Think I'm pretty much in agreement with you guys, but still curious what other signs would indicate that this is a low mileage Vette. The car sat for a long time and the current owner said the alternator was rusty and needed to be replaced, he just decided to put in a new distributor to make sure it would run nice and the radiator was rusted from years of fluid in it and sitting. Makes sense to me why he'd replace the parts, especially if he didn't care about originality.

Pull the oil dipstick. How does the oil look? What aboutt he tires? Id in fact thereis only 25K miles, there should only be dust under the hood. If there is any signs of road grim, grease etc around the engine ... chances are there is a lot more the 25k! Also take a close look at the odometer, sometimes when they flip back to 0 miles, the numbers do not line up exactly straight.

What does the driver seat look like. 25k it should have little wear. I have a hard time believing that the tank had to bo replaced? That sounds real fishy to me and not an easy job to do. If that was the case the carb should have had work done to it. Does he have bills to prove the tank work? If so then he should have bills to prove the carb work. The gummy gas would have been clogging the carb.

Also check for leaks or sweating around the brake and power steering lines etc. There should be no leaks or sweating. If a car has sat for that long ... you should see dry lines or cracks

I think you mentioned new paint, or paintd once. Have you ever repainted a car after 25,000 miles? Or has anyone? Hard to believe.

I have not seen the car but from my past shopping experiences, this does not sound like a low mile car. Maybe it is, but from what you have described, it does not sound like it. If this is you dream car and the price is right go for it, but if you are looking for a doced low mile car ... i would have to seriously questions this one.

Just my thought Good luck with your decision!

xory

munkmunk said: ...car sat for a long time and the current owner said the alternator was rusty and needed to be replaced, he just decided to put in a new distributor to make sure it would run nice and the radiator was rusted from years of fluid in it and sitting. . .

Oh, man, this is just priceless!

No offense, Steve, but I'm just dying here.

. . . and he tells you it was sitting on a carport, and he tells you it had grass growing under it. And now this great humanitarian has put a couple hundred bucks into a "new" distributor "just to make sure it would run nice"? Why??? Would it not run AT ALL with the original distributor he took out of it?

Get a tight grip on your wallet, man. This guy you're dealing with comes up with these pat answer for everything . . . and can't PROVE ANY OF IT ! ! ! ! ! Whoever he is, he is blowing the needle out of the BS-o-meter.

My previous advice of "ten grand; take it or leave it"? Forget it. Walk away, man. Better still, RUN LIKE HELL and don't look back.

I'm sure there was "grass" growing under this car. Sounds like there has been a abundance of fertilizer to promote the crop.

It's your money, dude. But I'm afraid you'd be throwin' it up a wild hog's _ _ _ on this one.

Still friends.

John

This smells worse than a stagnet pond with dead fish. NOBODY does those things just because. Replace a rusty alternator???? The rest of everything else under the hood would be very rusty as well, and alternators aren't steel or iron. They don't rust, they corrode. My guess is add 100,000 miles. Even if the fuel turned to jelly, the tank could be cleaned, and would not need replaced. If the tank was rusted that bad from sitting, the frame would also be rusted badly, and that alone would be enough to scare someone away. If the frame has not rusted from moisture under the car, why would anything else?????

RUN RUN AWAY

If this is real he better prove it. I bet he can't.

Okay it might be real, but I'm not buying it. Proceed with great caution. If you get the car for the right price it could be a good buy, as long as you know for sure what you are getting.

|UPDATED|4/16/2004 1:02:07 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

my car has 53,000 documented miles, it has had only 8,000 put on in the last 20 years. For the longest time after i bought it it would run for a while, and then just die. Turned out it WAS the gas tank, i'm in minnesota, you'd think the frame would be rusted through, it's not, the man who let it sit for 8 years left little to no gas in the tank, therefore condensation from the minnesota summers formed on the inside of the tank, chunks of rust were coming out of the line, fortunately all they were doing was clogging the filter. But anyway, it is possible for there to be a rusty tank, i'm not saying this car has 25,000 miles, because like you guys said you would not replace original corvette parts just because. I'm just letting you know that crazy things can and do happen. Thanks guys.

Rusting from the inside out is possible. Good point. I'm still doubting the rest of it. This car may be possible, but it need checked out very carefully. I'm guessing not.

Good point, BBB. The tank . . . MAYBE. The rest of it - NO WAY, NO HOW, NO UH-UH,NO DICE, NO SOAP, NO SALE!!! Not without ironclad proof. And Captain Slick with the church vette has produced NONE.

If the car wasn't abused, then it has been sorely neglected. Little critters may have been nesting in the carpet insulation under the consoles. Wasps, hornets and mud daubers may have choked the exhaust system with nests. If this sucker was really under a carport where the conditions were ripe for the fuel tank and radiator to rot away, then I shudder to think what the inside of the motor is like. The acidic breakdown of the oil . . .

But wait! That can't be a problem . . . because this car was regularly visited by elves from Jiffy Lube . . . and then there was a visit from the distributor fairy . . . and the ghost of Zora Duntov popped in from time to time just to wring her out . . . .(Ken, you feel free to jump in here any time, buddy)

Who's selling this car, anyway? Ripley? Mr. Roarke and Tattoo?

Bottom line is this. We've heard alot of fantastic (and totally unsubstantiated) claims about ultra-low original miles; a block with the right casting number but, no mention of whether the stampings bear it out as being the original; and original parts being replaced through divine intervention.

But, let's put all that behind us. We're considering the purhcase of an automobile here. So, let's approach it logically.
ONE - HOW does it run?
TWO - HOW does it drive?
THREE - HOW much does the owner want for this magnificent example of an American classic?

Final analysis, do ONE and TWO equal THREE?

"Caveat emtor", my friend - let the buyer beware.

John

Looked at a 78 last year. DOCUMENTED 1000 miles. The oyster interior white leather seat inserts were perfect condition but badly yellowed, Carpet was severely mildewed, under the hood was a rust colored motor, hardly a speck of paint on it, every piece of unpainted metal was rusted, exhaust was rusty, frame scaley, aluminum parts oxidized, etc. etc...Boiled down to it being improperly stored. Probably in a damp location under a tarp trapping moisture, worst thing to do to a car! Your roadster sounds like maybe a bad storage situation. I've also recently looked at a few drivers with 30K to 40K mileage that also looked like crap due to owners who just don't have a clue of how to take care of a Vette! Mike

Please excuse my ignorance here, just have a question:

How does a 25k mile car originally built to run on leaded gas run these days on unleaded fuel?
My '68 Roadster has 106k miles but was rebuilt at 98k.
Would this car have required some work in the past to facilitate the swap over to unleaded fuel?

Personally I find it doubtful the car only has 25k on it, he should still have the original tires...and air!

Negative there, 68.

Had a '65 mustang coupe with an "A-code" 289-4V that I sold about 5 years ago. Stock from end to end, and that sucker ran like a top on anything I put in the tank. Father-in-law had a '63 split window coupe on the road until about 1990. 327 mill ran like a scalded dog on everything from premium down to Dr. Pepper.

Old engines blowing up from unleaded gas is more urban legend than street fact.

And you raise an important point on value. The original air in those original tires should bring three times what the car does.

John

|UPDATED|4/16/2004 10:03:06 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|