Please Help 1974 original owner.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: North Bergen N.J.
Please Help 1974 original owner.
Hello everyone, let me thank you all for reading and any help will be appreciated.
My grandfather bought a 1974 corvette for my dad because he was the only child to have graduated college and the 1st in the family who migrated here from italy to do so. 30 years later I am trying to surprise my dad who was a teacher for 30 years, started the youth soccer program in Hoboken in 1979 and ran it on his own for 30 years also. So I take the car to what I thought was a corvette specialist. (I dont know much about cars) he does 4k worth of good body work and sits on the car for 3 years. I finally move the car to another "corvette specialist" who takes $2k to get it started. I spend another 3k to buy all the parts, master cyclinder, brake lines, rotors, calipers, brakes, air cleaner and more.
He calls me yesterday on my birthday and says," I put the car on the lift , the rotted lines means we have to take the body off, front and rear suspension is bad, front of your frame has been welded and is crooked, there is no point to continue this car on this chassis, it either buy a similar car or a rolling chassis for a complete off body restoration" ( which on a teachers salary I cant afford.)
Why wouldnt pros lift the car before putting me 8k in the whole?
a Friend of a friend said to lift the body and having the frame pulled should work being I wanted only a drivers car and not a show car.
the body comes off easy and should be a problem.
I need advice, please help.
thank you to all
My grandfather bought a 1974 corvette for my dad because he was the only child to have graduated college and the 1st in the family who migrated here from italy to do so. 30 years later I am trying to surprise my dad who was a teacher for 30 years, started the youth soccer program in Hoboken in 1979 and ran it on his own for 30 years also. So I take the car to what I thought was a corvette specialist. (I dont know much about cars) he does 4k worth of good body work and sits on the car for 3 years. I finally move the car to another "corvette specialist" who takes $2k to get it started. I spend another 3k to buy all the parts, master cyclinder, brake lines, rotors, calipers, brakes, air cleaner and more.
He calls me yesterday on my birthday and says," I put the car on the lift , the rotted lines means we have to take the body off, front and rear suspension is bad, front of your frame has been welded and is crooked, there is no point to continue this car on this chassis, it either buy a similar car or a rolling chassis for a complete off body restoration" ( which on a teachers salary I cant afford.)
Why wouldnt pros lift the car before putting me 8k in the whole?
a Friend of a friend said to lift the body and having the frame pulled should work being I wanted only a drivers car and not a show car.
the body comes off easy and should be a problem.
I need advice, please help.
thank you to all
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,084
Likes: 96
From: Bowmanville Ontario
My car had been in an accident also before I bought it. My frame was bent and welded incorrectly also;
I took it to my local body shop and they straightened the frame for $200.00. If you look really closely at the right front fender you can see it is still out by less than 1/2 inch. I don't care.
As for the brake lines, yes they run between the body and the frame. Someday I may need to deal with this also. If it does, I will pull the car apart myself. I have a slight case of ADHD so I am sure it will take me years to put it back together, but that will be in my retirement.
When the mechanic says the front end is shot, so what. You can replace the suspension a little at a time. He is telling you it's not up to today's daily driver standards...who cares. Mine is probably shot also.
Make a list of what he says NEEDS to be fixed now and what can wait. I'm pretty sure they could run the brake lines in the inside of the frame rather than on top of it the way it was done in the factory....ask him.
These cars need money, there is no way around that. I do most of the work myself because mechanics today have no clue how to fix these old cars. I had a mechanic replace the power steering control valve for me once. I knew more than he did just from this forum. I ended up pulling everything out replacing it with Steeroids instead way better system than a 40 year old design,
Good luck. Just take it one step at a time.
I told my wife I have a 15 year plan...the car will be ready when I retire. Don't bug me until then.
Ken
I took it to my local body shop and they straightened the frame for $200.00. If you look really closely at the right front fender you can see it is still out by less than 1/2 inch. I don't care.
As for the brake lines, yes they run between the body and the frame. Someday I may need to deal with this also. If it does, I will pull the car apart myself. I have a slight case of ADHD so I am sure it will take me years to put it back together, but that will be in my retirement.
When the mechanic says the front end is shot, so what. You can replace the suspension a little at a time. He is telling you it's not up to today's daily driver standards...who cares. Mine is probably shot also.
Make a list of what he says NEEDS to be fixed now and what can wait. I'm pretty sure they could run the brake lines in the inside of the frame rather than on top of it the way it was done in the factory....ask him.
These cars need money, there is no way around that. I do most of the work myself because mechanics today have no clue how to fix these old cars. I had a mechanic replace the power steering control valve for me once. I knew more than he did just from this forum. I ended up pulling everything out replacing it with Steeroids instead way better system than a 40 year old design,
Good luck. Just take it one step at a time.
I told my wife I have a 15 year plan...the car will be ready when I retire. Don't bug me until then.
Ken
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 53,986
Likes: 6,212
From: About 1100 miles from where I call home.
You kinda need a Corvette Buddy.
Is there a Corvette club nearby? You are in a spot where someone could tell you anything and you would not know what to do. I’d try to get hooked up with a C3 Corvette person or persons who could give you advice on not only your car but on local, trustworthy professional repair options.
You sound a lot like the guy on a Fantomworks episode a couple years ago. He wanted to restore a red ‘77(?) that was his deceased Dads car, as a tribute. To the shops credit, they said it wouldn’t be worth anything near what he would spend, but he was a successful restaurant owner and had no budget. He ended up spending about $100k on a car that wasn’t worth 20k when it was done. He went in with eyes (and wallet) wide open, but you should know the numbers here could get super ugly, so the need for some trustworthy, in-person, hands-on advice is critical for you right now.
side note: where in Italy is your family from?
Is there a Corvette club nearby? You are in a spot where someone could tell you anything and you would not know what to do. I’d try to get hooked up with a C3 Corvette person or persons who could give you advice on not only your car but on local, trustworthy professional repair options.
You sound a lot like the guy on a Fantomworks episode a couple years ago. He wanted to restore a red ‘77(?) that was his deceased Dads car, as a tribute. To the shops credit, they said it wouldn’t be worth anything near what he would spend, but he was a successful restaurant owner and had no budget. He ended up spending about $100k on a car that wasn’t worth 20k when it was done. He went in with eyes (and wallet) wide open, but you should know the numbers here could get super ugly, so the need for some trustworthy, in-person, hands-on advice is critical for you right now.
side note: where in Italy is your family from?
2026 Loser of the Year
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 36,600
Likes: 7,046
From: New Or-leens Loo-z-anna
NICO......I'm sorry to hear of what you have been through with the car. You should have a nearly perfect car by now with all the money you have invested into repair work. As the other members said, try to find a local Corvette club to give you advice. And the members here will be glad to advise you before you make decisions about repairs. Post pictures of the areas of the car that need repairing so the expert forum members can give you better advice.
Last edited by doorgunner; Jun 21, 2018 at 04:00 PM.
