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I’m looking to buy a new ‘69-‘79 corvette. I’m kind of new to this and was wondering if any of you had tips for buying or something to look out for (like if there’s a common issue with these cars or something you’ve learned). I’m sure this thread already exists, but I couldn’t find it. I appreciate all contributions. Thanks!
Before you get too deep into the process, I would recommend you consider the following:
What are your skills/experience in working on cars?
What are your expectations regarding how much time are you willing to invest in maintaining/repairing the car?
What is your emotional tolerance regarding dealing with unknown situations?
These cars are, on average, 50 years old. Good parts are not easy to find. Qualified mechanics willing to work on them at reasonable rates are even harder to find. If you have little to no mechanical experience and/or no time to spend working on the car, then they are not a good choice for you. On the other hand, if you do have some skills, are willing/able to devote time to research/learn/fix/etc. without upsetting yourself and your family, then owning a C3 is a wonderful experience.
So, if you are in the latter group, then educate yourself first on the birdcage.
Before you get too deep into the process, I would recommend you consider the following:
What are your skills/experience in working on cars?
What are your expectations regarding how much time are you willing to invest in maintaining/repairing the car?
What is your emotional tolerance regarding dealing with unknown situations?
These cars are, on average, 50 years old. Good parts are not easy to find. Qualified mechanics willing to work on them at reasonable rates are even harder to find. If you have little to no mechanical experience and/or no time to spend working on the car, then they are not a good choice for you. On the other hand, if you do have some skills, are willing/able to devote time to research/learn/fix/etc. without upsetting yourself and your family, then owning a C3 is a wonderful experience.
So, if you are in the latter group, then educate yourself first on the birdcage.
the corvette is a breed of its own !! If you have limited skills and have to pay someone this car will be a big challenge for you .. stick with other 70 cars that were built much better and much easier to work on if you fit that person .. you will thank me later lol
I'm 6 months into my ownership. Once the thrill of ownership wears off, you're stuck with a 50 year old car. If you have to fiance the car, you can't afford it. Every time you park it, 3 things break. If you can't fix it yourself, you can't afford this car. Thankfully you have access to the world's best tech support forum. Buy the best Vette you can afford, you'll save way more money in the end and enjoy the car right away.
Friday nights, she goes up on the jackstand for new parts. Sunday afternoon she comes down and hits the road. Something breaks and Im posting here Sunday night. Monday morning, Im ordering parts..... repeat, repeat, repeat
As said above buy the very very best C3 you can afford. If the car you are looking has had repairs or upgrades I would want to see all receipts.
Since you are new to the C3's I would have a "Vette" mechanic/body guy look at any C3 you are considering from top to bottom.
Maybe contact a local car club to find that person?
I'm 6 months into my ownership. Once the thrill of ownership wears off, you're stuck with a 50 year old car. If you have to fiance the car, you can't afford it. Every time you park it, 3 things break. If you can't fix it yourself, you can't afford this car. Thankfully you have access to the world's best tech support forum. Buy the best Vette you can afford, you'll save way more money in the end and enjoy the car right away.
Friday nights, she goes up on the jackstand for new parts. Sunday afternoon she comes down and hits the road. Something breaks and Im posting here Sunday night. Monday morning, Im ordering parts..... repeat, repeat, repeat
you are spot on Joey SS .. I been working on cars for a very long time . The corvette has to be the best looking car but without a doubt the worst car I have ever worked on . A total GM failure
Being a long time C3 Corvette owner. I couldn't disagree more with the statement above. The Corvette build quality is not much different than other cars of that era. But a number of things are different. Sometimes very different. So those not used to them get frustrated very quickly.
My car was always extremely reliable. Giving me very few troubles the first 30 or so years. That's actually pretty darn good for a 70's car.
but the last 15 years I have repaired or rebuilt just about every part of the car. I do not find this upsetting. It's old! It was never designed to last this long.
That said. If I had to pay someone every time something needed repair. I just couldn't have it.
Great, valuable advice from above so I’ll repeat! I’ve personally owned five aircraft and have been involved in purchasing and operation many more. A good experience that meets your expectations starts with a very good inspection and purchasing the best example that you can. My 71 was certainly a project but had an amazing structure and was very original and complete.
For all of its flaws I really enjoy my C3 for what it is.
Just one more thought. I don't know your height/weight and I don't mean to offend but have you sat in a C3? I did a frame on restore of a 71 vert. It went down the road great. But I'm a bit over 6'2" at about 220. The 71 was a bit cramped for me leg room wise. Head room was ok with the top down.
There’s been a number of opinions offered in this thread… most are helpful and some, while could be argued fervently, aren’t going to be agreed upon all the time.
I don’t believe the Corvette is a mechanical failure. It’s a specific, unique bird, but as it’s been around since the 50s, most everything that’s gonna break on them have. And essentially nothing is unfixable unless your frame rusts in half -but then again, you can fix that too.
Im also going to disagree that if you can’t fix these cars yourself, you can’t afford them. If you make a stupid purchase or foolishly buy a project car, well, maybe. Or if your budget isn’t ready for an old car, maybe not. But if you stick to the golden rule of “buy as much car as you can afford,” then find yourself a trustworthy shop and understand you are gonna have a long term relationship with them. There may be things you can learn to fix if you want to, but I’ve had 19 corvettes since the 70s and I’d never describe myself as a mechanic. I know many other owners who were the same.
Dont be chased away by thinking you need to become a mechanic if that’s not something you want.
You don't need to be a mechanic to own a C3. My skill level prior was "oil change" guy. This is my 6 months ownership repair list.
***Repairs completed***
Fuel Pump - leaking gas
Rubber fuel lines - swollen
Fuel filter
Oil/filter change
Borgeson power steering
Brake hoses
Brake line light/distribution block - leak
Power busbar in engine compartment - electric fan
Painless electric relay harness - resolve overheating
Thermostat and flush cooling system
Alternator bracket - snapped in half
Radio/speakers
Master cylinder gasket - freshen up
Oil pressure sending unit - leaking
Coolant temperature sensor connector - broken
Intake manifold bolts leak - thread seal
***repairs that need to be done***
Transmission rubber hoses
Gas tank sock
Snubber bushing
Carb Rebuild - gasket seeping
AC
Seatbelts - rusted
Front end suspension
Speedo cable
Starter heat shield
Starter
Coolant cap
Battery
Luggage rack rust
Adjust T-top
Adjust window
Clean and lube door locks
Valve cover and gasket
Transmission fluid, gasket, filter
Rebuild window motor
This was a nice running and driving car. Dealer wanted $18,000, dropped to $13,000 after 5 months. I offered $11,500 cash. Did I expect the repair list? No. But at the end of the day, I got the exterior/interior options that I wanted. I don't regret it.
Being a long time C3 Corvette owner. I couldn't disagree more with the statement above. The Corvette build quality is not much different than other cars of that era. But a number of things are different. Sometimes very different. So those not used to them get frustrated very quickly.
My car was always extremely reliable. Giving me very few troubles the first 30 or so years. That's actually pretty darn good for a 70's car.
but the last 15 years I have repaired or rebuilt just about every part of the car. I do not find this upsetting. It's old! It was never designed to last this long.
That said. If I had to pay someone every time something needed repair. I just couldn't have it.
build quality is the same as other 70’s cars 😮 I’m sorry it’s not even close to other 70’s muscle cars .
I’m sorry it’s not even close to other 70’s muscle cars .
Can't prove it by me, my 80 Camaro was awful, then there was a 76, Look at the Mustangs from that period, 74-83 are hardly called muscle cars and barely considered classic, more like junk-I had a 79... This is the period when Detroit lost a huge market share to Japan because their cars were better designed and actually worked-(better build quality)...
Im also going to disagree that if you can’t fix these cars yourself, you can’t afford them. If you make a stupid purchase or foolishly buy a project car, well, maybe. Or if your budget isn’t ready for an old car, maybe not.
Not everyone has the disposable income or a budget to have everything that goes wrong with these cars fixed in a shop. Your average repair shop these days has almost zero experience with cars from this era and probably less with Corvettes so one can either pay them to learn on your car or go to a corvette specialty shop and they are expensive. Look at Joey's list below, and figure out what that work would cost @135.00/hour, and most of that is not big dollar issues but would still add up be a lot of hours....Add in the occasional trailing arm or some other corvette specific repair and the Dollar amount will really grow and I dare say it will grow to where owning a 15K classic car is just not worth that kind of outlay...at least to me and I could afford it if I wanted to. Anyone who drives their car often can expect a number of issues every year, and even normal maintenance will add up...
Joey's list: ***Repairs completed*** Fuel Pump - leaking gas Rubber fuel lines - swollen Fuel filter Oil/filter change Borgeson power steering Brake hoses Brake line light/distribution block - leak Power busbar in engine compartment - electric fan Painless electric relay harness - resolve overheating Thermostat and flush cooling system Alternator bracket - snapped in half Radio/speakers Master cylinder gasket - freshen up Oil pressure sending unit - leaking Coolant temperature sensor connector - broken Intake manifold bolts leak - thread seal
***repairs that need to be done*** Transmission rubber hoses Gas tank sock Snubber bushing Carb Rebuild - gasket seeping AC Seatbelts - rusted Front end suspension Speedo cable Starter heat shield Starter Coolant cap Battery Luggage rack rust Adjust T-top Adjust window Clean and lube door locks Valve cover and gasket Transmission fluid, gasket, filter Rebuild window motor
To me, working on a Corvette is like Zen and the art of Corvette maintenance. And that's one of the key words -- Maintenance. A lot of Corvettes have "Deferred Maintenance" ...meaning too many wear items haven't been replaced over the years. I think what others are saying, is be selective and find one which HAS had many wear items restored/replaced/inspected. Than you are likely to have fewer issues to deal with.
OTOH.... there's no better way to learn than by doing. And if you like learning about cars/maintenance/resoration...then there's nothing wrong with a solid (key word there) project as long as you know what you're getting into.
Go drive a few and see what you think. The seating arrangement is very different. If it doesn't suit you, I would suggest considering a mid to late 70's Trans Am, or even one of the newer (revival) pony-cars.
The 82 Corvettes, although not in your year range, are going to most likely ride smoother, and be the best drivers due to being lighter, fiberglass rear leaf spring, EFI (as long as it's running right), and the OD transmission. Just the OD transmission almost makes an 82 worth consideration. If you like the looks of the shovel-nose-vettes.
I'm lucky enough to have the tough choice to drive the 80 Camaro with very nice LS3/4L60E swap. The Camaro goes down the road quite well. But it doesn't hold a candle to our 20 Mustang GT vert with a 5.0 10 speed auto combo.
The Camaro is local car show hot rod.
The Mustang is our long distance rod rod. Cooled seats and ac is sweet when it's 80 plus temp wise.
Go out and drive a C3 and then drive a late model hot rod.
To me, working on a Corvette is like Zen and the art of Corvette maintenance. And that's one of the key words -- Maintenance. A lot of Corvettes have "Deferred Maintenance" ...meaning too many wear items haven't been replaced over the years. I think what others are saying, is be selective and find one which HAS had many wear items restored/replaced/inspected. Than you are likely to have fewer issues to deal with.
OTOH.... there's no better way to learn than by doing. And if you like learning about cars/maintenance/resoration...then there's nothing wrong with a solid (key word there) project as long as you know what you're getting into.
Go drive a few and see what you think. The seating arrangement is very different. If it doesn't suit you, I would suggest considering a mid to late 70's Trans Am, or even one of the newer (revival) pony-cars.
The 82 Corvettes, although not in your year range, are going to most likely ride smoother, and be the best drivers due to being lighter, fiberglass rear leaf spring, EFI (as long as it's running right), and the OD transmission. Just the OD transmission almost makes an 82 worth consideration. If you like the looks of the shovel-nose-vettes.
Your post resonates with me. Mine is a 69 that was previously raped and pillaged beyond belief. I am in the middle of my restore and am basically rebuiding the ENTIRE car. But I am a stage in life and have the room to do it. It is a total bad idea financially but I am into the Zen of it. I will be so under water financially in the end I can't even fathom where I would be if I had someone else doing it all. I am outsourcing some but doing pretty much all the wrenching myself. Not for everyone, I get it...but I am loving it. Am probably still a year or two away from firing it up for a test drive....but oh what a day it will be. That said...I view it as a project that will literally never end. As for "deferred maintenance" mine certainly fits that bill. The resources out there to help are incredible. All ya need is time, money, a bit of skill, and patience...did I mention money? A labor of love without a doubt.
Tips for buying
