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Somebody beat me to the big property I was working towards, so I've decided to sort of stay put for a while. I'm slowly sort of starting to have a little more money to play with. The Vette is NOT in good running condition right now, it's irritating, and I'm definitely in the phase of life where something is either advancing or it's gone.

It has a cam knock (I hope that's all it is), a clutch that doesn't always disengage fully, brakes are all spongy as hell, interior is pretty tired, and paint is pretty shabby. None of these are huge deals, without doing anything fancy it could probably be pretty nice, relatively speaking, and running well for under $5k. This would be the cheapest thing to do and I'd have something fairly unique.

Or, I could sell it, probably take a hell of a beating on what I put into it, sell the Protege and get something totally new to me and different. Basic parameters are must be reliable, and into the 40k range or so. Wouldn't spend more than that any time soon. My two top candidates are either a C6ZO6, or a Turbo Porsche, if I could find a good condition late model one in that price range. The Porsche has the appeal that it can be a genuine all around, every day, cities, traffic, weather, and still a hoot to drive.

I vote for the C6Z, because I want one. And well, ive seen them in the low 30's for a while now. One at 29.5. The only thing that concerns me with the Z is the valves in the heads, but other than that, I'm very jealous.

It's probably about the best value out of the box used sports car going. And since you can find ones that haven't been prison raped, you can get a pretty decent ride for not a lot of scratch. I don't know anything new in the 30s that even close. My only demerits for the C6Z are that it would be another GM, not exactly rare (neither is the TP) and I'm sort of getting whinny about stick shift for traffic. Mine is heavy and it's annoying after a while. Especially combined with poor warm start idle seek weirdness, which doesn't help.

I love love love the 2015 Turbo Porsche. But that's just a tad more.

Get rid of the “old stuff” and buy the Porsche. You’ve wanted one for a while so, if you can afford it, do it. Yes, the other cars have good memories attached to them but it sounds like they’re turning into nightmares. Don’t let your last words about the Vette be: “Damn, I’m glad that’s gone.”

What about a GTR? I know a few people who bought one in the mid 30's. Heavily modified too.

The thought has crossed my mind, but I assume generally anyway, that heavily modded GT-R in the 30s would have been beat on pretty hard and like the TP, not so cheap to work on when they need it. That's one big upside to the old Vette. Relatively cheap to tweak on. Not Mustang cheap, but a lot less than them foreigners depending on the work needed.

Since you've been wanting a Porsche for quite a while I'd go for it. The only issue as you mentioned is working on it. You know a lot of folks that can help out with your Vette or even C6Z but I doubt you'll have that with the Porsche. Although you probably won't need it with the Porsche.

Lies, this is motorgen, he is afflicted with the same curse as we are.

They will all need work eventually. Which is why I'd stay with the Z. Yes it's light years more advanced than yours, but everything can still be done in a garage.

I don't think it's possible for anyone to have the curse as bad as you and I. Especially you.

If you creatively modify combos and drive them hard around the limits, shit is going to go wrong. If you have a modern car and drive it within its OE specs, it's going to be pretty solid. Not guaranteed, but thems the odds.

Anyway, first thing I'd have to do is at least get the Vette decently running even if I'm going to sell it for anything more than a bucket of t-shirts.

Check this shit out though. Back to back to back hot lapped hard launches. Nothing.

I'm willing to bet, I could break it.

Not sure if I'm supposed to feel proud, or bummed out.

Let me help you.

Bummed. But cheer up. Things can always get worse. :)

My buddy has a new 911 Turbo S and loves the hell out of it, it scares him

The newest ones are simply stellar in every way. Amazingly they've continued to make substantial improvements in recent years. They are stupid stupid fast, dead reliable in all weather, usable in all conditions, and plain fun to drive it seems (unlike a GT-R which is fast but numb by most accounts I've heard.)

I couldn't afford a new one, by any reasonable stretch, but I can at least reasonably think about one up to 50k or so if I'm a little patient. That puts me somewhere in the 2008 good condition models.

If you decide to sell the Vette, let me know. My father in law wants an old Vette fixer upper.

Alrighty. But it's not really an old Vette fixer upper.

http://motorgen.com/garage/showvehicle.php?vid=58

"It has a cam knock (I hope that's all it is), a clutch that doesn't always disengage fully, brakes are all spongy as hell, interior is pretty tired, and paint is pretty shabby. None of these are huge deals, without doing anything fancy it could probably be pretty nice, relatively speaking, and running well for under $5k. This would be the cheapest thing to do and I'd have something fairly unique."

Uh huh..... I'm not trying to bash it or begin the low ball douchebaggery, I'm just saying it needs to me tlc. Btw, can you wash it yet without it going all crazy? I thought maybe you did with some wires cut in some wire loom.

I just meant it's not old 70s engine, trans, suspension, steering etc. And for that matter it is a reffed swap, meaning you can take to any smog station and pass (with flying colors) as it just did. You can pick up an old C3 for probably < $5k now, but I obviously wouldn't entertain anything less than multiples of that.

It needs a lot of attention to make nice, that's absolutely true, but not a ton of money. Yes, the loom connection was fixed.

Id bet 15k would be an easy sell.

Yeah, I doubt he will pay your asking price. My mother in law is super tight with money when he buys something but is wide open if she wants it. Women.....

I'm lucky I guess. My wife is totally fine with me spending money and actively wants me to get a nicer car. I say no no, I can drive my old Protege, it runs fine. :judge:

As for the Vette, step one is to get it decent and see how I feel. If I'm digging it again (because it's not just collecting dust, or kind of a pain to drive), I'll just keep it. If I still have a hankering for something else, I'll be in a better position to not take a beating. I'm 100% not desperate, so there's no pressure to sell just cuz.

As for your pa, if he wants an old Vette cheap to work on, especially if he wants to do anything like I did, let me know. I can help him save a fair bit of money, know the right resources, and C3s are relatively cheaper than they were when I got mine, which was when the economy was hot. Mine was in quite good original running condition and I paid about $13k for that. Between all parts and labor over the years, probably +20k or so and a horrifying amount of time.

Ben, you live just a couple miles from me, I'm more than willing to help you out. Just might need a babysitter though.

I think you would enjoy a C6 more. Fix the cam knock problem only, repaint the front bumper, give it a detail and sell that bitch for an engineering marvel.

Fixing the cam knock is the essentially rebuilding the short block. Not sure how easy it would be to change the cam bearings without a tear down.

Corvette forum appraised mine at 18k back in 2010?

Ben doesnt have my sexy bitch ass paint job, but he has fancy suspension, steering, FI and AC. I think with a bomb diggidy paint job he could get 20k+

20k+ is where I'd start seriously considering it as the ass pounding I'd take would be in moderate vs. major territory. Though there are always gaps between appraisals and reality, without a lot of data points it's mostly guessing and getting lucky . . or the opposite of lucky.

Damian, thanks for the offer. I may take you up on for small stuff at some point, but my days of spending weekends on shit is over until retirement.

It's going to ls1z28 this Friday, who did most of the heavy work on the original conversion on Friday. If it's cam knock and it probably is, the block has to come out. I have pretty much everything on quick connects and the engine is free relatively free from obstructions, etc., so it is "relatively" easy compared to some cars, but still a lot of work. I figure between the initial cam knock, clutch and brakes issues I'm looking at a couple g parts and labor. I *might* pop in some new lifters while it's out since there is apparently something like 15HP sitting on the table there. I'm going to avoid "while I'm at it itis" though.

IF I could sell this in the 20 range and get a Z in the 30 range, it's pretty tempting (other than it's not so unique as what I have.) Turns out good condition TPs are really more like $60k+ for what I want, and while I could technically afford it, I don't want to direct that much cash towards a toy.

But a decent condition C6Z in the 30 range is probably still a bit of a Unicorn.

Not even, just a quick, local search.
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/4859495810.html
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/4801845560.html
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/4806540161.html
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/4857433526.html
http://ventura.craigslist.org/ctd/4832999918.html
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...861860266.html

you get the Idea, I left out salvage title cars but mid to low 30 Z's exist and have for a while, I think they're going to go a tad lower, then hold out.

Wow! I didn't find much last time I looked. Want dark blue though. :p

I want a white one, but it is VERY rare that I see white vettes at all, much less a Z

Blue, White and Black or Silver would be my preferences for a Z. But not that Sky Blue, Dark Blue. Murdered out black is kind of cool, if cliche.

Who cares if its a cliché, still fuckin sexy.

I just don't want to be lumped in with the Hurley shirt wearing guys on their way from the tanning salon to the strip club if I can help it.

Sounds like the life to me :huh:

It's the kind of thing you'd like if you like that kind of thing.