Hey guys and gals,

I'm new to the forum. Need to ask a few questions. I have a man that wants to trade me his 1981 Corvette for a vehicle I have. I'm not real familiar with Corvettes so I need some expert advice on it's possible value. He has put a brand new small block 350 from Summit Racing in it and it has less than 3K miles on the new engine along with a new tranny. The chassis has 80K miles. It was a Greenwood edition but the ground effects were taken off by a previous owner. Hurst shifter from the picture and stainless steel exhaust. No leaks in the T-tops and he has a new rubber kit that he will give with it.

Just looking for ballpark range. I attached a few pics.

 

What are you asking for your vehicle? Is he offering his Corvette and some cash? Do you want his Corvette? If you want his Corvette, do you feel it's worth your vehicle?

No disrespect, but if you honestly have no interest in his Corvette, it's okay to tell him.

 

I'm asking 8K for my vehicle. I do really like the corvette but I don't know what the vette might be worth. I know that since the engine numbers won't match that may or may not be a big deal when it comes to corvettes. Was just looking for some of the experienced vette guys on here to throw in their 2 cents. I may or may not keep the vette if I trade for it. I may look to trade it for something else or just sell it or maybe I'll start driving it and fall in love and want to keep it.

 

Sell your vehicle and buy what you want. If you want a Corvette, I think that you could find a nicer one for the $8,000. There's my advice.

 

So your basically looking at $8k in the bette. The non matching numbers IMO on a late C3 doesn't mean a lot, not like an early or mid C3 at least. The car isn't going to be much of an investment. If you like it, keep it and drive and enjoy a while.
I am assuming you have some wiggle built into the $8k price for your car, that being the case you may be ok on this deal. About the biggest thing to look for on these things is rust on the birdcage and frame kick ups.

 

Thanks for the input so far. SIXFOOTER, it sounds like you're saying the car is probably worth less than 8K in your opinion?

 

Any other opinions guys or gals?

 

Don't buy/trade ANY C3 corvette without crawling under the car with a flashlight and pulling the kickpanels out to examine the frame area behind them. Like any car, try to determine if the car has been in accidents or has had bubba working on it.

 

First off, welcome aboard! Second, if your not sure what your looking at and for, find someone that IS and take them with you. Pay them if you must, but take someone experienced not only in cars, but specifically Corvettes. It's REAL EASY to get in over your head on a Vette. ALso, a 1980 isn't quite as collectable as you may think...yet anyway. Even though I had two years of psychology, and should have known better by seeing the signs, I got bit by the Corvette bug. When that happens, it's all over but the crying. The obsession is akin to being a crack rock addict. You will take every dollar you can and sink it into your 36-24-36 lady on four wheels. You will steal candy from babies for last last piece of weatherstripping for your lady. Yes, it is an obsession. That's the bad. Now the good. It can do things like bring your grown children back together, realizing once again to common passions that burn within your blood. It can rekindle old friendships from way back in the days when we were young, spending time at the local drag strip tuning our cars, trying to sap that last HP out of that high winding smallblock. It can bring back a passion for living and all those dormant talents that have been sitting unused for a great many years. Yes my friend, there are indeed much more pluses than you'll find minuses. Just be SURE your getting your moneys worth in the beginning. Good luck!


$1850.00 Starting Point + 6 hrs of labor. Fresh off the car hauler. Washed the dust from her. Fell in love. Stopped counting and watching parts receipts 12/27/13
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It might be worth 8K if it's free from rust as others have said. From the pic's it looks like a nice car. The 8k is the top end of the scale for that car.

 

ok, I'll try to pick apart this one.

first of all what wheels are you getting with the car? the stock wheels in pic 1, or the 17'' wheels in pic 2?

The body looks ok, but white is hard to tell in pics. I looked at a white one that looked like that online and when I actually went to see it the paint looked like chalk.

The rear wing to me looks dumb and even if you take it off you have holes in your rear bumper and deck lid left behind.

The interior looks clean but the steering wheel was replaced, the shifter is aftermarket, and it has some weird homemade radio delete going on. I also don't like the wood overlay. Power mirrors are a plus if they work.

Now the engine. The biggest thing wrong I see is the stock carb, distributor and computer control system has been removed. this is a '81 only feature and I feel if it's gone it hurts the value of an '81. The engine install looks clean with the exception of that God awful fuel line which looks dangerous and should be replaced with a hard line after the pump immediately. The stock air cleaner is missing as is the smog pump and EGR, which may be required for emissions depending on where you live. Has aftermarket headers and most likely exhaust also. Bonus points for painting the engine the correct color.

If the frame and bird cage are rust free the car would be a good candidate for a driver or a resto mod that you can work on and drive in between projects. swap for swap without seeing your car or knowing what it is I would say it would be a fair trade for an $8K swap, since in reality you'll get $6-$7K for your car if someone pays cash. which is around where I would value this 80K mile car assuming the frame birdcage and paint checks out.

If the car needs paint don't do the deal at all.

 

I think people are being a tad hard on that car . It is clean for an 81 . Has a few reversible mods like to the radio . The shiftier mod I sorta like. Seats look good no rips and the steering wheel is a good one even if it is not oem.

It has a new drive train ... Engine area was cleaned up nicely. Rims and tires look great.

Body lines look good and if it was my car I would not be excited to get 8k for it as there has to be 4k or more into just the drive train.

Who ever owns it likes it that much you can see and for 8k if it is as sound mechanically as it appears and the paint is good I think it is more then a fair price.

 

I don't know where you're at but if your in a state that requires inspections and or smog checks, it may not make it. it looks like all the emissions stuff has been removed and switched away from the computer. I know in Virginia, we don't do smog checks but they DO look for the factory emissions equipment and they will fail it without it.

also, the A/C compressor is missing so if you want it there is some expense there to consider

and, it looks like the belt to the power steering pump is gone too, better find out why ????

 

Good call on the a/c compressor missing, i didn't even notice it. that drops the value $500-$1000, to me at least, because who knows what else it needs for the a/c to work.

 

Not a bad starting point for a fun car. If you paid $4k for it and had to refurb it to this point you would be here in price.

 

A little hard to see, as mentioned above the paint is hard to tell. 8K isn't bad, everything else being in good shape I might jump on it, if I didn't already have $15 tied up in mine, LOL.
Bottom line is figure out what your going to do with it. Run it a while, enjoy, fix a few things and move on? Flip it? Keep it?
Your not going to get killed on it for $8k either way

 

I'm always amazed at the variety of price points around the country... If the frame/birdcage is in good condition I can tell you I'd have a hard time finding a similar '81 in what looks to be pretty decent condition for $8K or less (even with the NOM) in my area.

 

Thank you all so much for your input. Like I said, I am nowhere near an expert on trying to value a corvette. I look online and see other 81's that don't look quite as nice as this one selling for around 10K and I see some that are the same as this one selling for less than 8K. Corvettes seem to be a bit more subjective than some other cars on value.

I have found out that the crate engine he put in the car is a 300HP small block. I am going to see the car on Sunday and will definitely ask some questions about the fuel line and the A/C. The car is in PA and it's been inspected the last 2 years at least so I know it has no issues with passing here.

 

I think 8k is fair for it, if the birdcage and frame are good, but I am a little partial to 81's I am wondering what happened to the greenwood kit? and why it was removed?

 

I'm going to disagree with the premise that the NOM doesnt hurt the car. Of course it doesnt hurt as much as if it was a more collectible year, but it still matters, and it should be calculated if someone is considering $8k for that car.

That engine compartment is missing all sorts of everything and is a significant deduction, IMO.