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Forum's thoughts on these craigslist C3s?
Been lurking here for a while, and I'm looking for a C3 once again (was earlier, but that fell through)
Here's a few I've found. The silver 77 looks promising, curious what's up with the motor though. https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/c...668921209.html https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/c...660603264.html https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/c...672624655.html |
I guess the Black 77 is my choice - if a gun was to my head. The somewhat smarter move would be to spend a bit more and get a vette that has a lot more into it from the seller. What your are looking at is a few cars that need 10K to 15K for repairs and paint, and when you’re done you will have a nice $10,000 Corvette. IMHO, I’m not a big fan of the mid-year and newer C3 vettes that went to the 2 into 1 exhaust and the pollution crap that can be very unpopular and later losing the TH400 to getting the TH350 transmissions. That’s not to say finding a sweet black and silver Pacecar Edition or a mid yr and later C3 that someone fixed the drawbacks wouldn’t be great if all else was good.a As far as C3 are concerned your best bet is to stick to finding the best deal you can make on a ‘70 first, I prefer 71’s next over the 68 and 69s. (Big production #s, 68 can be costly for correct parts, both years are plentiful compared to ‘70, 71 and ‘72s. (72 loses the fiber optics, headlight washers, the cool green backlight gauges and the stickers that say 270 hp. If you have the money LT-1 (‘70, 71 and 72 is the only yr you can get AC in an LT-1) is a fun car. Find a 73 big block coupe or convertible or a L82 coupe or convertible, A 74 big block coupe or convertible - this is my preference for C3’s. Any year is better with a 4 speed manual trans, but a good running, good looking vette can be just as fun with an automatic. Good luck, keep us updated Rich |
Originally Posted by Z06LMB
(Post 1597814807)
I guess the Black 77 is my choice - if a gun was to my head. The somewhat smart move would be to spend a bit more and get a vette that has a lot more money into it from the seller and he wants to get out of the car. What your are looking at is a few cars that need 10K to 15K for repairs and paint, and when you’re done you will have a nice $10,000 Corvette. Stay away from the mid-year and new C3 vettes that went to the 2 into 1 exhaust and the pollution crap that can be very unpopular. As far as C3 are concerned your best bet is to stick to finding the best deal you can make on a ‘70 first, I prefer 71’s next over the 68 and 69s. (Big production #s, 68 can be costly for correct parts, both years are plentiful compared to ‘70, 71 and ‘72s. (72 loses the fiber optics, headlight washers, the cool green backlight gauges and the stickers that say 270 hp. If you have the money LT-1 (‘70, 71 and 72 is the only yr you can get AC in an LT-1) is a fun car. Find a 73 big block coupe or convertible or a L82 coupe or convertible, A 74 big block coupe or convertible - this is my preference for C3’s. Rich |
All depends on what you want. A driver, a project, what your skill sets are. They all need some type of hands on work at times. The investment angle, well there is none until you get into the high dollar rides. Usually what you see is what you get meaning there are a lot of pigs with lipstick on them out there. It really comes down to what you want. You didn't say or tell us what you can afford or the first group of questions. Those cars you are looking at in those years are okay if you want to get "in the hobby" learn and do the work yourself. I have a 69 and 71 restores going on and I am doing ALL the work myself in my at home shop. So good luck in what you decide you want, not others!
RVZIO |
Originally Posted by rvzio
(Post 1597814827)
All depends on what you want. A driver, a project, what your skill sets are. They all need some type of hands on work at times. The investment angle, well there is none until you get into the high dollar rides. Usually what you see is what you get meaning there are a lot of pigs with lipstick on them out there. It really comes down to what you want. You didn't say or tell us what you can afford or the first group of questions. Those cars you are looking at in those years are okay if you want to get "in the hobby" learn and do the work yourself. I have a 69 and 71 restores going on and I am doing ALL the work myself in my at home shop. So good luck in what you decide you want, not others!
RVZIO |
Originally Posted by M4A3E2
(Post 1597814836)
As I've stated a while back, I'm relatively young (teenager) but mechanically inclined, with family friends who are longtime corvette owners (since the 60s) My budget is now between 5 - 15k or so. There's def a lot of C3s in my area to choose from.
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You're in Atlanta, they are in Atlanta. Go look at them all. I'm not saying go look at them with any intent of buying them. Climb underneath check the frames fully kick panels check the Birdcage. Now look for the two and $3, 000 ones and go look at them also. You looking for the bad stuff you want I ball real bad stuff not just pictures of it. And you'll see that those cars aren't very different from the $3, 000 cars. And some of the $10, 000 cars are going to be very much different than those 5 to $8, 000 cars. But the more bad cars you look at the more you're going to know what you don't want in the car you want. And it is after all still Corvette shopping. Oh yeah: read the 10 rukes for buying tour first c3 thread at the top of this section.
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:lurk:
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I like the 79 the best and think its the best deal, but then I'm partial to 78/79. The ad for the silver 77 seems a little suspicious, he's in college and doesn't have time to keep restoring the 77 Corvette but he wants an older muscle car? If you don't have time for the Corvette, how are you going to have time for an older muscle car? The black 77 looks like it has nice paint but multiple colours on the interior is going to cost a bit to fix.
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I would definitely take the suggestion of the previous posters and go kick some tires. As well try and find a mostly finished car that the seller has more money into it then they are selling it for. I bought my 1980 over 10 years when I was very young and I am way underwater on this investment and still not finished. I feel like it would take a lot of first hand knowledge with these cars to find a project and not end up totally underwater and losing a lot of your precious time in the prime of your life. If you are a first time buyer you simply do not have that first hand knowledge and you are very smart for coming to a forum first for advice. Although you may have the time and mechanical know how to fix your own corvette, the amount of time and effort is way more than anyone originally anticipates and there is a lot more important things in life you can spend your time on rather than restoring a corvette that at best you will end up breaking even on.
Get a car that you can enjoy right away and that you can sell easily (because its not a huge project that only appeals to a specific kind of buyer, and/or you are underwater on it and will want to ask more than its worth). You may keep the car the rest of your life, but in the case that you would like to move on from babysitting a classic that constantly needs an oil change, guzzles gas and inevitably has issues that pop up, buy a car that is always in a condition that is easy to sell. If you want to spend time working on a car, get a job at a dealership where they will sponsor your education and you can work on newer cars that actually go together easily (c3 corvettes are a nightmare in many ways to get the fit and finish right, just ask any owner about their experience adjusting the windows) And if you want to work on classic cars get a job at a classic car shop. In both these cases you will actually get paid to learn. If you want to learn on your own car it will cost you money you might get back and time you can never get back versus getting a job where you will be paid to learn and end up with money rather than without money and the liability of ownership (oil changes, tires, registration, inspection, insurance etc) Not saying to not buy a corvette, just buy one in already great shape, maybe the owner already has more money in it than theyre asking, and keep it in good shape when you want to inevitably sell it or keep enjoying it. Project car status is a black hole many corvettes do not return from and where personal time never returns from. Maybe also find a corvette club locally where they would love to share the joy of their cars with a young enthusiast. That may scratch your itch for a corvette and save you $15k that you can use to start a business, invest in real estate, take an amazing vacation and meet unforgettable people or something else. Or buy a vette in good shape, keep it in good shape, and have the ability to easily move on if/when life and your wants inevitably change |
If you had to buy one the 79 is it, but this is a lot of car for someone to take on. You want to live some life or spend all your time & money on one of these? I have a 79 and God only knows how much I have in it and it hasn't run in 7 years. You want an older Vette - I'd suggest a C4, 93 up.
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