Vintage Cars: 1957 Corvette, upholstery shops, foam padding

Question
My husband has always loved the 57 corvette, the Red with the cream coves.  He will be 50 this year, and the 50 year old corvette would be his dream birthday gift.  Because of his height we will need to somehow modify the seats and steering column/steering wheel for him to be comfortable.  Do you have any suggestions?  Will this modification devalue the car?  How do I know that the car I purchase will be a fair deal?  Do you know of qualified appraisers that can view the car and report back to me before I invest any time and money into the purchase?

Answer
This is a lot to cover, I will do my best, but you will have to also do a lot of homework.

First, what a neat idea to help your husband realize a dream.   

Second, on the height issue, you don't say if you need to modify it for someone that is shorter than normal, or someone taller than normal.  Raising the seat can be done fairly easy with some spacers or brackets.  These will probably have to be custom made.  A metal working shop can probably do this.  Also check with local upholstery shops.  They may be able to build up the seat foam/padding without changing the shape of the seat a lot.

Different diameter steering wheels can accomodate someone that is very tall, and the original wheel can always be put back on.

If for someone with shorter arms, then the stock large wheel should really fit him OK, the 57 Vette is very tight inside, and it might fit someone smaller than normal quite nicely.

These types of changes aren't permanent and should not hurt the value of the car.  Of course if you have to swap in a different steering column with a tilt wheel (this can be done) the change is reversable, but not without a lot of trouble and some cost.  There are good repair/restoration shops that should be able to do this throughout the country.

As to value, buying an old car can always be trouble if you don't do your homework.  Especially with Corvettes.  They tend to be expensive, and you can easily overpay by buying one with the wrong parts etc.  Swapped engines/transmissions, bad bodywork, modifications etc all hurt value.

It would help to know approximately what your budget was.  If money is not a problem, then I would go for a Bloomington Gold certifed correct car that was ready to go and beautiful.  The Bloomington Gold certificate will prove the value of the car.  This type of car is one you may not want to drive a lot, it is more of a display/trailered type of car, but once you own it you can drive it if you want, but the more you drive a high quality car, the more it will naturally deteriorate and lose some value.

If money is tight, then you might want to consider getting a "driver" quality car that may not have its original driveline, and the body/paint may not be perfect.  Still try to get one that is complete, runs perfect and needs little work unless your husband is a good mechanic and is looking forward to a project.

I recommend you join some of the established Corvette owners clubs and ask questions.  Go to car shows and talk to Corvette owners.  Go to the big shows, like the mentioned Bloomington Gold

http://www.bloomingtongold.com/?link=home

Here is another site and group to get to know:

http://www.corvettesnccc.org/

Here is a listing of clubs, try to find some in your area:

http://members.aol.com/licoa/clublist.htm

Just put "corvette clubs" into any search engine and you will find these and hundreds more.

for appraisers, you can go here:

http://www.vehiclevaluationservices.com/?gclid=CMOj2NXZwowCFQaXIwodvTxLVw

But I recommend you buy a copy of Hemmings Motor News.  You can view last months classifieds online, but a copy in your hand is worth the few bucks.  Buy one at any good bookstore/magazine stand.

http://www.hemmings.com/

They have a section on appraisers and you can check the Corvette parts/services section for those the specialize in Corvettes.  Ask some questions of any appraiser.  Some local car dealers will do appraisals for you, but some are not much better than asking a stranger on the street for advice.  a professional appraiser is a better bet.  Expect to pay a few hundred for this service, and finding one near your car saves you some money.

There are businesses that specialize in selling nothing but Corvettes, and although you usually pay 20-50% more to buy from a dealer than from an individual, some offer buy-back deals where they guarantee to buy the car back for what you paid.  Although chances are that if you buy a good one, it will go up in value and you will be better off not doing that!  :)

So the story here is to invest a LOT of time into research and study before thinking about buying a car.  I looked for 25 years for the right 57 Chevy, but am glad I held out for the right one.  It should not take that long though, but plan on spending most of a year to do it right unless you just get lucky.  For the most part avoid on-line auctions like E-bay.  The short time frame prevents you from doing the research on that car that is needed.  But sometimes if you see a car you like on E-bay, they will have it for sale locally and you can contact them outside the E-bay system and make arrangements to see and have the car appraised AFTER the auction if the car does not sell.

Also, remember that you should NEVER be pressured into buying something you are not sure of.  There will ALWAYS be another Corvette for sale, prices are at their highest ever right now, and I predict that they will be coming down soon.  So by the time you do your research, you may pay thousands less than if you bought right now.  Corvettes are somewhat immune to the ups and downs of the industry because there is a large and enthusiastic following, but they do go up and down some.

Also, if you do find a car you really like, and it checks out by you driving it, and having it appraised, then buy it and STOP SHOPPING.  One rule I have found over the years is no matter how long you look or how well you do it, once you buy, all sorts of cars will appear that are cheaper, better, nicer etc.   Stop shopping and enjoy the car you bought!

Take your time and enjoy the purchase process.  You will get an idea of prices, values and the shopping can be quite fun for both of you.   Make sure you get to drive the car you buy, because I have seen some that people don't want driven, and they have good reasons.  Lots of test drives can be real wear and tear on a car.  For that reason, I never ask to test drive anything I am not already about 90% sure I am going to buy.  But that test drive can reveal lots of flaws.

I once looked at a national award winning 57 Chevy Nomad.  Beautiful in every respect.  But it drove terrible.  Rattles everywhere (Nomads rattle anyway, but this was much worse) and almost nothing worked, gauges, signals, heater, etc.  the owner didn't car because he wanted it just to push on and off his trailer and win trophies.  He never drove it.  So only if you are going to put the car in a museum and never drive it should you buy a car you haven't driven enough miles to get to know it.  Will it overheat?  Will it shift right.  Does it even feel right to you and your husband?

Good luck, I hope I have helped.

Don