Some of us have bought our Corvettes finished and ready to drive and show. Some others have bought "bargains" and nursed them back to health in some fashion or other. What is your preference and would you do it again? Would you do it differently? a bigger engine or a different transmission, suspension or anything like that?

Tell us your story!

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Pictures are welcome too!

 

I have asked Santa for a big block, and a second vette to put it in. Will have my '72 for the rest of my life!

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I wanted to answer two choices.
Buy a fixer upper, and upgrade the engine and tranny.
( suspension too )
Just read my sig, it tells the story!
Do it again? In a heartbeat! [sm=icon_rock.gif]


( already thinkin' about a 632 cid "High Deck", there is no end to the possibilities with these fabulous cars [sm=smiley20.gif])

 

Kind of depends on who did the restoration. You can get trapped with a ten footer and when you get it home, find out that bubba was the lead mech. [:@]

 

I bought mine from the original owner and it was a very well taken care of car. It was kept in a garage all of it's life. I got all the maintenance records with the car and they showed that the oil was changed religously and the engine is healthy and doesn't burn any oil. I feel that I did the right thing buying this car "ready to go" as I got it for a very fair price.
With this specific car, a C3, I'd buy one "ready to go" as they don't go for a fortune like the older ones do. When you get "anything" to restore, like I said in another post, you'll put more into it than it's worth if you do a complete job. Estimate as accurately as possible what the complete job will hit you in the pocket forand add 50% and you'll be very close to what it will cost you. But then, the car is really "you" when you're done. If you sell it, the buyer will forever be driving a car that's an extentioinof someone else. LOL But it's true.
All in all, I suppose it's "six of one-half dozen of another." You buy a very nice C3 and do this-and-that to get it like you want it while you drive the beauty around. You buy one to restore and in the end the car is really "you," and to me, that's very hard to beat.

Hey!!! This is really a super hard question to answer one way. I'm a guy who would love a big area in the room my piano is in to have an "engine in progress" on a stand. I also love to leave really early on a Saturday morning and walk through a good junk yard that has alot of older stuff along with the new and come back home at about two in the afternoon. I know that everyone is different. But I'm thinking that damn near all of us, given the chance,would do it both ways. Did you post this topic to drive some of us crazy??? LOL Thanks for kick-starting a good "soul-searching" topic.

 

[sm=exactly.gif]Very well put there, Texas.

I, for one, chose the "build it your way" persuasion.
Soon as I get the "Dang" 454 runnin' and stablized, next comes the electrical and vacuum systems.
I'm kinda doin' a ground up, but not stock by any means.
( not real "Bad", but bad enough.....)

 

I own an 82 Collectors Edition that I bought from a guy in rural Vermont. I drove nine hours from NY to get it. I've had it about 7 years and have changed nothing (Its original) but the stereo. This year I bought a 2004 stock 6 speed. I love them both but have no time for any tinkering in the garage. I love them the waythey areand just bought a lift to convert my two car garage into a three car. Yes, my wife gets one spot. Maybe when I retire I'll get that dream C2 and have some time to work on it. Meanwhile I'll just enjoy the thrill of driving them and trying to decide which one to take out on that beautiful sunny day.

 

I noticed that alot of you guys are in "cold weather states." I grew up in Ossining, New York and I was involved with alot of motor heads and professional drag cars. I remember how important and significant the summer months were when it came to cars and motorcycles. (I remember riding motorcycles in the winter before full-faced helmets, when the snot would run back into the sides ofyour helmet out of your nose and harden. When you'd go inside, when you'd make a warm-up stop, you could chip it off with your fingernails. I rode a rotary valve 250 Kawasaki enduro and then a 3 cylinder two stroke 500 Kawasaki back then. Some pretty runnin' stuff for the day.) Guys would work on their hot rides all winter just to drive them on the street on sunny Sundays. I remember how "pingy" dual exhausts sounded ,with headers run into them, on a cold day when you first started the car.I stand and listen to the pipes on my 'Vette when the weather is chilly and I first start the car. (I remember scrambling on the street in the city in the winter and howcold the weather and (cold-blooded) my trane of thought was.)
"Hats off" to you guys who live up north and live for the sunny Saturdays and Sundays when you can take your hot rods out for a spin. When I got out of the Army, I stayed in Texas specifically for the good hot and dry weather. You guys who work on your cars more than you drive them are some dedicated folk. And jwerkjr, you will get to work on your 'Vettes some time soon as you think enough of them to enjoy and appreciate them when you can, depending on your weather and time. "Hats-off."

 

I have fixed mine up. but, would buy one in better condition this time around, but not a show car as I would like to still put my stamp on it. the old saying holds true. by the best corvette you can afford. for me at 19 years old that wasn't much. but now im 26 and love it. new pain, suspension, engine, transmission, and still have to change my interior. but, all in all, the car is unique and is me. I would not trade that for anything. I ahve also made a lot of great firends along the way and got an automotive shade tree education. that is worht the invetment as well. If u want to see the beast there are pics on the thread for putting an lt1 in a c3. as mine has done that.

 

I bought my 79 in October of 2004. It had a 350 in it that was rebuilt - receipts and all, a Richmond 5 speed, newer interior and a ground effects body kit. When I test drove it I thought it was a nice car, I even had my mechanic look it over, check the frame for damage, etc. I paid what I thought was a fair price. It would have been a great deal if everything was as it appeared.
The rebuilt engine ran nice but had serious oil consumption problems, so I pulled it and replaced it with a crate engine. The crate engine was NFG so I replaced that one with a 383 stroker that I had built locally.Approximately8 grand spent all told on the engine(s).
The front end components all needed replacing - Power steering pump, control valve, steering box and steering column.Approximately a grand in parts and labor.
Brakes - same thing, all new rotors, calipers, pads,master cylinder, parking brake cables and hardware kit and shoes. Maybe another grand spent there.
The Richmond 5 speed had seen some hard service, the tail housing on the trans was reamed out so badly that a new bushing fell inside the trans when we tried to install it. The tail housing was replaced, the transmission was rebuilt and the drive shaft was sent out and balanced. Another grand.
Custom dual exhaust, dual Hi-perf. catalytic converters and flowmasters with an H pipe, just short of another grand.
Cooling problems - man was I ever plagued by cooling problems - new chin spoiler, new radiators (2) one copper/brass, then finally an aluminum one. New high flow water pump, new thermostats, electric fans (later removed), water wetter, new fan clutch, new radiator seal kit, new hoses. Easily another $700 spent there.
I blew the rear at the race track one day. New rear - installed, another $1500.00
Monoleaf rear spring after my steel one separated and collapsed. $400 installed.
New alternator ($ negligible)
New headlight vacuum canisters, maybe another$250.00 installed.
Rebuilt half shafts $180.00
Replace missing A/C compressor and brackets, new heater hoses, heater control valve, heater control vacuum hoses and control head, approximately $450.00
Replace all gauges, speedometer and tach and printed circuit boards, approximately $500.00
Gut interior and insulate with reflectix - $100.00
New stereo system $500.00
Replacement rubber bumpers, front and rear - $500 not installed yet
Lots of miscellaneous labor costs not included here too.....
Five engine changes, Three years of aggravation, troubleshootingand waiting for machine shops and mechanics to pull it all together while I figure out how to pay for it all - AAAAARRRRGGHH!!!!
Priceless.

Now don't get me wrong. It's still not done yet. I need new tires and new Bilsteins on all four corners, new leather interior, window adjustments and most of all, a much needed trip to the bodyshop. Easily another 5 to 10 grand.

So the big question - would I do it all again?

No - I have learned my lesson. I would take all the money I have spent over the last 3 years and plunk it down on a newer or nicer High Performance Convertible. My 79 is still rough looking even though it is almost 100% perfect mechanically. I could have had a much nicer car by now.

Will I ever part with my 79?

Not very likely.

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