'76stingraycolorado

Hello,

I recently acquired my Dad's '76 Corvette L-48 Auto. Overall, the car's body and interior is in good condition. However, it needs wheel bearings and basically a complete overhaul of its suspension. I'd also like to possibly upgrade to a Crate engine, as the L-48 is very anemic at 180 HP. The car could also use a good paint job and I'm sure there are a laundry list of other items that will need to be replaced or restored as I go along.

My question is: Although this car didn't cost me anything because it was my dad's, am I throwing good money after bad restoring a car of this era, as the '76 Vettes are not highly collectable? In addition, is the automatic transmission a "deal breaker" for most buyers?

Thanks in advance for everyone's feedback.

LeMans Pete

Its always worth restoring if you will enjoy it. Regardless of their "worth" on the market, they are fun cars to have, are always head turners, and depending on your addiction, are a type of therapy none other matches.

Make it drive-able and enjoy.

laytonkopplin

I bought a 75 for 5500.00 and I love the money pit lol. what you could do put 1000.00 into the paint for now (thats a cheap paint job) to protect it then 3000.00 should get you all new suspension (shark bite from zip) installed will cost you 1000.00 and at the same time youshould get all the bushings replaced to save alittle cash since they will have to be under there to take off the old suspension and for the engine if its number matching keep it. or bore it out and make it into a 383 stroker motor this will really improve the ponies. but is you keep it as a 350 and want to keep the collectable value just add a edelbrok intake manifold kit and a new more aggressive cam shift and the ponies will be more than enough this car is worth keeping friend. due to everyone parting them out for other cars they are coming down in numbers soon or later it will have a pretty good value for the car and as far as the automatic goes it should be fine and make the car more injoyable since you don't have to change gears all the time. so with that all said and done I think yes the car is worth the money and the injoyment.

mortgageguy

A body off, replace every nut and bolt restoration? No, it is not worth that. But,a re-paint, suspension work and a little spiffing up in the interior, and you have a nice driver that you would be proud of. Do these things, drive it next spring and summer and you will be forever in love with that car. Take it to cruise-ins, meet some fellow car enthusiast, wax it on week-ends. Drive it for a year before making any kind of decision on the engine. Economically, since you got it free, you could easily get your money out of it. But, if you do like I said above, you'll never sell it. It's a Vette, there isn't anything else like them.

scottyp99

Couldn't have said it better myself.


Scott

BBCorv70

Much depends on what you're calling a restoration. A true restoration is hugely expensive, very few people can justify the expense unless it's a high end, rare, and very desireable car. The prices or 'numbers' rubber bumper cars may go up eventually but there's a long way to go just recovering losses in the last 3 or 4 years. The argument that many are being parted out so the numbers are dropping applies to most Corvettes. Not all chrome bumpers get restored either.

That said, I'd say it depends on what you want to do with the car. If you're looking for more zip but not wanting to put huge dollars into a full restoration, a replacement Crate motor will likely have a lot more power, reliability, and easier on gas. Maybe customize a bit to you liking. I'm not talking radical changes, more like changing interior color or exterior color, etc, to fit your tastes. Make the car yours. You can keep the original motor but to be honest, if I were looking for a numbers car I'd probably hit you pretty hard on price if I had to rebuild and reinstall the original motor myself. I tend to doubt you'll get that much more for it. Up to you if you want to keep it around. Enjoy the car. If the amount of money you have invested at any given time vs market value is your primary concern, better off buying a numbers car which is already done now, while the market is low. Put it aside, drive only once in a while, turn it over when you're tired of it.

wgarneau

I just want to touch on a key point BBCorv70 brought up..

My 78 (also a 'numbers car') had a frame-off restoration on the previous owner's dime. He put $40,000 into it (parts and labor since he didn't do the work himself).

I bought the car less than 1,000 miles (and six years) later for $16,800. It looks like it was restored yesterday. Was it worth it? For me it certainly was! But for the previous owner, who paid for it? Probably not.

Some guys LOVE restoring cars. In my case the previous owner paid someone else to do the work so I don't think he was one of those, but there are guys who get the most enjoyment out of the restoration itself, and then they'll sell the finished car and go buy another, happy to take a loss because they love the hobby of restoring cars.

If you love THAT car, then yeah - throw a little love (err cash) her way and get her where you want her. Otherwise, sell her and use what you get as a down payment on one that's already restored.

The truth is that there are VERY few cars that are 'worth' a full blown restoration as an investment. A hemi-cuda is (if the numbers match), and some years in the C1 and C3 Corvette eras might be about break-even (where you won't make money restoring them, but you won't lose it either), but fir the most part.. The only people who make money restoring cars are the ones who get paid to restore other people's cars. And the ones (like me) who are lucky enough to buy one after it has already been finished...

Easy Mike

What "era" do you want?

It wasn't a deal breaker for your father. For almost every model year, you will find the automatic transmission cars out sold the straight shift cars. For 1982, no standard transmission was available.

Why not purchase a few of the Corvette history books and learn about your car. Do you know about the Vega wheel, the steel floors, the white interior option, the YJ8s, the running change to the R4 AC compressor, late production 76s with 77 parts?

Before deciding she's not worth anything, find out what she is.

laytonkopplin

7T1vette

That 'anemic' engine actually has most of the same stuff a new crate engine will have. Or, you can put new heads, cam, and exhaust system on it to make some decent power. A crate engine is fine, if you don't mind the expense and the trouble of swapping an engine.

You really need to determine if you like/want the car...or not. Use it a while and see how it grows on you...or how it doesn't. Then you will better know what to do. In the meantime, you can fix any 'weak links' on the car. It will sell better if it is completely functional, anyway. But, only fix want has to be done, if you decide to sell it. Cleaning it up (engine compartment, interior) without spending any significant money on it is also a good thing to do and will maximize your car's value.

qwank

Sounds like a good candidate for a resto-mod.

vettebuyer6369

Given where you got the car, you have to decide how much intrinsic value the car has over and above market price. That could answer you question simply.

Also, it depends what you are talking about spending. Are you going to spend $3000... $5000... $10k on paint? Will it be completely paid to a professional? Are you going to change the color? That will essentially double the cost of the paint, as it will be a full deduct at sale time.

Suspension can run into the thousands. After you paint, you will suddenly find trim, interior, etc items that dont look as good as you thought, and will cost you thousands. It you do replace the engine with something with more hp, you have to be sure to keep the original motor to protect that valuation.

Lots to think about, but when you are talking about a car from your father, you might want to keep it forever and you got it for nothing. Sure increases your budget.

PS, I dont see an auto being a dealbreaker in a '76 coupe at all. Im pretty sure the vast majority of '76s were ordered with autos.

BBCorv70

Whole heartedly agree with being involved in the hobby for the love of the project, not so much for the investment angle. The only way these cars make sense as investments would be to buy one already done, let the last guy take the hit, then drive sparingly. IMO the big question is what do you want out of the car, investment or a driver? Willing to accept not being able to change colors, options, etc, keep it EXACTLY as it was manufactured or want to make it your own? Two very different camps of Corvette owners.

BTW: I'd put the C2 Corvettes in the category of cars which may be more worth restoration than others. Reason probably because the people who grew up with them now have lots of spare cash to buy that car they wished they could back in the day or maybe owned many years ago. Looking far ahead, I suspect interest may fade in some of these cars as the generations most interested, with money, fade away. Its happened before. Possible the rubber bumpers will gain interest over chrome bumpers as the younger generations come along?

psycho dad

On a "free" car you should be able to spend 6-8k fixing it up and still come out ahead, if that's what you want to do. On my 76 auto the only real hp improement I made was installing dual exhuast. It's a blast to drie, though its no 1/4 mile car, its by no means "anemic".

74and76cpl

We have a 76 we are striping it down to glass doing paint. We have a sbc 406 fresh and ready to put in to replace the L48. Changing the rear bumper to 80 style L88 hood new glass front bumper with the ground effects skirts. yep its costing some cash no its not original but its a hot rod its a corvette and its COOL!!!!! no matter how you look at it. Have fun with your 76 your not messing up a colector. Express yourself !!!!!!!!!!

wgarneau

I have to agree too that the L48 isn't really 'anemic'. It would be fun with more power- yes. But 270 foot-pounds of torque isn't bad and the car is geared to make the most of it. It's quite fun to drive!

wan2run

I was/am in the same boat with a '77 L48 Auto. Contrary to some of the posts in this topic, I am doing a body-off restoration. Is it just a base rubber bumper Vette? Yes. Is it going to be worth anything to someone else? Can't say and don't care. It was may Dad's and I get to keep it. That's worth more to me than anything.

chstitans42

Well dang. I wish I could get a Corvette with no cost to buy. Who cares what year and or condition.

markids77

If t'were mine I would attend to the suspension... stay stock using quality parts and an upgraded gas shock absorber. Do the wheel bearings, check the brakes and drive it "as is" for awhile. These cars tend to speak to owners and after you've lived with it for a bit you'll know whether it's a keeper, a seller or a project. Don't force the issue by making large decisions (and cash outlay) until you have a firm plan to work from. I believe these cars are best appreciated when they are not laid up in the garage getting worked on for long periods of time; they are made to be driven and enjoyed.

wgarneau

Contrary to nothing. That is the BEST reason to restore. You have to do it for love - love of the car if not love of the process of restoration.