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I am looking at this car for my 16 year old son. Pretty cool that he likes corvettes. Pre-smog year for us Californians. All its time, it has been a California car. Also, headers and side pipers were recently installed. Yeah, there is some work to do to get it road worthy. Its only recently been parked outside. I will have to address some things before he can take it out. I want to make sure to upgrade the steering box, prime it and see if we can get it road worthy.
Very nice. He will be "the man" with that car. I find that the younger crowd likes my C3 more than my C2.
And, I agree, under the body, the C3 is very similar to a C2. Get new vacuum hoses and go through the vacuum system and the car will be nice. The Doc sells the best set of vacuum hoses.
Three pedals! Good for him. Please get the A/C working during the the rebuild. He"ll give you an extra thank you Dad in the end.
Good luck with your father and son project. You are a blessed dad to have the opportunity.
When I got engaged back in 1979, the first thing I did was buy a Corvette for my (then) future bride. It was the twin to your car, a white, saddle interior, 74 L-82 4 speed with steering and AC, but her's had manual brakes. It was a very clean, one owner 33000 mile car. I added 69 factory side pipes to it, along with a few other minor tweaks. We later traded it in on a new charcoal gray 81.
Good luck with your father son project, it looks like a decent car to start with. Both of my kids have a passing interest in cars, if for no other reason than being around me for 30+ years, but neither ever got interested enough to want to get dirty, working on them with me.
This weekend, we went out to take another look at it.
The engine turned over fine using a 5/8s socket.. He used a jump pack to see if the starter would grab which it did. Apparently, the last time it fired up was last spring. We lifted the rear end up and checked out the birdcage from where we could see it. Its not rusted at all. The rear end has a leak. It looks like the clutch and oil pan was worked on since it was all cleaned up. I checked the VIN with the engine stamp and it matches. The radio and the power windows were working.
The things that needed some work:
The seat tracks were removed. Seat covers are pretty rough so those will need to be replaced at some point. The driver side door latch would not unlatch the door. My son said he looked at the fuel line and it looked fine. Not sure with that one since he could not see the entire line. Not a deal breaker if we had to replace the fuel line. The first thing that has to be addressed is the brakes. The rear brake lines were in the middle of getting replaced. I could not fire it up at all but I feel confident we can get it running. The cooling system needs to be addressed. My buddy owns a speed shop so plenty of parts in his shop plus he can order any parts we need for the engine. My older son said he can rebuild the quadra jet if needed.
All of the cooling parts were there (shroud, fan and so forth). There were an extra set of rally wheels with new tires there too.
My concern is my son driving it at the age of 16. Yeah, he is an inexperienced driver. This weekend, I took him out to an area where there were no other cars to learn how to drive a manual (my 62 corvette). At some point, I told him to pull over and get out. He kept bucking us around. He never got out of 1st gear. Its a process to learn how to drive a stick. It will take some time before he will get the hang of it.
When I got engaged back in 1979, the first thing I did was buy a Corvette for my (then) future bride. It was the twin to your car, a white, saddle interior, 74 L-82 4 speed with steering and AC, but her's had manual brakes. It was a very clean, one owner 33000 mile car. I added 69 factory side pipes to it, along with a few other minor tweaks. We later traded it in on a new charcoal gray 81.
Good luck with your father son project, it looks like a decent car to start with. Both of my kids have a passing interest in cars, if for no other reason than being around me for 30+ years, but neither ever got interested enough to want to get dirty, working on them with me.
Would you let your kids drive your corvette? How was the speed compared to the 62? I would think the 250 hp would not be the same at all. Plus, its 48 years old so loss of HP would be expected.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Speed is always a factor, the horsepower just lets you get there faster. Make sure the brakes work as best they can and he should do fine. As in every sport I used to do going fast is the easy part, stopping is the hard part.
Does the price reflect the condition of the car and how does the paint look. Being that yo are a C1 kinda guy you know the paint and body work costs are about the same as a good few semesters of college. If you get it start a rebuild thread
Speed is always a factor, the horsepower just lets you get there faster. Make sure the brakes work as best they can and he should do fine. As in every sport I used to do going fast is the easy part, stopping is the hard part.
Does the price reflect the condition of the car and how does the paint look. Being that yo are a C1 kinda guy you know the paint and body work costs are about the same as a good few semesters of college. If you get it start a rebuild thread
The paint looks fine... I has not been resprayed. The birdcage looks great from what I can see. The brakes are the number one thing to get working properly. There is a crack in the rear passenger side plastic bumper corner. It did not go into the fiberglass. There are a couple of small bubbles on the corner of the hood where the brake booster sits. The passenger side has some cracks in the paint but underneath there is no apparent bodywork done other than factory bonding. Overall its in good condition. I am sure the fender cracks were from driving too big of tires. I am not too concerned with those cracks.
I think we can get it for about 5k as it sits.
yeah, I did the complete frame off and started off with a basket case. My user really started in 2000 when I first got my corvette pieces and parts. Noland Adams was the first person who told me to buy it. I was able to talk to him in 1999 about the parts. It was he who told me to get it and go from there. I am sure a lot of you would have passed or sold it off as a parts car.
Congratulations, father son projects are the best. These are the precious years, cherish them. I did a '55 Chevy with my son when he was 16 as well. He's 40 now and still a motorhead. If I could make one suggestion, don't do a frame off. Get it mechanically sound and safe first, even if it looks like a rolling wreck. Kids have little patience, and will get discouraged looking at a pile of parts with noting to drive. Then do smaller projects to get it in shape, that won't keep it off the streets for more than a week at a time. If you can't find a little Honda or something with a stick to practice with, find a long deserted street that's a slight downgrade, which will make it easier to learn how to use a clutch.
Congratulations, father son projects are the best. These are the precious years, cherish them. I did a '55 Chevy with my son when he was 16 as well. He's 40 now and still a motorhead. If I could make one suggestion, don't do a frame off. Get it mechanically sound and safe first, even if it looks like a rolling wreck. Kids have little patience, and will get discouraged looking at a pile of parts with noting to drive. Then do smaller projects to get it in shape, that won't keep it off the streets for more than a week at a time. If you can't find a little Honda or something with a stick to practice with, find a long deserted street that's a slight downgrade, which will make it easier to learn how to use a clutch.
There is no need to do a frame off with this project. Its about 90% complete. There are some things we have to address but nothing that should take too long to get it back on the road. We agreed on a price so its 5,500.00 including an extra set of rally wheels with new tires. I taught my older son how to drive my corvette in a safe place. I already started with my younger son. We had to stop early since he just kept bucking it in first gear. He will get the hang of it...
We should pick it up in a couple of weeks. At the moment, my brother-in-law is using my trailer. Definitely not a frame off.
I think for another 1k, we can get it back on the road if we plan on upgrading the power steering. Anything else would be cosmetic. It needs the back and front bumpers repainted. The carpet and seats needs to be replaced.
Things I saw:
The rear brake line and fuel line is in a box. The rear brake line had been removed.
The fuel line is still there so not sure what the owner thought needed to be done. It has a new gas tank.
The rear end is leaking probably from sitting too long.
The parking brake was somewhat working.
The key was stuck in the Ignition.
The front bumper cover was removed.
Fan and shroud was removed.
Fan belts were removed.
Driver outside door handle would not unlatch the door. (inside worked fine)
Seat tracks were removed.
No battery.
What I know:
The engine turned over.
The power windows worked.
Radio cassette worked.
Starter worked.
Shifted into 1,2,3,4
No frame or birdcage rust
Oil pan was replaced (new paiint).
The stainless steel header pipes had shown signs of heat.
I was told by the son that his dad took out the fan and shroud so he could replace the front brake lines. That work was done.
We did not try to start it...
its not a rolling wreck. Its an unfinished project.
you will need both bumpers. that rear one looks original. the urethane was crap 73 thru early 75. they just start breaking up in chunks. the fact it hasn't yet says it was an inside storage car most of it's life. the corner crack may be the first step. i would get the 80-82 rear bumper. much more attractive than the 74-79 style.
you will need both bumpers. that rear one looks original. the urethane was crap 73 thru early 75. they just start breaking up in chunks. the fact it hasn't yet says it was an inside storage car most of it's life. the corner crack may be the first step. i would get the 80-82 rear bumper. much more attractive than the 74-79 style.
It was stored in his dad's shop for several years. A few months ago, his son moved it to his house after he had died. We will remove the rear bumper and see how brittle it is.
I know not a C1/C2
