If you're going to own a collector/antique Vette, you'd best insure it for what its worth. And that is an 'agreed value' policy from a specialized auto insurance company like American Collectors Insurance Company. Pricing is based solely on what you value it at, not your domicile location, education, credit score, driving record, or whether its got a canvas top. Any C3 will qualify.

 

I would not go as far as Mr. Tim H on making the car sound like a delicate piece of glass.

I WILL say, though, that I wonder what the heck someone with limited mechanical skills...and little desire to skin their knuckles...would do with a 30+ year old car.

I bought mine for $7k knowing it had some issues, but it was/is very driveable. I bought my first car when I was 14 and rebuilt it...went on to drive that 78 Civic through college. I wanted to return to the days of tinkering. And BOY does the Corvette give me PLENTY to tinker with!!!

Point is, if you are looking at anything under $15k, there will be things to fix, minor or major. If you take it to a "garage" every time it hiccups, your labor bill will eclipse your purchase price in a real hurry.

I am NOT saying to stay away from a vette. I am only saying that adjusting your starting price would get you into one with fewer issues. Or start with a lower price and don't have fear of getting your hands dirty. You will meet MANY people who can and will help make your life easier as tou go through the minke tribulations of old car ownership.

I went up to my speed shop for the first time with a running car, but the mixture was all screwed up. 3rd time driving it. Literally 5 minutes of diagnosis, swapping a couple of vacuum lines, removing the PCV, and tweaking it after and the thing SCREAMS. Absolutely blows my mind. I am smarter and it took little effort. Tough for you to mess it up beyond repair. Don't worry...

 

Agreed on the insurance, but a collector company won't insure it if he's driving it to work etc.

 

Agree with that. C3's are not daily drivers, and will require some maintenance. C3's are for people who don't mind working on their own cars and use it strictly as a weekend car/show car. On top of that, these things are a pain in the butt to work on, so for someone who has limited mechanical skills, C3's are not the car to start working on.

 

Not necessarily, I'm insured through the National Corvette Museum (agreed value policy) and have the 9-5 endorsement, which allows me to drive the Vette to work twice per week. American Collector Insurance offers a "Freedom Tier", which allows once per week to work.

Like others have said, DO NOT BUY A 30 YEAR OLD CAR if you don't plan to work on it yourself.

 

You have NO mechanical skills and you want a C3 !!!
Thats a really bad idea. If you were to insist though , I'd recommend
the best '82 you could find. Its the most modern C3 , with fuel injection and an OD. Maybe it could pass as a DD.

 

I'm seriously in the market for a C3 right now, everyday I've been reading up and learning something new about them but what is your definition of hard to work on?
I've been working on my 95 jeep wrangler quite a bit for the past 2 years and i've had to drop the tranny, transfer case, drive shafts etc. multiple times and while it takes time i wouldn't consider it a pain in the butt. i'm looking at getting a C3 to be my next daily driver but i've got pretty in depth mechanical skills personally. how hard would you actually say it is to maintain a C3 as a daily driver? I'm not even close to being afraid of scratching my knuckles up beyond recognition

 

Get a '69 roadster with side pipes and thank me later.

 

You change one of these out and you know you can do anything!!!!

 

the write up i read through looks doable. i've never worked on something with trailing arms but from what I read i'm pretty sure i could do it. guess i'll just have to wait till I get my own C3 to see how close this'll push me to my limits

 

Overall good advice but recommending Cross fire injection is something I would never do. Go 78-82 for the best prices and most usable space. I found an 81 4 speed car for cheap. It was all there but needed the usual caliper rebuilds, brakes, shocks, and tires. Paint is horrid and going to stay that way. The engine is the lame L-81 but the ZZ motor is sitting in the crate behind it waiting on me to get the final parts and time to complete the swap. Then it's big block torque with small block revs. Very much agree these cars are Chevy's but not like anything Chevy. Many parts are Corvette specific. As I found out a few weeks back, setting up rear end bearings is like no Chevy I ever seen. You had better decide to learn some mechanic skills or win a lottery if you wanna own one. I have the next best thing in that my best friend is a 14 year GM/Chevy tech with full access to the shop on weekends. Otherwise this build would be dead in the water.

 

C3's were not designed with the shade tree mechanic in mind. I have a '98 Firebrid that I've pulled the engine out of twice, and had the transmission out at least 5 times (mostly just to refreshen after the racing season). I'd rather work on it any day than the c3, believe it or not. The C3 is a knuckle buster, places are tight. Try taking the radiator out for the first time, you'll know exactly what I am taking about.

 

it's going to take more than that to turn me to something else

 

sorry about the double post, but i just noticed your username had htown in it. that wouldn't by any chance be houston would it?

 

yes

 

its not that bad really, just takes getting used to. All I know is I cuss alot more working on that car than my others....

 

I bought my 78 two years ago and love it. Its a manual and black on black. Absolutely love it. If I had all sorts of money in my account though, I would get a 69 manual 427 with sidepipes. However, to get a clean all original car like that you may be spending 30-60k or possibly more. I dont have that kind of money, but I spent a little under 10k and got a great car. I can park my car at a store and dont have to watch it every second to worry about my 10k car. 30-60k vette and you are extremely cautious where you park it. Dont get me wrong, I'm not gonna park it in some gangbanger alley but I can go to the grocery store and be fine. What I'm trying to say is: Look at your budget, where and how often you will drive it, where you will park/store it, if you have money to fix/restore/upgrade it, how long do you plan on keeping it and ultimately then-what one you really like! This forum is great and a lot of people on here love these very cars. You really can't go wrong with any year c3 as long as YOU like it, dont rush it though.

 

That's exactly where I'm comin' from.... I want to drive the car and enjoy it. If it breaks, if it ain't a simple break then I will have to pay a mechanic to fix it.... I have another car to drive if I don't have the funds to fix it immediately. You guys are kinda freakin' me out though.... you make it sound like C3's break down a lot

 

I don't think they're any more prone to "breaking down" than any other 30 to 40+ year old car. The drivetrain is very stout. The car and suspension is built for the track. If you use it for 'normal' stuff, it should last next to forever.

It is a bit of a "one off" sort of thing, though. Can't just grab any rear end and toss it in the back. Not just any transmission will fit. It is its own car.

But on my 1970, not much works other the engine, windows, transmission, and tach. Other things aren't working for whatever reason...still working my way through the car. You can take that as a bad thing...see all the things that aren't working? Or a good thing...see all the things that DON'T have to work for the car to still go down the road and be a HOOT TO DRIVE!!!

 

One day is really not enough time to decide about a car that's potentially 30 something years old with all sorts of specific nuances that can irrevocably drain your wallet if you're not careful.

My advice is go to a bunch of car shows, look at all the years, take pictures, become familiar with condition. Then, when you're ready to buy, drive a few and make a decision with your new knowledge.