loony2ns

A chance to afford a 1969 C3. Therein lies the problems. Person selling the car bought it from up north not knowing the frame was shot. He completed a frame off restoration 10 years ago and installed a good frame, power steering, tilt/telescope steer, power brakes, air conditioning and changed the interior from red to black from a 1971 C3 donor car. During restoration he installed a 1995 Camaro Z28 LT1 engine with multiport Fuel injection/ with 6 speed tranny. Has good soft top. Has hard top that was stored outside and needs work and relining. Car has been a garaged daily driver with 150,000 miles put on it since restoration. This guy has spent tons of money making the Vette look very factory original with a Monza red exterior and black interior. The cage and fiberglass body are in great shape for a 10-year resto/daily driver, drives out straight as an arrow, does not smoke or miss or leak, all gauges work and blows cold a/c. It’s a beautiful 10-foot car. This would be my first Corvette but I feel like I would be purchasing a car that is a Frankenstein and I might never get the money out of it IF I ever sell. I know purists will say run away and fast. I don’t know how much the 71 donor car parts, 95 engine, tranny and interior swap devalue the car. It is offered to me for $15,000. My thoughts are for that kind of money, it would be worth that without the drivetrain. It is only way I will ever afford a C3 with chrome bumpers. I just need and invite some input before pulling the trigger.

AllC34Me

Not much advise can be given without seeing the car unfortunately. Post some pictures and you'll get more comments, pro and con. You actually blew me away when telling me the car had 150,000 miles on it since restoration. To that I can only say WOW. If it is your first Corvette I would strongly suggest you take someone that knows them well along to look at it with you so they can see what they can only tell you to look for and point out the good and bad of the car. Make sure you check out how much things cost for replacement on the car before you buy it. It is easy to get under water on these cars very quickly and then wonder how you got into that position in the first place. Also, if you are worrying about getting your money back some day when you sell then you are already behind because unless it is a good price on a rare car you likely won't get back what you invest in it. Sorry, that is a realistic reality. We buy and play with these cars for the love of them and knowing we will never get our money back. Its a hobby.
Post some pics and good luck with your decision.
David Howard
AllVettes4Me

loony2ns

A few photos








, the seats need reupholstered but have not found any issues as of yet. except what was noted in the original post.

derekderek

you sure on that 150,000 miles? not 15k? if it went 150k in last 10 years, he was driving to work daily a fair distance. 15k a year is 1250 a month. 300 a week. 50-60 a day. 25 each way commute. if it went that far, a lot was done right. but now a lot is tired and needs done over. the LT1 does not devalue the car. the 6 speed increases value a bit. if he drove it that much, i am surprised they are not newer style seats. i can't say run away, but can't say tell me where it is cuz i want it. i love the corvette aluminum wheel on the camo 30's bomb next to it in the first pic...

doorgunner

Welcome to the C3 Forum. It's a sharp looking daily driver. If you can't live with the 10 foot paint , plan on $5,000-$10,000 for new decent paint. Maybe you can have the paint chips filled in and have the paint buffed out?
The car does have some positive points, but You should be able to find a decent chrome bumper daily driver in better shape for $15,000.
Keep us posted.

Easy Mike

Why? Purists have no concern for the car you buy since it will be your car. Do you see $15K here?

Good luck.

c3_dk

69 is a great Corvette year, find your dream car, and buy it, no matter what others are saying :- )
But look for rust !!

dmaxx3500

sorry,but the engine area looks ''REAL'' rough,lots of cleaning and re-running of hoses and fuel lines [is that galvanized pipe on the RF of eng?]

and whats the nest of ground wires on the firewall?

id want to see whats underneath [frame/susp]

CA-Legal-Vette

It looks like a good, if a little tired, build. The mods done would certainly improve the drivability and performance and with the right maintenance, I think it’s possible that the owner did put 150k miles on it, though that is a ton.

Depending on condition, I don’t think the price is out of line. With all the pluses and minuses, hard to put a firm value on it. Just be willing to take a significant hit on that value if you find big problems.

The big question for me would be your ability and willingness to do work on it. The car is, as you say, a Frankenstein. The big problem with this is finding competent people to work on it for you. Not even all that simple to figure out parts.

Im a little concerned about some sloppy items that I do see. The drivers door gap is poor. The seat covers weren’t installed properly. Sloppy. Under the hood is a combination of good work and Bubba. It will take effort to upkeep and some real skill to update if something major fails.

KenSny

I've seen worse engine compartments on 20-year younger cars than this daily driver.
With that many miles I can see why the seats would need to be recovered. That's not a big deal.
Paint chips? That's what happens when you drive daily and park "who knows where". That's not a big deal.
For $15k could he buy another 69 in better shape?
This is not a collector car, it is just a fun car!

20mercury

Agree and good advice here! I am finally beginning to learn that even if I got the Corvette for FREE, I am not sure I could break even, ha!

Nice looking Corvette!!

Now if you could just drive it and not start doing "stuff", you could probably break even down the road, but I know I do not possess any of that required self restraint!

mrvette

I rather like the car, and so to look behind the kick panels to get an idea about birdcage rust, and if possible get the owner to remove, or YOU remove the inside w/s header pads, so you can look at the frame area....

and to keep it intact go ape **** with redoing the glass area, trim sealing.....

but that's another story for now....

Rescue Rogers

the body and paint can easily run over $10k to start. If you look close you can see the big rivet pimples across the nose, that can get expensive to fix. Shop around, you may find another for a few thousand more that doesnt need as much work. If you know the guy that did all the work, maybe you can trust his work. If you dont know him, then youre going on his word that its done well. I just had a conversation with a guy with a later trans am with the LT1 motor. He likes it butfinding a tuner to do a good tune was near impossible for him, no one wants to deal with the computers from that decade

crf311

If it's your 1st vette and you are worried about getting your money back on your purchase , I would pass on the vette.
almost no one gets their money back on their vettes. Imho.
That is a nice looking vette. But has too many issues to make it your fist buy. You can get some nice almost original vettes for 15 K.
It's your money do what you like.
best of luck to you

Jstan2014

Welcome aboard and best of luck with your decision.

vettebuyer6369

Just for reference, there are plenty of $15k 68-72 chrome bumper cars out there (mostly coupes) that would be considerably less Frankensteinesque, and quite a bit easier to resell.

If that radical project is something that interests you, that’s another matter.

loony2ns

Yes it is 150,000. Daily driver and primary ride. He is restoring a 37 Chevy coupe and needs the money from the Vette sale. The pictures do look better than in reality. It was restored 10 years ago but it is tired. Runs great though. He is going to do some tinkering and then call me back.

loony2ns

Thanks for the welcome. There are items that need attention. There are several areas paint wise that could use some attention but overall it does present well.

loony2ns

I do see 15K of fun but not quite as much in actual value. I am still deciding and he has a few things to take care of.on the Vette.

loony2ns

Pretty much rust free. When he restored it he had the bottom treated and it has help up very well. I am trying to detach myself emotionally.