first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise

[Bob]

first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise bob i am contemplating purchasing a corvette coupe from a private party private dealer the subject car is said to have had a body of frame retoration done in and at the same time the was rebuilt but has a block with no serial numbers after restoration by the frame shop owner the car and engine where stored for around years then sold to the current owner who repainted the car with black base and clear coat the current owner has put in new red carpet and vinyl seats including new foam when the car was painted the owner said that the right rear passager side quarter was replaced due to cracks in fiber glass the car look very good the options this car has are side exhaust teak steering wheel am fm w telescope antenna engine l but block is with no serial numbers j drum brakes credit only in and tinted windshield at this time the owner does not no what the compression ratio is the rear end gear ratio or if it has positraction i am going to drive the car next weekend and determine rear axle ratio and if positration exits the car now has a hood with the scoop and red center point the owner has and will give the buyer the original hood i am planning on speaking with the previous owner who did the restoration of frame body and engine hopefully he can provide photos of retoration and paperwork reflecting the same my biggest concerns and maybe i should have others are what is the value of a car like this with an engine block that does not match the car it seems that it would have a limited market since corvette buyer typically want nom is there anything else i should be aware and cautous of before deciding to purchase this nice looking car

[Bill Clupper]

Re: first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise

re first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise bill clupper it's all a matter of price price price if you really like the car i've seen advice that would say look at the price of a top car the deduct the cost of what it would cost to get the car you're buying to that condition let's see paint probably not a real sidepipe car not available 'til mid year in ' correct block and machining what do you think that costs in your area yopu didn't say if the new interior matched the original specs oh don't for get about incidentals a few orders of nuts and bolts widgets can add up to a thousand dollar bill real quick the number may surprise you and it might lead you to a significantly different price than the seller has in mind or maybe not that is strictly between the owner now and the buyer whenever

[David]

Re: first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise

re first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise david bob your car that you describe sounds nice but you didn't mention how much you were considering paying for it or how much they are asking for it i'll point out the things that i feel that are a minus as you have to fill in the things that are a plus being a coupe is usually a minus for most people not me convertibles seem to be more desirable nom none original motor is definitely a minus how do you know it's a hp engine without the original engine it's hard to tell what was in it originally and the block has no numbers to verify what it is from and its hp could be a truck engine or a corvette hp who knows casting numbers could help some check them check casting date too is the new paint the original color of the car this could be a minus why was the rear quarter panel replaced cracks in fiberglass are much easier to repair than the whole panel cheaper too are the side exhaust original or added few in had them late cars makes a difference in value drum brakes are a minus all corvettes had drum brakes until the model early cars had left over drum brakes from the model year when all the drums were used up disc brakes were the rule on all cars thereafter although rare most people feel it's a minus the rear end has markings on it to tell what case it is you'll have to check further to see if it has a posi rear end the hood on a car usually scares people off if it's phoney on the outside what are you going to find on the inside information is power get all you can before you fork over the green good luck david in oklahoma

[Ed Jennings]

Re: first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise

re first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise ed jennings i would think that your purpose for owning the car would be a real big factor the fact that it does not have the original engine is of little consequence if you are looking for a weekend cruiser if you want a ncrs style show car then it is of considerable consequence as someone else pointed out it's a matter of money the matching numbers car is more valuable to at least some people a coupe is worth a few bucks less than a convertible if everything else is equal a few years ago the coupe was the higher priced rig since there were and still are fewer of them if the car looks drives and runs like a real good car then it is a good car unless you want to show it in events that reward originality for that matter not all car shows consist of checking matching numbers look carefully at the paint if there is anything wrong with it that you don't like it will probably cost to get it corrected a complete interior replacement will run about if you don't replace the dash pads they cost more than seats check the function of the instruments radio clock etc the drum brakes as you pointed out were a deletion option not leftovers rather rare some folks didn't trust those newfangled disc brakes numbers can be made to match it's done every day it does cost money and is of little benefit in a driver ultimately the overall condition of the car determines its value only you and the seller can decide what this value is

[John]

Re: first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise

re first time vintage corvette purchaser needs advise john what general price range are we talking