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I'm thinking about buying this car. Give me your opinion
Here's a car I saw on craigslist and it looks appealing to me for several reasons: I like the soft bumper cars, I like the interior of the 77, I like the 80-82's exterior, the price would give me plenty of money to fix things. My goal is an extremely reliable boulevard cruiser / car show toy.
I'm going back and forth about what to start with and this seems to be in the middle. I would love to do a body off semi restoration to get everything looking and working perfectly. For that reason, I thought about getting something for $4-5K and starting fresh. That would mean I would have to do the paint or I'll bust my $16K budget pretty quick. Also, the time that part will take may try my patience.
Alternatively, I've seen some cars with pretty good paint in the $9k range but that doesn't leave much for an interior refresh or motor work.
I haven't looked at this one yet so I don't know how bad the rust is if any. My concern is that I like the 80-82 bumpers but if I sell it I'm going to have a hard time. Weigh in and give me your thoughts. Also, keep in mind that the hurricane went right over Lakeland FL so it may not even be in this shape any longer.
Better get a lot of info on this one those "new" 2 yrs ago tires havent been made in a long time far as I know
Ad gives no info at all either the seller is lazy or a flipper who doesnt want to tel it all.
If you have a $16k budget, I recommend buying the best $16k Corvette that you can find.
A $4k, $5k or $9k Corvette will cost you an additional $25k to do a " I would love to do a body off semi restoration to get everything looking and working perfectly."
Corvette's are an expensive "hobby". Consider any budget on a Corvette as "throw away money". You WILL NOT be getting much of it back when it's time to sell.
I did text the guy this afternoon looking for more info and pictures but have not received a response. Normally I would say it's a fraud if I don't get a quick response but in this case maybe he doesn't have power at the house, who knows.
My question was more about the body mods. should I just stay away from a 77 that someone made to look like 1/2 an 82? I probably could have worded that one better from the start
It's almost always cheaper to buy a restored car than a car to restore. Unless you're doing a lot of the labor yourself, financially it probably won't make sense.
You'll also be able to start enjoying the car immediately instead of waiting for shops to finish it for you.
know what the rust spots are in corvettes and let that be your determination if you can build on it. I have seen too many folks put 8-10K into building up a rusted frame/birdcage car.. you must have a solid foundation in order to even start putting money into it. find a zero rust frame and good paint then you can build yourself a plan with the incremental changes.
That being a "77" most all of the interior is "77" only if you want it to be correct to the car ! The steering column and its components are one year only ! It can be expensive and difficult to find good used parts and you here people on here all the time talk about how difficult it can be to get aftermarket stuff to fit correctly ! That being said if that's a correct matching numbers engine then its a 350 cu / 180 HP motor ! Meaning that it will take some engine mods if you want it to come alive when you hit the gas !
Anyway you look at it while it looks nice it's going to take a lot of money to to make it the way you want it and for a project car its already a little pricey! I think if you weigh the cost of the car plus mods and time you might want to look a little more for one closer to your budget that needs less that will give you what you want! JMHO
I prefer the soft bumper vettes, 78 here and love it, dont like chrome bumper, never did, plus i get to call it a shark!!! We all have our preference, that car looks AWESOME in my opinion, that being said, and snapping back to reality....
7500 bucks is a good chunk of budget, if there are interior issues and needs some interior TLC then so be it, BUT for that price structure better be close.to looking like new, birdcage, frame, all body mounts, rad support, inner door metal, trailing arms, and the list goes on
.... My advice is get some pics of body mounts, pics from underneath, any rust then pass....locally here for that money you can get a good base to start with, half that would buy a daily driver.
Here are some pictures. Not the best and certainly not all that is needed to do a proper evaluation. The seller said he didn't have the receipts but "could get them." Probably will pass on this one and look for something further along.
No way!
I have seen too many 90% restored soft bumper Corvettes (and 77's at that) purchased for the mid teens. That let's you finish the remaining issues while still driving and having a good time and making memories!
Soft bumper Corvettes (like other cars and trucks) will put you under water really fast once you make up your mind to do any such "restoration". Not a good or sound idea!
If you have a $16k budget, I recommend buying the best $16k Corvette that you can find.
A $4k, $5k or $9k Corvette will cost you an additional $25k to do a " I would love to do a body off semi restoration to get everything looking and working perfectly."
Corvette's are an expensive "hobby". Consider any budget on a Corvette as "throw away money". You WILL NOT be getting much of it back when it's time to sell.
If your willing to take a drive up to North Carolina, this might be
one of the best deals going right now. Plus you get to help out a fellow member who seems to desperately want out of a project.
09-13-2017, 02:47 PM
I'm thinking about buying this car. Give me your opinion
