Was thinking of purchasing this car as a project. 1974, I’m in Southern California. Guy wasn’t even thinking of selling it until I asked. Asking $6k but I can probably talk him down. He’s done some brake work. Car is registered, runs, drives. Wanted to see what you guys think. Fair deal? Needs lots of work... carb work mostly, lots of cosmetic. Bird cage seems to be in solid shape. Not a California car, so has a 350.

Paint ain’t great

Crack in front clip

Fiberglass cracked/damaged

Paint’s bad... Rear window out of alignment (hard to fix??)

 

I would pass, paint and body work will cost more than the car will be worth when finished.

Brian

 

 

3k. and that is assuming SoCal lack of rust issues. 6k will get a 74-up in pretty nice shape. that car is worth 6 if it is a 71 4-speed.

 

use the $6k and find a nice running car that has been kept up and you don't need to restore

 

I was looking at a 74 two years ago in better shape and the guy wanted $2500.00.
Offered him $1,500.00 and he passed.
He still has it sitting on his driveway.
Pass on this one unless you plan a body of resto/mod and don't care how much you need to put into it.

 

+1. unless you have a line on someone that can do body and paint for a great deal.
$10K paint jobs are not unheard of these days and that car needs a lot of repair/prep.
Sometimes the cheapest cars are the most expensive.

 

Agree with the group. At 6000.00 you cant justify the purchase of a ragged out 74 with a small block. On the other hand, I like Corvettes of all types, and I am not afraid of the word NO. I would offer 2500.00 if this was a car I was interested in and the cage, frame and engine are solid. If things go south, you could part it out and get your money back.

 

I made a mistake 17 years ago. Thought I would buy a cheap vette and fix it up as a daily driver. Was going to pull the motor and have it rebuilt. Well while it was out might as well clean up things and put a few new parts on. Not too long before I was just 8 bolts away from taking the body off....sooooo...now about 19000 bucks later I have a real nice 79 thats worth about 8000! LOL Do yourself a favor and find a nice driver that has been taken care of. I failed to listen to this advice 17 years ago. Only good thing is that I learned a lot about a 79.
PS...Im still not done. Should be on the road by August 1st....Not sure what year though.

 

^^^^^this for the win. I picked up a running '74 for $6200 that I knew needed work and thought it would be a 6 month turn around and Id be out cruising back in the spring of '15. now its the summer of 2019 and I'm in the home stretch for paint, just have to wet sand my last coat of primer and wait till fall (less humidity for a home paint job) since I'm spraying it myself. a blown head gasket turned into a complete engine job (performance up grade) and I did most of the labor and paid cost for parts as I used to work as a cylinder head specialist for the shop that did it. I rebuilt the th400 trans while out,replaced and or rebuilt the entire suspension front & back because it needed it,removed cleaned and restored the fuel tank, replaced all the brake lines,brakes,radiator,each and every rubber hose,2/3rd s of the dried out wiring harness, all the wheels and tires. did everything I could accept take the body off and I still need to do the body mounts (one side at a time). sanded the car down to base paint, replaced and or repaired over 1/3 of the cars fiberglass and did all the body work,sanding,priming and next paint. Ironically the only thing I don't have to touch is the interior because someone bought a new black interior some years before. when its all said and done I will have about $10K into it including buying it (non numbers matching cruiser) and I did all the work myself, not including all the hours of work I've done. now in the last 2 years I had personal physical set backs that kept me from working on the car so I would have been done about a year ago, but just saying its a big job and you have to commit to it if you by a project car. I always wanted a '73 and about a month and a half after I dug into my car one came up locally for sale for $7500 and it was a convertible. it needed paint (faded) and a new top and an exhaust system but it was PA inspected and running and driving. I would have surely bought it and invested the cash and time into that model and year over my '74 but "it is what it is" as they say so I'm gonna finish mine and just have fun with it. so my advice is not to take on a challenge but to just spend your money wisely and know your personal limits of what you can and can't do or afford to do. good luck!

ps- mine looked better than the one your looking (my new 17" wheels in the pic) so I'd keep looking.!