Hi,

I am new to the forum and the reason I am here is I am very much considering pulling the trigger on a 1980 Corvette. I went and looked at it and the frame is sound, I checked the frame for rust and there is no obvious signs of rust on the frame or on the floor panels. The paint and interior is what you would expect from a 42 year old car. Everything appears to work besides the drivers side door (opens from the inside but not the outside), and the speedometer/cruise control, so I can't verify the actual mileage on the car since it stopped tracking. Took it for a test drive and it drove seemingly fine with the engine making a "popping" noise at first as if it was backfiring which the owner attributed to having unleaded fuel in it vs. premium, and it did stop after it warmed up. What I am not sure on is 1) I don't have a mechanic that can verify if the engine is operating properly so if something is wrong there I would have no idea and 2) if any of the problems I described above could be an underlying issue of something major. I have the opportunity to purchase for 9K and I am having a hard time gauging if that is a fair deal or not and obviously the "unknowns" that come with purchasing a used car, so I was looking for advice, guidance if possible based on others experiences. Haggerty lists a fair car at 6,800 which seems low to me based on what I have seen other cars that are in much worse shape go for. Long story short, my father had a '71 that he wanted to restore and had to sell it before he could enjoy it, and he is older so sentimentally I want to purchase one for my enjoyment and so he can enjoy it as well when he can before it gets too old, but don't want that to cloud my judgement if it is a bad deal. Any advice will help. Thank you.

 

First, the seller is very confused. Unleaded instead of premium? Premium is unleaded as is all gas since . . . . ?
I doubt this 1980 needs premium anyway. And if it did, why didn't the seller put that in the tank?

The "popping" sound would concern me. There are two kinds of popping. One is just old crappy plugs & plug-wires saturated with oil and misfire.
The other type is a camshaft going south. Lot more money. Lot more labor.
A compression test would help verify if the cam lobes are shot. Doubtful the owner is willing to have that done.

Outer door handle is an easy fix. There will be dozens & dozens of other issues found later. Thats just part of buying any classic.

Your main concerns:
I think the oil pressure gauge reading, trans ATF smell, and any clicking sounds in the rear axle should help you decide on your offer to the seller.
Forget the upper birdcage. No seller in his right mind is going to let a total stranger start popping off windshield trim for an inspection. Not going to happen. You have to take a chance that it's not rusted. Likely 90% of C3s birdcages are ok.

 

Do you have pictures or a link to the sales ad? That would help when asking for opinions.

 

Here are some pictures

 

Sorry I meant to say regular unleaded and not just unleaded. He made it sound like it messed with the carburetor but that sounded odd to me. This is helpful. I figured as much on the birdcage.

 

A couple quick notes:
-Valve covers are L-82 which would be great if the whole engine is as well. (Optional engine with more power and better to build on), but the intake, carb and fan aren't original either so the valve covers might be add on's as well.
-The dash and steering wheel look roasted as if the car has spend many years outside. Not good news for birdcage rust. Doesn't mean it has it, but means there's a chance.

My honest opinion is you can do better for your dollar. At the $10-14k mark there are some really good 1980's out there, which imho are the best bang for the buck on the market right now. The engine may just need a carb rebuild and/or timing set...or it could need a new cam and lifters just to start. If it were an easy fix he likely would have done it himself already. Check the classifieds here. There's some really nice cars that would be worth a plane ticket to cruise back home with no worries. .02.

 

One indication that the windshield frame is rusted is when pressing on the molding it’s “spongy”. The molding looks kind of uneven. It might just be the picture. Bend down and stuck your finger in the holes in the frame. See if it’s very rough and rusty. I agree, the interior is rough. It looks like there are cracks on the dash. And too bad they stuck “Stingray” on the dash since it’s not a Stingray. I know the speedo isn’t working, but how many miles are showing?

 

The holes underneath the frame were not rusted. 73K miles are showing.

 

Hello and welcome. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about these cars as many people here, but I'm happy to chime in. First, were you already shopping for a Vette or did this one just pop up and you liked it? Second, does the car have all the features you're looking for, or would you be compromising? Birdcage rust seems to be the main thing that scares people away on these, so it would be good to look under that windshield and t-top trim of possible. All that trim is pretty easy to remove, but you would have to work that out with the seller. The paint seems to be in good shape from what I can tell. The interior pieces can all be replaced or repainted, and there are aftermarket replacement dashboards available starting at around $600. The screw holes weren't predrilled in mine and it was kind of a pain, so keep that in mind. You should drive it and see how the brakes feel and how tight the car is. Unless the owner has done so, there are probably some parts of the suspension that need replacing, and can really affect how it drives. I was surprised how tight my 1981 was when I bought it. The previous owner had replaced some of the worn steering and suspension parts and it's really fun to drive (to me at least). If you can't get a mechanic you trust to look it over, you're going to have to trust yourself on this. Maybe the owner can let you have an extended drive time? It's a 44 year old car, so there are going to be issues. You just need to try avoiding the major ones. Having this board as a resource is also a huge advantage. While there are some glass half empty posters here, most of the people are helpful and sometimes even optimists. One of the friendliest boards I've been a part of. If you want it, work out a deal you're happy with. If something feels wrong to you, then back off. If this doesn't work out, there are lots of late model C3's out there. Good luck.

 

The fan shroud is missing. That piece is critical to prevent over heating, and a bit of a challenge to install. There might be a non original electric fan in front of the radiator, but that is not the optimal way of doing it. Also, the fan itself should be a clutch fan. You should see if the A/C works. I kind of doubt it.

 

The more I look at those engine bay pictures, the higher I fly the red flag.

Without even considering the price, I look at how well a used vehicle has been taken care of. For example:

Using a heater hose to supply vacuum to the booster. But that's not all. Let's zip-tie it to a plug wire.

Several red wires running in all directions. A whole roll of electrical tape applied the ALT wire harness.

A $19.95 set of plug-wires. A carb that has not been sprayed with cleaner since 1999.

This tells me a seller has poor presentation and usually, not always may have several other bubba issues not visible.

That's too bad too. Nice paint, interior needs some work but fixable. Just poor craftsmanship. Perhaps hodge-podged to get it on the market soon. IDK

 

Spark plug wires laying on the headers and routed through them may be an indication of ‘shoddy’ DIY installation of other add-on’s.

 

What does the trim tag actually say? Ask for a picture. It is in the driver-side door frame. Codes can be checked here:

http://corvettec3.ca/interior.htm

It looks like red overspray on the part of the dash that was always black.

If you do pull the trigger, I'll have a dual-snorkel CAI system and a fan shroud for sale shortly.

Perhaps talk down the price, a lot? 1980 C3 with a red interior is peak Corvette. Everything in the engine compartment can be fixed, or made much better by doing the correct mods. If the paint looks good, and there is no rust, you are MILES ahead of most C3s.

 

Hi everyone,

So I found another '80 with 71K miles and approximately $9,300. Beautiful car and looks very well maintained and cared for by its owner and recently had the engine rebuilt with 1500 miles on the motor. The only thing that concerns me is the rust on the frame which I noted in the images. Owner did replace the floor pans and I was not able to get a view of the birdcage. My first thought is this isn't fixable and would only cause problems later and wanted some advice if possible. Thank you. Pictures are below

 

Again, poor craftsmanship, poor planning. Who runs their plug wires forward and under the Rad hose?
Not sure on what appears to be some kind of fuel pump near the water-neck. Get that gas nice and hot before going to the carb.
All that shoddy work makes me exit the building. If those types of bubba fixes are front / center, what else is lurking in dark hidden places?

 

If that 1980 runs and drives and does not have rust in the critical areas as described $9000 is OK to ask in my opinion…then offer 7000.
then you can spend the $2000 on the interior and putting the engine back to normal and buy that dual snow snorkel from @Bikespace
stay far far far away from that rust bucket number two..
and remove that hideous stingray emblem

 

1500 miles on a rebuilt engine and selling it is a flag to me. Building an engine is not cheap in machine work, parts, nor labor.

first car looks better then the second to me. Also are you set on an 80? Seems in your balpark there should be a real decent car out there.