rayt39

Hi, may name is Ray' and I'm contemplating a project '85. The good...paint is good, body is straight, wheels are in nice shape. The bad...blown head gasket, interior needs complete redo. The blown head gasket is not a major issue, I have a complete shop. The price is a little high for a non runner IMHO, at 3500. Opinions???

Vetteman Jack

Welcome to the forum and I’m moving this over to C4 General for some comments on your question.

LiveWire1

If the bones are good, then I'm thinking $3500 is not bad.
Something had to make that head gasket fail. Is it only an oil or compression leak or is it antifreeze? Is the head warped? You're taking a chance on the engine being fried. Can you do a compression test at least to see which cylinders are good and which ones are bad? Also, seat coverings cost minimum $800 and carpets will be more than that.
Will the seller guarantee that the head gasket is the only engine problem? But if the engine is toasted, you can get good rebuild for $3-4000.
If it's in good working order, then it's worth $8-10K so you've got a bit of a window before you've sunk more $ into it than what it's worth. I bought a good runner last year that needed an interior and a bit of freshening up (brakes, rear spring, seat covers). I paid $6500 Canadian for it, and it was certainly a good deal at that.
Judgement: Go for it!

Bobbo 1972

I’m in Maine as well and just paid that for a barn find that I had to put 3k into. The difference is mine is a 96 with an LT4 and 6 speed.

I would keep looking a bit if possible. You could have more into that car than the final value which up here likely tops out about 6k in great shape and running strong.

Natty C

I paid $3,500 for my '90. Add close to another $1,000 to ship it. That was two years ago, almost to the day.

I've put $11,000 into it since. You will, too. Probably.

There are other things that go on a car that old. Steering rack replacement, for instance, is $1,200 minimum if you can't do it yourself.

It ran when I bought it. Still does. Except better, give or take a pint or two of blood.

I restored the interior. Restoring the interior is expensive. I only mention this because you said that the interior is shot.

The motor is easy to work on. Most everything else is tedious. In my view anyway.

End of the day, it depends on what you want out of it. If it's truly just a project car, it'll surely keep you busy if you want it to be presentable and driver worthy. There is no doubt that it will indeed be a project car, no matter what. And it'll be ongoing.

If you're not prepared for the expense of it, I'd pass on it. And there will be a lot of it, no matter what the seller says. The car is almost 35 years old.

You didn't mention anything about the electrical situation. The coolant system. Shocks. Fuel delivery system. Under body. Particularly the floor pans. Braking system. Weather stripping. There's all sorts of things. Transmission...

1bdvet

Welcome!

Incorvettei

In my opinion you are going to probably have to put into it at least what the asking price is I would keep looking if I were you

ledger35

Welcome to the forum, enjoy your stay!

snlshow

Hey Ray,

Welcome to the forum. I agree with you 100%. $3500 is TOO high for a non runner... period! I would negotiate at least $1k off of that price and be prepared to dump every penny of that dollar amount back into the engine. As was posted previously, if you have the skills to diy then you are in a much better position than some of us.

Best of luck to you!

Chris44m

Auto or manual? Depending on whats good on the car, you could always part it out to recover 2k, if you buy it and things don't turn out like you thought. but that's a lot of work too.

rayt39

WThanks for all the input! I think that particular one may have become someone else's problem. So, I have a thing...Corvette Medium Blue matallic has always been my favorite color, but I also have a line on a 1990 green roadster with transmission problems. A little background...I'm a recently retired master electrician with a brother that teaches auto mechanics at the college level. So obviosly electrical or mechanical issues are not any problem. So the search continues

93QuasarBlue

Ray I'm in Dover NH. If you are near the south I can show you around my 93/lt1 so you have a reference for a good level survivor. I paid a lot (over 10K) for a low mile Florida sleeper. Polish and cleaner is a lot less time and expense if you want to be driving it right way. Also many parts are shipping very slowly now. Depending on the beauty points you need, I would factor in weather strip, seat covers, carpet and tires and wheels and rear wheel bearings, a FSM, a Harbor Freight charge card, and Ecklers and Zip-corvette on speed dial, as the entry fee to the C4. Lucky for me the carpet cleaned up nice. Most of the vets on here see the price and know that to make it drivable is another 3-4K easily and it can take a lot of time to sort out the pretzel logic to find clearances to access things. My best advise it be prepared to invest 10K into your new hobby (but do your best to see how much you can dyi against using a garage).
Good luck!