87 value?

[tonyk72]

I know of a 'vette down the street from my house...
Its an 87, just painted by Maaco , red (the original color)
exhaust looks new, solid top, auto, 80k miles
interior is hacked up, seats are in bad shape, poor aftermarket stereo install (as far as cutting up the door panels and dashpad...
the stereo itself is a nice Alpine w/ sub, etc...probably worth around $800...
tires are in bad shape and the windshield is cracked...
also the guy suspects a blown head gasket..., he said it can overheat...had it in storage over the winter.

he wants 3k...

my wife said NO

I told my freind and we just got back from checking it out...
My friend is somewhat mechanically inclined & he says since it didn't smoke from the exhaust...its probably not a blown gasket...
he thinks the rad could be in bad shape, he noticed that it looks like its the original...

it also had trouble staying at idle & when it did start it backfired

is this car worth the $$$?

He also had an red 85 auto, much better condition...looked good

he would sell the pair for 10k

reason for sale, hes got a new WRX in the garage...

If my buddy passes on it, I'll let out the contact info...
will know Friday if my buddy gets it or now...

 

[Moonunit 451]

This car sounds like it's been thrashed. I bet you could find a lot nicer one for what it would cost you to fix this one up. Hey where about in NH are you at? I grew up in Laconia

 

[tonyk72]

Ya, it isn't in great shape mechanically and cosmetically...but I guess it would make a good project car...which is what he was looking for....he might also be able to pick it up for $2500.

I'm down in the Nashua area...

You know of any good 'vette mechanics round here?
Hows Johns up where you live? Are they any good? I'm looking to get some work done on my '72...

 

[JonM]

My suggestion...listen to your wife for once...by the time you buy the car, and put in thousands of more dollars into it, ($$ is not hard to do with a Corvette) you can easily get a car thats in good shape. Sound to me like that car would make a good car to cut up for parts to sell on ebay. An 87 is nothing special to sink that kind of money into...Once you listen to the wife "this time" you can go back to ignoring what she says.

 

[tyrel]

I tend to agree with what everyone else says, save up your money to buy something in better shape. However, I disagree about JonM's statement that the 1987 "is nothing special". The C4 is an excellent car, it handles well and looks good, and it's a fantastic car, so any C4 is very special indeed. For example, the suspension on these cars was years ahead of its time.

That said, I agree that it would be a labor of love to restore a C4, but then if you had your heart set on a particular car and you had the cash and could do a lot of the work yourself over a couple of years, you could have a C4 that is better than new. I think all Corvettes are special.

 

[Moonunit 451]

I don't live in NH anymore. I worked in Nashua for a couple years before I moved to Oregon in 1980, so I can't help you out much there. There are a lot of guys who have some hot Vettes down outside of Boston. You might have to look on another forum to find them though. There is also a guy, I think up aroud Merideth that parts out a lot of Vette's on E-bay. I'll see if I can find a link for ya, but try an E-bay search.

 

[Mad-Mic]

i think the question should be asked.

Do you feel like putting the time and money in to get the vette back to where you want it to be?

if you want something to play with i say go for it if it runs good. you can always put some aftermarket race seats in it like what Ken did. if you can get the "hacked" up parts of the interior looking good for not alot of money like scouring vette junk yards for used parts and such i think it would be a good deal especially if you went with some aftermarket seats for a few hundred bucks. 3k plus 1k for some interior parts you'd have a nice vette. i always hear people say "if you save your money and spend 10k for a newer vette so you don't have to do the resto it would be cheaper" i agree with a totally trashed car But the paint has already been redone which is 3/8's of the battle. if the motor and trans is good thats 1/2 the battle right there. interior is 1/8th of it i would think in complication, time, effort and money.

i say go for it if you don't mind fixing it up.

 

[tonyk72]

It's a done deal...

Well, my buddy picked it up on Friday...I was wrong about the mileage, it was 110k miles...owner said car will get very hot (260). He did replace the rad & waterpump and the problems continued.
My buddy called me Sat morn & said all the car needed was antifreeze...apparently there was a lot of air in the cooling system. He drove it over 300 miles this weekend and the hottest he said it got was 206. He was psyched! No leaks, no need to add coolant either...
And It wouldn't idle 'cuz of a disconnected vac hose...
Other than that, he said he's might yank the seats and replace them with racing buckets for $180 a piece...
Will take car of the other cosmetics as time permits...
Got a new windshield today for $200...
Car has a few aftermarket perf. parts and he said it runs real strong...

 

[Mad-Mic]

see! looks like someone got a sweet deal!