Corvette question

phat46 · April 13, 2010, 07:52:49 PM

I have a friend that really wants to buy a mid 70's Corvette, I don't know why, i'm just trying to make sure he doesn't get a really bad one. We have looked at several, that had obvious flaws i could point out to him as deal breakers. Now he has found one that "just needs interior work". He can do that but he has concerns about the frame. I have been telling him that the frames rusting out in this area is a common thing with a 35 year old car. We might be able to get this one up on a hoist, it's at a muffler shop. Besides obvious things like the frame rusted in half what should I be looking for under this thing? Are there hidden places to check? or certain attachment points that go bad? I'm not a "vette guy at all, never looked at the bottom of one so I'll take all advice.

GPster · April 13, 2010, 08:26:49 PM

I'm not a Corvette person but information that I've gathered over the years leads me to expect problems with the rear brake calipers. I would expect in today's economy you could be looking at $1,000.00 real easy on that repair. I had a Corvette buddy that was going to build a SCCA Vette and he bought a "totaled" '74 that only showed 4,500 miles on it and he sold me the engine out of it for me to put in my '69 Nova that had worn out the 307. The engine was a garden variety 350 nothing special and it was the motor that came in the car. He said that after '71 if you wanted a decent motor in a Vette it was something that had to be special ordered. GPster

phat rat · April 13, 2010, 09:57:19 PM

As I recall the place the frames usually rust out in is the area just ahead of the rear wheels at the kick-up. If he's able to do his own repair he'll save a lot. Muskegon Brake here in Muskegon is one place to get the S.S sleeved calipers

wayne petty · April 13, 2010, 10:41:51 PM

http://www.corvettefever.com/techarticles/corp_1002_corvette_frame_swap/index.html

http://www.corvettefever.com/projectbuild/1974_chevy_corvette_frame_restoration/index.html

http://www.corvettefever.com/techarticles/corp_0907_c3_corvette_seat_reupholstery/index.html

this one has great info about high spots on hubs that cause runout on rotors and drums..

http://www.corvettefever.com/techarticles/corp_0604_chevrolet_corvette_c3_brake_upgrade/index.html

so it does not rollaway..

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_0401_c3_corvette_parking_brake/index.html

one might also check the price on C3 calipers over at AZ...

enjoy the reading.....

Charlie Chops 1940 · April 13, 2010, 11:03:19 PM

The '68-'82 chassis are essentially the same for all years. The front suspension ditto. The rear had some changes in the later years. As Jack mentioned the biggest rust area is in the frame in front of the rear tires. This area also holds the trailing arms and can get really rotten in midwest cars that were used year round. They have the old style ram power steering which is well supported in the aftermarket. SS sleeved calipers are inexpensive as long as you have cores.

The mid-70's cars really porked up though and had some serious horsepower deficiencies. They weigh in the 3500 pound area and the f-41 suspension cars ride like rocks.

It's amazing how complicated the cars became in this series...but that's what ruined a lot of Detroit iron.

Just my two cents worth.

Charlie

junkyardjeff · April 13, 2010, 11:05:27 PM

I think they have some metal in the floor pans plus they dont run very good,my 53 olds with a stock 59 371 would walk away from them too.

reborn55 · April 13, 2010, 11:18:18 PM

Check for rust in the windshield pillar post area and front lower radiator support.(This from looking at a few for my brother.)

tomslik · April 14, 2010, 05:07:29 AM

fwiw, i've got a friend (yeah, really) that has a 96 (i think) that he wants to sell.
low milage, bright * red and they're a whole lot more fun to drive than the 70's vettes....
fly in, drive home...

chopped · April 14, 2010, 07:07:52 AM

Had a 76, it was a serious dog! Rear suspension was expensive to repair.

phat46 · April 14, 2010, 08:29:25 AM

Quote from: "tomslik"fwiw, i've got a friend (yeah, really) that has a 96 (i think) that he wants to sell.
low milage, bright * red and they're a whole lot more fun to drive than the 70's vettes....
fly in, drive home...

Will he sell it for about $4,000...that's what he's looking to spend....

phat46 · April 14, 2010, 08:31:00 AM

Quote from: "reborn55"Check for rust in the windshield pillar post area and front lower radiator support.(This from looking at a few for my brother.)

We saw one, a '77 that had that problem, along with a rusted out door that was about 2" away from the body at the bottom, I would have hated to see the frame on that one!

phat46 · April 14, 2010, 08:34:52 AM

Thanks for all the tips, I am really trying to steer him away from a 'Vette of this era, I know they were really pigs, but he's not looking to race anyone. He's not really a car guy but he can do nice upholstry work. Hopefully I can steer him away from this one also...he said it looked like they had the T tops taped shut at some point....

Wayne, there was several good sites that you sent, thanks!

tomslik · April 14, 2010, 08:40:54 AM

Quote from: "phat46"
Quote from: "tomslik"fwiw, i've got a friend (yeah, really) that has a 96 (i think) that he wants to sell.
low milage, bright * red and they're a whole lot more fun to drive than the 70's vettes....
fly in, drive home...

Will he sell it for about $4,000...that's what he's looking to spend....

i think a "1" in front of that 4000 might be close...

phat rat · April 14, 2010, 08:53:53 AM

I wouldn't expect much for $4,000 or less

phat46 · April 14, 2010, 01:18:01 PM

Quote from: "phat rat"I wouldn't expect much for $4,000 or less

There's a lot out there in that price range, check Craigslist, I was quite surprised when we started looking. We found one with a nice engine in it, rebuilt and built up nicely. that car needed paint and some fiberglass work, but was worth the money. My friend was put off by the 'glass work, but the car had rebuilt brakes and suspension and they were only asking $3,500. That era 'Vette doesn't seem to have much value right now.