Stingydonut

Sorry for my lack of knowledge but I just would like to get some opinions on if I got a good deal on an 81 l81 I just picked up and what you think is most cost effective (I payed $2000 )
(The good)- owned by a mechanic so it runs and drives great. Original motor and trans matching numbers. just took it on a 2 hour drive. The interior is in excellent condition only one small crack in the drivers seat. All gages work, electric seats work, 84,000 original miles, and I know they are original miles and not rolled over because it's an 81 and I got the car fax history since 1984 to present. It has never been in an accident. The bird cage is in perfect shape. No rust in the floor plans or anywhere on the frame. Even Infront of the rear wheel wells have no frame rust.
(The bad)- the paint is awful. Chipping off all over, after driving it for a bit the idle drops and almost stalls (probably just needs a tune). There is a crack in the fiberglass all the way through the body on the rear wheel well. The headlights lift up slow and sometimes don't lift at all. And there are 2 other small cracks.

Does it seem worth it to pay all the money to have a new paintjob and have the cracks repaired? What can the value of the car be after all this is done? (Ps it's an automatic). Just want to know if this was a bad idea hahaha. I have about a 5,000 dollar budget left to invest. I have experience in marine fiberglass repair so I'm hoping I can just fix the cracks myself and prep for paint. Sorry for the huge post. Thanks in advance!

lvmyvt76

i don't think so, if some of the work can be done by you. Paint can wait until you get all the bugs out. Lights probably have vacuum leak, start looking. Start learning about this car by reading posts on here, then start asking questions, someone will answer them. Look for a corvette club to join, ask members for help/ they will usually have answers or who to go to. GOOD LUCK, enjoy your car!!

Iceaxe

Sounds like you did good. Headlights are an easy fix, it just takes a $30 Mity-Vac and one of the numerous flow charts on finding the C3 vacuum leak. A tuneup is cheap and easy. Paint is the only high dollar item and if you can do part of the prep that shouldn't be to expensive.

See 3

what they said, you've got a great starter...........

76bomb

Looks to me like you have a pretty good handle on "needs" and "wants"

First thing I did was set my budget and figure out the "needs" Brake caliper (yes) P/S pump (yes) Paint (no) Tach not working (not yet) outter door handles (if within budget ok)

If you are looking at it to keep for a long time then you can adjust for your personal pride to dollars.
If you only plan on keeping for a short time then judge dollars put in to resale value extracted.

Safety is number one. Comfort and convenience after that then appearance. (You can drive a ugly car but not if it's unsafe, You can drive a safe ugly car longer if your comfortable)

I would say you got a good deal just as long as you keep it a good deal and not blowing your budget.

Good Luck Have fun and make it your own.

calwldlife

over paid

Dynra Rockets

Paint work is one of the more expensive things to do on a C3. If you can repair and paint yourself then seems like a good deal as everything you mentioned is inexpensive and/or easy to fix. You didn't mention the frame/birdcage condition, that can also be a major repair bill.

When looking for a cheap project C3 paint and frame are the two biggies to look out for. There is a buying guide sticky at the top of the forum.

A "mechanic" letting it go for $2k seems suspect to me though as they would know the true value and what it would take to bring it back to a driver state.

R

Don Rickles

Probably

Big2Bird

If you bought it for an investment, sell it as is.
If you like the car, spend $20K to fix it up, and you "might" break even.

TimAT

Get your hands on the FACTORY service manual. Any work that may come up in the future related to engine and performance, you will need it. Even things that seem simple, like carb adjustment, are not as simple as they seem to be. Without that manual, your boat is full of holes and you won't have enough of anything to plug them. Disregard if the carb and distributor are not the original OEM installed parts.

doorgunner

I'm pessimistically Optimistic. If you bought a car that you could drive around for two hours you did well. If your do your own repairs you should be able to stay within your budget by shopping around for a decent Painter. As other Members said BUY YEAR SPECIFIC Corvette-only repair manuals to save yourself time and headaches.

Priya

At $2000 its not much of a mistake. The real mistake comes when you spend 3 times what its worth to get it the way you want like I'm doing.

Jeffs82c3

Got any pics of it?

Big2Bird

Pictures? I have seen them go for $8K when sad, but sad is relative.

PeterC3

From what you've posted, I'd be ecstatic with the deal. But then I'm a realist, any 30+ year old car is going to need a tonne of work and $ to make it a show piece. To do that you have to really want the car for the long term. If it's a short term thing then I would buff it up best you can to make it presentable and enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Rescue Rogers

Paint it yourself, you can make it your own and if it doesn't come out decent try again.

Have fun with it, don't try and do a restore and think about making big bucks, it isn't a highly sought after year

BarryB72

I'd have to check exactly how much, but I know for sure I've spent over $1000 on shipping to get all my eBay and vendor parts delivered to my house over the years, so $2000 for a car? That's nothing to feel regret about.

Priya

Yes, I'd call that a great deal if all it needs is paint. For me I'd want my C3 to be a non-factory colour so regardless of the quality of the paint I'd want to repaint it so a car that's cheap because it needs paint is a bonus.

derekderek

There was a guy on here cut the hardtop off and converter this 72 to a convertible. He painted the car with yellow Rust-Oleum. It was a very nice looking car. You don't have to spend $10,000 on a paint job. Not unless it's a $50,000 car when it's done.

Jeffs82c3

Derek, I remember that post, but not who did it...