First determine the exterior body damage. Look for rust marks, wear-and-tear, and collision damage. Check to see if your new corvette has been painted over by opening the door and looking on the inside of the door. An undercoat with a different color is a sign that it has been repainted.

Now take a look at the interior. In my experience, the door panels usually remain in shape. If that’s the case, a nice Turtle Wax interior cleaner will do the job just right. Next, check the interior carpet. A tell-tale sign that it has been replaced is that it does not fit right and has overlapping edges on the side panels. I experienced this with my Corvette and went directly to the manufacturer to replace it with carpet that was a perfect fit.

The next step is to take a look up at the halo panels. Most of the time they need replacing. Again, I recommend going to the manufacturer or finding scrap parts from a non-restorable Corvette. As for the seats, mine came with the 80-82 corvette seats. I decided that they look good as is and kept them the way they were.

Your last step is to check the speedometer. Most of the time the needle is broken. I don’t really know how people break the needle on their car gauges, but it is something that I frequently run into. It is semi-easy to replace, but I prefer modern gauges and digital dashboards in classic vehicles to get accurate reads on my tachometers and speedometers. Check out Intellitronix website to find the right fit for your Corvette’s car gauges at an affordable price.