First post. Yay. I've read the 10 things to know before you buy about 40 times. As suggested, I'm posting a few pics here to solicit some feedback from people who know more than me.

It's a 77, auto, air (no compressor), body is primed, no visible damage. Kept in the dude's garage. Engine was cold when I popped the hood, the owner pumped the gas and it started quicker than my 2011 Nissan. The car is not being driven, though it does appear to run well. Says they are the same tires from when he bought it 10 years ago (tread depth & dry rot suggest he's telling the truth).

It's not being driven because the interior is a hot mess. BRAND NEW leather seats that aren't bolted in, lots of trim pieces in his garage and many of them appear to be in very good condition, but I'm under no misconception that it's all there. I only found one rust spot underneath the drivers side rocker. I've never done interior work before...how hard can it be? LOL.

Asking $5600, but he was practically BEGGING me to make him an offer. Guidance is appreciated.

















This is under the driver side. Passenger side was clean.























Power windows work!

 

Based on our own purchase of a 79 in better shape, we paid 3K, but the engine needed work. I wish i had paid 2K to be honest. Tires are at least 6-7 hundred paint I've been told anywhere from 5-10K so if it were me for $56oo I would look at another car or offer him 2500 max.it's worth at least that in parts.

 

I think he wants to much I paid 7800 for mine in 2009 it is also a 77 and it is in much much better shape and was already put together. I`m not saying don`t get it but I would low ball him since he says make a offer.
One other thing to remember 77 is a good year in my opinion, parts mix and match from years before and years after it was a transition year i believe for the corvette.
The original interior on these car can get brittle over time as a reminder
to get the car painted is gonna cost you say at least 3500 for a decent job up to 5000 for nice, well that is up here in the Pacific Northwest.

Things that I would check before making offer.
1. Do the headlights work as advertised go up and down I find the vacuum issue to be a pain for me.
2. The rust can be a issue sometimes, if there is no trim where the T-Tops go check the upper Birdcage
3. check rearbody mounts for Rust, only place mine had it.
4. look under rear end for unusually loose bolts or that one bolt matches the other sometimes people will adjust these bolts due to leaf spring wear.


As far as I can tell its a early 77 since it has the key alarm on the fender the later ones had it incorporated in the driver door key hole.

If you have any questions this forum has some of the best knowledge of the cars as well as engine,carb,ignition, suspension troubleshooting I have ever seen.

Im sure others will chime in shortly

 

Where in Texas is the car? If he is begging you, he wants it gone. He's asking $5,600…but he would take $5,000 easy. I would offer him somewhere around $3,000 and work my way up to $4,500 at the top. Have the cash with you. Pull out $3,000 when you make the offer. Have another $1,000 or something in another pocket or something if it comes down to going up that far.

 

I saw a pretty sweet in, out, and bottom all redone '77 4-speedwent for $7500.
It took 3 months to sell, though that was in winter.
I'd pass on this car, honestly.
What's that saying "A Free Corvette will be the most expensive car you will ever get"

 

The frame would scare me off. I bought a parts car that I drove home for $2800 that already had a 200R4 swapped into it. The frame was great. The rest was similar to that one.

 

Run away.


Only way its worth 5600 is if there is $4000 cash sitting in the glovebox.

I have been c3 shopping for a while and the ones in the 5600 range are running,driving, complete cars.

 

I wouldn't give him $1,000 for that. Just wait til you pull the body off and find the rot you can't see. I've seen nicer cars in the local pick and pulls.

 

Run away and take a look at this link for a good looking, running, ready to go 76 for $10K
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invento...sting=79197290

 

After you spend $10K on it, you'll have a $5,000 car. Just get one in good shape and save yourself some grief.

 

Like many people around here I have come to learn, the hard way, that a safe and reliable car will cost you $15,000. Figure at least another $10,000 to get that car into any sort of shape where you will be happy! The biggest issue, to me, would be taking over someone's abandoned project. Are all the parts there and how did they go together? The AIM is NOT a step by step assembly guide for turning a box of bits into a car!

 

If you like to work on cars and spend lots of money....buy this one. Not bustin' on the owner but maybe it's a bit much for him too.

 

For $5600 you should be able to fine a really clean driver. Pass on this.

Did he wrap the steering wheel in electrical tape?

 

I always look in the other direction on how much is this going to cost me to get it show quality ready. A 1977 Corvette is not one of the more desired Corvettes but it is the last of the Mako Fin Back windows it is also the 3rd largest in Numbers produced.

Looking at just the pictures even if you did most of the work yourself I would say it is going to cost you about 10 Grand to restore it to the original glory this car deserves. Personally I would walk away from this project because it is going to take a minimum of 2 to 3 years to restore unless you just happen to have about $10,000 bucks laying around you want to break even on. This car will only be worth about $15,000 in prime shape.

Pass on it and find yourself one around $8500 to $10,000 that only needs a few grand worth of work.

I purchased my 1977 at $9000 and have dumped about $2000 into it since I have bought it in April of 2013 and it runs and drives better then when I picked up. I still need to dump another $3000 into it for it run and look the way I want it too mostly fixing suspension and drivetrain on a 37 year old car at this point on a 1977 corvette with about 46,500 original miles on it. It sat to many years but this one is worth the 3 years it will take me to fix it and still be able to drive and show it off at car shows during that time. The interior, body and engine bay are that good of shape that I take to cars shows as an almost all original 1977 Corvette. It will never win any prizes but I get to hangout with my Car Club dudes and talk about the cars at the shows we attend and most of the time participate in the 2 shows a year my Club sponsors.

 

yea man I was amazed at this also Did he really wrap the leather steering wheel electrical tape? if so Why would you do this? it was not even wound up tight and has gaps

 

I often wonder why I waste my time finding better candidates for posters to look at, to only be ignored. The one I linked is a good deal IMHO but I guess no one GAS.

 

This is a fairly new post Bro give it time for the poster to read thru all the info to get a better decision. I know when I bought my Corvette it took me about 4 months before I decided on a car By the time I bought mine I knew almost how much money I would have to put into it to make it My Corvette

 

That car is too much..
Too much money!
Too much work required!
Too much f***ed with!
Too much unknown!

 

i'm a newbie at all this too, mainly looking and researching.
i'm in the midwest, and i know prices of things can be different in different areas....
but honestly i've seen 2 vettes (a 78 and 80) that were $5000 that were way better than this one, and they both ran pretty well and looked a whole lot better. sure there were things that needed to be done, but they looked decent.
i'd keep looking. if you are wanting a project car, most shells of things i've seen are usually in the $2K range....which to me is still unbelievable, but i guess that's the reality of it all....

personally i'm looking for a corvette to drive and have fun w/ ...as the link above stated, if you spend $10K you could probably get quite a bit of car that will look really good and probably run great. as some have told me, just beware of w/ buying a 70s car, at some pt you'll probably have to spend $$ on repairs or something, just the reality of buying a car that's 40 some years old! good luck....

 

I am a person that reads every post within a thread that I can assist in and clicks on links in the thread to give a true honest opinion in my post and also offer suggestions. I guess I care more about providing more accurate info to the masses and a minute of others posters time doesn't seem like to much to ask. As in yes the car 68Thunder427 linked looks like a lot better deal than what you are looking at and what you should be looking for. I often wonder, based on reading these threads, how much time people actually spend reading previous posts or if they are just spouting off what ever pops in their heads first. You have to remember this is a new member who is asking for help in spending his hard earned money and a little back up of the recommendations will go a lot further than I guess most realize.