New to this forum...I have been wanting this Corvette my uncle has for years. He is now in his early 70's. I am mostly a Ford guy (sorry....is that a bad 4 letter word here?) for years but I like most all muscle cars especially the mid 60's to mid 70's. I own 2 05 Mustang GT's right now.

Well, my uncle is in the position to sell his 75 medium saddle with tan interior to me. The car is a matching numbers car and all original. It has the L48 engine with T tops. It has 45K miles. I have it registered here. It has been sitting in his garage since 77 (late 77 my guess). It used to be his daily driver until he parked it one day. He put a good wax job on the car and has kept it covered since. Every once in a while he goes out and starts the engine and lets it run for a while. He has had 2 very minor accidents in it. Once he backed over something and cracked the quarter panel. That was repaired and the whole car painted. Once he hit a mail box in the winter and cracked the front fender. That was fixed and the car was repainted so I think there are 3 coats of paint on the car but not exactly sure. He had the stainless steel calipers installed before parking it. The interior is in good condition just needs a good cleaning and detail job.

I have been looking all over the internet for prices on these and I have found they are all over the board from $3K to $25K. I got frustrated and found an appraiser and he appraised the car at $8500. My uncle thought that the appraisal was a little low and he asked $9500 for it and I agreed. I will be going to pick it up on the 27th.

When I get the car home, I plan on doing the following:

1. Changing all the fluids

2. Change all the radiator and heater hoses

3. Check the brakes to make sure they haven't softened up and replace if needed

4. Get a new battery

5. Grease all the bearings and check them to see if they need to be replaced

6. Change all the tires

7. Check the rest of the cars weather seals to make sure they are not dry rotted.

8. Detail the car to have fun this summer.

9. Depending on the condiftion of the paint, have it repainted this winter.

My queastions are:

A. Am I paying too much for the car?

B. What else should I do when get the car home.

C. What should I look for before loading it on the trailer.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Greg

 

A. Your paying about the right amount for the car since you know the history and can be comfortable with it. Although, if you can squeeze him some it would allow for some replacement stuff. (good buying leverage)
B. Put it on the trailer & strap it down tight. If it is an open trailer this is a great time to check underneath for stuff that may need replaced. (breaklines,exhaust, fuel filter, electric lines, & look for rust)
C.Replace all of the fluids 1st. Then grease everything that's mechanical & movable.
D. Clean it up good, wash, wax, armour all, etc.( coat all of the rubber products.
E. Let it run, check out the gauges, lights etc. drive it some on short trips. It will tell ya what needs to be done.
F. OPEN UP YOUR BANK ACCOUNT - 40 yr old cars can be hungry when the 1st wake up.

GOOD LUCK IT'S WORTH IT!!!

A) Price is right for a clean car
B) Thank the God of Corvette(Zora) you got one.
C) Look for any under-body damage/rust.

Congrats on your purchase!! Take your time with it, take care of it, and enjoy!!!

Sounds like you are off to a good start.   No doubt you wil have a lot of questions as you go.  We all do.  But we get together and answer them all, or at least give it our best shot.  It usually works.

Have fun getting the car ready, and even more fun driving it!

   You have picked a great forum to join. The folks here are very knowledgeable about the C3 era and can answer almost any question.

    The car you have is the sexiest one out there, be prepared to be ooohed and aaahed at. Women will fall in love with you and want to get married right away. Little girls will squeal and little boys will yell burn out.

    The best part is you will never have any worries about money again..... because it will all go into the car and you'll never see it again. But in the end...its all worth it. every penny.

     Good luck and keep in touch we like to see updates and projects but you must have photos.    Dennis B.

[QUOTE=indy99]

   You have picked a great forum to join. The folks here are very knowledgeable about the C3 era and can answer almost any question.

    The car you have is the sexiest one out there, be prepared to be ooohed and aaahed at. Women will fall in love with you and want to get married right away. Little girls will squeal and little boys will yell burn out.

    The best part is you will never have any worries about money again..... because it will all go into the car and you'll never see it again. But in the end...its all worth it. every penny.

     Good luck and keep in touch we like to see updates and projects but you must have photos.    Dennis B.

[/QUOTE]

 I couldn't have put it any better...especially the money part...

All is true.  It's a money pit.....but worth it with no regrets.  Mine sat for a long time.....not good for a car.  Old..old...old rolling piece of history!   Your going to love every minute of it, so congrats!   Again, as was stated earlier in this thread...drive it and it will tell you when it needs something.

Your on the right track.

Thank you everyone for the welcome and the tips. Hopefully I won't have too many questions until after I get her home. I think my wife might be a little jeoulous if the girls start wanting me to take them for a ride. My friend up the road wants to drive it real bad because it is automatic and her father used to build the Corvettes back when they were built in St. Louis.

The last time I drove this car was back in 76. Now I am showing my age. I used to manage a gas station back then and he would always come in to gas up since he worked down the road from there. He would sometimes leave the car for me to wash and wax and told me to take it for a ride every now and then but that was just down the street and back.

It was a dream car back then and I am sure it still is. At that time I was a little too chicken to stomp down on the gas to see what she had. Ever since then, I have been wanting this car and now he is ready to sell. I don't have any pictures of the car right now and that is going to have to wait until I get the car home. I am in MO and the car is in Ohio.

kstyer, I used the live in Akron and the car is in Baltic. I have a sister living somewhere in your town. I'm picking the car up on the 28th. I'll be staying with my dad in Kenmore. Let me know if you want to meet up to take a look at the car that evening.

 

75BrownC338821.322650463

Absolutely!  I would love to see it.  And in turn, you can see the ugliest functioning C3 ever.  But it's getting better.

Depending on when you live here you or your Dad may already sort of know who I am.  From about 92 to 97 there was a show on WAKR radio on saturday afternoons 5 to 6 pm called "Car Time".   I was the Car Time guy.

I will send you my phone numbers.   I'm looking forward to meeting you and seeing your car!

kstyer38821.3407291667

I was living in the DC area at that time so I missed your show....sorry. I didn't realize that station was still on the air. I used to go to my neighbors house when I was little and would sit on the porch and listen to the Indians on that station. Of course that was decades ago.