- Joined
- Feb 8, 2004
- Messages
- 1,102
- Location
- Southeast, PA
- Corvette
- 2003 50th Annversary Red coupe, beautiful !
I've been wanting to redo my old 1984 coupe, pull the engine, rebuild it and balance it, New set of heads and then port and polish the old intake or see about getting a new 'Renegade' intake manifold. New over sized fuel injectors, regulator and pump and a few more thing like exhaust and of course new paint.
But with the economy in the shape it is, and auto values what they are, I could buy a 92 or 96 C-4 for what it would cost to do something with the old 84. I watch the news on CNN each morning, but I never thought about the state of the ecomomy till I started compiling a price list on the 84. For the cost of rebuilding the old L-83, I could buy a already 400 HP crate engine from GM. And for the cost of the extras I'd be deep into another 5K.
It's a real shame, but with the economy in this shape, looks like the old 84's gonna stay tucked away in the back garage for a long time to come. Restoring anything but a true 'classic' corvette is just out of the question. I often wonder how the magazines afford to talk parts manufactures to donate parts and have a private shop to donate the labor to do some of their articles.
And to get a decent paint job, ( with me doing all the prep work and reassembly, still costs close to 3K ? This economy and Corvetes weren't meant for each other. Now I'm really starting to worry ! We're in real deep (*&&^ ! interestingly, I watch the Mecum auto auction in AZ, and there's no shortage in prices or money there, I believe from watching the auction over the last year, that prices 'Paid' at auction of a classic or collectable Corvette has gone up.
But with the economy in the shape it is, and auto values what they are, I could buy a 92 or 96 C-4 for what it would cost to do something with the old 84. I watch the news on CNN each morning, but I never thought about the state of the ecomomy till I started compiling a price list on the 84. For the cost of rebuilding the old L-83, I could buy a already 400 HP crate engine from GM. And for the cost of the extras I'd be deep into another 5K.
It's a real shame, but with the economy in this shape, looks like the old 84's gonna stay tucked away in the back garage for a long time to come. Restoring anything but a true 'classic' corvette is just out of the question. I often wonder how the magazines afford to talk parts manufactures to donate parts and have a private shop to donate the labor to do some of their articles.
And to get a decent paint job, ( with me doing all the prep work and reassembly, still costs close to 3K ? This economy and Corvetes weren't meant for each other. Now I'm really starting to worry ! We're in real deep (*&&^ ! interestingly, I watch the Mecum auto auction in AZ, and there's no shortage in prices or money there, I believe from watching the auction over the last year, that prices 'Paid' at auction of a classic or collectable Corvette has gone up.
Now to talk my wife into that idea!
