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I have come to realize

oceangal

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 28, 2005
Messages
581
Location
Merrimac, MA
Corvette
1982 silver/claret
that there are two types of vette owners - the ones that enjoy driving their vette and taking good care of it and those who keep driving it and do nothing much to it - I have purchased the latter.
I can't tell you how many man hours of scrubbing and cleaning and painting that have been put into this car. it seems rather than figure out what was causing the oil to leak everywhere, they just kept adding more oil! :eyerole

the new throttle bodies are on and my bf has done lots of painting - the man is a genius! I bought the mothers power ball and the wheels look great - i used their aluminum mag polish and they came out great :)
and to add to the growing list of items purchased I just bought a rebuilt ac compressor, valve covers, water pump and a partridge in a pear tree!
I can't wait to get my tax return cause then its tire time :) and hopefully interior seat time - I know Rome wasn't built in a day but I so want to have a good ride this year and go to the local cruise nights.

Well a lesson learned about buying a classic car and while its a nice sound car I might choose something a bit cleaner next time.
This was encouraging and while I have almost 100k miles on my car, I do feel good about this...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/82-C...4628384214QQcategoryZ6168QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I will post some pictures of work so far sometime this week.
I bet all the folks here are either folks who take good care of their cars or bought one that they want to make proud again.
 
Any time you get a car that is 25+ years old you get a car with a history. If it a history of neglect you get the honor of trying to reverse years of negelct. If it is a history of care and maintainence you get a car that reflects that but you get to pay for it.

The good thing is if it neglected and you clean it up and care for it future owners will not know it was neglected and that will be reflected in its value. So take the time and the effort to carefully repair and maintain your Corvette and you will be rewarded in the long run.
 
One thing I learned with my 33 year old baby.....is to......

Triple your original budget

and qaudruple the time....

but thats the fun :D
 
Keep in mind that not everyone has the time (or the money) to tear them apart "just right now", but instead want to keep it going until they do.
I for one havent been tearing into it, other then normal maintenance and replacing worn, normal parts (wipers, belts etc.). My baby is leaking (a drop here or there!) stuff too (not just oil, but "other" :D), but i dont have the resources (ie. time or major money) to do anything about it right now. It would mean a major tearing into the bubbafied engine room. So for right now, i'd rather be on the road driving it, then taking it apart, knowing full well i cant do what needs to be done for another couple of years. Once that time comes, she'll be back to her full glory.

:w
-Stefan
 
a few photos thus far...

this is the worst i have so far - but i have other pic on the bf's camera that i need to upload. I can't wait to get the new valve covers in house, not to mention a few other parts, compressor, water pump etc. Rocker arms aren't in yet, but the throttle bodies are so I will get a pic of them tomorrow night.

notice the gunk !

photosuptil492006035.jpg


getting a bit shined up here and there...
photosuptil492006039.jpg

and a bit spiffier - i like the mothers mag polish on the aluminum:)

photosuptil492006047.jpg
 
Looking good, work slowing and enjoy, you'll feel great seeing the progress!
 
And yet more pictures

I feel like the proud momma of a newborn. My guy has been working hard this week - holy cow I can't believe the difference in a few days...
I took these with my cell phone so they aren't the best.


vetteengine42006.jpg


vetteengineb42006.jpg


vetteenginec42006.jpg


new valve covers:

vettevalvecovers2006.jpg


and you just know there is a chrome master cylinder cover on its way.

I feel so bad that he isn't working on his car at all and now is dipping into all his stainless steel bolts etc to use on my car so I sure owe him big time. One side of the rocker arms are in so the other side has to be done and then adjusted.
He may have found another part that needs to be replaced, I sure hope not! I think right now with the tax refund that i can get the new seats covers and foam and tires and still have money for painting, whenever that is. I just can't wait to drive it though!! its kills me everytime I see a vette go by and I wave and I am sure they must be thinking...who is that in a Dodge waving to me! lol.
I hope you are all having a great holiday week :)
 
Looks like you have a "Keeper" both the Vette and BF, ;) tell him to hurry and come on down to Cruise-fest
and join the fun.
 
Well a lesson learned about buying a classic car and while its a nice sound car I might choose something a bit cleaner next time.
This was encouraging and while I have almost 100k miles on my car, I do feel good about this...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/82-Co...QQcmdZViewItem
I will post some pictures of work so far sometime this week.
I bet all the folks here are either folks who take good care of their cars or bought one that they want to make proud again.

The problem as I see it (since I am trying to sell my vette) is that buyers tend to think they can get a clean, well taken care of vette for a low ball price. They cite the blue book, the one they saw in the paper (but never actually went and looked at it), or the perfect, super low mileage, cherry one their buddy bought same year as mine for thousands less than I am asking. I always am thrilled when they buy one of these cheaper, not so well taken care of vettes and then proceed to put thousands of dollars into it to bring it up to the level of one that has been taken care of. I understand that some people have a limited budget to outlay on the car initially but am always amazed that after the buy they find the $$ to bring it up to driveable, lookable standards. It would seem that they would have done the math on the front end. Anyways, your car is looking great and if you enjoy the resurrection of a fine automobile you will have fun and the results will be well worth all the effort and the $$. And---Remember--Chrome adds at least 10 HP!! (Just Kidding about the chrome!)


Randy:w
 
vette-dude said:
The problem as I see it (since I am trying to sell my vette) is that buyers tend to think they can get a clean, well taken care of vette for a low ball price. They cite the blue book, the one they saw in the paper (but never actually went and looked at it), or the perfect, super low mileage, cherry one their buddy bought same year as mine for thousands less than I am asking. I always am thrilled when they buy one of these cheaper, not so well taken care of vettes and then proceed to put thousands of dollars into it to bring it up to the level of one that has been taken care of. I understand that some people have a limited budget to outlay on the car initially but am always amazed that after the buy they find the $$ to bring it up to driveable, lookable standards. It would seem that they would have done the math on the front end. Anyways, your car is looking great and if you enjoy the resurrection of a fine automobile you will have fun and the results will be well worth all the effort and the $$. And---Remember--Chrome adds at least 10 HP!! (Just Kidding about the chrome!)


Randy:w

Thanks all :)

it is a lot of fun and he is for sure a keeper!

I paid $6300. I for mine last year with 90k on it so not too cheap a car. I had a 3 year plan of fixing it up, Engine, Exterior and Interior and then I met my boyfriend and the 3 years is turning into probably 1 year! So in some ways a bit more than I had planned on but once he was under the hood there was no stopping! The money I am saving on labor allows me to do the interior and then the paint when he has time, not to mention the tax return :)
Dang it if only chrome did add HP - I'd be cruisin'
The boyfried came up with this idea for a license plate after running into a problem...

ROID

hehe
 

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