Non Mopar. Opinions/advise C3

[Katfish]

I'll gladly trade my 70 for another C3.
Biggest mistake I ever made was selling my 71.

[ToxicWolf]

Had my C4 for three years.  Only problem was the coil had to be replaced. 

[Gary]

As mentioned by others, make sure the bird cage is in good shape.  It is sometimes hard to see especially around the windshield without taking interior parts off.  About the only way to repair or replace the birdcage is to tear the body apart and then glass it back together.  Major surgery... We have restored numerous C1's, in fact have 2 in the shop now. A 59 big brake car, will be top flighted, and a 60 restomod.  But we still like metal cars better-less itchy

[70 Challenger Lover]

68 was the first year of the C3. Avoid those. Lots of issues. The 70-72 Vette look amazing and are on the rise too.

[Rich G.]

I did a frame off restoration on my 72 C3 454/4sp A/C . Car was and still is amazing. I sold it to a friend so I can build another car. Ran out of room and money but I got to keep playing. Big blocks with air are a bitch to work on. 73 and up I'd stay away from. Chrome really sets the car off and that's gone other then the rear bumper on the 73. Vacuum lights and wiper door have issues. Check for signs of rivets popping up under the fiberglass between the hood and headlights. Stay away if you see that. Check the frame and body mounts by the rear wheel. Every kind of car has issues. It comes down to which ones you want to deal with. The body won't rust on a vette but the paint likes to crack and get stress cracks.There are some special tools for working on the rear wheels. It is a very nice car if you get a good one.

[Katfish]

Sure wish I still had my 71 454/4spd/AC

[BIGSHCLUNK]

My brother had a C3.... my brothers not real mechanical.. guess who had to work on it? My advice..... RUN

[dodj]

Could have bought my fully restored 71 Charger for 14k

And that would be a steal of a deal, probably an awesome car. But I'm looking for something to put in the garage and tinker with when I enter retirement. I want to buy a car to play with for under 10K. I have been sporadically looking for and would prefer a '71 or '72 RR, or a '69 Charger. Maybe a '69 Mach 1. But Musclecars and Mopars in particular, are pretty tough to find affordably anymore. Thanks BJ.
So I've been looking further into the seventies. C3 is not my first choice, but I always thought they looked nice. Recently an acquaintance of mine told me he has too many corvettes on hand. Three C4's and two C3's. A '75 Stingray and '78 25th anniversary edition. Both need paint he says. Both supposedly in good running condition. Either one $3K. Both in a garage at the moment. So in a couple weeks I was going to go see them. Gotta clear snow to get to the storage area, so might be longer than two weeks...
Thanks for the feedback everybody. Just wanted to know what to look for as far as 'red lines' with these cars.
@Rich G. , why do you say stay away from '73 and up?

[Chryco Psycho]

I imagine most are under powered badly , the Lil Red Express was faster & far less valuable
I don't find these fun to tinker on at all especially as you get older

[RUNCHARGER]

They're gutless in stock form for sure. I raced my 79 against my stock 440 powered 77 W200 (a gutless version of the 440) and that heavy W200 ate the Corvettes lunch.
If that Silver Anniversary runs well and only needs paint at $3k, you could buy it, fiddle with it, paint it and flip it maybe if you find you don't like it. Around here they seem to be a $10k car if in nice shape. I get lots of guys in looking for parts for them but the owners all seem cheap and usually don't want to spend the few bucks they all need for weatherstripping etc.
They are a really uncomfortable car to sit in for most people.

[70 Challenger Lover]

I imagine most are under powered badly , the Lil Red Express was faster & far less valuable
I don't find these fun to tinker on at all especially as you get older

Spaces are tight as hell on corvettes. Getting in and out sucks on my back and neck unless the top is down. My C2 parked next to my Challenger looks like a little toy. It's that much smaller. If I had a lift, much of clearance issues would improve. Even so, I find to do one thing requires removal of something else and something else to get that second thing off. And so much of it is over engineered. The rocker strips on my 64 were hanging on rails and had fasteners at each end plus another 8 or so brackets underneath. You find yourself thinking my god, what were they thinking when they designed this? It's just a piece of trim.

@dodj I'd go for the 75. I think those still had the notchback rear window. I think in time, the older notchback style will rise in value faster. 3k is a bargain unless it's a destroyed shell. These cars are a lot of fun. They weren't designed as daily drivers, grocery getters, cross country touring sedans. They were designed for the track. Once you accept that and you accept all the limitations of the design and you can have some real fun with it. There's a lot of aftermarket stuff available which is nice. Fiberglass work is easy to learn. Removing the body is not difficult, half day job.

If you go with a C4, I understand the later years in the run we're the better designed ones and are more powerful. A really nice later C4 can be had for very little. My uncle just bought a beautiful low mileage single owner one for around ten grand. The handling and braking aspects of the C4 compared to a C3 are enormous. But they are boring to look at.

Nothing says you can't start on a C3 and keep your eye out for some cool Mopar. I predict that halfway into the C3 project, some cool Mopar deal will pop up. It will be exactly what you want at a killer price. You will get it and the C3 project will get moved to the back burner or sold off. That alone makes getting the Vette worthwhile, to kick start a series of fortunate events.

[Rich G.]

It's more of a personal reason I don't like the 73 and up. I like chrome and that's all gone on them. My first one was a 75 vette and was pretty plain. I cringe saying this but I sold my 71 Cuda because I saw a bubble on the wheel well and said I don't want to deal with rust. Then the paint all checked on my vette and I sold that and had a Cuda ever since. The 68-72 I feel have the best body style and not all plastic inside and no emissions . They also seem to hold their value.

[ToxicWolf]

I agree that the C3 is much better looking than the C4 but I loved working on my C4.  I would just swing the front up and sit in top of the front tires to change spark plugs, etc. 😍

[dodj]

I would just swing the front up and sit in top of the front tires to change spark plugs, etc. 😍

My wifes car is a Subaru BRZ. Service manual says you have to lift/pull the engine to change the plugs.....

[ToxicWolf]

I would just swing the front up and sit in top of the front tires to change spark plugs, etc. 😍

My wifes car is a Subaru BRZ. Service manual says you have to lift/pull the engine to change the plugs.....

Ouch 😐