Thank you in advance for your time! I recently visited a house while doing my job. The older man and I seemed to hit it off as I showed interest in the classic truck sitting in his yard. To make a long story short he proceeded to tell me that he has a 1970 Base model corvette in his one car detached garage. I asked if I could take a look at it. I honestly don't know the first thing about vintage corvette's or cars in general. He pulled the cover and by no means is this thing in show quality condition. It looks like it needs some TLC to say the least, not a Junker either! I asked him if he would be interested in selling. He said he would sell it to me for $7500.00. I asked him if it ran he went in the house and got the keys, two try's later it started right up. The only thing I know about it is the 350 motor is not the original, it an automatic 2 door coupe. I really did not want to waste the mans time and ask him to pull it out so I have not even seen the whole car. In a reasonable way I made an offer of $5000.00, he did not bite. A little while later he told me he would take $6000.00. I know this is asking a lot but site unseen does this sounds like a good deal? The car does not have any damage to the body and In my opinion it looks to me that a good bath later this could be a driver. Thanks again!

 

You need to be honest with yourself. Do you have the skills to get it back in working order or will you have to have someone else do all the work?

If it's rust free 6 grand is a great deal if all it needs is paint.

 

a non rusty 70 is easily worth 6K.. a rusty one could be worth zero. there is usually a big reason why these cars are parked.

 

After reading and re-reading the 10 things to know thread^^ (which I wish I had done) I'd go look at it again and inspect for rust in the usual places... if it's not rusty, I'd say it would be hard to go wrong at $5500.00.

mardyn

 

do a search here on bird cage rust and frame rust, these cars are notorious for rusting where you can`t easily see it.

 

Take a look behind the kick panels.

 

Hey excel, when you go back, take some photos. Take as many as you can. Post them here, and we will help guide you and advise whether you ought to take your money and run away or you ought to get it and run.


Is it a convertible? Colors? Automatic or stick? Small block or big block?

 

Sounds like a great project!! If frame is rust free I would go for it..Be prepared to spend just as much on repairs and upgrades as u paid for the Vette..On my 76 I have swapped to a 6 spd manual,roller cam,alum heads,intake,headers,Borgeson box..etc...It's an addiction...

 

Thank you all for your advice! Here are some photos that I took today.

 

I think I'd be concerned about the bird cage looking at that door jamb but I am far from an expert. The frame looks like just some heavy surface rust.

 

It doesn't SEEM that bad from the pictures, but we can't see everything. I would be fine paying $5,000 for it if he accepts, but keep in mind, from what I see it still needs $20-$25K worth of work.

 

I am not desperate to buy a money pit! I am looking for a slam dunk, I think I will walk away from this one and save my money for something a little closer to being done. Thank you all for your comments and advice!

 

I agree, I'd pass.

 

Man, that one has a lot of positives and negatives to it at the same time. Good thing you aren't emotionally attached to the color / year / options / etc... I could see for some this would be a hard one to walk away from at the price point.

As others have said, the door jamb rust color would concern me the most. This typically means the top of the cage is not in great shape.

But a blue, automatic, cruise control, A/C, power windows, power brakes, (probably power steering), at that price? Do not get me wrong, it needs a lot of work, and is ready for a good restore / restomod. If you do pass, you might get a couple of PM's asking where it is located for others to pursue.

 

That is a slam dunk. You don't need that money pit.
Get a 4-speed, they sell quicker.

 

Is that a bead of caulk between the T-tops?

Still the best looking $5K vette I've seen in a while.

 

And probably worth the $7500 asking price.

 

It's definitely worth the asking price

BUT


Only if you're willing to put $20-$30k and a few years of your life fixing it back up yourself.

 

seems like a good solid car, I say 6000 is a deal

 

For 6k I'd bring it home - it's worth the asking price.