The project is not dead yet. Negotiations are on going. In the mean time, here is a couple videos of the car. My apologies for the quality.

 

No evidence of leaking water, but there is condensation and other signs of moisture being inside.

the windshield is not leaking. It’s everything else.

 

You would be amazed at what a good pressure washing and an interior detail would do for that car.

I've seen worse brought back to daily driver status.

Don't let any haters try to steer you in the wrong direction as far as it being a "parts car". It isn't a "parts car", it is a complete and unmolested 89 Z52 Corvette Coupe with only 47,000 miles on it.

So what if it has been sitting awhile.

Good luck, I truly hope you wind up with it and I will be following your progress and offer help wherever I can.

Jared

 

The headliner falling down is a very common issue, as is the hard and cracking side window sweeps. Most cars have these problems. Search on here for solutions. I've replaced the window sweeps myself, it's not that bad a job.

I'm not sure you'd have to replace the gas tank. You may be able to clean it out. I would replace the fuel pump and sending unit though.

I hope it works out!

 

ok ok ok. u seem fairly enthused.

ive done what u r considering. im not trying to “rain on your parade” and im not a hater as my therad shows. here it is to see some of the crap u will be facing.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-z31-pics.html

would i ever do this again, nope. but the car is great now and i took it to the track yesterday!


to get that car to a clean driver status where you would take a lady out in it, (so mechanically reliable, and nice looking and clean) you are looking minimum $5000 on too of whatever your purchase price is.

The way I justified my project was that I could drive it in the process of restoring it. That said, there were months where the car did not leave my garage and crap was all over the place monopolizing the shop.


Perhaps you’ve already done car projects or restorations.

If you do pick the car up be sure to start your own restoration thread. Many of us will follow along and help out wherever possible.



from roach to track car

 

In my opinion, restoring that car to original is a daunting task and frankly not worth it from an investment standpoint. I paid $1,000 for a 1992 in worse condition, missing engine, and I threw out almost the whole interior, but from the get go my plan was race car. So planning to sell off some of the valuable components I won't need I will recoup my purchase price and end up with a titled racer. And I was able to transfer some of the better pieces on the 1994, so win-win-win.
You don't want this car to ruin your love of C4 Corvettes, so I would suggest steering clear unless it's practically given away. Or, you could always part it out later. Start with something a little closer to road worthy. I paid $3500 for the '94 and it was road ready, I buffed the paint and replaced a small pieces and weatherstrip, all the while driving it everyday. Without getting some joy out of a project in a short period you'll burn out quickly.

 

I want to know who in the hell buys a C4 Corvette as an "investment"?

He is probably looking to do what I did with my 88 Vert, which had been sitting since 2008 when I purchased it this last April. I certainly don't have money falling out of my *** so I took it pretty slow. Even though it would barely run, I was able to make it the 10 miles home and over the course of then till now I have a reliable daily driver. The OP is actually getting in even better than I did because my Vert had 118k on the clock and cost me $3500. A new set of tires, hoses maybe, go through the fuel system, clean up the ignition components, and go drive the thing!! If the OP is mechanically inclined, minus the cost of tires, that car is about $600 or so dollars away from being able to be driven. $1500 would have it going down the road.

My own .02 cents based on my own experience with my own bargain basement 88 Z52 Corvette Convertible.

Jared

 

Not as in nest egg investment, but as in, don't invest more money or time than it's worth. Pretty self explanatory.

 

I had more money in my C4 than it was worth as soon as I bought tires, bushings, shocks, stereo, cam, exhaust, etc, etc.

You can't really put a value on building something the way you want it.

Believe this, I am certainly not the only C4 owner that is "upside down" in the value of their C4. I choose to continue to put money into my 31 year old C4 because It's fun, and I love driving it. I'm certainly not trying to increase it's value to anyone but myself. That's pretty self explanatory.

Again, this is my opinion..... but I'm certain many would agree.

Jared

 

To the OP: You should really look at Jared's threads to get an idea of what's possible. If I recall, he benefited from a recently rebuilt engine and trans, but you're looking at a car with only 47K pre-abandonment miles on it. Not that bad a start.

One thing I might do is hook up a fully charged battery and see if you can test some of the electrics. You might also want to just bump the starter to make sure the engine's not frozen. Others here may chime in as to whether there's a better/safer way to do that.

I'm in the "go for it" camp. However - you're the one with eyes on it, so you're in the best position to evaluate the condition and you seem to be looking at it objectively, not emotionally (well not too much), and you're certainly getting plenty of armchair opinions (including mine) to evaluate. But the bottom line is that if she lets it go for a grand or less, it's not a big gamble.

 

I was going to post a big long "how to" on how a person should go about the initial resurrection...… it would have been a very long post though, and figured I would wait for the OP to say he got the car.

Testing the electrics is going to be a great first idea, I can tell from pictures of the interior that the dash LCD's will need new polarizing film at the least. Has the digital climate control, mine was fussy when I got the car but has pretty much been working flawlessly without having to open it up. Pretty sure it just needed to be used. I am nervous about just tossing a battery in it and turning the key though. My humble recommendation would be to pull the plugs and rotate the engine by hand with a breaker bar and socket. And I'm only saying that because of how humid the surroundings.

My project continues, my exterior window swipes have arrived, my felt window bumper guides and center console lid show up today, and my new windshield gets installed Thursday.

I can't wait to see where the OP goes with this car. I am holding out hope he can pick it up cheap enough to be a good deal.

Jared

Edit, yes I did benefit from having a freshly rebuilt engine, but not the transmission. I have already warned my wife "it's not if, but when" it needs to be rebuilt.

 

Still waiting......

 

Each picture of this car makes it look worse than the ones before it. You must really have a fever for staying interested in this car. Not many other people would waste their time or money considering its current state. But hey...it's your dream and your money. Good luck!

 

Yeah you're right. Admin, you may delete this thread...

 

It's really hard to stay enthusiastic for a car.... and the forum for that matter when all you hear out of most people is negativity. I could see how it would make a new member just give up on Vette ownership period.

Trust me, I went through the same deal when I got my 88 Z52 Vert with 118k for $3500. It was a "you overpaid", and "what about when this, and this, and this go wrong". There were a few enthusiastic people that were as excited as I was for my project car..... but that one guy who commented on my "less than fair deal" really bothered me. Funny thing about him though is that after I started doing my own work and fixing the car up, and revealing the great things about the car that were "unknowns" when I purchased it...… I never heard from him again. I don't think he has ever commented on any of my progress reports.

I love the car BTW, and I have absolutely no regrets about buying it.

Don't let negative people get you down..... it's your time and it's your passion that will make the car..... not what anyone else thinks about the car. It ain't their time and it ain't their money. I say go for it and tell anyone with anything negative to say to **** off. It really doesn't matter if the car is a near showroom example, or been sitting under a tree for 10 years.... there will always be negative people that will have something to say.

Good luck dude.....

Jared

 

This forum has lots of members. If you ask for our opinions or ask what we think, you'll definitely hear from lots of us. Sometimes the majority will agree with you, and sometimes they won't. Telling the opposing people here to "**** off" because they have a negative opinion or don't agree with your thoughts or plans will certainly add to the negative comments. Not cool. Take our comments as merely opinions, maybe facts, or just plain nonsense and make your final decisions on only what you feel is right.

 

That's interesting, considering I certainly didn't ask for the forums approval or advice before I bought my Vert.

I don't understand what the Negative Nancys see about this 89 that is so bad?? It is a complete and unmolested 89 Z52. My Vert was parked in 09 and I bought it in April. It took very little work to get it running and driving. This 89 was running when it parked so it would stand to reason that it would also take minimal work to get running and driving.

It's dirty..... big deal.

Jared

 

This guy gets it. We have a lot of crotchety old men here as members who dream of better cars and hate the c4 (sometimes they dont even own one). Many are bitter their finances dont allow for the newer car they want, and lash out on the forum due to it.

If you like the car, and like the project, go for it, and dont let the bay sayers tell you otherwise. These are the guys who say all the vettes in general will be worthless when the c8 comes out and that the exotics and germans will all go out of business due to it. They're nuts, dont pay attention to them. The sky is ALWAYS falling for them.

 

Go to YouTube and watch the videos by Slythee. He rescued a 95 and brought it back to life. I don't think it sat as long as yours but from the outside its damn close.

 

[QUOTE=lotsofspareparts;1600113081]That's interesting, considering I certainly didn't ask for the forums approval or advice before I bought my Vert.

The fact is if you did initially ask for opinions or ideas on a car forum on your car and its initial condition, coupled with all the money you had to spend to restore or recondition it, you'd most likely get lots of the same type of responses that you don't agree with. Maybe it's good you didn't ask the forum. It's fine that you wanted to restore your car and you admittedly spent more than it's market value. To each his own. It seems you're very happy with your purchase. I've personally restored many cars that I should have NEVER spent as much as I did on. I learned the hard way. It came to a point half way through the restoration on some of them that I must have been nuts to get so involved with the car. So in a nutshell, some "negative" responses aren't always trying to spank or upset the potential buyer. And usually aren't coming from "crotchety old men" with no money to buy a newer Corvette. That's a good one! Getting all caught up and excited to buy a Corvette can be very exciting for the first time buyer. The blinders are definitely on at that point. Many responses are just trying to warn the buyer not to get burned the way that they have. C4 buyers who knowingly want to spend way more than the car seemingly will ever be worth, are definitely in the minority here. At least that's what the lengthy history here proves.