How much have you spent on restoring your Vette, to date ??

[vigman]

Now I'm depressed

I have kept a spread sheet on my 88...
28K Year to date ( got in @ 5K + my 84)

On the 73..GOD KNOWS but a TON OF CASH THERE.

The 64 STARTING@ 14.5K ( not including the 3K for the engine I built for my dream C-2)

And like Chris your only 5K away from "the finishing touch".. and the 64 WILL NEED ALOT OF FINISHING TOUCHES.

and the 88 is the only ( what I would consider) GOOD car..My 73 is rough.. and needs attention.. but she's happy where she is right now..nestled in the garage.

Over time.. maybe just shy 75K between all 3 (in 2003 dollars) and that's NOT including the sweat equity. And I'm a frugal kinda guy.

It's cheaper than some other addictions..

And in excess ( like most of us here are guilty of).. will ruin relationships, cause you to miss work,It WILL give you brain dammage.. you will spend LOTS of $$$$ on it..We will prostitute ourselves for parts or work done..like this.. "I don't care just do what you need to do on her.. she's my BABY.. here take the money.... when can I have her back???"

or

Where do I sign?

In short it WILL partly control your life...

HEY BUT IT'S LEGAL!


It is still my humble opinion you do it for the LOVE..not the investment.. you will NEVER get 50% of your time OR money back..UNLESS you fall across one.. and turn RIGHT around & sell it.

The typical example is with Chris (again)

"Counting purchase price in 1988, then all the engine swaps, paint jobs, transmissions, rims, tires....we came up with $40K! I sold it for $8,500 in 1996."

Vig

 

[SwaveDave]

Like buying an older house, you have to expect to put some money into an old C 3 vette ... unless you put it in UP FRONT on a vette that has been meticulously restored/upgraded/framed up/ framed off. Unless a 16 year old has come into an inheritance/has a dad that is made of money and is loose with it/or is the son of Bill Gates/ or who robs banks after school is out each day....id say look at a decent used 1990-1995 Mustang that you can buy cheap and eventually do perf. mods on , over a period of time. Consider C 3's in 10 years time .

Dave

 

[Tweek]

I bought my 80 at the Corvettes at Carlisle last year, 7 months ago, I put 3000.00 in getting it reliable and mechanical sound, I paid 7500.00 for the car, and it has been the funnest winter I have had in a long time, well as they say "PRICELESS" I fall into the catagory of never could afford a Vette when I was younger, I'm 38, but I'm also not looking to restore this car either, I just want to have fun with it, and what fun it is! Someone please send good weather to Pa. so I can play, I'm about to go out and sweep the stones and stuff off the roads myself! Good luck in what ever you decide, but I can't help thinking that I wish I would of bought one sooner

 

[mmvette80]

Tweek, you are so right about this winter. Its been a bi-ch. I can't wait to take the tops off and go for a long cruise (and enjoy all the $$ spent on the car).

 

[Tweek]

It won't be long, it was 50 today here, but the snow was melting sooo bad it could of been raining and looks like a salt mine at every intersection. I haven't had it out since before X-mas

 

[mmvette80]

For the first few winters I would Park the car in the yard and unregister it. Now that I have a garage and the Long Island winters weren't so bad I leave it registered all year round. What colors is your car? What was the $3000 spent on.

 

[Tweek]

The biggest part was the trailing arms, and everything in the rear of the car, everything new with the brakes, fuel and brake lines, mufflers, (Targa) and just misc. gaskets and parts to make it a driver that I can trust. Silver outside, claret interior

 

[billybob]

hmmm,

75 vette, ......5k
Rebuilt 350 ....2k
New 454 ....7k (and counting)
suspension ....5k
exhaust .....4k
odds and ends .....6k
shipping and brokerage ....5k
still left to spend ....10k
look on the wifes face when see figures out how much we've spent ...priceless

Bill

 

[SwaveDave]

Billybob

Just tell your wife that there are much worse addictions !

 

[97moneypit]

This thread has been quite helpful.......
It's made me realize what an idiot I have been to even consider getting a '75 roadster, and keep my '97.

Out of my league when it comes to the $$$$....

I'll just have to wait for that inheritance/lotto windfall. In my next life.

Meanwhile, I'll make use of a nice sunny day off here in FLA, pull the top off the '97 and cruise for a while.

 

[Wamp]

$$$

I khave kept a spreadsheet since I bought car. I do not include oil and periodic replacement items like filters and sparkplugs, etc...

10,500 + price of car.

 

[rsmlap]

$3500 for the car minus engine Jan. 2002. $3100 for a wrecked 81. Used the engine from that. This work was done in Iowa. $3900 since I brought the car to Southern Ca.

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Justin, don't turn away from a Corvette as a 1st car...

Just realize that you will get what you pay for. Many of the older beauties WILL need some amount of money and effort to become a reliable and safe daily driver.
As I recommend with all purchasers, buy the best maintained vette you can afford.
I also think the C4 generation is becoming very affordable and they have proven to be very reliable vehicles. However, if something breaks on a C4...cha-ching! at the dealership or auto mechanic's shop. I think owning these vettes is 'cheaper' if you are able to perform most of the work yourself.
Insurance is also a consideration. (especially for a young man)
Heidi

I really don't want to add up the amount of money spent. I am sure it is still less than a monthly car payment over the 12 or so years we've had her, and anyways...it still comes out to many smiles per mile.
I can't really call anything we've done as a restoration...I just try to keep her safe and reliable on the roads. So perhaps it would be better to call it maintenance in my instance.
h

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Watch those early C4's. I understand that they had problems with the digital dash and they are very expensive to repair.

 

[BBB454]

I've considered asking this question myself, just out of curiosity...
My total so far is about $31k:

$14,000 purchase price (1997)
1,000 flywheel/clutch/starter (1998)
300 tires (1998)
550 new carb (1998)
300 recore radiator (1999)
800 new calipers & rear rotors (2001)
500 Flowmasters (2001)
1,400 trans rebuild (2001)
1,200 rear end rebuild / drive shaft u joints (2001)
9,350 windshield pillar rebuild / paint job (2002)
600 repair damage from ramp incident (2002)
300 OEM trim rings (2002)
400 OEM front grilles (2003)
500 miscellaneous stuff over the years

Not that I'm keeping track or anything... :L

Barb

 

[Nut]

Hmmmm. Let's see.

$10,000 - Purchase Price a long time ago
$ 1,000 - Tires and alignment (2 sets)
$ 695 - New Leather Seats
$ 335 - KYB shocks and 330 Monospring from VBP
$ 100 - Speaker upgrades
$ 100 - Misc Caliper Rebuild Kits
$ 200 - New DynoMax Mufflers and Installation

$12,400 - That's not including the normal fluids, plugs, wipers, and other misc. normal wear and tear stuff. Not bad for the last 60K miles I put on her since I bought her 15 years ago. It sure pays to buy a car in mint condition.

........... Nut

 

[resto75]

Huummmm

$7000.00 for the 75
350.00 repaint chipped bumpers
150.00 polished manifold
130.00 new o'ring brake overhaul

Mines done

 

[SwaveDave]

I believe its our love affair with our C3 that overrides what we have shelled out in terms of resto and mechanical repairs .I know i dont have any notion of getting rid of mine. Besides, it is all disposable income which allows us to bring our cars up to a high standard, isnt it ??! .... i mean....no one is taking out loans so they can upgrade and repair thier C3, right !!??

Besides... playing songs like "My Baby Does the Hanky Panky" in a 2002 SUV just doesnt seem to 'fit' with the car !

From my recollection...heres my rough breakdown :
17,500 purchase price in 1997
3,000 to correct bubba-izations
3,000 to bring mechanical up to top shape
2,000 to finish restoring the interior
1,000 approx. for car care products-yep!
7,000 for total engine rebuild/buildup
329 for that silly Thompson AstroTop
______
$ 33,829 ... so far .

 

[dlrshort]

1971 mostly original LT-1, 39K miles, matching #s bought last yr. for $25K purchase price.

4 new shocks, purchase and install correct carb., choke, linkages and fuel lines, new rear brakes and suspension with new leaf spring, u-joints, original radio rebuild, repair oil leak which ruined front carpets which were replaced, 4 new tires, rebuild water pump, remove and recore radiator, repair heater switch, paint and detail front engine, paint chassis, new correct mufflers , repair parking brake, replace numerous engine gaskets, and on and on..........

So far I have 7K in the car. I keep telling myself it's a keeper.

dlrshort

 

[BBB454]

.... i mean....no one is taking out loans so they can upgrade and repair thier C3, right !!??

Wellllll, does the VISA card count?? :L

I had the cash saved up to have the paint job done, then when they started pulling it apart they found the rust problem in the windshield pillars. OK, let's do it right and fix that. Then it's "well, how good are those scratched up bumpers going to look on that new paint job"... oh ok, go ahead and get those rechromed while they're off the car... oh, and as long as we have the dash off to do the pillars, want to replace it? Yeah, might as well. And might as well replace the speakers that are under the dashpad as long as its off... and on... and on... That's why the "paint job" that was going to cost $5k cost over $9k.

Just don't ask how much more $ I need to invest... let's see, needs some suspension work, new interior door panels, seat refinishing, new convertible top, it might need some engine work in the near future, ... ahhhh somebody stop me! :L

But it's all worth it, many times over...
Barb

(PS) Do we count the garage addition to house it? If so, tack on another $25k or so...