I'm looking at a 82 vette w/ 10 thousand miles on it. Was told it had a frame off restoration done @ 9k miles. Original color was white, is now bright blue metalic with black interior. this vette is on Ebay. Any advise is helpful.

thanks, Alton

10,000 miles....and it's already had a frame off resto done to it?!? I would personally shy away from it. It couldn't have been to well taken care of. Now a frame off at 110,000 miles, I could see. I would prefer to see the car up close, versus trusting the word of the seller over the net. Everyone has different views on what is considered "excellent, good & fair conditions." You follow what I'm getting at?
Sarge
Good luck!

I have to agree with Sarge on this , shy away from it and look for another . there are many to choose from on ebay as well as live locally 80's are also noted for havling the most trouble with them.

I agree with Sarge...it sounds fishy. My guess is the car was abused or in a bad wreck. 10,000 miles would make a well taken care of Corvette more of a survivor than a candidate for a ground up restoration. I'd steer clear of it...there are plenty of other 1982's out there if that's the C3 for you. A C3VR member - NorCal82 - was selling a very original Charcoal Grey 1982 last I saw...check out the post in the C3 For Sale forum.

I definatly agree with fellow Vetteheads. I would never purchase a car sight unseen anyways. Its sounds too good to be true, and it probably is, (10,000 frame off at 9) strange??!!

I think there are few, if any, post-'75 Corvettes where a frame-off restoration could be justified. Cost of restoration can't be reconciled against current values, and there are a good number of low mileage originals out there, making frame-offs on '76 and up rubber bumper cars a rare undertaking at this time.

To me, once you do a frame-off on any car, low mileage loses all significance anyway. Bottom line, like the other posts say, frame-off on a 10k mi. '82 does NOT make sense.

ANY frame off RESTORATION ..no matter if it is a 67 Big Block or a 1982 is going to run about 25,000 big ones to do right... And there are very very few Corvettes build after say 1975 that are worth that kind of money...

Labor prices to do the job are the same ...and part prices are not much different

Now a complete tear down and re assembly of an 80 with 10,000 miles on her clock IS a possibility BUT still highly
unlikely unless it was done by a screwball with nothing else do do ...

Just my opinion... Did someone say it smelled kind of like dead fish... ????

Fishy is right ,unless the body was taken off to straighten out the frame after a bad crash,with that low mileage,it should'nt be necessary.I'd have somebody look at it very closely,it could even have a new speedometer in it,and have a lot more miles on it,who knows it could be a very deep money pit,be careful. Ron 78

Maybe I'm not as cautious as others, but if you are interested in this vette, inquire as to why a "frame off" restoration was needed at only 9000 miles? What exactly was done during the restoration?, who did the restoration? and if the owner will give you the total he/she has invested in this restoration? I would think that if they had a large amount of $$$ invested, they would love for you to know this, to demonstrate the deal you are getting on thier Vette. If thier ad doesn't state, ask why they are selling the Vette only 1000 miles after putting the time and money of a restoration into it.
If the restoration was done by a shop, try to contact the shop and tell them you are interested in this car and are trying to confirm the cars history.
Speaking realisticly, "frame off" restoration costs are rarely less than the value of the car once it is restored. There are exception obviously, a '53 Vette for example. So the "it's not worth the cost of restoring it" arguement, to me, is a moot issue. I have owned several cars, that if I had the time and funds, I would have loved to restore. Not because they were rare, or highly valuable, but because I personally loved that car. Human beings are funny creatures, and we do things that others may not understand why, but we have our reasons. You need to find out why this person felt a restoration was needed if you are really interested.
In the end knowledge is power.
That said there are plenty of Vettes in the sea, and a little patience will pay great dividens when you get the Vette that is right for you. Many of us (or me, but I'm still glad I bought it) rush into what looks like a great deal only to find that our excitement and rush to decision will cost us more than we would have spent on a nice Vette.

|UPDATED|11/2/2003 1:18:29 PM|/UPDATED|

There is definitely something wrong with that deal Alton. I searched for many months in my area (NE Penna.) for a 69 and descovered the prices were out of this world or the cars were handiman specials. Then I found a 74, w/350 4 spd w/28,000 miles at a great price. I bought this beauty until the 69 of my dreams come through. Good Luck and be patient.