Hi everyone. I'm looking to make my first corvette purchase and after research deciding on which year I've come to like 1969 and '70. I came across http://hollywoodmotorsusa.com/1969-C...2/Details.aspx. Although I'd obviously like a big block, the 350 seems more practical for my purpose of joy riding during good weather, and maybe an occasional drive to work (15 miles) or Fire House. It's not the original engine, a modern radio and tachometer have been added, it's recently repainted, small 1in long/less than mm deep laceration on rear passenger fender, all the vacuum operated parts and air work, needs weather stripping on driver window but t-tops and rear window remove smoothly, the engine started immediately, idled and rev'ed well, little surface rust on sidepipe but none found running my hand up inside the undercarriage, I reviewed what I could see of the birdcage and it seemed in good order. I'm having my friend and mechanic give me a green light before proceeding on the purchase but I figured this would be the best place for an expert opinion. I've described what observations I made earlier today, but let me know if I can provide more information. Thank you.

 

Looks sharp, but I'm far from an expert.
Best of luck with the purchase!!!

Ben N

 

You could expand your search to 1972 since 71 & 72 are chrome bumper cars. Here one you may consider:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/stn/cto/5617567735.html
Located on S.I. I looked at this car and it is a real LT1 (L in vin), but has a NOM, and was originally orange and is now red. It is a nice car, owner is honest and it may be worth your time to see it since it would be a good cruiser in your price range. Good luck, Lenny

 

Rookie here: I hope you find a solid car in your price range
(I will have nearly that much in my '68 basketcase project when I am finished).
So.....basically you will be saving yourself tons of work by purchasing a quality road-ready driver.

 

Big difference in quality imo between the red cl car and the blue one
for a little more $ appears to be much more car.
motor in the blue one looks like its been together a long long time or someone took out a hot one and dropped that in?

 

I paid about $15k for a '69 convertible with a non original 327, that needed (at the very least) a new interior. So depending on what your looking for, this seems in the "reasonable" ballpark.

Here's mine:

 

You wanna a vette? No problem my associate will hook you up...

"When he was sprung from federal prison after three years for a racketeering charge, Michael DeLucia vowed he'd stay honest."

 

Hi Ryan,
Welcome!
First Post!
You mention that you reviewed the birdcage. I'm wondering if this 'glob' of 'stuff' is actually covering up a hole? What do you think? Maybe just the result of sloppy windshield installation?
You need to be very diligent about looking for serious (deal breaking) rust on a 69 in this price range.
Regards,
Alan

 

Check out OBI early on nice Sunday morning(7am) look around.

 

Thank you everyone for the input. I'll let you know how the pre purchase inspection goes.

 

Where did the headrests go?

Is that company President "Visone" as in the old Visone Corvette dealers?

 

Wasn't Visone a dealer back in the 90s that got in trouble for something like odometer rollbacks or something along those lines? Not sure if same guys or my memory is flawed, chances are my memory is out of whack.

Look at the radiator core support in front of the hood. If there is signs of repair or doesn't match with the rest of the car I would pass on it. Usually at the bottom of the core support there will be rust or cracks showing if the car has other concerns. Just a quick thing to look at.

 

I am glad Alan71 mentioned the glop around the VIN. you can see how his is so not sure on that, that's 1 flag. Grew up on LI (Syosset) south shore had a lot of dealers looking to score big so it is good that you have others looking with you. Looks like it may have been tested out a little on Vet hwy or Sunrise.
Good Luck
RVZIO

 

Update: Glad I had a professional look; he didn't have to get far into it to see it hadn't been restored with care. The professional who's been helping; set me up to see a couple nice, well maintained ones locally. Earlier today I saw a blue 72 coupe 350, matching, documentation going way back, and he described the paint as 7/10 (seemed like a good assessment). The collector took a lot of time to go over the car with me and the other pristine (I'm sure wildly expensive) C2 & C3's he had in his collection. My only concern is that I've read the 72 was the year the EPA regulations forced reductions in power and compression ratios. Is this a valid concern or is there still plenty of power?

Ideally I'd like a '69 Coupe (flexible on engine this year), with side pipes. But those seem to fall outside my budget plan.

 

Hi, good luck in your search!

I found a bit of info on engine ratings that may help. Not as much difference between '71 and '72 engine power as many believe. The following is a cut/paste, and I think it is correct (with the possible exception of the stated torque rating on the '72 LT-1 engine?):

"1972 was the first year for SAE net horsepower ratings, as opposed to the gross horsepower ratings which were used previously. Net horsepower ratings were lower because the engines were rated with all the necessary items such as the alternator, water pump and mufflers attached.

The 1971 LT1 350 engine was rated at 330 hp (or 275 hp net) and 360 ft-lbs of torque, while the 1972 LT1 was rated at 255 hp and 280 ft-lbs of torque. The LS5 454 engine, previously rated 365 hp (285 hp net) and 465 ft-lbs of torque at was now rated at 270 hp and 380 ft-lbs of torque. The base 350 engine, rated at 270 horsepower (210 hp net) in 1971, was now rated at 200 hp and 360 ft-lbs of torque."

I just picked up a '72 C3 with the base engine last week. It's a 4 spd car and I live at about 5k feet altitude. It has sufficient power, but virtually none of the sb cars (or even 'smog' BBs) from this era were all that 'fast' compared to today's cars, including the LT-1s. But they are infinitely cool IMO.

You could certainly modify the internals on a C3 that you pick up, while leaving it looking stock, if you're really looking for some additional hp. But keep in mind that many of today's 'pedestrian' cars are faster than the cars of the early '70s' era. Buy one because you love the style, the exhaust note, the nostalgia, the fun, the passion, etc., but don't expect them to be really fast compared to current cars.

We have a '15 C7 that rips. But my son and I went for a top-off drive in the C3 tonight just because.

 

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I drove it home today. Such a different feel from anything I've ever driven before. Going to have the fluids changed and general service done tomorrow. Really excited to have a full day with it. Thank you everyone for your input; on the site in general, it helped a lot. Let me know if anyone has questions.