I recently discovered a practically abandoned 89 that has been sitting outside under a tree for almost 13 years. I was finally able to talk to the owner and basically she is an elderly widow who just lost interest after her husband died. She said she didn't have family or anyone who could take the car or help her with it. I am interested in restoring it but I was wondering if I should just pass, if I could even talk her out of the car. She seems to be holding on for sentimental reasons. I'll post some picks and maybe you guys can let me know what your thoughts are on if the car will even run again after all this time. And if I can talk her out of the car, what should I do before attempting to start the car or even applying power?

 

You would be surprised at how well that would clean up! It likely would not take a ton to get the engine running, but to make the car a reliable driver, it would take quite a bit. You said you would like to restore it that's right up my alley and personally I feel as though it would be a great buy if you could get the car cheap enough that sinking a few grand into the car wouldn't hurt so bad. The thing you have going against you is the possibility of the car being sentimental to the owner and thus the price she may want may be more than you are willing to spend or more than most here would pay for the car. I would be interested in knowing what she wants for the car and why it was parked under the tree in the first place. That would better help determine if it's a good buy. Personally I think it would be a fun project and if bought cheap enough and inwere in your shoes, I'd pick it up and restore it!

 

Thanks for responding. The car has 59k miles and was perfect she says when she parked it. Not sure why at least a cover was not put on it. We talked for a bit and discussed her situation and I get it. But still, what a waste. The interior has mold, and I gather that smell will never go away unless the interior is replaced. The body is 100% just missing the corvette emblems. The window seals are trash, and all of the weather seals as well. The engine oil looked like it was just changed as well as the tranny fluid. The coolant was a bit congealed but still green. All the hoses and wire harnesses are like new however and believe it not, no critters had taken it over. The other unfortunate thing is it will need to be repainted. What would you say a fair offer for the car would be? As is without knowing anything about the electronics or engine?

 

I think I would start at $1000 for the car. The low miles help with the purchase and infeel as though the interior will clean up nicely. You can get the smell out with a deep cleaning and carpet extraction. Though replacing the carpet would be the best option. Personally I would buy the car. It would be great to restore the car.

 

I think if you had un-limited supply of money, it would be fun to restore, but after 13 years sitting, you might be buying pocket of worms.

 

Wow, cool find. Would be a fun project but agree that you’ll have to get it pretty cheap.
Can’t hurt to ask her, make sure to tell her you want to restore it. It might help her to know that car was not going for parts.
Let us know what happens !

 

Run the other way. Even if she gave it to you for nothing. You will end up dumping so much money in this car. You will never even come close to recovering your investment, let alone your time and aggravation .You will be chasing problems for years with this one. It really a shame but it's been neglected for far too long. RUN FORREST RUN!!!

 

I bet that car will cleanup nicely. If you get it cheap you can invest very little money and have a nice driver

 

I appreciate the responses. I've wanted a C4 my whole life just about but never pulled the trigger. This seems like it would be a rewarding challenge, or a shot in the dark. I think, however, she has unreal expectations of what the car is worth in it's current state. Another shame about this car is they put brand new tires on her in 06, the same year she parked it. The tires may be ok because it was parked on the yard and not on pavement. But, it's buried a bit and getting it towed out of there would be somewhat of a challenge.

 

I agree with many of the responses it would be a fun project and clean up better than you think if your a DIY guy. It will take some time, the interior can be completely removed and cleaned to get rid of the musty smell.

I would go for it in a heartbeat if you can come to a fair agreement (free or not over $1500). In the end you will have a great driver.

 

To the OP, I'm here to rain (at least a little) on your parade. The good is I think this car could be rescued, it's all there and unmolested (as in all the parts are there). But obviously neglected. So you have to ask yourself how bad do you want a C4 (you did that above) and do you want one of the early cars with their body style and interiors? Next what is your mechanical ability? Do you have tools? Time and space to work on the car? Space means two car bays of covered space that can be tied up for extended periods of time while you work on the car. Time means when are you going to work on the car, nights, weekends? Every night, every weekend? Do you have another life besides this car? It will affect how long all this takes. Do you get as much or more enjoyment working on cars as driving? Because for a loooong time this going to require much more working than driving.

Since you're here asking I'm assuming this would be your first effort at saving a neglected car. That's ok, we all start somewhere. I'm on my fourth effort to bring back a neglected car, a '73 El Camino. But back to your question, this car is going to require a MINIMUM $5000 above what you pay for the car to get it to a point where you can drive it on a regular basis. You should budget for the following items.

You should check with RockAuto, Zip Corvette, Corvette Central, Eckler's Corvette, Mid America Motorworks and others for parts pricing.

New tires, the ones on that car are toast, drive around the block only if you're brave.
Fuel sender, fuel pump, fuel filter
Replace all rubber hoses, radiator, heater, coolant bypass
New fuel injectors from FIC (Fuel Injector Connection)
Plenum gaskets, throttle body gaskets, etc (req'd to change injectors)
Brake rotors and pads, those rotors will be too rusted to save and the pads are likely bonded to the rotor so the wheels won't turn
One or more wheel hubs
New shocks (possibly)
New carpet
Possibly some type of seat cover, depending on if the leather can be saved or if just cracks and crumbles
Digital dash (cool feature I think) may need to be rebuilt to function
Battery
All new fluids

You get the idea, lots more than clean up and drive here for this car. Paint. The paint MIGHT clean up fairly well, but plan to spend serious time hand buffing this car with polishing compounds. Do some research on this, there is a ton of info on working on paint. But this car I think will require all hand work unless you are quite experienced with a buffer as the paint is likely very thin on this car. If hand polishing doesn't sound like fun (it isn't) then you have to budget for a professional to take a shot at it to hopefully get a result that is good enough to not require a repaint.

In my opinion it would be worth the effort only if the '89 year really trips your trigger and you plan on keeping the car several years and be prepared to loose money when the time comes to let it go. Me? I'd take it on because I'm a car nut, like early C4s, and never go into it thinking I'm getting anything out of it except enjoyment. The money is wasted. So I try to enjoy the experience of the project.

 

Look at it from another perspective. I picked up a 68 Mustang over 30 years ago - I had literally grown up next-door to the car. When the original owner turned 75 or so he decided he shouldn't be driving any more and my dad got it from him. A year or so later I got it from my dad. I took my time restoring it and ended up spending more on it than it is currently worth. But I considered it my hobby and wasn't in it to make a profit, I was in it to enjoy the process of bringing the car back to life.

 

I'm not sure where in Ohio you are located but I would be willing to lend a hand getting the car up and running if you pull the trigger you have a lot of people behind you here on the forum and many resources at your fingertips. You may spend quite a bit on it and maybe more than its worth in the long run, but restoring cars to me is half the fun. It's not about money to me, it's about the journey and the time spent with my wife and kids restoring and enjoying the car far outweighs the cost.

 

I bought mine for 1500 in 2013 , nothing worked. I was going to sell it and recoupe what I could if something was horribly wrong. After 5 trips to Las Vegas and everything working it is a blast.

! get car for 1000 or under.
2 vacuume the car
3 Change oil/ rinse antifreeze with water for now.
3 New Battery
4 Wash car
5 Clean all connectors you can with electric cleaner or at least inspect
6 Edit drain the old gas and put a gallon of new. It is actually easy to inspect the tank on these.
You can get lucky or just sell it again if you have to.

 

I'm in Wilmington. And that is very generous. I will need all the help I can get if this even happens.

So, I took some more pictures today, unfortunately she wasn't home to talk some more. I feel like this is not as bad as it looks. Yes, the obvious will have to done like tires, battery, fluids, fuel, and probably the pads are fused to the rotors as mentioned, at least it looks like they are but i'm hoping some penetrating fluid would free them? Oh well, here are more pics:

 

I have to say that I've NEVER seen one look this bad and still have someone interested enough to actually pay anything for it. I estimate the car itself, as it sits now, isn't worth more than $500,00 to $1000.00 tops. The undercarriage may still be too far gone. I use those figures as a parts (only) car. To restore and get this car back to a fairly safe driving vehicle, this project car will easily cost you a minimum of $3000,00 to $6000,00 with YOU doing the work. More if you job it out to a professional mechanic and body shop.. Soap and water to clean up the filth isn't going to fix all the mechanical and electrical systems in the car that will definitely need repaired judging its current state. Be careful and smart in your decision. If you do get it "dirt cheap" and don't mind chasing problems and still see a diamond in the rough, I wish you the best of luck.

 

89 automatic, let it be a headache for another sucker.

 

Plus rodents might have chewed all the wiring out of it.

 

So far, I haven't seen any indication of that. In fact, doesn't look like any rodent/critter infestation at all.

 

Once you start.pricing parts and see that its going to cost thousands of dollors to restore , you will change your mind on fixing it up... Trust me on this, I have learned the hard way... With the price of C4s now, you can get a nice one in good shape for way less money then fixing up one that far gone... That's a parts car , nothing more...WW