Have been a fan of the C3 pace cars for many years and have occasionally gotten serious about buying one but never did it. I've started looking again recently and came across a nice example. It's an L48/3sp which isn't preferred by me but is certainly more affordable. Has 34k miles and appears to be rust free and well maintained. One thing that struck me was that the decals on the car seemed like new especially the hood. Most I've seen were faded and cracking, but this car they looked new. Also, almost every other car I've looked at has some spider cracks in the nose and fenders paint. This car had none, which all makes me think the car has been painted in the last 10 yrs or so. The seller has only owned the car for a few months and couldn't confirm. He says he bought it from an estate where the last owner had passed away.

My question is whether or not there's an easy way to tell if a car has been resprayed? Also, does this affect the value of these cars either way, assuming it hasn't been wrecked? Are original paint cars worth more?

 

Hard to say without pictures. They built 6502 of them, so finding an unmessed with one or one that suits you better (It's an L48/3sp which isn't preferred by me but is certainly more affordable.) shouldn't be that hard.

 

If it was a quality repaint, it could be very difficult to tell.

Usually, yes, but that could come down to individual buyer preference.

 

How much is it and pictures?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/263226883406

I did have an opportunity to see the car in person. I'd say it was average overall, needs some interior work, needs radio mast, a few other things. was clean underneath, it's been maintained.

What are these cars actually selling for these days?

 

Take a tail light lens out and check paint here. Quite often overspray or tape marks here.

 

Someone just signed on the forum yesterday and posted this for sale (door decals not installed). Know nothing about the car, good luck:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-survivor.html

 

Yeah, I saw that one. I think it's in Oregon, I'm in Ohio. I gave up on long distance relationships a long time ago.

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

When I bought my 79 I didn't think it had been re-painted as I didn't see any evidence of it. I took it to a body shop to get an estimate for re-painting it and the owner pointed out a tiny chip on the sharp edge of the fiberglass on the roof halo that had paint in it which wouldn't have been there if the car hadn't been repainted.

 

Someone went to town with the blue paint and got over spray on the rad hose and intake bellows.

Outside of that valve covers are aftermarket as well as the chrome air leaner lid which you prob. knew. Overall condition looks ok based on pictures...though pictures are hard to tell vs. in person. So good that you got to see it in person.

Were you able to see how the frame looked and/or birdcage? You said it was clean underneath, but that could mean anything.

Personally, the $19.5k seems a little high to me given the condition. Lots of them are out there, and most have really low miles given how many were stored away to cash in later. There was one on here back in May I believe for roughly $12k-13kish that was in decent condition.

Positive is the cloth seats IMO, roughly 800 out of the 6502 had cloth I believe. So that's pretty rare.

 

​​​​​​Funny you mention that, I did notice a ding on the nose that looked more like a 5mm divot that was filled with paint. I wasn't sure if any of these left the factory with flaws in the fiberglass or if this car had been repainted. I'm going to believe that it was repainted.

 

Good eye on the blue paint, I honestly didn't even notice that. I'm aware that the valve covers are wrong, seller has the originals.

What are your thoughts on the wiring under the hood? I noticed a loose wire going to the alternator that seemed like it shouldn't be there. There was also a yellow wire hanging out from under the dash. Lastly, the carpeting along the center console on the drivers side had pulled away from the console, I believe someone had it off at one point.

The auto radio antenna had been replaced with a fixed unit. As a result the CB doesn't work. One of the t tops has a very small crack in it that the seller wasnt aware of, no big deal there. AC works and has been converted to r134. Cruise control doesn't work, not sure what it takes to get those working.

​​​​​​Obviously the car didn't sell for $19.5. Seller felt the ebay as was good advertising and didn't expect it world sell via ebay anyway. What's the consensus on a fair offer?

 

My question is whether or not there's an easy way to tell if a car has been resprayed? Also, does this affect the value of these cars either way, assuming it hasn't been wrecked? Are original paint cars worth more?[/QUOTE]

Realize the car has sold, but I have to ask this or you need to ask yourself, what do you want to do with the car? Are you looking at this as an investment? Do you want to drive and enjoy it and not be too concerned about rock chips etc.? Or do you want to go the NCRS route? If you want to drive it, is it a big deal if it's been repainted? Understand there are concerns why it was repainted (crashed). It's really a personal choice, me, I am not concerned with numbers matching, originality etc. My wife and I want to drive and enjoy. And this means upgrades, making it our "vette".

One more thing, don't rush into the purchase, do your research. Clearly you're starting off on the right foot since you below to this forum. You will get great advise, the knowledge here is remarkable.

Good Luck, Bill

 

Realize the car has sold, but I have to ask this or you need to ask yourself, what do you want to do with the car? Are you looking at this as an investment? Do you want to drive and enjoy it and not be too concerned about rock chips etc.? Or do you want to go the NCRS route? If you want to drive it, is it a big deal if it's been repainted? Understand there are concerns why it was repainted (crashed). It's really a personal choice, me, I am not concerned with numbers matching, originality etc. My wife and I want to drive and enjoy. And this means upgrades, making it our "vette".

One more thing, don't rush into the purchase, do your research. Clearly you're starting off on the right foot since you below to this forum. You will get great advise, the knowledge here is remarkable.

Good Luck, Bill[/QUOTE]

I don't expect out to be an investment per se, but I hope to be able to buy it, get a few years of enjoyment out of it, and sell it without getting too beat up in the process. This car will be driven, cars that aren't driven aren't cars, they are statues. This might be a decent value for a driver, but in thinking it's value is somewhere between $15k-$16k.

 

The wires could be anything. If you go the 78 route PM me your email address and I'll shoot you the electrical troubleshooting guide for 78. It helped me a ton with some drain issues and bringing the stock radio back.

Antenna if the owner has the original can be repaired if the mast doesn't go up/down. There's a nylon cable inside that is probably broken. I am about to do that repair soon...bought the part to fix but maybe something I do over winter.

Carpeting, it's glued to a board and then screwed with 3 screws to the center console. No big deal that it's been taken off at some point, usually it has been. Mine has been a million times this year already. If the carpet came apart from the cardboard backer, just get some carpet/interior adhesive and glue it back.

Cruise, mine doesn't seem to work either. I'll fix it at some point. It's not horrible I don't think to fix based on what I've seen posted out here, just not highest on my list yet. I'll get to it.