Hi everyone! Great site! I am in the midst of buying a 69 vette, and I have a few questions, if anyone would care to help out a bit?

The car was garaged for 10 years, and looks to me to be in pretty good condition. We took it to a vette mechanic to look over, and they said it needs some minor work. Exhaust from headers back, strut rods & bushings, rear wheel bearings, side yokes/reseal rear end, rear spring end bolt & bushing kit, tuck up msd wires, ebrakes checked, full tune up w/wires, expansion tank, weatherstripping kit, and we'd like to change it over from leaded gas. The car is burgundy/black with white tops. Convertible. 350/350, 4 spd, 79k miles, matching numbers, new tires, brakes, shocks, starter. I got the seller down to $14,300 and put down a deposit.

Questions- If we do all the repairs now, they quoted us $4k. Is that fair? And what is a good price to do the lead changeover?
Do you think the sale price is fair? Worth it to do all those repairs?
I am having it appraised tonight.

The seller said that due to his bad driving record, he couldn't insure the car or register it in his name. It is registered in his sister's name who lives in FL, we are in NY, but she signed over the registration. I need it in his name to get the car loan. So he said he'll register and insure it in his dad's name, and then I can get the car loan check signed over to his dad. What do you think of this? Should I be worried?

Also, what do you think about filling out a 2nd DMV form to save tax? Won't there be a paper trail due to the car loan?

Do you know any other problems I might encounter? And how to solve them? Any other suggestions for me? Other things I should look for? Any website or book suggestions for further reading? I'm not very mechanically inclined, but can do an oil change and the like.

Thanks in advance. Take care.

Something about the title trail (him-his sister-his father-somehow to you) makes me wary. Whatever the eventual outcome, you will want to be certain you have a 100% clear title. $14K is a lot of money for a car you might not be able to title.

Can't tell you about $4K for parts and labor and whether that's a fair figure. If it were me, I would only enough to have the car safely driveable. I would then drive it and begin my evaluations there. What may seem the most critical while the car is sitting may turn out to be the least important job once you have her on the road.

Beginning with the 1974 model year Chevrolet smallblock heads have hardened valve seats and will run on leaded or unleaded fuel. All you need is a pair of '74 up heads to go from lead to no lead. You can continue to run the original heads if you add a lead substitute about every other tank full.

Good luck.

That's high bucks for a car needing that much work right from the get go. You may find a lot of other things need work also. As far as the title goes be very carefull you can get in to a mess. My wife before we were married bought a vette in Florida it took her almost a year to get the title. It's a long story, but when things go wrong and you are dealing with someone out of state it can be a nightmare. I think if you looked around you could find a 69 in good condition for $18,000 or less. Chuck

Unless you plan to drive the car a whole lot, why get involved in the lead - no lead thing? Lead substitutes are cheap and they work. I would also get some professional legal advice regarding the title situation. You're putting a large amount of $ at risk. You'll have $18,000 minimum in the car after the repairs. Take a look at what I am offering for $24.5 in the "For Sale" section of this forum and see how good a deal you think you are getting. Be careful and don't let 'vette fever mess with your judgment.

Remember that you don't know this guy from Adam. Be careful with that much money involved. If he won't get it titled in his name, before you buy it. RUN, don't walk, away.