn't have the UAW boys working harder on quality.

The cracks could be the result of age or because of poor repair or to much paint build up from a repaint.

It's really hard to judge any of these things from a photo. Look the car over closer in the area were repaints are more obvious. Take a good look at the weatherstrip on the doors, check for original yellow glue and check for over spray on the rubber. Check around the mirror bases for signs of taping or overspray, many people don't remove the sport mirrors for a paint job because you need to remove the door panels to get to them. Look at the outside door glass wipes. This is another area that uaually gets masked instead of removed. Look for overspray on the headlight assemblies in the area in front of the radiator, when the hoods open. Pull the rear tag and look for overspray on the hardware in this area and check the license lamp for overspray, too. People often don't bother masking this area well because it's hidden by the tag. Check in the wheel wells, over the front spoiler, the gas door boot and the rear of the spare tire carrier and it's lock and locking bolt, for overspray. Being black, it may be hard to notice overspray on some parts, but if it's been repainted, you should be able to find more evidence.

I have an 81 that I bought new. It was built at Bowling Green, where the quality control and production facilities were brand new and far superior to the St. Louis plant in 79. It has similar "dust" in the forward door jam, though much less. I always thought it was fiberglass dust or splatered adhesive from the body build process. The left rear quarter has a crack in the fender bonding strip. It was there when the car was delivered (though it's grown with age). There is a noticable change in the shade of the paint above the crack, as if it was repaired and the paint blown in. I watched the car come off the carrier and the repair was already there, so it had to be done at Bowling Green. The dealer offered to repair and repaint the quarter, but I wasn't to confident with the ability of his body shop, so 28 years later the cracks still there.

 

Take it to someone that is very experienced in body work. They should be able to give you the best educated opinion. The do this 40 hours a week. The door jamb area traditionally is one that is most neglected. Yours shows a lot more than just dust. The rubber adhesive usually shows because the weatherstripping is usually put on after the paint.

Not pointing fingers, but when it comes to selling a car, most sellers understand the fear buyers have of buying a "repaired" car and when money is involved, people have been known to lie.
The seller of my last car certainly did.