Restoring my AS-IS Auction Corvette with 250,000 Miles for $1,400

For an additional discount at Rockauto type "c6vette" in the "how did you hear about us" box during checkout. Valid until January 15th 2022.

This C6 Corvette Z51 3LT with over 250,000 miles was left for scrap at my local car auction. I bought it dirt cheap and restored it only in a few days in a DIY fashion! It turned out to be an extremely well maintained car and should last another quarter million miles!

[korn]

This is one of my favorite builds you’ve done. Super practical and super obtainable for the average guy. Awesome find!

[JZCR]

I have been planning to do a cosmetic restore of my 1998 C5 that only has 54321 original miles. I have had health problems and with covid and all the rest
car has not been driven in over three years. Lot of the cleaning that you do has opened up new sources for resto materials. The painting and minor body repair that I see you do makes me feel I can do what I need to do with a lot more confidence. I am 80 years young and have been driving corvettes since I was 21. My first was 64 C3 FI 4 speed coupe with the rare 1 (of) 38 option N03 36 gal. fuel tank and F40 suspension I bought it with 4600 miles from a Corvette Tech Center engineer. He had the factory closely follow the build from start to finish. They made sure the engine was built to exact factory specs and tolerances. He told me it was more of balanced and blueprinted engine. The tech center dyno showed HP at the crank to be 413. He was a rally racer

[nickkinne]

One of the best builds you’ve done, budget friendly, something most people could actually do. Hoping to see more stuff like this!

[southernshooter]

This video is 2 years old but timeless. Thanks for your teaching videos!

[frankw]

As a C6 owner who loves wrenching, this was awesome! And for someone who is under so many cars, what are you doing without a lift system of some sort? Just picked up a set of Quickjacks, and they are an absolute godsend.

[timwegman]

Honestly this is in my opinion your best build yet. I absolutely love this build, it didn't take months and month, no crazy wire issues, a very cool car and it's a car that's closer to reality for the everyday man. Most guy watching your channel likely will never own a Ferrari and the Corvette is about as close as we will get so thank you keep this up Sam!

[SkylineShane]

Honestly, with an Auto trans having been rebuilt already and a clearly well maintained engine, there’s really nothing to scare a potential buyer off despite the mileage. That would be a solid inexpensive way into a nice driver Corvette

[LegitStreetCars]

Those little harnesses are awesome. Got to love the LS. Car looks great!

[tiptondavid]

I’m a new subscriber but this is my dream car. I’m 74 so it’s just a dream. I work with prisoners and addicts over here in Ireland but four of our five kids including our adopted daughter live in the States so we get back about twice a year. I’m loving your videos! Thanks! Tip

[SuperSnakePlissken]

This is a great video. I have a 2010 Grand Sport Coupe Corvette manual trans and I am sitting at 297, 843 miles as of right now (went and looked). I am a Regional manager for my company and have been for about 15 years, and I drive around 24-25k per year. That 6.2L V8 is such a great motor. Of course I've had the common issues that come with it, spent quite a bit in regular maintenance at this point, but the engine is still original and the transmission is as well. I've gone through three clutches at this point, but that manual transmission is bullet proof.

I am not going to be in this position for much longer, but I do plan on keeping this car as long as possible, and my goal is to be one of the first (if not the first) 500, 000 mile Corvette owners in the world. We will see.

[fiily]

Great job. This is what most of your viewers want to see, not $50k unobtainable auction cars or salvage cars that frankly, we cannot afford to buy smashed. $2-10k salvage/auction cars are a sweet spot. The rest of the car build channels are great, but truly fantasy.

[RegionalRadioShackManager]

Man I love a Corvette restoration! I bought a C5 Torch Red last year with C6 z06 rims and rear dodge demon tires, cams, headers and more but the owner shorted and wires in the harness inside the car burnt to a crisp. Bought it for $4500 and $800 later plus a lot of labor she’s running beautiful again

[AutoAuctionRebuilds]

This was such a fun series. Super cheap corvette z51 3LT convertible brought back to her former glory! Epic!

[WhiteZWon]

Really cool to see what you've done with this vette. Mine has around 90k miles on it and this gives me so much more confidence that it will run for a very long time.

[joedennehy]

I've had to do that locked key in the car trick. In New Zealand we use no 8 wire. Which is used for fencing sheep. It goes through the window then we manually unlock the button. Takes 15 minutes, oh fun times

[pac]

As a tech I can say that the mileage has nothing to do with a cars condition. It's all about the previous owners maintenance schedule and repair up keep and how it was used. That vette was well maintained mechanical and it shows.

[InfiniteBumblebee]

The self lock feature of many older domestic cars is maddening. As a former tech, I used to always leave a window down just in case the car decided to self lock. Great series on this car.

[halfshark]

Glad you're back to regular uploads! Really like these budget repair videos 👌 haven't missed an episode since the pizza car days 😄

[MrJunior]

Corvettes are just simply the best performance bargain out there. The parts are inexpensive and available everywhere and they are easy to work on. I love me C5 and have enjoyed doing the little things to update it and make it more modern recently.

[TheCybertiger]

been working on auto projects for 50 years. So satisfying when you step back and look at your finish work.