Bad decision (Long Story)

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cncfreak247

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Jun 5, 2008
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So here is my story. In Sept of last year I was looking to sell my car and get a cheap kick around car for the winter (I ride a Ninja 650 during the summer). I was planning on selling my 05 Hyundai Tiburon to get out of the huge $385 a month payment (plus it needed a clutch).

So one day while riding around I saw a black 78 for sale. Immediately noticed the need for a paint job but figured I would stop and see how much the owner wanted. There was a slip of paper in the window stating it was a 78 L82 auto unsure of the mileage with a freshly rebuilt motor and tranny about 10K on each. It stated the tranny had a leak from when he installed it, but that it was a slow one. It needs a new interior, pretty much everything but the dashboard. Which is fine the interior is white and I want black on black anyways. Price tag 4K. "I think to myself SWEET! I can swing that."

Now I know I should have waited, had the car checked out, but my chance to finally own a Corvette took over and I bought it without even thinking. Here is where I think I made a bad decision. Forgetting the fact I have had the Vette almost a year and havent sold my Tiburon. I have found the 78 needs ALOT of work. Soon after I bought it I found the t-tops leak, nothing major just weather stripping. Then I noticed the floorboards have holes in them (he had mats over because there is no carpet up front, but brand new in the back, go figure). Then I got under the car. Its not TERRIBLY rusted, but enough to almost make me regret it.

Fortunately most of the problems are cosmetic, the interior lights don't work, speedo is off, some gauges don't work (although previous owner added aftermarket ones bolted under the steering wheel off to the side). The car drives great, but I want more. And every time I look at the car to try and decide what I want to do first I see about a million things that I would have to, or at least should do while I'm there. Which wouldn't be a big deal, except I just moved into an apartment with my g/f she is finishing school so she isn't working just yet. And I just don't have the money (or garage...yet) to work on it.

Here are some pics to help you see what I am going through.

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My question to all of you, should I sell and wait until I can afford/have the space to fix one up right. Or just use it as is (which like I said I use my motorcycle for most of my driving so she won't be used often) and let her sit and patiently wait until I can pay her the attention she deserves.
 
You don't have any serious problems, a few weekend projects that's all. I would first start with some cosmetic stuff, reskin the seats, replace the carpet up front. Detail the car. Having the car look good can do a lot for you psychologically. If your car looks like sh*t, you'll appreciate it less and have less of a desire to work on it, but if it's pretty you'll feel better about the work that you're doing. If you're tight on money get a cheap Maaco paint job to tide you over for a year or too.

Then again, you titled this thread "bad decision" so it sounds to me like you just want us to reaffirm your desire to sell it. C3s are great platforms for building serious cars. But stock, they're crap. Spend some money and you'll get unbelievable improvements. My C3 is the fastest car I've ever been in and one of the best handling, the stock brakes are surprisingly grabby with Hawk pads too. IMO, get rid of the Tiburon, you have a bike to ride for when you're working on the vette.
 
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I really don't want to sell it. I guess its true I am just a bit bummed that its going to take a while to get it looking good.

Thanks.
 
Dont sell it. It is not as bad as you think. You are going through buyers remorse. We are here to help you any way we can. I would suggest to work on the mechanicals, dealing with major safety items first. Then I would focus on the cosmetic stuff.
 
Do you always give up so fast? I have one that is far worst than yours. But to me its challenge and in the end I will be the winner. A Corvette will look like hell, if the owner has no pride in his ride. The body looks to be just fine, your rusted out areas can be cleaned up. Yes a cheep paint job to start, good safety features first. and set yourself up to do week end projects. Some people have put years into their vettes and still are not finished. so chin up and just enjoy... Have a beer and have some fun. Plenty of help here to solve those problems.. so your not alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A corvette is a Love Hate relationship,,, Time and money,, trading for parts, good advice, you'll love it more than hate it!
 
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Only you know if you like the car and if you want to keep it. If you want to keep it fix it little at a time. As long as you don't depend on it as a daily driver it's all good - I am the proof: I bought my '79 in 2004 and I have since replaced everything on this car. Except a four wheel alignment in 2005 I have done everything myself.
If you want a '69 instead you might want to sell yours and buy the '69 now. The chrome bumper Vettes get more expensive every day.

If you don't have the money right now, take it off the road, store it at a friends/parents/grandparents garage and wait until you have the money.

The most important items are brakes, steering, suspension. That's the stuff that can safe your life, the paint is not important. Now check the online catalogs: brakes from AutoZone ($64 per calipper) , steering overhaul kit from MidAmerica or ecklers, shocks from AutoZone,Advanced Auto.... you'll see it's not all that expensive...

Even the paint is not all that expensive if you do the prep work yourself and trailer the car to maaco... spray the same color so the doorjams/underhood don't look funny....

Get a wire brush and some NavalJelly and scrub the frame.... you'll see it's not all that bad....

A $385 payment for a Hyundai? That's your problem right there, not the vette .....
 
Don't give up mate. I pulled mine off the road so I could just replace the A arms bushes - a year later, and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Along with the bushes, I replaced all the steering components, converted to a Jeep steering box, converted to hydroboost brakes, removed practically everything I could and either powder coated or chromed it yada yada yada.

Take your time but stick with it - you'll be glad you did in the end :thumbs:
 
If you have it in your mind that you're going to get much practical use out of this car, that ain't gonna happen.

Hell, half the guys giving you advice to press on here have their cars on blocks and hardly anyone on this whole site puts any appreciable miles on their C3 besides me.

Its a shitload of work to keep these things going.
 
Hi
Only you can tell you what to do.
If you wanted a cool car and a daily driver you made a mistake and you will end up selling it because it will take more work and money than you want to put into it.

If you wanted one of the most beautiful sports cars on the face of the earth and an American legend you have a great start.

I have a 79 in fair condition and love working on it a hour or two a day
then rewarding myself with drives. I am not rich and it's going to take a long time to get it the way I want it and thats just fine by me.

Good Luck
 
turtlevette said:
If you have it in your mind that you're going to get much practical use out of this car, that ain't gonna happen.

Hell, half the guys giving you advice to press on here have their cars on blocks and hardly anyone on this whole site puts any appreciable miles on their C3 besides me.

Its a shitload of work to keep these things going.
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Yep, mine's on blocks but I am working away at it. I don't think the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train anymore. Mind you, probably 80% of the work I've done was selective, not actually required.

Once it is all done though, my intention is to drive it regularly :thumbs:
 
I bought mine in 94 and everything that could leak did,the intake whistled and it had the UGLIEST plaid seats, but little by little they get better if you work at it. Two or three times I almost sold it when I couldnt fix it right away or didnt have the money but Im damn glad I didnt.You have some great help here on this site. good luck.
 
turtlevette said:
Hell, half the guys giving you advice to press on here have their cars on blocks and hardly anyone on this whole site puts any appreciable miles on their C3 besides me.
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It's just a different aspect of this hobby. Some guys like show en shines, some like to drive, and some like to wrench. I have done it all, and enjoy wrenching the most.
Overcrowding and zealous law enforcement has taken most of the fun out of driving for me.:suicide:
 
Thanks for all the comments guys, yea I guess I am a little impatient. I LOVE this car, I am aware of the amount of work that needs to go into it. And I guess I just got a little overwhelemed. As soon as I told my g/f that I was thinking about selling it she freaked, she told me she loves it even though it needs work and she is proud when she can brag to her friends about riding in a Corvette with the tops off to the beach.

So that settles it. Im in the for long haul. Time to make a list of what she needs. Thanks guys.
 
cncfreak247 said:
...As soon as I told my g/f that I was thinking about selling it she freaked, she told me she loves it even though it needs work and she is proud when she can brag to her friends about riding in a Corvette with the tops off to the beach...
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She sounds like a keeper right there. Girl friends like that are hard to come by (especially if you're already married) :thumbs::thumbs:


cncfreak247 said:
...Time to make a list of what she needs. Thanks guys.
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Man, that's gonna be a tough one. You'll make your list of things the car NEEDS and then once the parts arrive and you start doing the work, you'll get bit by the while-I'm-at-it bug! Before you even realise what you've done, you'll have removed the part you wanted to replace but also removed the next higher assembly as well. Chrome plating, powder coating, braided hoses and body modifications (to name but a few symptoms of this disease) all quickly follow.

Good luck though and try to enjoy it. If you don't already have one, buy yourself a digital camera and take photo's of everything you remove or disassemble. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions - there's a lot of smart people on this forum and you won't be doing anything on your Vette that hasn't already been done by someone else.


saudivette said:
...there's a lot of smart people on this forum...
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In case you misunderstood and were lining me up for a couple of funky questions, I am not one of the above - I am more like a smart arse :clobbered:
 
I know EXACTLY what you are going through, except my motor was all stock.

My paint still sucks, and my t-tops still leak, but like Enkei said, "It's the fastest car I've ever driven."

Mine has some small problems, when I replaced all of the non-working dash lights with LED's I didn't get them close enough to the gauges so I still can't see shit at night but it really doesn't matter because half of them don't work including the speedo.

It has been my daily driver for almost three years now, I just retired it from DD duties a couple of weeks ago when I bought my little beater Honda. Now I'm getting ready to tear into her and fix all of the little things. There have been times when I wanted to set her on fire, but the drive I took yesterday with the t-tops off more than made up for every single problem I've had with the car, you know that Cadillac commercial where the girl says, "When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?" Well I can enthusiastically reply, "Oh hellz yeah!"

I think you should stick with it, it's such a great feeling to bring one back from that kind of situation, and know that you did it.:thumbs:
 
turtlevette said:
If you have it in your mind that you're going to get much practical use out of this car, that ain't gonna happen.

Hell, half the guys giving you advice to press on here have their cars on blocks and hardly anyone on this whole site puts any appreciable miles on their C3 besides me.

Its a shitload of work to keep these things going.
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Uh, Texas to VA and BACK.

THREE times in one year, INCLUDING being daily driven.

I have complete confidence that if I jump in the car tomorrow, it will make it to where ever I want to drive, be it the local burger shack or Alaska.

If you know what you are doing they are good daily driver cars.
 
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