Reality check

I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.

The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect to
do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends. Serious
body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.

1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole lot
more?

2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving experience
vs. an automatic?

Bob

"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
>I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
> to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
> Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
> lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
> experience
> vs. an automatic?

This is personal opinion, but if you're thinking of this as a daily driver
you might consider an automatic. If you're only going to drive it a few
thousand miles a year, on weekends, well a Corvette just ought to have a
manual transmission. YMMV.

AJM
'93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp

"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
>I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
> to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
> Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
> lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
> experience
> vs. an automatic?

This is personal opinion, but if you're thinking of this as a daily driver
you might consider an automatic. If you're only going to drive it a few
thousand miles a year, on weekends, well a Corvette just ought to have a
manual transmission. YMMV.

AJM
'93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp

"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
>I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
> to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
> Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
> lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
> experience
> vs. an automatic?
>
> Bob
>
For the 10 to 14K you can get one that is ready to go. But why would you
want a C4 (Flexible Flyer) for any reason? Get a nice C3 or move on up to a
C5, I see some of them going for 19K. Been there, done that, never again
will I ride in a C4, let alone own one.
--
Dad
04 C5 CE Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd

"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
>I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
> to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
> Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
> lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
> experience
> vs. an automatic?
>
> Bob
>
For the 10 to 14K you can get one that is ready to go. But why would you
want a C4 (Flexible Flyer) for any reason? Get a nice C3 or move on up to a
C5, I see some of them going for 19K. Been there, done that, never again
will I ride in a C4, let alone own one.
--
Dad
04 C5 CE Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd

My opinion is that unless you get a Corvette from 1973 through 1988 really
cheap, you are better off paying a little extra and getting a nice one
rather than a cheap one to work on.

Examples,

Ex. 1: $3000 '76 needing interior and paint vs $10,000 nice '76.

In this case, you will spend $4000 for paint, $2000 for full interior
(carpets, seat covers, dash pad, door panels, etc) and be at $9000.
However, it will take 6 months and you could have driven the $10,000 from
day one. Also, a $3000 Corvette will require more than what they say. You
can figure engine work, suspension work, etc.

Ex. 2, $4000 '85 needing paint and interior.

In this case, you can usually find a real nice '85 for under $10,000 easily.
But the project '85 will require the same as the '76 above, but also the
odds are the electric dash is messed up, the Bose is bad, and so on. You
can easily have another $3000 or more in repairs to bring your investment in
the car to $13,000 or so, putting you $3000 and 6 months in the hole.

Then you have to evaluate your experience with Corvettes and your mechanical
skills. Painting a Corvette is not like painting a metal car. You may
spray an old Camaro or Chevelle for $500 but you won't spray a Corvette for
that much.

If you find an '86 or '87 for $7000, it should be in decent shape. if you
end up having to put another $7000 in it, then you have paid about $6500 too
much.



"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
> I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
experience
> vs. an automatic?
>
> Bob
>
>
>

My opinion is that unless you get a Corvette from 1973 through 1988 really
cheap, you are better off paying a little extra and getting a nice one
rather than a cheap one to work on.

Examples,

Ex. 1: $3000 '76 needing interior and paint vs $10,000 nice '76.

In this case, you will spend $4000 for paint, $2000 for full interior
(carpets, seat covers, dash pad, door panels, etc) and be at $9000.
However, it will take 6 months and you could have driven the $10,000 from
day one. Also, a $3000 Corvette will require more than what they say. You
can figure engine work, suspension work, etc.

Ex. 2, $4000 '85 needing paint and interior.

In this case, you can usually find a real nice '85 for under $10,000 easily.
But the project '85 will require the same as the '76 above, but also the
odds are the electric dash is messed up, the Bose is bad, and so on. You
can easily have another $3000 or more in repairs to bring your investment in
the car to $13,000 or so, putting you $3000 and 6 months in the hole.

Then you have to evaluate your experience with Corvettes and your mechanical
skills. Painting a Corvette is not like painting a metal car. You may
spray an old Camaro or Chevelle for $500 but you won't spray a Corvette for
that much.

If you find an '86 or '87 for $7000, it should be in decent shape. if you
end up having to put another $7000 in it, then you have paid about $6500 too
much.



"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
> I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
experience
> vs. an automatic?
>
> Bob
>
>
>

I forgot to even mention the 4+3 transmission. In these cars, they are
typically needing work and you can figure an easy $1500 on repairs of the
transmission. Of course, the 700R4 automatic may need it too, and you can
figure $1400 on the average to rebuild it.

You should scan this group for repairs on the C4s and see what comes up.
You'll see why they are currently low in the market place.



"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
> I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
experience
> vs. an automatic?
>
> Bob
>
>
>

I forgot to even mention the 4+3 transmission. In these cars, they are
typically needing work and you can figure an easy $1500 on repairs of the
transmission. Of course, the 700R4 automatic may need it too, and you can
figure $1400 on the average to rebuild it.

You should scan this group for repairs on the C4s and see what comes up.
You'll see why they are currently low in the market place.



"Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
...
> I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
>
> The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it. Among
> the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I expect
to
> do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
Serious
> body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a worn
> car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
>
> 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
lot
> more?
>
> 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
experience
> vs. an automatic?
>
> Bob
>
>
>

CardsFan > wrote in message
...
>
> "Bob Buchanan" > wrote in message
> ...
> >I now have the time and enough cash to pursue a long held wish of owning,
> > driving, and working on a Corvette . but I need a reality check.
> >
> > The plan is to buy an over-the-hill Corvette and go to work on it.
Among
> > the things I would expect to do a repaint, rebuild the engine and
> > transmission, replace other parts, or even systems, seats, etc. I
expect
> > to
> > do almost all the work myself; with occasional help from friends.
> > Serious
> > body work does not fit the bill. I would not be trying to restore a
worn
> > car to 'show' quality; but good enough to have fun driving and look OK.
> >
> > 1) So if I found an '86 or '87 for, say, $5-7k; could I get away with
> > another $5-7k in parts (labor is free), or would I be looking at a whole
> > lot
> > more?
> >
> > 2) C4's with manual transmissions seem to be scarce. While I've always
> > assumed my Corvette should have one, how different is the driving
> > experience
> > vs. an automatic?
>
> This is personal opinion, but if you're thinking of this as a daily driver
> you might consider an automatic. If you're only going to drive it a few
> thousand miles a year, on weekends, well a Corvette just ought to have a
> manual transmission. YMMV.
>
> AJM
> '93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp

I prefer the manual, even for a daily driver. The Corvette manual
transmission is so easy to use, that you can use it in bumper to bumper
easily, and the car doesn't overheat. A bit different than my prior Viper
in that regard.
>
>