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Fair price for a 78 w/L82

  • Thread starter Thread starter 78L82
  • Start date Start date
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78L82

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I am new to the vette world and looking at a 78 in the morning. The price seems too good to be true...

here's the listing:

posted January 02, 2004 09:19 AM
i have a 78 corvette 25th anniversary car for sale the vette has the original L82 motor in it with 71k original miles it needs 2 front fenders and a T-top the motor and tranny run awesome it is an automatic tranny this car would be perfect for a nice restoration project
this car is a steal for only $2000


I talked to him today and he's already willing to go down to $1500... says it runs well, has not been driven in a while, needs new front fenders and t-top...


any words of advice as I look at buying this car? ;help
 
potential purchase

get the vin and check to see if the drivetrain is original.

interior parts are expensive one door panel is about 200.00

what is your budget and mechanical ability? time available to work on the car?

i have a 78 silv. anniv. car l82 automatic car showing about 50,000 miles not sure about the originality of the engine, but many things appear factory. car is about a 7 out of 10.

i need to sell my car and it is mechanically sound other than a minor trans rear main seal. it is worth 10,000

i am in northern ms.
 
It probably needs many other repairs also but for 1500 it could be a good start on a restoration. Everyone on this board will tell you to buy a car that has already been restored if you can buy it reasonable. There are the those who however have/are doing a groundup restoration.

If you can do the work yourself and the rest of the car is solid I would say go for it, but if you plan on having the work done you would be better off buying one done.

This is only my view on it but vette parts are expensive and can make that 1500 dollar vette a 15,000 vette in no time.
 
You have to ask yourself...

78L82 said:
....this car would be perfect for a nice restoration project...

...says it runs well, has not been driven in a while, needs new front fenders and t-top...

...any words of advice as I look at buying this car? ;help

Do you want to restore a vette or do you want to drive a vette?


While the price of this 78SA does sound good, I must think that for $1500 it needs much, much more than just fenders and t-tops.

If you DO want to have a restoration project, take a look at it...but also get ahold of some Corvette Parts catalogs (Corvette Central, Ecklers, MidAmerica to name 3) and check out how much parts actually cost.

The only economical way to restore a vette is to do the work yourself and hunt down quality parts at great prices. Overall, I have to agree with resto75 that your $1500 vette can quickly turn into a $15,000+ vette in no time...and its quite possible that you will never recoup that money on a resale.

You also need to look at your commitment: IF you purchase this cheap 78, IF you can only afford to fix a little at a time as budget allows, WILL you remain interested in the project for as long as it takes to complete?

Anyhow, welcome to Corvette Action Center. If you decide to purchase the 78 you will have many members from which to ask questions and get helpful advice about your restoration project.
Heidi

ps...also go to the top of the CAC page and click on the Blue Tab marked Learning Center and print out the Corvette Buyers Checklist. Seems like overkill but it gives you a good idea of what to look for.
 
Thanks for all the great advice. As it turned out, it was too good a price to be true. That thing was in very very bad shape. It looked like someone left it out in the rain for years with no top on it. It was a real shame to see what was a nice vette in it's day, end up in such bad shape. I'll keep looking and most likely buy one in better shape. I can do a lot of the work myself, but this thing was way more a project than I wanted to sign up for.

Thanks again..... I'll be around...

I WILL own a Corvette some day... I'll just keep looking for the right one.
 

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