Tennessee titles aren't hard to come by. Especially if you have a garage. Pm me with aprice if the birdcage comes out good.

 

LOL, first of all, a key and starting that car are the LEAST of your worries.

Easy to pull the steering column and swap out the switch. BUT......you will have to do an awful lot before trying to start it. And yes, it can be remote started.

You have to pull the switch so you can unlock the steering column. That way you can turn the front wheels.

Either that or simply disconnect the steering arm and turn the wheels manually. I personally opt for the latter.

You can then hook up a remote starter to the motor. BUT, you had better check and see if it will turn over by hand first. Pull the plugs and try cranking the pulley with a BAW. (big azz wrench)

I would pull a valve cover and see what kind of shape the oil is in. Probably terrible. If it's all gunked up and thick I wouldn't try starting it until it was all cleaned up and with fresh oil. The alternator is probably toast, and all your gauges and switches.

By the way. I would be willing to bet a dozen Dunkin Donuts that the birdcage on that car is just fine.

I pulled my 79 out of a back yard not much worse off than that one, and structurally the car is just fine. Lots of dry rot, bugs and critters though.

Personally, I love a challenge and If I didn't live so far away would come and make you an offer on that car.

That car is not as bad as some!!!!!

Just picture it with a big block, 5 speed, 3.70 rear end, new interior and paint!!!!!!

This one was in a back yard for almost 20 years. What mess. Couldn't open the hood. Didn't have nice glass tops, fiberglass.

Winched it onto a trailer and I took it home for the trade of a few Harley parts I had. Stripped the interior and pulled out all the glass. Windshield was broken anyway, so it was discarded. I discovered the birdcage and floors were just fine. NO ROT AT ALL. Just needed to be cleaned up.



Under that hood someone had placed a 1980 SS454 Gen IV truck engine. WHAT A NICE SURPRISE!!! I have pulled the motor and was happy to discover flat top pistons in it. It is currently at the machine shop for new rings and bearings. Has a forged crank!!! Nice!



One mans garbage is another mans gold. I like that 81. I would take it off your hands in a heartbeat!!!!

 

Thanks for the inspiring post! Lol. The oil and tranny fluid looked very clean on the dip stick. Im most likely going to slap a for sale sign on it and just sell it cheap. I wish i could take on this project but its just not possible at the moment. Hopefully somebody else can bring it back to life!

 

I had high hopes...until I saw the under-hood picture.

That, my friend, is a tough build.

I'm all about pulling these things from the grave and making it your own, but when EVERY. SINGLE. BOLT. is rusted to seisure both inside and out...well...that wouldn't be something I'd look forward to.

That is a very deeply distressed car with not just surface rust, but deeply flaking rust on nearly every metallic surface. The type of rust that weakens things to the point of not being useful. Everywhere.

Tough call, my friend. Tough call. For free, it's silly not to make it an educational tinker toy. I certainly wouldn't put much money in this one, though. Learn with it. Heck...you may even be able to get it running. Then get another one to actually rebuild and salvage what you can out of this paperweight.

 

plenty of parts on that car worth $$$. don't take it to the junkyard! If you have the time, part it out.

 

I totally agree with this.

Selling a handful of select parts will go a very long way to purchasing another car that is a better candidate for bringing back from the dead.

The t-tops for one. The rims are very desirable. Things like the rear end, some interior bits, some under-hood bits, the lights, and many other items would bring real money on FleaBay.

I just got done selling a few select parts that I had in storage and raised $1,600 toward my rear drivetrain rebuild. It was actually fun to do.

Just get it in a safe place, start tinkering, and see what you have. And don't have.

 

if you want to sell the drivers t top I'd be interested and I can even give you a cracked one to put on the car to match the cracked passenger side and keep the car "complete" if you decide to sell it.

 

I stopped by the other day to snap some pics. I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I was always curious what the story was. It has not moved in the twenty years that I have paid attention to. Probably been sitting there much longer.

 

Today i got the car out from that backyard and to my office parkinglot where i can keep it for now. Took us all damn day to get that thing free. Still no title and no keys and i dont think thats gonna change. The birdcage looks good. Surface rust but no gaping holes like i was expecting. Its only got 58k miles. I never even checked the odometer until today. The car is for sale for 900.

 

Without the key to unlock the steering, how did you get it out? It would have been and interesting story with photos on the recovery.

If you weren't so far away, I'd actually be very insterested in taking it off your hands.

 

Holy Cow is that low miles. I wish you were closer because I would scoop that up.
This should be fun to watch. Please keep us posted...



Mine:

 

I don't know the laws there but in Georgia any car 1985 or older can be sold on a bill of sale and no title is required.

 

HAHA yeah okay I wish new York was that easy. these **** bastards at the dmv will drag you around for months. its really a nightmare to do anything in ny. thank god pre 1995 vehicle inspections are only safety and no emissions anymore! up until a few years ago EVERY car had to pass a smog test. California is another **** show

 

I wish I had more photos of the recovery but there was only 3 of us and a lot of cursing and frustration so not a lot of focus on taking pictures along the way lol. they built a garage in front of this car and we had to snaked it around the garage and I had to take down a fence and an awning. quite the experience.

as for the locking steering I drilled out the locking pin in the column. shame on me right. but I had to get the steering freed up.

 

just sold the car for 1000 bucks to a guy who is restoring another c3 and wanted a lot of parts. so I guess I saved a vette one way or another. im a c4 guy but damn these c3's are badass.

 

Like i said they built a garage in front of this car so it was really buried. We made it around that corner by inches.