What$ it worth? 78 coupe Anniversary Paint. Rough.

[mikeceli]

Hi Folks! I'm new here, want to say "Hello" and ask a question! Ok Folks, get out your crystal balls!

Ive only seen photos, will look tomorrow 78 Coupe, AT, Anniversary Paint(shot) originally an L48, suposidly some GM crate motor now(no receipts), newer Edelbrock carb, factory aluminium wheels replaced w/ unknown mags, newer tires.

Needs paint, oyster interior needs seat upholstry, needs carpet, has slight crack in upper dash pad. I expect all weatherstrip to be bad, suposidly drives OK. California car.Guy say bring $3600!

How do I check C3's for rust, as compared to steel cars?

Thank you in advance.
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[Tritium007]

From what I've heard, the two most concerning areas for rust are the rear frame kick-up's and the birdcage area, particularly around the windshield frame. The kick-up's are the portion of the frame where it begins to extend upward in the front part of the the rear wheelwell. Good inspection of this area will be required. The birdcage area is not quite as easy. If you are allowed to remove the front inside kick panels, you might get a looksee if any water has been leaking in around the windshield frame and down into the interior. From the outside, you might use a new, white business card to slide up under the windshield trim to check for rust. In my opinion, besides frame rust, rear bearings would be next on my checklist because of the uniqueness of the trailing arms. If you can jack up the car until the rear wheels are off the ground, they will hang slightly inward. Grasp the tires tightly at 3 and 9 o'clock and try to wobble the wheel. This will give you an indication of bearing wear. I believe there is a good inspection checklist here on the CAC that you can print out and use. I'm sure someone will chime in with other things to check as well. Good luck!

 

[Vette79]

Go to the dark bar at the top of this page and click on "Learning Center" and then click on the blue letters "Buying a Corvette". That should give you a comprehensive list of items to check. Be very careful with what you purchase. The more that needs attention, the more that will come out of your pocket not to mention your time. Good luck...

 

[pasvorto]

I had my seats redone a couple years ago. It cost just over $1,100. They are fairly expensive (IMHO) to restore.

 

[fine69]

I had my seats redone a couple years ago. It cost just over $1,100. They are fairly expensive (IMHO) to restore.

$1,100 for just the seats, or did that also include other interior items?

 

[srs244]

actually if you had someone else do the seats, 1100 while a bit high isn't out of wack. i spent approx 700 on leather, 2" bolster seats mounted on their foam frames. that doesn't include restoration of the actual seat frames (fiberglass shells top and bottom), hinges, covers, etc (this is for a 78 pace car which is differerent than the other 78 models. the pace car uses 79 and later seat structure). if i remember correctly, the regular 78 and earlier seats are a pain to mount and are "wired" to the frames all around which is time consuming.

 

[Evolution1980]

Mike, Welcome to the

Since there's no originality to this car, the biggest things are going to be the frame (rust) and simply how it drives overall. Does it creak, rattle, or leak anything? If the car runs and handles solid, and the frame checks out OK, then $3600 sounds "good". To get it up to a "nice, presentable" car, you'll be looking at about $13K - $20K put into it. A decent paint job start to finish is gonna run ya between $6K-$10K. Interior refurbing will run you around $2K-$3K. Other cleanup under the hood and general mechanical problems will run you whatever is left over of your funds. Obviously you don't need to do everything at once.

1) Whatever you plan on putting into the car money-wise, never expect to get it back out.

2) If you are really hankerin' for a C3 vette, then go out and buy the best vette you can for as much money as you can afford. In the long run, it's cheaper to buy the best you can afford (and enjoy it now) versus buying a beater and expecting to fix it up for the equivalent end sum. You will spend more fixing up a vette than just spending it all on a car that's already done.

 

[pasvorto]

$1,100 for just the seats, or did that also include other interior items?

The PO was a "large" man. The seat frames had to be straightened and reinforced also. I went with the oyster leather/vinyl combo (like the original). The guy said that if he knew how much work the frames were going to be, he would have charged me more, but a quote is a quote.