Wanna save up for a nice weekend or every other day driver car but kind of unsure what to go for. I don't want a Miata, Cayman or any BMWs as they seem pretty cookie cutter and I would like something old that I can tinker with while at the sametime not falling apart once a month. Recently I have been looking at Corvettes and I quite like the idea of a C4 or C5, with the C4s seemingly being very cheap with what you get.The catch of course is I live in a RHD country and not the US.
>ancient sports car that was cutting edge for its time>80s GM build quality Yeah that's a big financial mistake there, pal. But the cars are cool. I drove an 84 which is considered the worst year with the anemic crossfire engine, with the strange doug nash 4+3 transmission, and even that one was fun to drive.It did however feel like an 80s GM.
>>29050820How bad is the build quality? I have heard mixed things about the old electronics but not much more than that
>>29050830I remember it didn't feel "high quality" that's for sure. But it was fun. The retro LCD dash was very cool. The 84 had a crude, basically truck 350 SBC under the hood, which rumbled like an old square body, but in a low slung roadster, which had a certain charm. Certain parts are probably near unobtanium as is the case with most cars of that age.
First thing you need to know, is almost nothing stayed the same for more than a handful of years during this thing's production run. An 84 is a far cry from a 96. Generally the newer the better, unless you want something specific. I dailyd an 89 automatic for about a year and a half recently. Functionally, the car worked fine. I broke down once when the old ass battery internally shorted, and then I broke down again when the smog pump bearing crumbled apart. But having driven and ridden a lot of old shit in my time, it's fine.So yeah for the functional/mechanical side of it, it's no better or worse than any other domestic car from the era. But for the interior features and little shit, it's an eternal pit of bullshit going wrong. The AC will go out. The heater will also go out. The wipers will fuck up. The headlights will stop rotating. A gazillion plastic bits of the Interior will crack and break and disintegrate. I sure as shit hope you get something garage kept because every goddamn seal in that car is going to fall apart and leak and there's a fucking lot of them. The windows will get scratched from the old ass, dried out, crusty, dirty door seals. The rear main or the rocker covers will leak oil. Unless the previous owners knew the trick to getting in and out, the steering column is going to shake up and down a bunch and you can count on spending two full weekends and getting mad as shit if you want to fix that. This thing will get you to work in a bad mood every single day. People will compliment it because from across the lot it still looks cool. Low profile 275 square means that modern rubber will overpower the glued together, tack welded chassis rather easily. These cars are the fastest poverty chariots on the market by a mile. But if you want it to go faster, you'd better be ready to buy $1,000 worth of carb conversion parts straight away because you run into rapidly diminishing returns immediately.Do it or don't, I'm not you.
>>29050798I've never liked them. I hate the practically-lying-down seating position and they feel claustrophobic, though marginally better in that respect to a C3. Due to the wide door sills that are higher than the seat there's no graceful way to get in or out of one.Tuned Ports make diesel-like torque but that also means there's no zing to the engine as expected of a sports car. Automatics are lame as hell. They'll shift 1-2-3-lockup-----OD, about as fast as you can say it, before you're across the intersection of a 4 lane road, which is decidedly NOT a sporting feel. To get anything different out of an L98 (Tuned Port) you'd have to change so much you're better off starting over which is where the anon above was coming from on the carb conversion bit. Personally I'd say you'd be better off just starting with one of the later LT1/6speed cars.
If you have to save up for a car then it's a bad financial decision. Unless it only takes you 2-3 month to save up.
>>29050837>Certain parts are probably near unobtanium as is the case with most cars of that age.even for a corvette? always thought these cars and really, gm stuff in particular, had a big aftermarket
>>29050923Yeah. ^ This guy C4's.They are quintessential 1980s GM and this motherfucker nailed it..... damn they do look iconic though.
>>29051004Yea don't listen to that fag, I've owned an '84 and '85, it's 100% parts bin GM so the important mechanical bits are cheap as hell and can be found in stock at any AutoZone in the country (US anyway). There are special Corvette bits, but because the Corvette is such a loved car, you will find OEM, used, Chinese, and upgraded parts all over the place pretty easily (look into shipping from the US, it may be a pain for you).I've owned a 100,000 mile example that was an absolute dog, but still ran fine, and a 30,000 mile example that was garaged its whole life. The cars will run fine, but the interior held down with metal screws will start to crack, and capacitors will start to fail (meaning radio, speakers, dashboard are in trouble) no matter the mileage. Learn to solder, and it's very easy to fix (single layer PCB with mainly through-hole components, replacing caps usually does it).The early models are complete iron block 350 SBC, bulletproof engines that will be running until the next ice age. Though do be aware that the cork gaskets (oil pan, valve covers) will leak by now, super easy to swap out though. If you can get an LT1 or even an LT4, those are the C4s to get, but I hope you like the facelift and new interior though (I wanted digidash) and you'll have to learn what an optispark is (annoying but easy fix).Be aware that there was no '83 Corvette because of emissions, so to get it out the door ASAP they love to have these engines idle at 230° F, which is *okay*, but you will feel the heat in the engine bay when you open it up. You will want to do the fan temperature switch mod that turns the fans on at 200° F.Don't get an '84 and do get the manual and you'll be fine. If it's a Doug Nash 4+3, make sure the overdrive works, and then only turn it on for highway driving (get ready to swap ATF every 10,000 miles, yes, ATF for a manual car lol). ZF 6-speed (1989+) is preferable.1/2
>>29051058>look into shipping from the US, it may be a pain for youi'm not actually OP but if stuff can be got through rockauto then OP should be fine. I get stuff for my dodge all the time from them, the shipping is honestly super cheap for what it is, just gotta buy stuff all at once and from the same warehouse (don't forget discount code). there's also some local shops that import stuff from the US, if rockauto is an option for the same parts they'll usually be cheaper since these local shops will tack on their own markup.
>>29050798Out of all the classic '80s cars to own, a Corvette has been the absolute easiest for me. The clamshell hood makes everything so easy to work on, and many times I've worked on the car while sitting on the tire lol. Parts availability has never been an issue for me (unlike other Corvettes like the early C5 and its ABS), just like Miatas the community always has every part ready to sell to you.The only times you'll have a pain is replacing the heater core (make sure it works and swap out your coolant every 100k miles or 2 years if it's the green stuff) or a clutch job (aligning the tranny to the diff to connect the C frame is a bitch that took 2 jacks playing seesaw, but it was honestly fine, better than the C5+ Corvette clutch jobs). Other jobs like the fuel pump or fuel filter are just so easy it makes it pleasurable. Of course it's an old car, and this goes with any 30+ year old car, you need to get ready to just always replace broken things and worn out seals, but the more you replace, the more reliable it becomes. When you do drive it though, because it's 80s GM plastic, you will have to be a little delicate with certain touch points (for example, I pull on the *base* of the turn signal rather than the end, otherwise you'll break a $130 plastic part eventually).It's a fun little charismatic '80s car that won't leave you stranded once you've replaced all the important bits. It's cheap, it's fun, it has huge community support (a dude made a 3D printable phone holder that screws right into the dash, it's great), and I can't think of a better fun used car to buy for the money. If you can wrench, you will have a great time. If you can't wrench, it's a great car to learn on (just get a good soldering iron too).
>>29050798c5 is a huge step up in performance, save for that instead
>save up>10k carDon't do it. You're poor.
>>29051067Oh that's awesome, I didn't know that. I know EU guys have a pain dealing with American muscle in-general because of their rarity. The fact that you guys have to spend $20k for a $5k example of a C4 Corvette over here is wild.Rock Auto is great, but I'm a bit worried about specialty stuff like door cards, interior plastics, leathers that seem to only be sold on places like Zip Corvette, Eckler's, Corvette Central that are based in the US, but hey, I could be wrong, I saw the seat leather sold on eBay out of the UK recently so maybe that's actually not so bad either.Love seeing American muscle outside of the US knowing those guys put in twice amount of effort, cash, and passion to do it
>>29051085dat wagon with the steelies
>>29051069This is exactly how I feel about having an LT1 Camaro
Unless your work / commute is say 20+ mins away so the engine gets time to warm up I wouldn't advise a pre 91 Vette for a daily driver.You do you though op, I researched the same couple of years ago, ended up getting a VTECH instead given I commute mostly short distances.
>>29051303aint no way it takes 20 minutes of driving for the thermostat to open
>>29051637bigger concern is getting any water out of the oil since it takes longer to heat up
>>29051084>10k carYou Americans have it too good
