confab

My car was junk. Nobody here would have bought it. I felt sorry for it, and it looked like a cool project. Never owned a Corvette before. Mine is an 85.

So, I bought it for 2K with a trashed interior, a "stock rebuilt" 30 over engine that had low compression on several cylinders. (Didn't know that at the time.) A bad transmission. Bad paint. Bad tires. It was just bad. But I liked it, so I bought it anyway.

I took great interest in Branden's thread because there are always questions about what it costs to fix up a less than perfect C4, and if it affordable. If it is even worth doing. How much can be saved if OP does all the work themselves. Etc.

I think this is important because I think a lot of people psych themselves out over it. In an effort to answer the $$$ question as accurately as possible, I dug back through my RockAuto Account and the accounts from other suppliers, as well as my Amazon account.

This is as close as I can get to the definitive list for "Yeah but, what if I do it all myself?" as I am able to remember and to calculate.

The standard here is a dollar total from junk to a nice, freshly painted, (Not done yet, but the bulk of the materials obtained) 85 C4. with a new interior. A rebuilt and upgraded transmission. A refreshed engine and a Vortec/TPI with a mild cam. IOW, a nice car that runs better than stock and is a blast to drive, and with the owner doing ALL of the work himself.

I came up with about: $6500 bucks in parts and supplies. These are broken down below. If you don't want something (Like the Vortec Swap?) you can subtract it. If you can't do something yourself (Like Trans or Paint?) you can add it. If you car isn't complete junk and doesn't need all of this stuff, you can subtract.. And hopefully it will help estimate the cost of what repairing a distressed C4 would be.

This seems like a lot of money because it is, and I questioned spending it VS just junking mine and buying a nicer one. You can look at it either way, but even a nice one is 30 years old. It is stock and it still needs a lot of this stuff anyway. So, I did it thinking when I was done it would all be new and fresh. Plus, as the car had "project" status, I didn't have to do it all at once. The money and the labor was spread out, and made it easier to deal with.

TOTAL: $6,490.22
Description Amount
Dash Polarizing Kit W ship $66.00
Dash Power Supply $110.00
PCM $100.00
Engine mounts, fan relays, Hood Shocks $66.00
Oil Pump, Screen, Bearings, Gaskets, Seals, Plugs $194.00
Timing Set, Valve Cover Gasket $41.00
Rings, More Spark Plugs $66.00
Seat Covers (Red, vinyl) $262.00
Door Lock Cylinders $8.22
Hatch Struts $40.00
Full Carpet Set, Upgraded with Mass Back $366.00
Oil Cap $3.00
Door Switches $10.00
Heater Core, Fan Switch, AC Dryer $66.00
Rockford Fosgate 6x9s Rear. $53.00
Rear Wheel Bearing $110.00
Plug Wires, Accel $33.00
Interior Hardware (est) $40.00
Lunati 10120701LK Voodoo Camshaft $185.00
Break in Lube for Cam $13.00
Vortec heads, New $628.00
SD Vortec to TPI Intake (Used from Forum Member, I think it was 350?) $350.00
Electrical pigtails (est) $35.00
O2 Sensor $33.00
Water Pump $40.00
Radiator $120.00
U-Joints (est) $90.00
Base/Clear Red and 2K Primer (gallons) (est cause labor swap) $700.00
Estimated remainder of body materials $500.00
Transmission Rebuild (700R4) with Upgrades $350.00
Powder Coating (est) $60.00
Flex Plate $30.00
86 Hood Strut Upgrade (Used from Forum Member) $100.00
Radio Headset (actually was a gift) $55.00
BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 Tire 255/50ZR16 x4 $548.00
Mount, Balance Tires $75.00
Mass Air Sensor $113.00
Bosh III Injectors from FIC (I forget, I think it was 158 or so??) $158.00
Vortec Rockers, Pushrods, Valve Covers (free/I had them)
Delphi Fuel Pump $48.00
Headlight Gears (New, from forum member) Shift Needle and Lens $50.00
Shift **** $40.00
Wheelskin Steering Wheel Cover (actually a present) $60.00
Fluids (est) $75.00
Complete Weatherstrip Kit (est) $400.00

confab

Re: The prices. Most are from invoices, but some are to the best of my recollection.

I run a transmission shop and have commercial accounts for parts. I may get deals you won't.

Or, you may get deals I won't or am unaware of? But if something looks screwy there, that is why or it is because I am not remembering it correctly.

BrandensBeast

I'll read this when I get back from work, or tommorow (long shifts) I'll update my reply later, i'm sure this thread will get some good responses, hopefully I have some good information to throw in aswell

VikingTrad3r

Wow. Valuable information to people looking to try it out.

Do you have photographs of it? The more photos the better!

One of your justifications seemed like it was a 30 year old car anyway so some amount of work would be needed no matter what, and now at least, you have a like new (as much as possible? still the oddball electrical gremlin that could pop up i guess) fully reliable car to drive.IF that was one of your points, i totally agree. Seems to me that any 80's c4 is going to need a couple K worth of repairs/maintenance no matter what. When I look at another car to buy, I automatically add 2k to the price and if im still good with it I'll make an offer.


great job and very good of you to make this list for other newcomers to see so they know what they care getting into.


pics?

confab

Good, I really hope it helps people. So much of this doesn't seem to pivot on "I don't have the technical skill" and is more about: "How much will it be and can I afford it?"

The car is horribly dirty right now. I don't have the front carpet installed yet. (Waiting for heater core to arrive) But the engine, seat covers, the back carpet, etc are here. The wheel cover is a birthday present and it is on the way.

I want to wrap the interior and heater core up this year so that is all nice and over with, and I'll probably paint it this spring.

I've been following your "Resto Mod" thread with interest, btw..

confab

Items I forgot:

Balancer $48.00
Fuel Filter $13.59
K&N Air Filter (Advance discount code, 30% off) $46.10

New total: $6,597.91

Dt86

Nice breakdown. I keep a folder with receipts and a list of repairs made over the years. Mine was poorly neglected as well. The previous owner dropped over $4K into it before I got it. It was a good starting point but it still needed a ton more. The only reason I kept at it is because of its documented 50k mileage. She is a good car now and I have a blast cruising around in her. Also enjoy the fact that she was brought back from an early grave.

confab

Thanks.

I should have done that too. A lot of the stuff I bought was commingled with customer parts (Which I need to claim and submit to the book keeper for tax reasons.) so my folder is incomplete. Kind of turned it into a forensic investigation.

It is interesting you would say that because while I was doing this a purple Lt1 car went up for sale at the end of the road here. Mine was junk and in a million pieces then. (All the mechanicals are done now, finishing the interior and then paint.) The Lt1 was pretty nice. Not perfect, but very good. It was tempting to just scrap mine, rather than sink a fortune into it.

But like you, I enjoy the fact that it is "brought back" I thought about it and, 30 year old cars all need a lot of stuff anyway.. I didn't want it stock and this was a chance to change that. But maybe most of all I thought it was too good a project and had too much potential to just send to the junkyard, because nobody else would have fixed this car.
So, yeah.. "Bringing it back" was an enjoyable part of doing it.

Dt86

My folder is far from complete. There's a lot of receipts that I just tossed out without thinking about saving them. But I've been pretty good about writing down everything I've done. I really should start over and add all of the work the previous owner did. He basically got the fluids, motor and tranny sorted out so I had a solid drivetrain to start with. The rest of the car, well that was a different story. I didn't know any better at the time but that's a whole other thread topic lol. There were times when I've felt the same way about throwing more money at it. The fact is, like you said, it's a 30 year old car. Another way I look at it is that around here you really don't see any early C4's around so it's kinda cool to me to be driving something different.

Patsgarage

Great thread. So for less than $7k you have built yourself a "new" 85 C4. You have had your hands on most of the car, know exactly what it still needs and what is fixed. I would be intrested to see a time breakdown just to put a value on your labor.

confab

That is true too. I'm almost completely alone here. There is one early C4 I see on occasion, and only a couple of late ones. And a bunch of C5's.

The owners are old guys mostly. They seem nice.

confab

Thanks.

It's tough to estimate because I do it here at the shop between other things. Seldom do I just work on it exclusively. Also, I do transmissions. While I used to do body and paint, and I can do engine work.. I'm slow at it.

So far? Dash was a few days, total. (I'm slow) Back carpet is an afternoon. Seats. I have never done any upholstery or even owned a set of hog ring pliers. About two days but not solid work. Here and there.

Engine, a week and a half to two weeks. But it was a mess and that includes stuff like routing the wires the way I wanted them, and a bunch of little things like that.

Trans? About a day, total. But, again.. I kinda screwed with it and drug it out. I just don't get in a hurry about anything. U joints, a day. Wheel bearing was several hours.

Remaining is the Heater Core, and I have no idea how long that will take. It should arrive today from rockauto, actually. (gonna try fastguy's way and see if it helps) Install the rest of the carpet in the front following heater core. Probably take me a day or two because I'm slow.

Years ago I did body and paint for a living and have (dated now) formal training in it. That will take the longest, but most of it will be blocking. Also, I'm going to paint it panel to panel which will drag it out a little bit. Chose a flat red for that purpose. Because, if I rip it all apart to do it all at once, it will become one of those projects that never gets put back together. I just know it will, and i don't want that. So, it'll be one panel at a time after work.

BrandensBeast

I'm glad you went through it and are finishing it, it's a hard choice to make as you've seen in my thread, sadly I couldn't justify the money to finish mine, as it needed everything your car needs besides the transmission. Mine would of been about 8k dollars when I figured it out, now that's to finish the car, WITHOUT painting it, and it needed paint (previous owner painted it, in 2 years im sure it'll be cracked or bubbling)
and that's without adding ANYTHING to the motor/trans to beef them up or hold/make more power.

Realistically I would of been probably about 12k into the car before I was happy with it, that number is still without paint. I really did like the car, just couldn't do it as an 18 year old on a tight budget as it is. I completely agree how it's better to build the car (since it is 30+ years old) and make it a new car again, rather then regularly fix one that's constantly breaking. I had about 12-1,300 into mine and the car had really only gone backwards as far as looks go, no interior anymore etc. The car was pretty much fixed as far as the electrical problems go (that alone was a huge pain, but got that fixed)
Aswell as being fixed mechanically, no more random shutoffs, no over heating, the car would run until it ran out of gas at the point when I sold it, which was far from what it was when I purchased it.

These car's are a lose lose type situation as far as money goes, it's nearly impossible for these cars to just go through oil changes like a new or used 15 year old honda, these car's are twice as old, and a performance car, LOADED with brand new fancy electronics that were the first of their kind, many of these pieces failed and that's to be expected, they don't last for ever, it is still a Chevy after all! I know some of you HAVE made money on your vettes when selling them, but that's generally not the case with these cars.

What i've learned owning my corvette, is when you go to look at the car, if you want to be confident in your purchase, say the car is 7k, to be on the safe side put away another 7k. That would take car of all your maintence costs, and leave money to upgrade things and really make the car better then it's ever been from the factory. I know many would disagree that because sinking 15k into a C4 is crazy, but that's just my opinion. It's a VERY safe idea, almost too safe im sure some would say, but when you run into problems with the car, i'd rather have the money to put it back on the road as soon as possible, rather then let it sit under a cover in the back yard and have more things break from sitting.

Churchkey

I concur with confabs approach the end result will be a fresh $10,000.00 driver that will last for many years.

confab

Yeah, anything like that is tough when you're 18. I'm in my mid 40's, and it gets easier when you get a little older. When you are young there's all this stuff you have to pay for to keep a roof over your head, then there's chicks and kids and all the myriad expense to go along with that.. Not to mention this economy sure isn't doing the youth any favors.

Mine sat out in back of the building with a blown head gasket forever too. It was painful seeing it out there, broke.

To be practical, I should have sold it, as no one really "needs" a corvette. But it is my one hobby. I don't spend a fortune on anything else, so I rationalize it like that. Other people may think it is nuts, but the vette is my one indulgence, and you gotta have something, right?

confab

PS: Something else that makes vettes and similar things, big projects, etc, easier is retiring all of your debt.

Nobody ever talks about it, but arranging your life so you can exist on a cash in hand basis is a tremendous advantage. Not having a huge debt burden gives you a lot of confidence when dealing with things like this.

mike100

Personal satisfaction factor: off the scale
Practical financial choice- spend $7500 on a clean LT1 car that you didn't have to spend weeks of personal time on... and the newer car is quicker and more comfy.

VikingTrad3r

^^^ Bran, on your other thread where u asked advice, I wrote a post that adresses this topic confab brought up. Then i decided to pm it to you. Then i decided not to send it at all. .... this is a sensative and personal subject for many -not for my wife and i but it sure is for a lot of people-...so thats all ill say about it here!

95tealconvert

Each person has to figure out what is the best fit for them. Many of us that like older cars are drawn to cars that cost a few thousand dollars because we can justify in our minds that we are getting a car like a vette for so little.

Often what happens is we quickly realize that we are spending much more than the car is worth in today's market and that is just to get it road worthy. By the time we count interior, paint etc. we have spent 2-3 times the cars market value and that does not take into consideration our time.

I am not contributing to this discussion to be a buzz kill or take away anything that those like the OP have accomplished but rather to present the other side of the coin. I have restored many personal cars starting in high school : a 1956 Ford F-100, a 1970 Pontiac Lemans sport, a 1968 GTO convertible and several Chevrolet El Camino's and many more of my friends rides.

What I have learned over the years is that my time is valuable. I am sick and tired of spending hundreds of hours in a dark cramped garage at home working away on a car while my family, friends and the world is out enjoying themselves. If that is your thing and puts a smile on your face I completely understand but it is not for everyone and not for me any more.

I look at a car as simply thousands of parts put together to make a complete vehicle. Just does not make sense to me any longer to start with a basket case when there are so many great well kept examples available when looking at the C4 vette. Why spend $2K on a complete worn out example when you can spend $5 to 6K and get a very nice example that someone has already dumped thousands into or is just a low mileage garage kept car.

I understand that any C4 is already 20 years old and that they all will require attention and money to keep them in great condition but for those that do not have the training or ability to rebuild a engine etc. or repaint a car this is a warning from someone who makes a living fixing cars-if you have to take your car in just for a good quality repaint you can easily spend north of $6K for a good paint job-not what I would consider show quality but just a good quality paint job.

There are just too many very nice C4's in today's market to justify in my mind why it is worth it to spend 2-3 times or more what it will take to bring a basket case back to life. There is enough to do on a great example C4 to keep you busy and engaged. Again this is just my 2 cents but again for those that do not have the training and ability to tackle something like a basket case C4 be very, very careful.

zachaeous

OP i did the same thing to a 1984 Corvette in 2011. I paid a little more to start with $3300.00. I did all the work myself.

I have a total of $9,000.00 in the car. I know that i will never get that kind of money out of the car in today's economy.

I do have basically a new 1984 Corvette. It drives and runs like one and I love driving the car.

I had owned a new 1984 and 1986 Corvette back in the day. I always had a special place in my heart and mind for these early C4s.

1. New rebuilt engine. (rebuilt it myself)
2. Rebuilt transmission and new converter.
3. Rebuilt electronic dash.
4. Rebuilt front and rear suspensions.
5. New wheel bearings on all 4 wheels.
6. Stripped and repainted body.
7. Installed re-manufactured steering rack.
8. Installed later style window regulators.
9. Installed new leather seat skins with new foam.
10. Replaced seals in differential.
11. Replaced all U-joints.
12. Rebuilt both headlight motors.
13. Replaced ECM with re-manufactured AC Delco unit.
14. Replaced all light bulbs.
15. Rebuilt the crossfire injection units w/new fuel injectors.
16. New AC Delco fuel pump.
17. Rebuilt brake calipers and new stock rotors, new master cylinder.
18. All new ignition parts and rebuilt distributor.
19. Rebuilt P/S Pump.

I probably forgot some things but it is just the point that I put a lot of money in this 1984 Corvette. I have no regrets and would do it again in a heartbeat. I am sure that a lot of early C4s are already scrapped out due to the concern over cost effective rebuilds. Like stated above each to his own.

The only other thing i am going to do is replace the carpet set.

I am retired and really enjoyed rebuilding this car and may just give it to my Granddaughter when she turns 16.