Hi all. I've recently come upon a 1973 Corvette Convertible (Manual Everything) that I might look to possibly purchase, but had a couple of questions you all might be able to help with so that I can possibly detract from an asking price.

First off, the owner seems to be pretty forthcoming about any flaws or issues with the vehicle. He's had it for over 20 years, and purchased locally in Florida, and has never been in any accident (since he's had the car). Selling due to divorce.

The odometer no longer works (stopped at 77K), but he says that the vette has roughly 212K miles on it. It's the original 350 engine and it has never been professionally rebuilt, but runs very well. Same with the tranny. At what mileage is an engine usually due to be rebuilt, and what kind of costs are we looking at? Is this mileage problematic? Calculates to 5K miles per year since new, which doesn't seem like a lot, but thought I'd ask.

Secondly, he said that the driver's side door's pins and bushings are worn out and the door is sagging about a half inch. What are we looking at in cost here?

Finally, one other thing that stuck out in our conversation was that on the passenger's side, when it rains and water runs down the door frame, a little bit gets into the passenger side, near the speaker area. He said that it has done it since he bought the car, and the area of the inside door frame looks to have been possibly fiberglassed over and then painted over in the past. The drivers side is not the same, so something must have been done. i haven't seen it, but I have seen cars where this area was rotten. Doesn't seem to be the case here, but something is causing the water to slowly drip in. He says the there are no issues with the door operation.

Those were all of the major areas of concern, at least without getting an inspection to explore some other areas. The rest of the car looks outstanding. All manual doors, brakes, and steering kind of sucks, but there can't be many 1973 corvette convertibles that are ALL manual can there? Maybe it's a rarity.

Anyhow, any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

212k is a ton of miles no matter how often put on .
Ready for a full on restoration?

 

I guess one main questions is, what are your intentions with it? Are you going to drive it often? Rarely? Show it? Leave it alone? Put it away for collectibility?

And then the next questions comes down to price. Any car regardless of condition can be worth buying if the price is right.

But at 212k miles, I find it hard to believe that it runs well. And maybe 'runs well' are the wrong words to use. At that mileage, I would say that it would need a total overhaul. Which could run 2k to 5k depending on what is reusable and what needs to be replaced.

My 74 I got last year had 76k on it, and although it didnt "need" anything but new head gaskets, it could use a lot... 4k later I have one heck of a good running motor with much more power than stock. But that was my intention from the start.

 

Around here, a stock engine rebuild, runs around $2,000-2,500, just for the rebuild. The cost to pull it and reinstall it, along with new belts, hoses, fluids, filters, etc. are all additional.

The door hinge isn't real tough to fix. The parts are cheap and easily found, and can be done by most people with some mechanical ability.

The water leak would be my biggest concern. It's probably leaking at the windshield header, and running down the a-pillars. This is a common problem, but also an expensive one to fix.

When the windshield frame leaks, it usually rusts out the a-pillars, and the cowl area where they attach. Often the windshield header (the top of the frame between the pillars) will be rusted too. If the a-pillars are rotted, to "properly" repair them costs around $2,000, plus paint. If the header is bad also, figure at least another $500. This is a repair for a professional body man, and preferably one familiar with older Corvettes.

Try to take a look through the windshield, at the base of the pillars, in the area between the stainless outer moldings and the vinyl interior pillar post moldings. You should be able to get a glimpse of the a-pillar itself. Some surface rust is to be expected, but noticeable rust or rust through, are cause for concern. If you see rust, it may pay to remove the interior moldings, to get a better look at the condition of the pillars.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Exactly what I was looking for. I think he's looking to sell somewhere in the $10K range. I've seen rusted out a-pillars in some other vettes that I've looked at, so definitely seems like a typical problem, but not a cheap one to fix. The seller was using this car as a weekend driver, but he has gotten divorced recently, and now uses it as a DD. As far as my uses are concerned, I plan for it to be a weekend driver, and something that I can turn into a garage hobby. I've been more into motorcycles the past few years, and want to move on to something a little more challenging.

 

By the way, whatever vehicle I decide upon, I had planned to have it inspected before hand. Will a typical inspection be able to determine whether an engine needs a rebuild or not?

 

Like you've been told, follow the water pathway. If it's been leaking, it's mosy likely been rusting.

 

Where are you located in Florida? You should find someone to look at the car if you can. I'm in Tampa and would be happy to help if you're close. I posted a thread with pictures before buying my car, and got some good advice and insights I would not otherwise have gotten. It sounds unusual for the car to have manual everything, especially in a '73. The drop top is your most important option though! For the steering you can get a kit called 'borgeson' that will convert it easily and cost efficiently to power steering, and Vintage Air that converts it to AC while still appearing stock. My car had AC and PS, and I replaced both anyway.

I really would try and have someone who knows what they're looking at go with you to check it out. On a car with that many miles, a full restoration is probably in order. I would think that's the case with most old cars anyway.

 

Thanks Jason. If I like it, I will have someone come out and take a look. I'm in West Palm Beach, so about 4 hours away. I appreciate the offer. I have seen some the Vintage Air aftermarket kit for about $1400. I do tend to agree with your last statement. A 40 year old vehicle is going to have to have some kind of rebuild. I was a truck driver in the military, and our lower mile vehicles that sat in the motor pool always had the most problems due to rot. There are some other areas of concern that need to be checked out as well. Thanks again.

 

As an update, went out to see the vette. There was rust around the front part of the bird cage, pillars and along the windshield. Looks like someone tried to patch and paint it up where the water runs through the front well of the door on both sides, but you could feel the rust on the inside. The suspension sounded/looked like it needed to be replaced, and there was a small crack in the nose, that would have necessitated an entire replacement. Paint was OK, but was starting to blister on the front left of the hood. Then of course there was the mileage issue, which I don't think the owner even knew how many miles were actually on it. He lowered his price to $10K, but I passed. Looked great from 5 feet, but I believe that it would have taken a lot of dough to get it up to speed. The search goes on!

 

Hi cv,
I think you've made a VERY good decision.
I believe the owner is asking quite a bit too much for a car that may have rust problems in addition to high mileage needs.
Good Luck with your search! There are still many very nice cars to be found!
Regards,
Alan