Hello,

Yesterday on the way to lunch, I noticed a black C4 (unsure of the year) on the side of the road for sale. It read "$3500 OBO", which interested me. I went to it and read that the transmission had been rebuilt, but it said that the car ran well. The car looked great, and seemed to have some work done to it (exhaust, wheels, etc). I couldn't tell what the mileage was.

Are these cars worth buying to make "fast"? The term is relative, but I mean: can I make a C4, even an '84, run 12's in the 1/4mi? I don't know why I couldn't...

Tell me what you guys think, sorry for the lack of info!

 

sounds REALLY cheap?? Is it one of those too good to be true deals? Does it even run? Maybe the engine is dead so you could drop in some sort of crate engine and get the speeds you desire.

 

Well, I'm unsure of the mileage and such. However, it says that it runs good. Is the stock C4 engine good to modify and get these speeds?

 

I would guess it would take some $$$ to get it into the 12's. If the car is only $3500 it would probably take even more $$$ just to keep it running good. These are just guesses though. Give the guy a call and ask for a test drive. See if you can get someone knowledgable about c4's to go with you and both drive it. It may be that the guy has just seriously underpriced it (on accident or on purpose).

My suggestion is that you first get in contact with the owner and get as much info. as possible. It may be a steal, you never know. If it's a good buy it'll be fun to drive whether it's in the 12's or 14's.

 

Thanks for the advice. If the motor is blown or doesn't run, what would be a fair price to offer him?

 

Research the used Corvette market for year models 85-96. Check out the prices, mileage, options, condition etc. Then go back to this guy with the knowledge of prices and years, and test drive it to see what $3500 is going to get you.

A general rule of thumb is that a used Vette is going to end up costing you in the neighborhood of 1500 to 2500 bucks in repairs before it becomes reliable. This estimate will drop off some with the newer models. In some cases the repair costs will exceed the cars market value.

But I enjoying driving and working on my Vette. So the total dollars spent is for enjoyment & pleasure and meeting other Corvette owners.

 

A C4 has a Chevy Small Block. C4's are fairly lightweight. Yes, of course you can modify one to get into the twelves.
IT'S A CHEVY!!! It can run into the nines if you have the money.

As for reality, if the buyer wants $3500 for it you can bet it's an older C4 with issues. Even the oldest C4's are worth significantly more than that if they are in good shape.
Check it over very carefully and take a long test drive.

Larry
code5coupe

 

Also, if the cars been there for a while, check underneath to see if there are any leaks. I had a leaky transmission that went from needing resealed to being rebuilt. I know it says that it was just rebuilt, but you never know

 

Hopefully it's a TPI and not a Crossfire motor. Might be worth checking out. I'd skip an '84.

Art

 

Some of the issues with the early C4s are:

Headlight motors worn out. About $500 plus labor to replace with new later models.
Ribbon window regulators, slow to operate or not at all, about $200 each side new plus labor to replace.
Instrument cluster fading or segments missing illumination, about $300-$500 to repair/replace
Loose steering column. $300 to repair
Worn and leaking power steering rack. $200-$300 for the rack plus a new pump, plus installation.
Worn wheel bearings and suspension components like control arm bushings and upper/lower ball joints. Can be expensive.
Warped brake rotors, pulsating brakes
Poor AC performance due to leaking R12 system, will need rebuild or conversion. $500+
Worn cracked seat leathers, $300-$800 to replace
Cracked Door panels. $300/side
Bose system not working, upgrade required.

These are just some of the common things to be aware of that plague these cars. A few are easy to overlook due to price of the car. But when combined can make ownership a nightmare. Unless you are prepared to do some of the wrenching yourself, stay away from a well worn car. Make sure you get some receipts for any and all work done. If none are available, skip it.

Art

 

I bought my '85 for $5000. It has only 107K miles on it and runs great. I drove it back home - about 100 miles and i've driven it everyday for the past 3 weeks. Hasnt given me a problem at all. The paint is in good condition but in a few places the clear coat is coming off. One of the headlights needs new gears cause the motor keeps running after I turn them on. New gears are about $50. So yeah i'd say if you look hard enough you can find a Vette in good shape for a good price. By the way I looked for about 6 months before finding the one I have now. The previous owner already put some money into replacing some parts.

I looked at one that was $3500. It was recently repainted and had a new set of aftermarket wheels on it. The reason it was so cheap was because it had 150,000 miles on it and probably needed some work. So try to get all the service records if you can, they help.

 

Early C4's can be made to run 12's, but it requires quite a bit....They are great drivers with excellent low end torque. Quickest way to a 12 sec. C4 outside of a ZR-1 would be an LT-4 (96), or even an LT-1 would be a great start, solid 13 sec. car.
You can pick up LT1 vettes for under 10k now in decent shape if you take your time and look. Good friend of mine picked up a Bright Aqua Met./Black '92 with 108k miles for $7800. The car was absolutely MINT, neeeded not one thing.
Most are in need of repairs, sunbeaten, etc and there are plenty for sale, look around and find "the one".

 

Dear Fourside,
I have owned a 1984 C4 Targa for about ten years now. I paid $5k for it and drove it about 5 years without any major repairs. Even though it only has about 100k miles, there are plenty of things to replace simply because of time. the other contributor was right; you own one of these cars because you want to, not because it is inexpensive - either in terms of time or money.
A time will come when you will need to decide what you want to do with your car. All the parts are available to turn it back into a good driver. On the other hand, if you want to do 12's, it is a great platform for modification. And then plenty of super-sport stuff is available. But it is a bit of all or nothing with these cars.
I have a crossfire motor (computer, wiringloom, etc.), whihc everyone knows doesn't breath well enough. I just had the motor rebuilt and had to hold back on performance parts that would do me any good because of the engineering limitations on the intake assembly.
I get 30 mpg but my car will never do 12 seconds, unless I do something else. My options are to ****-can everything and put a big block in it, or to change the gears in the rear end. By the way, if you get an older Vette, like mine, plan on changing the rear end anyway. The rear end in the '84 is only rated for 450 hsp.
So it is really up to you and how much you have to spend. You can simply get more hordepower by putting a 383 or a 454 in it; and I as saying why not shoot for 9's instead of 12's. After all it's a Chevy. $3,500 for a chrome-molley chasis is cheap; go pricing any other racing chasis. On the other hand, my other car is a brand new Dodge Magnum. If I put $40,k into my Vette, it would be awesome and fully loaded too. As it is, my limpy-*** Corvette still outperformes the Magnum when really put to the test; and I have only put $1,k per year since I have owned it.
Start with what you want to accomplish and I think that either way you will wind up feeling that $3,500 is a good deal. My suggestion is to get a good mehanic/engineer/electrician that can make it work and put in the power plant that you want. Otherwise, I don't think that you can find a better chasis for the price. This stuff was state-of-the-art for the day. My Magnum requires independent braking, suspention control, engine maintenance and transmission intuition just to try and compensate for the fact that it weighs three times as much.
I'm partial to big blocks, but even with a hi-perf. small block you'll have to feed it with a new intake; and therefore a new fly-bywire system. This is all expednsive I suppose. Spinning the wheels whenever I want and scaring the girls whenever I drive is good enough for me. I'll probably change the gears but other than that, where can I drive 150 mph and chicks don't really dig that anyway; I tried with a couple and had to clean the upolstery (in a bad way).
Misery may love company but I'm saying that if you can get a C4 for $3,500, buy it and join the club. They're so fun.

 

For $3500, I'm guessing there's a lot of hidden work needed...

These cars are pretty cheap to pick up now, but one thing to remember is that any 20 year old car is going to need lots of money to keep going or refurbish...

 

 

The C4 vettes have many different modification that could be done. With money it will easily run 12's. The car could be priced low because of a previous salvage title. Check into this also

 

Of course you can make it fast. Its only money. Beware of the Vette Tax.