[Beenaway2long]

I have located a 71 corvette. The lady selling it will be contacting me soon to arrange an inspection. Her brother, who owned it, died of cancer. Its been sitting for around 8 years.

What are some of the common flaws with this era vette?

I know to look for delamination of the glass
I know to check out the door posts
I know the calipers will need rebuilding, as well as all the rubber parts

What else?

Any ideas of the value? 45,000 miles, Orig. small block, 4 speed, air. Good to excellent shape (as I have been told) I was thinking 12-15K

[bracketeer]

Check under the doors for rust.
The bottom of the rad support rusts out as well.
Rotten carpets and rusty cigarette lighter are signs of a leaky roof.
If headlights do not stay down, is bad vacuum pods. Which causes engine vacuum leak.
Make sure emergency brake works. This can be an expensive fix.

[BarryK]

Don't worry about it!

If its original like you say and 45,000 miles any of the minor normal problems is no big deal for the price range you quoited.

You just stoled it!

Thats a good year.

[MARTINSR]

Barry, come on now, what do you know about Corvettes?

Brian

[Beenaway2long]

under the doors for rust?

Does the E brake work different from what I think? Its all disc, isn't it? Wouldn't it still be a cable? With a P/B type caliper on the back?

I'm pretty sure, after sitting all this time, the calipers and all rubber stuff will need replacing.


Barry- I thought this year (Small block, remember), only goes $20 when 100% Now if it were a big block, I would have bought it sight unseen. $30-35

I guess the interior is 90-95%.

[BarryK]

No need to look at brakes! for $700-800 you can buy the kit and replace everything and than put dot5 in it and never again.
You can buy every piece of interior as a kit for $800-1200.
My vette has the leather option and interior is perfect except for a little fade on top of seat that I could dye. Leather option is more but I got carpet new door panels and new seat covers for $1000.

Sorry to disappoint you but if she had called me I would have bought sight unseen for that price. You cannot go wrong unless its been customized or cannibalized with the wrong engine, than its a parts car in my book.

[Beenaway2long]

Oh, no disappointment here.

Thanks for the info. I will go check it out as soon as she calls me. I plan on going with $ in hand.


Thanks again !

Jeff

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Beenaway2long

I have located a 71 corvette. The lady selling it will be contacting me soon to arrange an inspection. Her brother, who owned it, died of cancer. Its been sitting for around 8 years.

What are some of the common flaws with this era vette?

I know to look for delamination of the glass
I know to check out the door posts
I know the calipers will need rebuilding, as well as all the rubber parts

What else?

Any ideas of the value? 45,000 miles, Orig. small block, 4 speed, air. Good to excellent shape (as I have been told) I was thinking 12-15K

Jeff,

Check out the pictures of my '69 Vette project:

http://hotrodders.com/gallery/showga...0&ppuser=17782

Take a look at the rust that I had under in the windshield channel and under the fiberglass brackets that support the top fender corners. This is an area that I would check on any Corvette of this vintage even if it has a rust-free frame like mine does. The fender brackets are riveted to the metal firewall and moisture gets trapped between them and rusts out the firewall. This is something you really can't check without removing the windshield. However, if the car has signs of ever getting wet on the front carpets or under/around the dash, then I would suspect rust-out in the w/s area. I was lucky that mine wasn't that bad and easily reparable. I have seen some Vettes of this era where the whole w/s frame and cowl area had to be replaced.
Bracketeer is correct, the core supports are prone to rust-out. Mine was history. New ones are available however.

Good luck. Sounds like a nice Vette.

Roger