I am in the process of buying a 1977 Vette after a long search (e-bay, local dealers, private sellers, you name it). Turns out that I find this car on E-bay, but its being sold from a dealer in my town....

Anyway, here is what I want some feedback on.

The car is beautiful. I dare say about as close to perfect as you can get without going crazy. Original Paint (I'd say an 8 out of 10), Interior (although the seats are new, but still matched color code) again an 8 or 9 out of 10, original factory radio, Numbers do match, Rebuilt engine (the cleanest I've seen...not chromed or anything, but spotless), 63K original miles (I trust this one), 4 Speed Manual close ratio transmission, etc.

The are asking $14K. So far we're at $12.5K, which isn't so bad if NADA is a realistic value and the car continues to check out. NADA list's the car values (for an L48) as follow's:
Low: $9,075
Average: $13,775
High: $20,925
So here comes the first question....Do you think $12.5K is fair. I understand that with these cars its an "to each their own" thing, but what is the general opinion?

Now, they advertise the car as 210HP, which is the L-82 350 CI engine, correct? What concerns me is the VIN # is: 1Z37L.......Doesn't that "L" indicate the car has a 180 HP, 305 CI L48 engine? Is it possible that the car/frame was built to originally house the smaller engine, but the L82 was added after the fact as a factory/dealer option? Is it possible that the engine is original, but 210 HP even though that "L" is in the VIN code?
Am I missing something with the engine code? Am I reading too much into the VIN #? I did not get the engine code...but I will if I need to.

If the VIN doesn't mean much, and the car does in-fact have the L82 - 210 HP engine, the NADA value then goes up about 15% to 20% with the 4 Speed Manual Transmission.

What do you think?

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An oldvetters opinion here! If you don't havethis beautifulcar home, in your garage by now,you must really be a "purist". Corvette did a lot of goofy things, especiallytoward the end of a year's run. Yes the L says it is a 180hp. If you are purchasing it for an investment only and planning to have it certified by Bloomington, ya better do a little more research. If you are buying it to drive, who cares if it's 180 or 210. It's not a race car.There are somefactsto follow-up on that might help you find out if its the correct engine. ie: M21 close ratio tranny/210hponly. Good Luck.

 

Im not 100% sure what you mean by "purist", but I don't think that fits me. I agree thats its not about the HP (these cars are not "fast"), but I was more concerned with the dealers details about the car and the listing (Ill attach a link at the bottom) which shows the car at 210HP and 4 Spd Manual with Close Ratio. I want to be able to trust the dealer and what Im being told. The "L" in the VIN threw me off.....Is it possible, without having an aftermarket change, to have the210 HP engine in this car even though the VIN has that "L"?

It will be a weekend driver...not just an investment (although I would like to be able to get my money back after years of care when I do decide to sell it). If I made money....great, otherwise a break even would be fine with me.

http://www.nvo.com/texasmusclecars/1...view_all.nhtml

 

After researching thru my limited archives, here's what I found: the car pictured has a '76 steering wheel, base engine valve covers, 5,300 rpm redline (180 hp tach), non-factory shifter, missing alarm switch in left front fender, '78 crossed flags on fenders, & no L-82 hood trim. It's also missing the air cleaner gasket-to-hood seal and its ring that sits on the outer edge of the air cleaner. If the paint has metallic in it, then it's a repaint as the '77 Orange was non-metallic. Paint code 66 and interior code 692. You can check this on the trim tag. I don't think the factory could put a L82 in a L VIN code and therefore it's not a close-ratio. Plus they only made approx. 2,000 L82/close ratio (M21) cars.

June issue of Corvette magazine lists 1977 prices as $23K for Show-Ready to $6K for Needs TLC with adders of $2K for L82, $800 for A/C, & $700 for alloy wheels.

This car looks like a very nice (in pics at least) mildly modified (front spoiler, custom exhaust, shifter, crossed flags) car. If it drives good and is relatively rust free (frame), then probably a good deal. Just curious as to why they are saying it's an L82, close ratio.

 

Thanks for the info!
I believe that non Tilt Wheel '77 Vettes had the same steering wheel as a '76. I did some research on that. This car does not have Tilt Wheel. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
The factory alarm switch on thefenderwas notstandard on all '77 Vettes (found my footnote..see below).
I agree with you about the shifter, but even though its not orignal, I happen to like this one.
The paint does not have any metallic in it. All but the rear bumper seen to have the original paint when you see it in the sun. From underneath, it does not look like the bumper was painted due to an accident, but rather the typical peeling that you see on them. Not being able to do a VIN search (like Carfax) sucks! I have not checked the tags yet to confirm the codes, but so far I have no reason to believe this isn't the original paint. It just has that originallook.

The reason for the post is exactly what you mentioned.....why advertise it as a 210HP Close Ratio if its not...unless of course that L doesn't mean much and its possible that it is as they advertise?

P.S.
Im glad its missing that air-cleaner to gasket o-ring sealer. I always hated the way that looked.

OK
I found that page again.... http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...1977/77id.html

Cut & Pasted:




Exterior:

[ul][*]This is the first year that the Stingray moniker was not used.[*]The earliest 1977 Corvettes came with the alarm key hole on the left front fender and lacked fender emblems. This changed during production. The update included the loss of the alarm key hold and a new crossed flags emblem. [*]The crossed flags emblem used on the fenders, front-end and fuel filler door is new for this model year and used on 1977-1979 Corvettes. (see below) [*]The exterior luggage rack became an official option (RPO V54) and was a dealer installed option prior to the 1977 model year. [/ul]

Interior:

[ul][*]Instrument cluster gauges were redesigned.[*]Center console, steering column and steering wheel were redesigned. The redesigned steering wheel came only with the Tilt-Telescopic Steering Column option (RPO N37). [*]Headlight dimmer switch and windshield wiper controls were moved to two separate stalks on the left hand side of the steering column. [/ul]

 

One thing I came up with is that past owners might of changed some itemssteering wheel, paint, etc.). The seller might not know the true history of the vette say engine info, the vin nummay not becorrectly advertised... that's a L48 engine(180hp) still a powerful engine. Good Luck
C-ya

 

Glad you found some better info. I was getting the steering wheel (FYI the '76 wheel and this one was from the Vega), alarm switch, and crossed flag info from the '77 dealer brochure.

As I mentioned in another thread re: air cleaner seal ring, it usually came from factory looking like it was wadded up prior to install. Guess I lucked out as mine retained its preformed shape all these years. I'm assuming the '77 still used the cowl induction since it doesn't seem to have the flex cold air ducts. Something you might want to check cuz if it does still use cowl induction, then without the rubber seal it will be non-functional. Also be sure to check the shifter when you test drive it.

I read awhile back that Carfax was being sued because they don't have access to a lot of info re: wrecks, flood, etc in some states and insurance companies and were leading consumers to think that they did.

As to the L in the VIN, I'd bet good money that's exactly what it is, the 180 hp motor. Not a big deal unless they are bumping the price up for an L82.