Hello new friends!

I'm new here and thinking about "doing it" for the first time! (IT being buying a classic Corvette, which I've always fantasized about but never taken any action on). I would REALLY appreciate some input as I am quite clueless. I'll share a little about me, a bit about the car I'm coveting, and then some of my questions/concerns/worries. Any input you can provide will be so very helpful and appreciated!

Me: female, 56, retired, fairly conservative in my decision making and past vehicle choices, clueless about cars in general let alone classic Corvettes, but interestd and eager to learn! Looking to add a little extra fun and excitement to my life, a new hobby and way to connect with people and just enjoy retirement. married, husband also retired, pretty good with basic car stuff but with no knowledge or experience with Vettes (also willing to learn). I've always admired the older Corvettes and often said, "one day, maybe..." but never taken any steps to research it or make it happen. Then, "The Car" finds me through a friend of a friend and seems like just the right thing (at just the right time) if I'm ever going to actually "do it!" For me this would be a hobby, social activity and fun ride, not a show car.

The Car: '74 Stingray coupe, 350, automatic, A/C, all original (except rubber bumpers have been replaced and has had some work on the A/C), 20k miles, single owner (now 85 years old), mostly stored for the past 20 years but started regularly. Owner was an auto mechanic at one time so knows cars and seems to have been diligent in basic maintenance (batteries, fluids, etc). The engine sounds great, it runs very smooth, frame looks good. We have not been able to get "in" to explore the bird cage. Needs new mufflers and that's the only thing the owner is aware of needing to be done. One small oil leak noted. Mechanic that works on it said it would be good to replace some of the rubber parts (gaskets?? whatever those are. LOL).

Downsides/concerns: Don't know how to assess bird cage without removing trim pieces which I don't think the owner will want us to do - how risky is it to buy without doing this first? It was stored in a dirt-floor pole building in Iowa, so lots of temp and moisture changes through the years so what added concerns does that raise? There was a cat in the pole barn that left many vertical scratches in the paint especially on the driver's side (he said he kept it covered but apparently the cat was under the cover or claws went through it). Quite a bit of rock chipping on the passenger side as it was driven on gravel roads. Step back 20 feet and it looks quite good! Up close, the paint is pretty scruffy. Quote for a paint job is almost as much as the purchase price. Not sure if the value of a paint job would offset the value of it being original? Would probably just plan to live with the paint as is. How much would it cost to replace all the rubber stuff that likely needs replaced due to age/storage? What are the biggest risks for big, unexpected expenses on this car? And is the price fair (he's asking 22k).

Again, any input would be so very helpful at this stage. Thanks so much!!

Deb
Wanna-Be Vette Owner

 

runs drives stops half the battle..
obviously rust.. take many pictures for opinions..
concerns?
- vermin and chewed up wires
- 22k is to me needing no repairs ac works.. and 5 foot paint...at a min.
- you must DIY or it becomes expensive fast.. rubber usually means all brake lines, leak checks calipers and bushings front and rear..
- tires i am sure need to be changed..


just a few..
we all would love pics

 

Hello, and hopefully welcome to the family. Just my two cents. I would never buy a C3 Corvette without inspecting the birdcage. I had a 73 years ago and got burnt. I assumed everything would be acceptable but after purchasing I found the cage was very rusty. Too expensive to fix so I sold it and paid the extra money for my current 72. You can look down the windshield side pillars to see if there are any rust stains. The kick panels on the driver and passenger side are very easy to remove. Just be careful not to bend them too hard or the old plastic may crack. Hopefully there will just be some dirt and no major rust. Pic below is an example of a nice 50 year old without evidence of cage rust.

 

Thank you, I really appreciate your input! I uploaded some pictures, but I don't have any of the engine or frame up close (should have taken some, but of course I was focused on aesthetics!). It does have new tires on it so that's a plus. I neglected to mention that everything (except the clock) is in good working order. The headlights pop right up, smoothly and evenly. The owner says he kept lots of traps set around it and I didn't see any indication of mouse chewing on the interior.

 

Thank you, that's helpful. I'm a little worried about offending the owner by asking about taking a part off to look underneath. But this is the biggest concern I have about a major unanticipated expense item. Would taking it to a Chevy dealership be the best way to do this in a safe way??

 

Welcome! You could be my twin sister!

I thought the price was much too high for that car (I just spent months exhaustively searching for 1969 manual transmission models), and did a quick check on Hagerty’s website, which confirms that. There is, of course, additional value to single owner cars.

One of these old cars that have sat for a long time always raises red flags. You definitely need someone to inspect the birdcage and frame for rust. Even if the car isn’t rusty, there are likely a lot of things to fix.

You mentioned the paint. My newly purchased 1969 coupe has the original paint and interior. It looks great from a few feet back, but there are scratches, discoloration, and other signs of wear on the car. I personally don’t mind it. You have to love the paint, because repainting a Corvette is very expensive (as you’re learning). It’s very time intensive to prepare the old, curvy fiberglass for a new paint job.

I, too, lack mechanical expertise. I personally, would pass, especially for that price. I think you can get a very nice 1974 for that price or less. If it’s a rust free, corrosion free, no-hit body, you can live with the paint, and you have your eyes wide open about how much money and time it would take to get it in the condition you want (the interior and wiring, for example, may need replacing, then you have all of the belts, hoses, fuel system, vacuum, etc.,), it’s worth negotiating price.

 

Hi, not sure a Chevy dealer would be able to help but you can try. There are a few dealers around that probably have some older mechanics that may be familiar with these older cars. Maybe call around and ask. Are there any classic car shops in your area? If the current owner is a former mechanic removing the kick panels should be a breeze. Just remove the sill plate and then only a screw or two holds the panel in place. A flashlight and camera will tell allot. I would think the owner would accommodate. Again, I would never purchase a C3 without a corrosion inspection of the entire vehicle. Good luck and load up some pictures.

 

automatic sitting and bad paint no way 20k or 22k. To give you an idea, we just bought a 74 coupe AC, PW, PS, PB, 4 speed, numbers matching, leather, tilt/telescopic wheel L82 coupe pretty much all there except front brake calipers. Original paint for the most part (fender was repaired at some point). Even has newly installed hooker stainless steel headers and side pipes. Needs AC work. All for 5,500.00 USD. I can tell you the birdcage is in perfect shape being a California car (by California norcal valley). Even has a working cassette deck.
Keep shopping. Also bought it from an mechanic... Now, I would say he was not a body man. Not sure if he did the work or not. We are the third owner and it has stayed about in a 30 mile radius.

By just less than 2 months ago.

Birdcage... Easy look underneath in front of the rear wheel wells. thats the kickups. You can see the birdcage also a good chance to look at the frame. The rust on the frame should give you a good idea from there. Any excessive rust on the frame will pretty much tell the story about the birdcage. Also look around the glass windshield area. Look for any new paint or rust bubbling up. You can kind of tell from there too. The other place to look is underneath between the frame rails and the body. Take a good LED light and check those areas. Look for the VIN stamp on the engine front pad and compart it to the VIN. Things to look for is all.

 

You’re just a bit younger than me. I may not have fully digested your post. But.
I always loved cars & of course a vette is The American Sports Car. A C3 is the ‘real’ vette for me.
But when I dove in, I bought a C6 Grand Sport. All the looks, curves, beauty of a C3, but a modern, high performance, reliable, very comfortable Vette.
Maybe consider it.

 

Thank you! I really appreciate you sharing your experience and thoughts on this!

 

Thank you. That's definitely something for me to consider!

 

Thank you, that's great information!

 

If i was in the market for a c3..i would spend some time in the c3 for sale section here.
i would find a longer term member and posting history of the car..other than on site inspection, that is a hell of a lot of history.

 

This is all good advice. If you have a budget of $20k for a drivable, non-show condition C3, especially one with an automatic transmission, you have a lot of options. Chevy made tens of thousands of these every year year of the C3 generation. Just in 1974 alone, Chevy made 37,502 cars, 32,028 of which were coupes. Knowing the numbers is one thing that gave me perspective on my car search. Chevy made over 38,700 cars in 1969, the year I was interested in. The shorter production run for the 1970 model still yielded 17,316 cars. In 1979, Chevy manufactured a record 53,807 cars. This is to underscore that, while there are certainly some rare C3s, this one isn’t (and my 1969 L46 isn’t, either).

This one may turn out, too, but you need to have a classic car mechanic take a look at it thoroughly. If the needed work is doable to you, and the seller is flexible on the price, it could work. But, as-is for anywhere near $20k is too much for this car.

Another good research source is Bring a Trailer, both current listings and past listings. While many of the cars auctioned there are out of my price range, each listing typically has over 100 photos. The comments are particularly valuable, because so many of the commenters (some of whom are members here) are super knowledgeable on C3 Corvettes, and pick up on things I wouldn’t have noticed. So, it’s one thing to research cars for sale, but quite another to figure out why two cars that look pretty much the same (to me) actually sell for wildly different prices.

For sure, don’t hesitate to post cars you are considering here. There is a wealth of knowledge here, and a lot of people here notice things from photos that I missed seeing in person.

Good luck!

 

Great perspective, thanks so much! Every post here has helped me with this. I also had a great conversation with a Vette guy tonight which was incredibly helpful! I am beginning to see the incredible wisdom of NOT buying the first Vette we look at!! So many factors to consider. While I'm still on the fence with this particular car, I've cooled off significantly and will definitely not rush this decision. Thanks again, all of you who commented, for your insights and experiences!! Deb

 

Get to know some corvette people in your area is a very good idea. They can help you find the perfect corvette for you. I have gone out and inspected a few corvettes for people who either inherited a corvette or trying to figure out a fair price. Corvette enthusiasts especially who have bought the same type of corvette (C3) will know what to look for. Now, their price might be off... For instance, me another corvette guy went over to a woman's home who inherited a 66 roadster. We both agreed it had value but our numbers were off. He said 25k and I said 35k if all of the work was done. I guess he thought as it sits and I was looking as it can drive. Now, she got another price from who knows... They told her 50k. It barely drove and lots of things were not working. No way was that corvette worth 50k. All I could tell her was good luck because it was a reach at that price. This was last year... I have not heard whether or not the corvette has sold. It sat for 6 years. She put a new battery in it and started it up without checking the oil. Right then, that was a red flag.

The worst thing for any classic corvette is to sit in a garage neglected for several years. This corvette was and showed its age.

You are towards the end of cruises and car shows. Thats another place to get some good contacts. Usually, there will be some corvette people hanging around their corvettes. Lots of people willing to help.

 

Deb
The best advice I can offer is to do your homework on these cars as you have been doing. There are a lot of them out there, from junk to totally restored. You need to know what the history of the car is if possible. If someone says the engine, rear end, etc have been rebuilt ask by who and what was done. Most don't know how to rebuild a vette specific unit like a diff, box, trailing arms but try anyway by watching Youtube and the results may be not so good, yet they represent it as "rebuilt" I have a differential in house now, guy got with the car as "rebuilt" sent it to me to check and it's a mismatch of parts, poorly assembled and needing to be correctly built again but it was "rebuilt".

The same applies to body and paint work. Look at the metal in the car, top to bottom. I knew a guy who flipped C3's all the time. He got them cleaned up very nice, underneath they looked like the Titanic. There is an old saying in cars, "you want to sell it fast, paint it resale red"

If you have any questions on the drivetrain just reach out to me, I have been rebuilding them for 45 years.

Check with local corvette clubs, you may find the only tool they pick up are checkbooks, but you might find some technical people in them.

I used to host seminars at Carlisle covering how to correctly rebuild the drivetrain and spot some of the cons people pull every day. I stopped going there but do host them in CT if you are close, you're welcome to come. Next one won't be until next summer though.

Take your time, prices have gone up but that has happened before. The economy is not good, and it looks like it's not going to be any better in 23 so that might affect sales. Don't rush in, ALL CORVETTES need work. The absolute perfect ones don't come up for sale much and the price reflects it. The projects and poor cars come up all the time riding the current high price wave.

 

Cost of replacing “all the rubber parts” for me was $6,000(plus upgrades on top of that). This was on a 78 with 17k original miles on it. Paid $12,000 for it on fleabay 11 years ago. It was local so I got to inspect it and take it for a test drive. It had been garaged for the previous 10-15 years. Everything except the clock worked. Carpeting had so little wear it still made dust bunnies. Rubber goes bad even if it’s not used; and these cars have a long list of them. Also dissimilar metals with just a little bit of humidity corrode over time. Lots of things will work ok on a test drive, but will show up when you drive it more. Parts I never thought of ahead of time; hoses, belts, bushings and tires obviously; also shocks, harmonic balancer, front/rear main seals, tranny/diff seals, u-joints, carb, heater core, electrical connections, clock, and the list goes on. Even a simple sounding item like hoses can include brake lines, fuel lines, tranny cooler, vacuum lines. Driving a classic old Corvette is extremely pleasurable and you’ll get multiple compliments on every drive. But, old car repairs need to be as much fun for you as driving.
Charlie

 

read this. it saved my bacon...
Start at post 107
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ispreloading=1

Other than the fiberglass the corvette is just another GM vehicle. Nothing special but its parts may be specific to the model you purchase. Unfortunately todays 30 to 40 year old mechanic may not know what a carburetor is, how to do a basic front end alignment on a car that isnt in his computer controlled alignment machine, or understand anything about a vacuum system. My best advice after you purchase a vette or even before, is find a car show or two that has a lot of people our age and ask them about good local mechanics and if you have some vette guys that are not too into themselves and how great they are, ask them about body shops in case you have a scrape with a metal car.

Just because some one else owns a vette doesn't make them an expert on the car. I went to Jersey to help a member with a battery drain and another member and local vette guy had this guy selling off parts like his complete original transistorized distributor and ignition amplifier for $100 bucks because he told my buddy he thought they were junk and no one wanted them. Always get a second opinion no matter how much the guy you arre talking to believes he is Gods gift. Good luck and dont fight over who gets to drive the vette first, tell your husband to go get his own....LOL

 

Oh, and when you do buy your car find out what other yuears are compatible with your car, not all models use the same parts. THe 68 has a lot of body parts, suspension, radiator and supports, interior, steering...etc that are 68 or 67/ 68 only. 69 has a few things body whise that arre 68 and other things that go up to 72. 73 may go up to 76, not sure but you get the idea...yada yada yada. Be very careful of anything sold that spans the entire c3 generation, most likely its crap