You have received some good advice about buying a C3. You will never get good photos from a seller of the important areas that must be checked for rot. It takes enough effort that a seller won't even try and if they do and see rot they will try to explain it away ("I can't get the camera to focus on it but it looks good"). There were enough of these cars made and since you are looking to do a restomod build you should be able to find a car within a few hours drive time to be able to go look at it in person armed with information from this forum, flashlights, a borescope, a camera, and a written checklist so you won't forget what to look for.

In regards to this 1974, it has been touched a lot. As someone pointed out it just has been sitting so long it looks like original patina. I put red arrows on your photo to the first couple things that I noticed as soon as I saw the photo. Again, you are going to restomod so you are really just looking for a solid roller to build off of so this won't matter but it should be something you know so you can properly assess a C3 and also make a business transaction (haggle price).

#1 - The fiberglass strip running across the cowl area was black from the factory. The paint from the fenders feathers off as it hits this strip. The subject car is orange there indicating the car was repainted. Any car for sale in rattle can primer is always a big alarm for me as it shows a lack in ability for an owner to complete a project and usually when it regarding paint it was something they never had the time or knowledge to do. What else is covered up on this car? Since you want to do body and paint yourself how much damage is below the rattle can primer that you will find when you do the bodywork? How much damage or really bad amateur fiberglass repair work is underneath? What will those surprises set you back in time, effort, and money?

#2 - The car is a 1974. The engine was painted orange by Chevrolet as the factory. Block, heads, intake, timing cover, water pump, etc. All orange. During the 1977 production year Chevrolet changed to blue for the engines. 95% of people that paint an engine for their vintage high performance car paint the engine orange. Even 1978+ engines get repainted orange. So why is this 74s engine blue? The back of the water pump and the timing cover tin are blue as well as the intake manifold and even the distributor shield's uprights. Most common reason it is blue is because it isn't the original engine. It's been swapped. With what and why?

#3 - That car didn't get repainted and have the engine replaced at 15,000 miles from new. True Mileage Unknown.

Again, This is just some more information to think about in your quest for a project car. Best of luck with the search and enjoy the learning process.

 

Hey dude, thank you so much for this detailed reply! I’m gonna keep my eyes peeled for any listing and try posting a wanted ad on this forum as another user noted.