need advice quickly

[BarryK]

Hi all
just found out yesterday about a '78 Vette and I'm going to go look at it this afternoon at 3pm. Not sure if I'm interested in it as a project for myself yet or not or just to look at it and get the word out about the car for others but the owners want to sell it as they don't use the car at all, it's been sitting around and they need the space it's taking up.

here the info I have on it:

'78
less than 10,000 original miles
all original including the original paint (Blue)
Glass T-tops

They are the 3rd owners of the car. The first owner only had it for a about a year or just under a year than sold it because he was getting married. The 2nd owner is the brother of the current owner and he bought it but was away in law school plus didn't drive it much as he "wanted to keep it in nice condition". It ended up sitting in a barn for 17 years. He than gave the car to the current owners who drove it for about a year than it's been pretty much sitting since. They maybe take it out just to run it about once a year but now just want to get rid of it.

I'm already expecting that because of the amount of sitting unused it will probably need all the seals and gaskets replaced.
He says the paint (original) is all crazed, and the brakes probably need to be redone but the interior is in good shape.
It's been garage kept most of the time the current owner has had it except for the last year or so when they had to move it outside although supposably it's had a cover on it while it's been out.

What else specifically should I be looking at for problem areas? I know C2's fairly well and know what to look for and what to look at when evaluating a C2 but not a later C3.

I don't know yet if it's a standard motor or a L82 until I go look or if it's a auto or 4-speed. I'm assuming though it most likely the standard motor (L48?) and an auto trans.

What's the average current market on a GOOD condition standard motor/auto trans '78? that way I know what a starting point is and than when I look at it and see just what it needs in terms of work i'll know how much to deduct off the starting value to know a fair price on the car.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[steelblue75]

According to corvette enthuiast mag. a 78 coupe fair=5300.00 exc.=16150.00 good=9500.00
L82 coupe 6775.00, 20575.00, 12100.00

 

[BarryK]

thanks Steel
that's a start anyway

 

[steelblue75]

No problem, good luck!

 

[gmjunkie]

Look it Over Good I think it's got more than 10,000 mi. on it!! It just don't sound right!! I think the paint just should be in better cond. Look at the Frame in same places you would a C2 the Frames are Basically the same!! junk!!

 

[BarryK]

thanks Junk

I nkow the frames are very similar with only a few changes in the rear i think.

any particular C3 features I need to be aware of to look at?

 

[gmjunkie]

See if you can see rust around windshield and T-Barr and inside door's below windshield up under front fender's!! Look for rust staines on carpet and if wet!! junk!!

 

[Nut]

Sagging. Look to see if the car sags to one side or the other. Notorious on many late year C3's. Bring a tape measure with you.

Check trim and paint tags with existing colors. Cloth seats often replaced with leather especially if the car really has more than 10K miles (I too am suspicious of that number or they'd be touting that in every ad it's in).

Hoses - vacuum especially. A car that's sat that long will have rubber dry rot and subseqently vacuum "issues" along with other possible leaks.

Drive the heck out of it without the radio on and listen!!! Listen for anything that doesn't sound right. Clicks in the drive train, whirring noises from the rear, ...etc. A car that's sat that long has NOT had parts lubricated regularly that needed to be lubed.

ABSOLUTELY look, feel and SMELL for leaks in the floor pan carpeting and rear deck. Get on your hands and knees and feel the carpet and see if it feels "greasy". Likely blew a heater core once. Leaky rear windows, T-Tops will leave the carpetting under the seat a little smelly.

Frame rust, door pillars, ...etc all mandatory looks.

Documentation. If the car has had that few miles and owners there should be at least some documentation, The more the better.

Good luck with the look. Sometimes these low mile cars can be more trouble than they are worth.


nut

 

[BarryK]

thanks all

saw the car the other day with another forum member, Andy, who is also a fellow Corvette Club member.
We went over the car with a fine tooth comb even though we couldn't drive it - there was no battery in the car. I wouldn't have startedit and drove it anyway as it's been sitting too long and I'd want to pull the motor and replace every gasket and seal before doing ANYTHING with it.

It looks as though the milage, at 9,489.6 is true but the car is ROUGH because of all the years of sitting.
He is the third owner but techicallyand legally there have only been two owners. The car was given to him by his brother, the second owner, but the title was never transfer and it's still in his brothers name with an out-of-state title.
The frame underneath was in surprisingly good shape with only a very tiny anount of surface rust. The interior was in very good condition also - all the door panels, carpet, dash, instruments, etc all looked good confirming a low milage car. No signs of leaks anyway. The only real flaw on the interior was the headliner on one t-top was hanging down. Even the weatherstripping was in decent shape. It was starting to feel "hard" but it wasn't cracked.

as for the rest of the car.......... the paint was in horrible condition and flacking and peeling up very badly. Would need a new paint job as a priority and new 25th annivery front and gas tank lid emblems although the rear window moldings were in good shape and a little polishing would make them just fine.

Under the hood was a mess! Turns out it's an L82 motor. From lack of use and neglect the only fix I see to "clean-up" under the hood is to take everything off, pull the motor, and do a complete rebuild. It would need it anyway to do all the seals, gaskets, etc. All the aluminum parts were severly oxidised, surface rust on everything else metal including the air cleaner cover, master cylinder, A/C compressor, etc, etc, etc.
The aluminum intake looked horrible and would require glass bead blasting to bring it back looking good, same on the valve covers. H*ll, most metal parts under the hood would need to go into the glass bead blaster and than be repainted, replated, or whatever.

so, bottom line, all the seals, gaskets, etc would need replacing, it would need a new paint job, and it needs a MAJOR clean-up of the entire engine bay to make it presentable.

It did have new tires on it though...........

Based on that I figure it's worth between $5000-$6000 at most because of all the $$$$ that it would need to get pumped into it before you could even think about turning the key to try to start it.

It would make a nice project car but my wife said no way, no how, under no circumstances could I buy it as the budget is too tight for a project car right now AND I already have the entire engine bay of my '65 spread out all over the house as I'm doing my current winter project on her.

oh well.

The owner has no clue good or bad what the car is really worth in this condition so I promised him I would get back to him to give him our estimated realistic value even if I wasn't interested so he would know a fair price to try and sell it.

 

[Nut]

Barry......... I'd give it a pass. Plenty of quality C3's out there you wouldn't have to put a ton of cash in. And I also found over time almost everyone in possession of a Vette knows what it's worth. Sounds like a shame this car was allowed to deteriorate. I can only imagine what it looks like in the cubby's and places you can't see?

later............ nut

 

[BarryK]

Nut

yep, I'm definitely passing on this car.

this guy honestly has no clue to it's current worth - or lack of.

They put in ad in CorvetteTrader a few months ago at $15,000 but needless to say never got any interest.

 

[Jack]

Please forgive my math ... but from what you say it seems this 78 C3 has not been garaged or uncovered for no more than 3 years of its history. IMHO I don't think original 10K mile original paint will noticably flake & peel in those conditions ... IMHO something doesn't smell right ... mileage ain't right and/or paint ain't OE and/or car's seen alotta weather ... or all.
JACK:gap

 

[BarryK]

Jack
I understand what you are saying....... but with the condition of the frame underneath this is definitely a 10,000 mile only car. There are no signs of restoration at all and the frame itself and most of the underside of the car is in excellent condition, just as you would expect on a car with this milage. same on the interior except for the one t-top headliner.

The condition of the paint and the engine bay itself is the confusing part.

well, it's irrelevant anyway as I'm not buying the car.

 

[Bender]

I was only the 2nd owner of my car and it was sitting for years and it was messed up once I started driving it. With cars that sit for a long time they start to fall apart when you drive them, unless they are kept correctly.