Hello friends,
Being a newbie no longer after 2 years of being the owner of an 84 L83 Corvette I have learned a bunch of helpful stuff here and I couldn't have had my Vette to the condition that it's in now=very satisfying.
I had to learn something early on and that is that a new Corvette owners enthusiasm is not always matched by others that have been in one for a long period of time or that has seen all the good bad and ugly parts of owning a older C4.
I was just AGHAST when I read posts where older members were telling
future owners to not waste their money on a fixer upper because it'll cost tons of money and you will go bankrupt trying a resto and will likely never get it finished.
Well,let's see,I bought my 84 with a solid motor and tranny,the body was in what I thought was fair condition and whith an interior that was simply CRAPPY.
After spending roughly $2,300.00 just on making it safe with gauges and lights that work when they are supposed to and start whenever I want to drive it. and that's not including the new tires $850.00 and that's cheap for good Vette tires,I NOW absolutely know what they meant by don't waste your money. I absolutely love my Vette and feel like a silly school boy when I slide into the cockpit of my Vette,Yeah,But I do know what them older guys were talking about,at times I've even felt the same way.
Oh yeah now the paint is showing real wear and starting to bubble in places,I hope people don't notice it and start pointing it out to me,that would be such a buzzkill,But I still love my Vette yes sir.
A PAINT JOB for a Vette starts at W H A T $$$ is that the cheapest you can go? what if I do the PREP work? oh okay. How do you spell MAACO? Now I see what they meant.
In all honesty I'm just tickled to say I'm A Corvette owner and yes I love the looks I get when I drive my Vette around and kids yell out Cool freakin car dude.
BUT, must,in all honesty say that those "don't buy it dude" words I saw typed years ago were not being written with hate but rather were probably being written by an experienced Vette owner.
You see,it is very hard to have a chance to own your dream car and look at it objectively and wisely say NO,I'll wait for something better. HELL,you've waited 40 years to own one of those babies and you can't and won't let it get away. BEEN THERE DONE THAT!!!
BUT,don't take it personally when older members try to give you there opinions on your new dream car because they really know what it's like and they know the long row that you have to hoe ahead of you.
One more thing,if You truely like or love your new to you VETTE...FOR GOD'S sake and your sanity,don't expect others to feel the same way you do about it. JUST love it and drive it. like me.

 

I'm with you. I got mine cheap and am fixing it up. I didn't "buy in"
high enough, so i guess i'm one of the riff-raff, non-deserving owners.
It's the coolest car i've ever owned. benny

 

thanks for being honest

 

You arent a non deserving owner if you bought it cheap and fixing it up. That is sometimes the best feeling in the world when you take a step back and you can say wow this interior has really taken a step up from when i bought it etc. This is one of the coolest cars i have owned as well and every now and than i catch myself daydreaming of stuff I can do, small or big. Ya learn from your mistakes, but hopefully you have had fun along the way, thats all that matters.

Dont forget to wave!

 

With age comes wisdom. Remember the saying: "Buy the best Corvette you can afford". I would even say to stretch things a bit and go over your preset limit to buy a really-really good one.
I also think it is a good idea to buy one that was fanatically maintained - even it it a high-miler.

 

Wow, what an honest post. Most of us won't admit mistakes we've made over the life of our vettes. Believe me, I've made a few. I put alot of money into my 78 (too embarrassed to admit how much), but I must admit that I now have a beautiful resto-mod. Now I just picked up a teal 92 that works well and has a strong LT1 motor and trans. I have a few cosmetic issues and my front and rear rubbers are faded pretty badly, but like you said, I'm just trying to enjoy it as my DD for now...got it reeeeally cheap though, so I am thinking of using it as a trade in on a C6. Haven't decided yet...much different seating position in the C4, but fits like a glove when driving it...what to do...thanks for the post...DDBS

 

Pride of ownership and accomplishment (fixin' her up) is reward enough. I'm with you!

P

 

 

Great thread

I enjoy working on my car more than driving it It was also a serious fixxer-upper but I am gaining on it The recommendations to buy a better car (I have done it sometimes) are made with good intentions and are not meant to discourage members

 

It all boils down to want you have more of,money or time.I kinda wish I had bought a better car to start with,and not had to spend so much money along the way.Mine was cheap enough I suppose,considering it ran well and drove pretty good too,BUT.the interior was ragged,the weatherstripping was/is shot (not gonna replace it until paint is done) and of course the paint was crappy,I did do a carfax and it had only had two owners since new.Someone had spent some money on it at one time,then kinda let it go.Do i regret buying it?No!would i do it over again?Probably not.There are too many much nicer cars on the market now.But no matter what advice anyone may give you,the ultimate decision is yours,for better or worse.
Like the OP implied,the learning curve can be steep!

 

Great post.

 

I had a fixer upper, sold it. I just bought "the nicest one I could find". I am enjoying the nicest one I could find a whole lot more. I learned a bunch from the fixer upper. Some of these lessons have translated to keeping the nice one reliable. The great thing is I want to do things to my nice Corvette, but I don't have to in order to have a car that I can show or drive.

 

Pay me now or pay me later.

Buy a nice car, pay the money upfront, and drive!
Buy a beater, work your butt off, and sink money into repairs.

It's cheaper, and easier to buy the nice car to begin with. I did the latter.

 

Who ever said that? It's one (commendable!) thing if the process of fixing up is something one enjoys but the OP, in a nutshell, is saying that he now realizes the truth that a cheap Corvette really isn't cheap in the longer run.

 

Marry love, rent lust!

 

Very good post, IMHO I think you (we) that buy cheaper and fix up to our standards will take much more pride in our vettes, and we also may know more about our rides than someone who goes out and pays 20-60k for there rides and never has to do upkeep just mods. I also believe alot of the guys that post the dont buy it, probably have been there done that, and even if i dont take there advise, i will still ask it and listen to it. (it is true as you stated) If i had the money to buy a new vette, I would run out and get it today, but, i would keep the 85, and honestly i believe, when i run out of room in the garage, the 85 would be in it, and the new one would be out in the cold. One of the biggest non answered questions I see on here is What is my vette worth? The answer should be what do you think it is worth. I didnt have to refinance my house to buy mine, but in my eyes, I wouldnt sell for less than 25k, Id never get even close to that, but I dont want to sell anyway. I am still wondering what the definition of cheap is.

 

No one in this thread even implied it. I just tossed it out as a
wisecrack. It is true, mine stopped being "cheap" after about 3
months. Its well into the "i don't even want to know what its
cost me" range now. I could have a newer, nicer one for what
i have in this one. benny

 

You aren't alone Benny.

 

i agree with you, i am a former L83 owner (2005-2008) and stepped into a 1990 last year. i really didn't do alot to my 84, except drive it, and when i purchased my 90 roadster last year, it was showing some signs of wear, and it gives you a feeling of acomplisment when you do your own work on it to fix it up

 

im with you daddue11 i bought a 3k 84 corvette and dont mind at all buying a piece here and there for her. but what you can, live in your means, and have fun