Hi again, update on my possible new vette. I had a body shop near the dealer check it out and they said it looks really good for a 30 yr old car. No rust etc. Paint job is good, etc.I told them I wanted the birdcage checked, etc. They took it to their mechanic and he said the engine looks good, the compressor is bad and the dealer said they would fix it or take that amnt off the amount of the car. I told them I wanted all the high price items checked out.
The dealer sent me two more videos and more close up pics of the car and I can see some slight cracking in the fender area and the steering wheel center is missing (which I have seen in quite a few Corvettes, what is up with that?). I'm wondering, as I'm pricing parts to see how expensive this car is going to be, what is that called? I have seen so many names for horn and steering wheel parts, is it a horn bell, horn cap, horn emblem (that is on the center of the horn cap?). I need the entire round center of the steering wheel? I saw one on e-bay in blue (which I don't want blue, I want a brownish color) and it was $500.00!! I know there are prices all over the place. I am going to have my mechanic look it over when and if I buy it to get it in good working order as far as belts, etc so I don't get stranded for missing something stupid and easy to repair.
I sent photos to my body shop guy here where I live (the car is 3 hrs away) and am waiting to hear from him. The owner of the shop drove it home and parked it in his garage to see if it was leaking oil in the morning and said it drove nicely for him. He has been up front and really great, said he is doing what he can to represent the car like he would want it represented to him if he was the buyer. Any further comments, opinions would be appreciated!

 

1. whats the price on the car?
2. post what they are sending you , here, these members need to see it, these members restore these for a hobby, they are your best sourse for advice on these cars, they can look at a picture and tell you why something doesnt look right.
3. you said something that tells me you need to look else where, the dealer took it to 'their' mechanic
4. he drove it home to see if it was leaking, why not put it on a lift?

 

go to pick up the car with no intention of driving it home. you need to see this in the flesh yourself. experience teaches. i've done a few long distance deals that i should have blown off. find a devil's advocate to take along. when these cars end up at a dealer it is a big red flag!

 

I chose the body shop and mechanic and they picked up the car and checked it out. the price is 15,000. but I know I'm not paying that much. I will post the pics if I can figure out how to. Thanks

 

Just checked out the El Paso Corvette Club and the Prez is going to go check out the car for me and call me later and tell me what he thinks. Yay! Nice to have a vette guy look at it.

 

good for you

 

horn buttons are cheap, $40 painted brand new with the emblem usually from the parts places.

 

Well, the El Paso Corvette club Pres called me yest afternoon and gave me the LOOOONNNG list of what is wrong with the one car that I liked in El Paso. So glad I had this resource. After a few details I decided that this car was not the one at all. He said it was a 10 footer which in pictures looks great. He said he would not even drive it off the lot. The tires looked ok in the pics and he said they were dryrot. The hood had a problem and he said it could have blown off. I guess these guys were okay with a girl driving a car home 3.5 hours and getting killed in the process. There were a lot of cosmetic problems that would have cost a lot to fix. I know I'm going to have to do maintenance on a car this old and I'm sure some things right away, but I don't want a car that needs $5000.00 worth of work done right off the bat after paying 13,000 or so. He said this car is worth about $6000 and they were asking 15000. He is a car show judge, so I know he is probably nitpicky a little since he is looking critically, but that's what I wanted. To know what I'm getting into. So, back to the drawing board. Hard when you live in the middle of nowhere and everyplace to look at cars that I would consider driving to is 3.5 - 9 hours one way. Thanks for all the help guys! Sad to me that this car has never really had a owner that cared for it. Neglected. A shame.

 

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/fi...cle+pony.xhtml

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchr...=50&slrTypeId=

this is more up your alley, private owner reasonably priced (your could ship it after a forum members inspection).

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/cl...ationId=663832




try these . you may find at least some stuff to do comps with.

 

Hey, I've looked at these, thanks. The cars.com goes right to the one that I mentioned was so bad. The 1982 collector edition for 14,999. Looks reasonable good, but was not! I found a one owner 41,000 original miles 1979 that the guy bought when he was 40, now he's 72 ys old and paring down, traveling, etc. Looks great. He took to his mechanic for oil change, inspection, for us driving it home if we buy it. It's 7 hrs away and we were going to go this weekend and look at it. It had a axle seal problem and the headlights wouldn't open up, so that's getting fixed along with checking the a/c and belts, hoses, etc, so it's safe for me to drive. He's got a mechanic who has been the cars only mechanic for many years. We both spoke to the mechanic and I also spoke one of the other mechanics there and asked him to shoot some interior shots and email them to me. He said the car was really nice, thinks the owner could have gotten more $, but on the highway it's bumpy and did I know that? I know it's not a luxury ride, but is there something you can do to the suspension to make it nicer for longer (2-3 hr) trips? I have a 1990 Jeep Wrangler so I know what he's talking about. I would never take that on a longer drive than around town. I would put money into the vette after awhile to make it nicer for long trips though... I have a friend with an enclosed trailer who shows his extensive collection of Shelbys (he knows a lot about cars) who can trailer it for us and give us another opinion, but if it's safe to drive that far without something going out, I'd like to drive it home. My husband and a friend may go next weekend, I can't go, on call for hospital. Or we will both go the weekend after that. The owners holding it for us, he know's we are serious buyers, not just shoppers, if we like it. Here's the URL, couldn't get a link, you can copy and paste and put it in your browser. Or go to cars.com. 1979 Blue zip code 76712 http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...emc&listType=3 Thanks for any input.

 

can't beat that

 

That 1979 is very nice. The cloth seats are very rare these days (and repros are not available) and those seem to be in very fine condition. I assume the paint is code 83 Corvette Dark Blue and it seems to be A-OK.

I sure wish I could see the engine compartment and frame/undercarriage before saying yes or no to a 7-hour trip to see it.

I drove a 1979 L-82 for 17 years so I know that year.

 

turn the rock n roll music up...real loud, drive it like you stole it, it will be a better ride than your jeep, and you will look good.... in it.

 

I like that one but we need more pictures.

 

The seats have a very small tear right where you would expect on drivers side where you get in. My car guy here says we have a good upholstery guy who does a good job and can fix it. I like the cloth/leather combo, no sticking to the seat. The only things the owner said didn't work was the clock which almost never worked. He replaced it soon after getting car and it worked for 5 ys, the boot on stickshift needs replacing, that is easy, the horn doesn't work, that is getting fixed, the antennae after car washed they had a freeze that night and now doesn't go up and down, but does manually, I may or may not get that fixed. The tire blew out one year ago, and there was some damage to one small part of the body and wheel well. He took it to a good body guy who said they could match the paint in that area, but he told them to paint the entire car, it cost him $7,000 to do it. It is the same color, just not aged 34 years to the exact shade it would have been, is the explanation my husband gave me? I can have the mechanic take some engine shots and undercarriage shots and email them. He emailed me some interior photos, I can forward to your email, I don't know how else to do it)the car needs a good detailing, the boot is bad, but overall it is all original but the stereo, which is an Alpine cassette. I would probably put in a new stereo with c/d since it's not the original anyway. I will try to keep it stock as much as possible. Thanks for your input.

 

oldalaskaman, don't you know it! I look pretty damn good in my Jeep though.

 

Or so strangers have stopped and told me. Blonde in a jeep tooling around town with the doors off!! Yeehaw!!

 

Paul 74, Jeez I don't know. I HOPE it is the code 83!! He called it Mediterranean Blue, if i remember correctly. I don't know why you would do an expensive paint job like that and not repaint the original color? Not a deal breaker for me, though. At least I don't have to repaint any time soon, or drive around in a vette with a crappy paint. My husband talked to him about the restoration of exterior more than I did. I've been talking to him every day since we found the car and contacted him, so I will ask him when I talk to him next. If there are any forum members near Waco (Wacko I call it, Branch Davidians, remember?) that want to go look at it, let me know and I'll set it up. I doubt anyone on here lives there.

 

It looks beautiful to me. But, then, I've never seen a Vette I didn't love!

Vette, Midnight Blue, Blonde, 4 speed - Wow!!!!!!!!

 

Delta26, I'm from Florida, too! Born in Clearwater, near the beach, many years ago. Miss the water, bridges, but not the traffic or humidity!