i have finally talked my wife into a vette because we have been car shopping for a while and dont like any other car out there.. and we can't afford much. i am looking at getting at 72 and earlier vettes because i like the bumper style. this car will be second vehicle (she commutes on train) so there is a chance it could be driven during the weeknights and weekends, but not very many miles. However my max is about $11,000. i have found a few scatered across the nation, but what i want to know is there a year is the best value and best service records. i wanted something that I did not have to do anything to once i got it in the garage. thanks for your help. jason

 

If you go for a small block 72 coupe, I think you could get a very good car for $11k. It won't be NCRS top flight, but it would be a good driver not requiring much. But working on vettes are not hard, anyone that tells you different is an auto mechanic trying to get you to spend money at his shop. :smash:

A lot of people swear by the AIM(assembly instruction manuals), and haynes repair manual. Haynes is also good for common maintenance issues like oil changes and also gives you greese points.

PS. welcome to the pond. also goodluck with your shopping. One advice everyone will give you, is to wait and don't jump on the first one that comes along(unless its a perfect deal). And they will tell you to get the best car you can afford, they claim you'll be happier...I personally don't think you can get happier then owning a vette. A trouble free vette? whats that? Thats half the fun :jester

Daniel

 

From what you described you want it to be, best service records and won't have to do anything to once it's in the garage. I think your looking at the wrong car. Some may argue with me on this one but even low mileage 72 and olders require a lot of maintenance. After they get this old it's hard to tell what's been replaced when and etc., not only do you have the normal risks associated with buying a newer used car but also you have 30 years of time taxing on the car as well. Fortunately these vehicles are easy to work on, but don't expect to buy an old one and not have some occasional set backs with it. I know I seem to work on mine about 2 hrs for every hour of drive time and mine only had 48k on it, As I work through it I hope to get this to a 1:1 ratio.

:cheers:
Pat Kunz

 

Like what has already been said, don't buy a older Vette if you want trouble free operation. My Vette is *only* 23 yrs old and she has both her good days and bad bays.

 

73 has it right. A 30 yr. old Corvette that requires no maintance is a just a dream. Don't kid yourself.

Find something else to buy and forget the Corvette.

 

2 other optons.
1: spend less and use the surplus for the repairs that are going to be needed.
2: Assume the monthly payments for a loan are for maintenaince. Not quite that bad.

I didn't get a loan for my last car and assumed to spend some money every year for parts.
Another item that I did was call the parts stores for parts prices. You can get a catalog and do the same. I don't believe there is very much difference for this year spread. For the year spread on the DeVille I was shopping for it was substantial.
Getting a catalog will also show the parts and prices. When you go shopping you'll have an idea of what it might need compared to another choice.

BTW my understanding is the '79 can be very cheap this might be a better choice for your needs. These are also the creature comfort years.

 

thanks alot for the advice. I am very comfortable with regular maintanence. i am alway under the hood of my cherokee but not very often because something is wrong with it. are there any common problems associated with vettes or certain yrs beyond regular maintanence. thanks for the help

 

Of the chrome bumper years the 1968 was originally plagued with early problems that were resolved in 1969. These problems have been fixed in most 68 by now and can be done for realtively little money. I bought a book called how to restore and modify your corvette. The author details a complete restoration of a 1968 vette. It also has an excellent check list for buying a used C3 corvette that everyone should read and use as a checklist for common problems to avoid and save thousands. I know how the bug can get you and you end up buying the first half decent vette you find. REFRAIN. Do your homework. Shop smart. There are alot of quality early year C3 vettes out there and with vettes especially an once of prevention is worth THOUSANDS. So be patient and you will save yourself alot of heart ache and loss of cash.

 

Depending on how long ago the previous owner did it, if he did it. The brakes, the front end, the rear end, the tranny, the engine.
The brakes were done on mine before I got it. I've done the engine, front end, engine. Was told the rear end had been done but wasn't. That is next. And the tranny shifts hard so that too.

The front end is fairly cheap, the engine-well the skies the limit. brakes can be pricey. The rear end can add up fast. Not sure about the tranny yet, I don't think it will be too bad.

Do-dads can add up fast, little Corvette items,jewelry and clothes. Then there is the painful stuff like vent ***** and such. The catalog tends to get dog eared from marking items that you want to get but need somethind else.

In a 30 year old car a lot of things tend to already have been taken care of, if not they're gong to need attention.

 

I would SERIOUSLY check out cars in the for sale section here. Most of these people take far better care of their car than average!

The other advice I'd have is to seriously look at warn salt free areas of the country, I don't know where you are in Ill but Just a little further south may make a big difference in frame condition!

 

......I can understand you wanting a chrome-bumper vette, but you might consider the alternative I ended up going with. You can buy a 1973 model and later Corvette C-3 a lot cheaper than the pre-'73 models -and with probably a lot less miles on it and therefore less upkeep and breakdowns. I didn't like the urethane bumpers either, but added spoilers, sidepipes, custom wheels, new paint, and other goodies to my '74 and I couldn't be happier with any model Vette. Regards

'74 Turbocharged 350 "Molested to Perfection" , class of '71

 

so if i want to avoind major problems i need to find a C3 that has a fresh engeine, trany, brakes,rearend. i also notice alot of them have new interiors or at least new seats. are there any other common problems. what about suspension issues? thanks alot for the help

 

Corvettes are a different breed than any other run-of-the-mill car. They are held to a higher standard, rightfully so. Things like reliability, gas mileage, safety, etc. by which we would normally compare a run-of-the-mill car seems out of place (to me anyways).

When starting with my resto project, I had to keep in mind that I'm restoring a Vette and that the best and proper repairs had to be done. I couldn't bubba my way through things like I would have been tempted to if this was a lesser breed. I would like to think that the majority of other Vette owners feel the same way and approach resto or repairs the same way. The majority of guys on this Forum do. But I'm uncertain about the others out there that don't and just consider their Vettes as transportation.

So my word of advice to you is to shop for not only the best Vette that you can afford, but the best owner. By the way, since you are asking about Vettes and how they stack-up to lesser criteria:

1. They have Chevrolet engines & transmissions. Arguably, one of the toughest & reliable setups around. Will limp you home, while others may have left you stranded.

2. Suspension & braking that could rival some of today's runners. The stuff was way ahead of its time 30 years ago. These things can be updated to out-perform today's stuff.

3. Gas mileage, well if you wanted to, you have the option to build it that way. Many here still get decent mileage & good performance.

4. All normal wear/maintenance items are readily available from GM or the huge aftermarket for I think the best prices compared to any other make/model out there. This makes modifications real tempting.

 

.....as far as C-3 suspension systems go I would probably say that most of them are worn out if they haven't already been restored. That means new shocks, front coil springs, rear leaf spring, idler arm, ball joints, tie rods, bushings, and even the steering box itself. You can probably figure a $1000 dollars for new suspension parts plus the labor to install them ( I did it myself in my gargage but it was tough!). My car had 90K miles on it and still all original suspension parts. It really handled bad and it was necessary to go through the suspension to make it safe to drive (lots of play in steering, bumps in road caused loss of control). But unless the car you buy is as bad as mine, you can probably live with a suspension that is less than perfect. Good tires, wheel alignment, and responsible driving can postpone having to pump a ton of money into the suspension right away.
Sure it would be nice to find one with a like new "engine, trans, rear end," etc., but you're going to pay for it. And remember, these are old "hot rods," and are more prone to breakdown than lots or other cars. I will say that my car is very reliable, and could even be a daily driver if I wanted it to be, but I have spent lots of money to get it that way, and there is always something that needs to be done on it (probably the recurring theme of this forum).
C-3s are fun to own, fun to drive, and it's fun to mingle with the Corvette crowd. I'm an old-fashioned, penny-pinching, usually practical type of guy, but don't regret buying my Vette, or one penny I've spent on it since. Regards

'74 Turbocharged 350, "Molested to Perfection" class of '71