BenCovarde
Regular user
Good morning all,
I wanted to take the time to introduce myself and thank you in advance for all the great help and advice I'm certain I'll find here along the way. As per the title, I am almost a new owner of a '77 c3, in that I put down a deposit yesterday for what will be my first classic and first american. The c3 is something of a dream car for me, and when I stumbled upon some 'cheaper' examples a couple of months ago for sale I realised that I was actually able to afford one. Once I convinced my fiance (didn't take as long as I thought it would), there was no stopping me.
The seller is an active member in this club, I'm sure he'll make himself known or say hi somewhere in the replies, and was genuinely one of the friendliest and most helpful blokes I've met. His passion for american classics was clear to see and, especially as a newbie, I feel confident that I'll be getting a car that I can enjoy for years to come. It's a 1977 model, l82, no rust or rot I'm assured. Pretty original condition, no major faults and running well. It sounds fantastic, and smells even better
Budget constraints did mean I wouldn't be getting a mint example, or perfect colour combination (think mid metallic blue with a dark brown (saddle?) leather interior), but its perfectly usuable and clean, especially for my budget. I look forward to slowly making the car my own (whilst maintaining as much originality as possible) restoring it a little bit at a time, and having a long term hobby/project I can enjoy with my young sons. Having only owned modern cars (bar my first car, 20 years ago, a beige1987 fiesta..at the time more an old banger than a classic!), it'll be a learning curve for me as well. I've undertaken work on my previous cars myself, so I'm not entirely inexperienced and I'm excited about getting my hands dirty.
Over time there'll be a long list of things I'll want to do to make it my perfect car, but my first thoughts turn to the paintwork. A full respray will have to wait a good while yet, but there are a few minor areas or split / lifted paint I'll be looking to patch up on a temporary basis so that they don't worsen. I'll be happy for any advice on the best thing to do with these, but my first thought would be to cut the lifted paint out, fill and find someone able to patch in the paintwork to a respectable level.
There's also a LOT of red on the car. I happened upon the previous listing of the car form an auction house and it seems the vinyl was put on to cover lifting paint work. I have a great guy locally who sign-writes our work vehicles so will be looking to cover up/dumb down that large triangle on the rear deck with something a little more subtle. Again a temporary measure until I can afford a respray. I'm afraid that removing it entirely may do more damage so may have to settle for a black vinyl over the top of it/in the middle to make it more like racing stripes instead. Any ideas or inspiration with regards to this would be appreicated.
Also, should anyone happen to be familiar with the car or its history (I believe the car came from the yorkshire area fairly recently) it'd be lovely to have some previous knowledge or photos to match with the vehicle.
I'm really excited to pick it up when it's ready, and look forward to getting to know you all.
Ben
I wanted to take the time to introduce myself and thank you in advance for all the great help and advice I'm certain I'll find here along the way. As per the title, I am almost a new owner of a '77 c3, in that I put down a deposit yesterday for what will be my first classic and first american. The c3 is something of a dream car for me, and when I stumbled upon some 'cheaper' examples a couple of months ago for sale I realised that I was actually able to afford one. Once I convinced my fiance (didn't take as long as I thought it would), there was no stopping me.
The seller is an active member in this club, I'm sure he'll make himself known or say hi somewhere in the replies, and was genuinely one of the friendliest and most helpful blokes I've met. His passion for american classics was clear to see and, especially as a newbie, I feel confident that I'll be getting a car that I can enjoy for years to come. It's a 1977 model, l82, no rust or rot I'm assured. Pretty original condition, no major faults and running well. It sounds fantastic, and smells even better
Budget constraints did mean I wouldn't be getting a mint example, or perfect colour combination (think mid metallic blue with a dark brown (saddle?) leather interior), but its perfectly usuable and clean, especially for my budget. I look forward to slowly making the car my own (whilst maintaining as much originality as possible) restoring it a little bit at a time, and having a long term hobby/project I can enjoy with my young sons. Having only owned modern cars (bar my first car, 20 years ago, a beige1987 fiesta..at the time more an old banger than a classic!), it'll be a learning curve for me as well. I've undertaken work on my previous cars myself, so I'm not entirely inexperienced and I'm excited about getting my hands dirty.
Over time there'll be a long list of things I'll want to do to make it my perfect car, but my first thoughts turn to the paintwork. A full respray will have to wait a good while yet, but there are a few minor areas or split / lifted paint I'll be looking to patch up on a temporary basis so that they don't worsen. I'll be happy for any advice on the best thing to do with these, but my first thought would be to cut the lifted paint out, fill and find someone able to patch in the paintwork to a respectable level.
There's also a LOT of red on the car. I happened upon the previous listing of the car form an auction house and it seems the vinyl was put on to cover lifting paint work. I have a great guy locally who sign-writes our work vehicles so will be looking to cover up/dumb down that large triangle on the rear deck with something a little more subtle. Again a temporary measure until I can afford a respray. I'm afraid that removing it entirely may do more damage so may have to settle for a black vinyl over the top of it/in the middle to make it more like racing stripes instead. Any ideas or inspiration with regards to this would be appreicated.
Also, should anyone happen to be familiar with the car or its history (I believe the car came from the yorkshire area fairly recently) it'd be lovely to have some previous knowledge or photos to match with the vehicle.
I'm really excited to pick it up when it's ready, and look forward to getting to know you all.
Ben
, once the cost of repairing these is factored in, its a very expensive purchase. I think I was previously mistaken when I said the seller was a member, though I'm sure he had said he was. Perhaps it was part of the charm offensive of the seller. 
. Although I have offered that he keep some of it as a goodwill gesture. Again, he seemed a good guy, but now he's started to turn. 
