PaulTurgeon

Hey guys, owner of a 74 stingray here! Have a few questions... Will be going off to college soon. Will need something more dependable and gas efficient.. This breaks my heart but I must sell the car.. Its got a new L82. Ill attach pics.. Be honest with me, what should I ask for my car? What should I ask to start?

SuperBuickGuy

You know those "10 rules for buying a C3"... yeah, I ignore every single one of them. I think the C3 is the sexiest car ever built - so I drag dogs home and make them pretty....
this is my next one. The basics, 1976, L48, 4 speed broken, stock motor missing...but it's got good bones.


the denali behind it is donating its motor. The hood is going to someone who appreciates it.

raydog9379

Haven't been on for a while, but I'm finally getting some time to get back into things. Here's the story on my 78 SA.

Bought it back in early 2005 I believe, just before getting married. That's the key here guys... buy before you get married and she loses all say in getting rid of it.

I didn't do the right thing and found the 78 on eBay sight unseen. Had I found this forum first, I'd have been much better off. Not that it was a bad car, but I could have probably paid less and avoided a couple of expensive items.

* A couple things I'm grateful for... all the owners over the years managed to keep any/all paperwork with the car. All orig. owners manuals/documentation, orig. bill of sale, transfers, receipts, sales brochure on the 78 SA, etc..

Oddly enough, this car was purchased from Hulk Hogan's manager/promoter and he was retiring to an island and needed to sell the car. When I talked to him on the phone he went through what was working and not and that Hulk Hogan did drive my car.

Here's the list of what I wish I knew, had I known...

1) Needed a "respray of the hood" due to paint fading slightly in spots. Should only be a few hundred dollars. $6,300 for new paint shortly after I bought it back in 05/06. Body shop I went to specialized in high end work, and was re-doing a split window at the same time as mine. Owner of the shop said I got a deal at $6,300. Yeah it was a crap ton of labor, but ugh... Next time, buy a car with nice paint and let the other guy take the hit. Lucky in that w/ a car that was orig. from PA and spent 95% of it's life in IL that it had a solid frame and bird cage. Someone along the way put some thick black gunk underspray on the frame and critical rust areas underneath, must have saved it.

2) Interior needed a good cleaning... i.e. rip out carpets, redo seats, doors, etc.. While I was ripping that apart, I used dynamat for sound and reflectix for heat on the floor/tunnel.

3) Trans doesn't shift as smooth as it should. Yeah, that needed to be rebuilt.

4) Probably more that I could go on about


Then in 2007 had our first kid, and now 2 others later.... So spending time working on the vette was spent elsewhere and she really sat for about 8-10 years with minimal use (driven a handful of times really a year).

Hopefully this year I can get her back into shape really and get her into being used more frequently. Yesterday I tackled the horn that I never heard before (few fist pumps when she first blew, little victories ).

Goals for this year:

1) Fix the heat selector / plunger issue once and for all (I know I need to fix the cable as there's too much play). It's probably great when it's -10 outside but I don't drive it then. Also pretty sure there are some vacuum issues with the selector as some selections don't necessarily work. Who knows, maybe my A/C does actually work but with the heat issue and selectors not doing jack I'd never know?

2) Drivers side armrest. Have a stripped mounting hole or 2, some bubba threw a gigantic screw in there as a fix and that isn't going to work with a new armrest

3) Trans pan leak. Yeah the ba$tard has been leaking for about 10 years. It's got one hole stripped and doesn't seal properly.

4) Tunes... Right now there is a big hole. Have the orig. radio but it doesn't work. Took out the junk aftermarket tape player someone put in and have rewired. Just need to find a working orig radio that isn't a fortune.

5) Maybe actually finishing the remaining dye job on the interior panels that sit behind your head and putting it all back together.

6) Flush radiator

Future goals:

7) Finish the rear compartment tray. It's been disassembled for 10+ years when I redid carpeting.

8) Find the electrical drain. There is something that drains my battery, so I just always disconnect the neg. terminal. I call it my theft prevention device.

9) Tires. These on here are from before I bought the car, thinking early 2000's.

10) Exhaust, it's probably time to re-work the exhaust.

11) Go through the carb and tune.

Bart K

The story of how I came to own my 1969 427 4 speed Corvette Coupe spans almost 15 years. A good friend of mine and her Husband searched for and bought this Vette almost 15 years ago for her. The car needed some work. There were the issues that needed to be addressed: Engine refresh/rebuild, new seats/carpet, minor body repairs, fix minor issues (wiring, window), change wheels/tires. The short story is that between several other project cars and life in general getting in the way, the Vette sat in the garage for more than 13 years virtually untouched.


Fast forward to now and Susie and her husband have both retired. They plan to move to a warmer locale in the next year or so. Beside the Vette, they have 4 other classic cars and a daily driver each. They know that they do not want to move 7 cars, and the untouched Vette was the first that would have to go. Susie knew that I knew her car. I had seen it back when they first bought it and I knew about the issues. She dropped me an email one day telling me about their plans to move. I replied back as to what the plans for the Vette were and she told me that it would be sold. She offered to sell it to me for what she paid 15 years earlier because she wanted to know where the car would be and know that the issues would be addressed and it would be back on the road. There was one stipulation; Susie asked that once all the issues had been addressed, she would like to come see and drive the car, and if it felt right, she would like the option to buy it back. I told her that would be fine. I would sell it to her for what I paid her plus any money I spent to get it back on the road. All this is fine with me. In fact, I would love to see Susie get her car back and enjoy it in her retirement years! Then with what she pays me for the car, I can go shopping for another Vette!


Right now, I have the driver seat and steering column out. The steering column was the standard type and had an internal problem, so I decided to pull it and go back with a tilt/tele. I have a friend who is going to work with me to pull the engine and address the other issues as well. Anyway, this is the story of how I came to own Susie's Vette........at least for now

MISTERZ06

Ordered this 1972 T-Top, BB, Auto, has every option, from Briggs Chevrolet, Perth Amboy, NJ
Has 489 original miles -original tires and air
Has never been driven in the rain or snow
Has not been started in more years that i can remember only things not original are the engine oil, oil filter- can not find the battery
Have every piece of Documentation
Have been happy all these years with "Pride of
Ownership"
"Parked-It" due to being **** and Paranoid
Got involved in other Corvette projects
And "Drag-Racing"
This Corvette is a True Time Capsule
................................. tom

MISTERZ06

This is my other C3 - 1972 - has a base 350 engine, 22,000 miles, 4 speed, only option is power steering.
It is all original including the paint. Bought many years ago, have bad memory as to when. Body has no damage to it. It needed a clutch, rear spring, and top had a rip and was weathered. When i got it, i decided to do a body on restoration. i removed engine and did a freshen-up - cylinder walls had no wear, so i did rings, bearing, oil pump, lifter, valve job, rebuilt carb. I detailed the engine compartment, new top, clutch, throw out bearing and arm, rebuilt the brake calipers, 1982 wheels, new side exhaust, painted the chassis and washed the bottom of body and made it look brand new.
Car is super solid, the doors shut super solid as if they were brand new.
What a great running car - it has been sitting for more years then i can remember - i am on the fence about resurrecting it or selling it. Ii have lots of ambition in my mind, but slow to get anything done at 67 years old -
"Time Will Tell"
........................................ tom

LinC3

I sold my 69 L-36 4-spd Monoco Orange damn near finished project and have dreaded it ever since. A friends friend saw it and threw down a silly amount of money for it 10 years ago and she was gone. So I pulled up to a gas station 3 weeks ago in my 1977 Camaro Z28 fully restored and finished 3 months ago and I had just won my class at the World of Wheels with it 2 months ago. A guy pulls up in his 69 Vette and we start talking and he asks do you want to sell that Z28 I said why don't you give me your Vette and some cash and we'll throw keys. I followed him up the road to his shop and went in and was amazed at his car collection. I then looked over his car and he listed the issues he new of and he produced $3000 in receipts of recent work and made me an offer of $2000 and his Vette for my Z28. So I went home and got my title and returned and drove away in this 69 Vette. The work he had done was new gas tank, complete brake job and complete rear end and shafts rebuild. Since I have rebuilt the carb bought new fuel lines, carpet kit, lock *****, assembly manual, fuel filter, interior screw kit, insulation, and gauge/ radio bezel. It will need a full set of seat covers and a paint job down the road but shines and still looks nice 5 footer. The Vette is a 350/350 4spd.

Priya

Nice trade!

Bowtie Bill

Dad bought mine on Craigslist for what I considered too much. It belonged to a guy who had passed away, and was being sold by his son. I would have waved a thousand dollars for it and offered to walk, but he felt bad for the kid and gave him $2k. We pulled it home on a chain, and it was rough. It sat in the yard for a couple of years untouched, until dad suggested he was looking to buy another one for me. He has a 68 roadster due for a top end job this spring. Rather than get one I wasn't excited about, I expressed interest in the junker, and here I am.

It's a 77 L82.

It's the typical restoration job started by someone who obviously didn't have a clue. When I went into the column, at least they put most of the parts back in it, even if they weren't in the right order. The majority of the interior was laying in it, along with the (aftermarket) air filter housing. Fortunately, most of it has survived the magic of meth amphetamines, as what was easily removed was still in it, and pretty much everything is intact underneath. All of the interior hardware is missing, though. It still has Rally wheels with trim rings and center caps, spare tire carrier is still there, filler cap is loose but sitting on it, etc. It was parked with the windows down, so the door panels are shot.

Now the windows are up, it runs and drives, soon it will also stop. I hope to make a daily driver out of it. Long and winding road ahead.

A68CORD

Oh, I have had a few Classics in my garage over the years
(62 bird,66 Mustang Convert, 356 Cab.) but , a good friend of mine had a 63 split when we were in high school that I longed after.

The last car I had was 1968 Cord that I gave to my son when he graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth.

So that left me with a clean slate.
No sell this one first situation ........ Just go out and get what you want ....Go get IT !

I wanted a Vette !

1958 and 1963 were my favorite years.

But I wanted air and some real comfort stuff like auto transmission, am-fm Cassette .power seat ,cruise.... you know good comfort stuff !

At 60 years of age I was starting to like the term "Touring sports car" .

Well, those two above year choices were out of range for me with a third car coming into the family.
So, I was going to have to dial it down a bit from those pricey little ladies above.
What then ?

A big No No to the look of the 84`s on up body style.
I'm more of a classic car look kind of guy.

I liked the C3`s, but the early ones with the big engines were still big dough and rode rough as well.
I looked at the opposite end of the C3 run, the 82`s.

Great look, big rear window like the 63`s ,and all the comfort a guy could ask for .

But something didn't feel right.

Was it the new "improved" four speed automatic transmission ?
What the hell is Crossfire injection ?

I went back one year (1981) to see what that was like.
Hmmmm ?
I like the feel of this one .

So, the hunt was on for a 1980 or a 1981.

Silver, White and Red were owned by it seems everyone.
Mine had to be different somehow.
I wanted it as stock as possible (No surprises please).
I also liked a contrast in color from the exterior to the interior
(so no blue with blue guts or black on black sort of thing).

Hey, its my dream remember ?
A clean slate ,so, no compromises .
Get exactly what you want and you`ll be a lot happier with it for a lot longer time.
Right ?

Ok , so let get looking.

Found a Black with tan leather insides in North Dakota. Drove up there to see it (I live in Minnesota) pretty rough and the guy didn't have a TITLE ! (What the hell was he even thinking of when he advertised the car ?).

Drove to Iowa to look at 3 cars
(80,81 and a nice 82) .
All a little to rough for the price (except the 82. But the drive confirmed my earlier feelings. But it looked fantastic).

On the way back I fell a sleep at the wheel on 35W interstate and put my van into the guard rail at I am guessing about 70 MPH.
I`m ok but the van didn't make it .
Bought another Toyota though.
( This Corvette thing is going to kill me . But as I get older I want what I want dammit !
and this is a scratch I am going to itch ......or die trying)

Looking through all the Craigslist in Wisconsin I see a nice 81 Blue with tan cloth. I was kind of thinking leather but It had everything else including some weird holes in the back lid area
(What are those for, a ski rack?).

So I drive over to look at it .

Its very nice, but it has some issues.
Nothing that can`t be fixed, but issues none the less.
Drives good ,sounds good.
Smokers car so there are a few cherry holes and other small stuff.

So, I take it over to the local Chevy garage and have him put it on the hoist and look it over.
Pre-purchase inspection fee $150.00
He finds some things to the tune of about $2000.00

Well I am going to be the hard *** negotiator right ?

I offer him $3000.00 less than his asking price. He said let me run it past his wife its really her car (he had given it to her as a anniversary wedding present).
I heard her in the bedroom say no. He came out shaking his head .I countered with splitting the three grand down the middle.
Again , there he went into the bedroom .
He came back a little bit latter and said he`ll come down five hundred bucks . I just looked at him with my best "does that seem fair to you counter offer look"
for what seemed like 30 seconds but was probably only 4.

Where as he slowly replied .
Look, we both lost both of our jobs in the last 6 weeks and we are force to sell some of our "extra" stuff. My wife is working as a waitress 3 days a week and I am still looking . So that's the best we can do.

I looked into his face as a card player would do to see a tell or some indication to yell out "BULL ****" !

But I didn't see any.

I saw a nice guy wanting to get as much as he could for something he and his wife really liked and didn't really want to sell.

I told him ,
"Look I`ll take your offer if you deliver the car".
He accepted , and when we shook hands I know I heard a slight sob in the bedroom were she was sitting listening to us deal.

He went into the bedroom and told her , but she already knew.
He came back out and walked me to my car and explained . She`s pretty upset because we have three things up for sale .
My boat , my truck and her Corvette .
Her car was the first to sell.

You talk about a bitter sweet deal.......that was one of my saddest and happiest buys I have ever had.
No........now that I think about it . Its the only one I have ever had !
Or ever hope to.

I have had that car for eight years now.
I am just about done with it
(will that ever happen ?).

I hope they are back on their feet again.

Well that's my one and only Corvette story.

Peace and Grease to my fellow brothers

-Polski-

Steven John Stronach

Interesting story on my first (and current) C3 purchase. I happened to come across an online posting for a 73 Corvette for sale, very little details but it said the price was negotiable and that the car had relatively low mileage. When I got to the seller's home, I was surprised at how clean the car was, and that everything seemed to be in relatively good working order.

He's a retired gentleman who inherited the car from his brother (passed) who got it from his father (passed) and he's never been a car guy.

Frame was solid, and the original owner had taken most of the options when he bought, so it had tilt, power windows, t-top, black leather and the original numbers matching 454. We took a drive and there were a *few* issues .. noisy starter sounds, slightly rough idle, some braking pull, a few inches of play in the steering wheel, the tach was DOA and the speedo was dancing +/- 10MPH. Nothing unexpected IMHO for a 44 year old car.

Long conversation later, I've told the seller how I plan to keep the car forever as a project and for something to work on with my kids eventually. I gravitated to the 73 for the chrome rear, and because I was born in 73 so maybe some personal nostalgia. After a long conversation, I'm sold on the car and we get to talking price, and he's been fielding calls for a few days now from people just looking to flip it and kicking tires, but I guess no one has taken the time to hear the car's history or shown him any real interest in those details.

He offers me the car for $10K CAD .. just the missing amount he needs to close the deal on his retirement condo. He asks if I can keep in touch, and maybe send him some pictures of myself and the kids working on the car, if I'm comfortable with that. I guess he was hoping to find someone that would appreciate the car and how long they had kept it in the family.

She needed some love aside from what I noticed on the test drive like complete brakes, radiator, wires, plugs, tune, and he put a small crack in the nose getting it out of storage (as I assume many people who have never driven a C3 have before him) but overall maybe a few thousand dollars of work.

Happiest day of my life driving her on the highway back to my place, that guttural 454 rumbling. So I'm officially a Corvette owner for life! =)

M Pete

Perfect color (colour?) and rear end. Great looking car there.

René K.

Hi folks,

this is René from Germany... a lifetime Corvette-Enthusiast since I was born in 1972. I always loved Corvettes so much that I basically did not even look at Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc. It took me almost 40 years to find "my" Corvette. White 1972 Coupe, Base Engine, Manual Transmission, Black DeLuxe Interior (unfortunately picture upload does not work, however, pictures should be visible in my gallery). It is pretty much original )68k mls) and just mildly restored.
Actually I always wanted a convertible for the open air experience but liked the silhouette of the Coupe better (and my wife also likes the Coupe better). When I drove the Coupe without the tops I really found that this was the perfect body style for us!
The Corvette was offered in the German Corvette Forum and located just 180mls away. So we went there, had a nice afternoon (5 hours talking, coffee and Corvette investigation and test drive) and I finally bought it (I already felt "my" Corvette when I entered it for the first time).

In fact, I am a very lucky man because I would have selected the identical car if I had had the chance to buy it new. Isn´t that great!?!

Well, I always keep tracking previous owners and I made it back to the last two in the US. Unfortunately it seems to end now because the "owner" before was a dealer who does not exist anymore.

Now, here is a question for you experts. Is there a chance to identify/find previous owners in the US through the VIN? Unfortunately all related sites cannot be accessed from outside the US.

I would really appreciate any help from anybody!!!

Very best regards from this side of the pond...
René

SuperBuickGuy

pull the rear window out for the full, wind-blown-convertible experience. Welcome, sir. (as to your other questions, sorry, not something I know).

Z06LMB

I bought my '71 4spd A/C numbers matching Corvette with power windows and tilt/telegraph steering off another CF member nine years ago. I would have more info but I stopped posting for a long time and forgot my password and look see who it was (I only wanted to thank him).
I'm in PA and the car was in MO. I gathered up all the cash I could, the asking price and stopped by the rental place to pick up a trailer. I laugh now but that seller was so nervous continueously asking when I was getting there and telling me about all the "others" interested. This price was at the very high end of what his stated condition was of the car.
I bought a load of cars and trucks in my life but never seen a seller so nervous he couldn't count the money. It was making me nervous like he was pulling something over on me. I had all $100 bills and a couple hundred in $50's. In his oversized, two car garage was a work table nice and clear whereby we could spread out the money. Once, twice, three times he counted a different total and I had to count it for him to show the correct total each time, it was past to much, I just wanted to sort things out with the car later but take the car as is and get going none the less.
I planned a restoration so what could be so bad?
His story was short, after just buying this car, his wife was making him sell it because she wanted a pool instead. Headers and side pipes were just installed, tires had new full tread but had dry rot in between the treads.
I found enough stuff later that could warrant a price negotiation if I had done better with the inspection but after 17 hrs straight driving from the very east edge of PA I just took the word of the seller..

Things I found: Seller says the A/C needs charging.
What I found was the entire duct system behind the dash was packed with the jute insulation that was originally insulating the firewall.

The strong perfume smell disguised the mold in the carpets that got wet from water pouring in from bad weather stripping.

The interior was the wrong color blue. As I started taking things apart I found that most every interior part was from an after-market supplier. Old stuff and the door panels were for a 77 or newer vette.

The more important parts of this car held true to what I wanted so 9 years later I can't complain, in fact if I wanted t sell I could make a profit now.

firegremlin

Well. This is what we started with this past weekend. She'll never be pretty again, but I think a racecar is a better reincarnation for a junkyard C3 than a hundred chinese toasters.

Coming to 24 Hours of Lemons race at Lexington, KY, this July

tjmaniez

My dad bought my Black 76 when I was a little boy. I grew up riding in it and idolizing it. I even took it to dances in high school (and the occasional joy ride when my parents were out of town). When he sold it when I went off to college, I certainly was disappointed. A few years ago, my dad contacted me and said that the guy he sold it to is now trying to sell it. After some pleading with the wife, it now is back in the family in my garage and my toddler son absolutely loves it.

What I have always loved about it is that it is 1 of only 9 made in 76 with a "special paint code." Some of you may know this, but when you look up the numbers for 76 C3's, there were 46,558 total produced but when you add up the numbers that came in the 10 different colors, you see that it only equals 46,549 - hence the 9 that didn't come in those colors and have special paint codes. Basically that means it came off the line with just primer and the dealer decided what color to paint it (at least is what I have been told). In my case, they painted it Black which wasn't even an option that year. This and the sentimental value of the car makes for a cool story.

Boonite

I'm an older guy, always loved the old C3 style vette , but with kids and other obligations I never really thought of owning one , but it was my dream car . 4 yrs ago I was diagnosed with cancer and took a lot of chemo and long story short I was getting pretty run down toward end of chemo, My lovely wife of 38 yrs decided to challenge me to keep fighting, if I keep it up and won that we would find me a C3 that we could relive youth in. I rang the survival bell a while later and focused on recoup.
I was in Mount Airy shortly after going to look at souped up lawnmower engines and GPS told me to turn on this road , and when I did I saw an elderly fellow getting out of this vette ( in his front yard ) and hanging a For Sale sign on it. I pulled over started talking and called and begged my wife and she slipped a phone call to him and it was mine. She is not a show or high horsepower demon , but to me you can not buy her for 100,000.00 she will be my grandsons one day and cranking the stereo up , t tops off and Blue Ridge Parkway on a Sunday morning is the best feeling this old PawPaw has. She is more than a car to me, she represents a fight with a terrible disease. And that folks is the God Honest True !

TCM81

My dad bought what is now my 1981 black C3 in 1983 from its first owner. I've been driving it (and washing, waxing, etc. ) since I was 17. The while time I was courting my wife, we drove around and loved the black beauty. Just before my dad passed away last May, he signed the car over to me, and I had it trucked up to where I live. My wife and I still love driving it around, and I am more fond than ever of the old girl (and my wife too!). I feel as if this Corvette has been a part of my family for the past 30-plus years, and now it's a great source of great memories of my father.

Taarzaahn

You were lucky I love the interiorcolor it is impeccable