What's it worth ? Numbers matching 400hp 427. all original survivor in #2-3 condition. Engine is out of car. 4 speed, Ac, Pb, Ps white no hard top. No hit No rust. I will get pics

 

Hagerty says...
'68 L68 Roadster in #2 excellent condition..$69,400. #3 good..$38k.
Add 10% for the 4-speed, $2k for A/C & $2500 for P/S.

Motor out...price accordingly....

 

No rust is easy, since the body is fiberglass (with steel re-enforcement throughout). No rust on the frame is a big deal, and a huge bonus, but that hardly ever happens.

Even C3's (and C2's) that spent most or all of their lives in a dry climate will generally have some surface rust. If it spent any amount of time in the Midwest or East coast and was driven all year around (as they often were back in the day) there will be rust issues. It is commonplace in these generations. The box frames the bodies sit on are of an inferior design that were inadvertently designed to trap water and moisture of all types, mud, snow, salt, etc etc.

The chassis/frame condition will absolutely affect value, either way, depending on condition - Therefore, it is impossible to accurately value without knowing the condition of the frame.

 

I am going to molest the car tomorrow I will also take and post pics. Is there anything specific to look at on a 68?

 

I am reading that all L68 427-400HP had three twos is this correct?

 

 

A boat-load of stuff you should be looking at, especially in a 68. Take a LOT of pictures. Get a clear close shot of the engine pad.

 

I think that with the removed engine, you should consider it as completely non-running in all aspects. The engine could need a complete rebuild, the trans and differential could be shot, the AC operation is unknowable, front and rear suspension, and brake condition can't be tested. As it sits, I'd say it's a $7500-$10,000 hit to "going prices". When the seller says that it was all 100% operational when the engine was pulled has no value. Tell him you'll send an extra $5000 when the engine is reinstalled and all of those components are shown to work with no issues.

 

sixpack - correct :d

 

Get a very close look at the frame if you can (bring a bore scope if you have one), and pay special attention toward the rear, and around the trailing arms. Rust tends to accumulate there, but it can really be anywhere. If you can, remove the kick panels and inspect the bottom of the birdcage.

Beware of undercoating - undercoating is a great concealer of rust. If the frame and birdcage (at least what you can see - full view of birdcage requires dash and window trim removal - sellers won't let you do that), then everything else is pretty much gravy.

Again, it is impossible to accurately determine value without knowing the condition of the frame and birdcage. Do no overlook it.

 

If it seems to good to be true well it probably is. I was so disappointed I didn't even take one pic. The car was not a L68 it was the 390 Hp. As soon as the owner said it came out of Ohio I was headed for the garage door.

 

What's wrong with O H I O ??

 

Potential destruction of the frame and birdcage of the Corvette, due to the usage of road salt...........

 

Still worth a look, right? I have seen and owned rust belt cars with excellent frames and birdcages and seen SW area cars with bad birdcages and frames. It's all in how they are taken care of. I bought an 82 Collector out of Ohio. Best frame I have ever seen on an old Corvette. Basically, the car never moved in weather and was kept in a climate controlled environment.

The 390 horse is a great motor and the same as the 400. You just have 2 less carbeurators to mess with.

 

Indeed, however, it really doesn't matter where the car is located now. It matters where the car was located the first 5-10 years of its life and whether it was driven all year around as they often were back in the day. Those are the critical years, as I doubt there are many C3s in the rust belt that are driven all year around these days.

It's really not all about how well it was cared for, because I don't think that many owners way back when knew to power wash the underside of their C3s every time after driving it in the snow. That would have been the only way to mitigate the issue, or just not drive it in the snow at all.

The overall mentality was very different back when these cars were new - most drove them as cars, and not as fair whether cars only. The Summer, Fall, fair weather-only car is a relatively new mindset probably from the mid-80's on, if I were to guess - Especially so with C3 (and C2) owners who understand the inferior design of these steel box frames which tend to collect stuff that shouldn't be in there (snow, water, mud, salt, etc etc).

Example - If the car was originally a So Cal car for it's first 30 years, and was moved to OH 20 years ago, then that's probably just fine. If it's been an Arizona car for the past 30 years, but spent its first 20 years in Ohio, that's very likely going to be an issue.

I suspect all of those SW area frames you referred to were probably East Coast or Midwest cars driven all year round during the first few years and were migrated to the SW at some point - the issue with that is that the damage is already done.

Exception would be a West Coast car improperly stored in a seaside town with salt in the air. However, there is nothing like the damage done by road salt - nothing is even close.

 

As I had said the engine was out of the car and it had had some kind of fire wall repair on the drivers side trans tunnel and foot well. Also the passenger side headlight assembly was not the right year. Had one repaint not that good. The owner was not trying to hide anything when he said Ohio I looked at him and said in disgust Ohio oh no and he said yeah the frame has some rust. The car is at a friends warehouse and will be for some time. I could get pics if anyone is interested but I'm out

 

I can see where folks in OH would be a bit offended by that little statement. But I think what you REALLY mean is the fear of the car being driven in the snow with all that salt, as ALL states in the Rust Belt/East Coast do salt roads during the snowy season. Not that you are actually disgusted with Ohio in general and communicating that, because that would be lame and provincial.

 

This 65 was my daily driver in the early 70's in the Boston area. Yes, I drove it in the snow and salt. Still have it and the frame only had 1 rust area, on the driver's side kickup. Easy fix when I did the frame off in 96. You never know until you inspect them thoroughly.

 

Let me be perfectly clear I have no problem with the state of Ohio never been there they tell me its nice. I have always tried to stay away from cars from eastern states. Not many that were drivers there for any length of time back in the heavy salt years are any good. I read somewhere that they quit the salt in a lot of states because it was ruining the state road equipment

 

My car came out of Maine. No rust frame externally and beautiful body mounts. It just depends on how the owners cared for their cars. No one in my area drove corvettes in the winter....it was a blue collar town and we all know about rust.

Downside is the internal side of the frame will rust in any humid climate...cant get around that