I say keep it as long as you have it running good and save your money up for future mods!

You think your vette is expensive to keep up, wait till you get married!

 

Wearable Items really should not be considered "Problems". If that were the case you could say your refrigerator is broken every time you run out of milk.
It sounds to me like you think you are over your head. If this is your only veh I recommend you get something newer. If not keep it play with it and learn..Must of us don't mind helping and you can learn a lot on the forum.

 

I did just that in an 89. Hi-rise hood, repainted exterior, new interior, 383 stroker build.

Obviously a hood would require paint. Assuming the entire car needs to be repainted, you're looking at $6,000 - $10,000 for a nice paint job (and the hood).

Really, you can spend a similar amount on the stroker...though a poor-mans version (400 crank and stock rods) can be done probably in the $2500 range.

Interior rework can range from $1,000 on up...depending.

Weatherstrip is something many don't consider and it's several hundred dollars.

Drivetrain mods to support a 383 is another item most don't consider. Plus, you'd probably want a different intake/headers with a 383. So....

Building your dream car is probably a $20k proposition. Maybe $10-$15k if you really skimp, have access to paint, etc.....

 

You in effect highlight an important point: Whether you buy a new car, or do a project on a used car, there is no way that a daily driveable vehicle that is sufficiently reliable for daily service (like going to work and doing the shopping, when you, not the car, decides it's time to do so) is going to cost you any less than at least $15,000.

So, you can take your choice and . . .buy a brand new Kia Soul for $15,000 (yes, that's the real price currently) with a decent warranty and thus very little risk, or a $30,000 Camaro that's a lot nicer, or a new $55,000++ Corvette that's VERY nice, or . . . buy a decent running older Corvette and spend the difference between that cost and the costs above to make that Corvette into what you personally want. This last choice gives you the choice of where you put the money into the car (e.g. great stereo or great engine, nice paint or good engine rebuild), creates a personal statement and work of art versus an appliance, and allows you, not the loan company, to decide at what rate you wll put money into your car.

Many on this forum have selected that last choice.

But, if the car needs to be your daily driver, you need to buy as a starting point a car that runs reliably NOW so that you have TIME to make the improvements you envision.

Jim G

 

I actually used similar logic when deciding to sink the money into the Corvette. Mine only HAD 55k miles, but I considered a $15k expenditure not TOO far off from providing basic transportation needs over the next 10-20 years. With a new motor, exterior, and interior, it should last that long. It may need a repair or two...but so would a brand new car running for 10-20 years.

The difference is having that backup vehicle for bad weather, bad conditions, etc... With miminal liablity insurance AND sufficient age, personal property between both vehicles doesn't really exceed a single, higher-priced new(er) one.

Your maintenance costs could run a bit more -- taking care of two vs. one vehicle -- but your overall ability for mileage/use goes up. It's really not a bad option -- if the vehicle don't deteriorate BEFORE reasonable mileage/use is logged.


For me...at the 10-yr mark BEYOND my build, I should still have another 10-years worth of mileage on my Corvette. The other vehicle might near major work...or replacement by then. The overall cost for that 10-yr period would be $25k. For the following 10, it should drop to $10kish. For a 20yr span, the overall cost would be $35k..or less than $2k/yr. That directly corresponds to the cost -- per year -- to own a $25k vehicle.

 

All of the things you mentioned that you replaced were not Crossfire related, and will go bad on any older car. I attended a few of Gordon Killebrew's tech sessions in Eureka Springs over the years, and he made the comment that the 84's were more dependable than the TPI cars because there is less to go wrong with them, but people don't know how to work on them.

I have had seven Crossfire Vettes, and they were all dependable.

To me it sounds like you want more power. The question is how much? If you are happy running 13's, then the 84 can be made to do it with some mods. Jim Campisano (sp) did it in an old Corvette magazine with headers and some bolt-ons. If you want more than 13's then it will get more costly, as with a TPI also.

A later model will be easier to upgrade, but it won't be any more reliable unless you get low miles and several years newer.

With that being said, if there is a later model that will do everything you want it to do and you can afford it, go for it.

Shawn

 

this forum is for c3s not c4s

 

It IS the C4 Tech/Performance section.

 

It sounds like you & your Dad have a good relationship and that he is in to Vettes too. He has already been through what you are getting ready to enter, have you sat down with him & asked his advice? He knows you & your car a lot better than we do.

 

 

Very cool. I could never get my girls interested in being in the shop. Good luck with the new ride.

 

some tough decisions need to be made before any profitable advice can be given. you're asking a bunch of... abnormal enthusiasts what to do.

example: i bought a very clean, 2 owner, 1989 zf6 survivor car. so i could immediately tear it apart and engine/transmission swap it. so i bought a 2017 LT1 engine out of a c7, a t56 magnum f transmission and what feels like 10,000 other parts.

i have a ton of money in a project car that isn't done yet. i have a ton of money in swap parts that i cannot use. i have countless hours of frustration, research and parts trial & error. a few new scars, as well. i have no idea what kind of curse this car put on me but i will persevere at all odds.

point being, i'll tell you to swing for the fences every time.

edit: i also had an 84 car (that got ls swapped about 10 years ago). i drove it quite a bit beforehand. the only thing i didn't have issues out of was the ceasefire engine. not powerful but started & ran great every time.

 

Lol, this is a decades-old Thread Revival...

Fun topic though... I'm kind of in a similar situation. I just picked up a very inexpensive 1984 Corvette. I'm already head over heels for it. The car has 50k original miles... but man... it's been sitting. It's in rough shape. Paint is shot, and I'm trying to decide where to go from here. I love the aesthetics of the CFI engine... but I just paid $100 bucks for an air filter from someone's "museum stash."

I've had CFI before, in an 82 TransAm, that I owned many years ago (it was a turd car, but I loved it. I paid $250 bucks for it from "Pink Flamingo Motors" in Fort Lauderdale). The big question though is... what do I want to get out of it? The CFI itself is not a bad design (ignoring the intentionally blocked intake ports)... it's an older design, not the most efficient, basically an attempt to replicate the batch-firing you get from MPFI/TPI engines, with throttle body injection, instead of individual injectors. I don't think the motor is so bad... being a run of the mill decent 350 block. Performance was quite decent for the time as well. But the thing is... you can spend $2k and get ... oh crap. I take that back, just went on eBay. Damn... either inflation or, something... 350 crate motors are insane! You could get a ZZ4 crate motor for like $1,500 bucks a few... well, I guess a decade ago. Damn.

Anyway... I say, if the car is in really nice shape, and original... keep it CFI. If you're rebuilding a car that's trashed... you're not hurting anyone by upgrading to something you're going to enjoy more.


Parts cost a lot of money... I'm restoring a Pontiac Fiero with my daughter, and I keep track of all the receipts. In the 1.5 years we've been working on it, we've already amassed a total expenditure of nearly $20k in parts... and that didn't even include the purchase of the car. That doesn't include labor (which she did all herself). The only thing we didn't do ourselves was rebuild the transmission, which was about $3,200. I expect it to top out at $25-30k when done. Of course, it'll be an entirely new car (didn't need paint)... with literally every part sanded, primed, painted, or outright replaced, and the engine totally rebuilt. A Corvette would be around the same cost.

 

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