Find a Donor, buy parts used, or buy them new?

[POWERZONE]

I am trying to figure out some things. If you guys could reflect and use hindsight and could do it all over again.

Was it better to get your parts from a donor vette, buying them used from a junkyard, or new from like SMC/ebay or the dealer? Or even Rockauto?


Thanks

[flickery8]

This topic has been discussed many times. The most common finding is that using a donor will be much cheaper, especially if you take the time to ebay the parts you do not need. Also, seeing the parts attached to a car is very helpful in understanding what they are and how they attach/function once you attempt to attach them to the GTM. However, many people start customizing every aspect of the build and don't want to use some of the standard donor parts. Wheels, suspension parts, door parts and seatbelts are a good examples of things people may decide to purchase aftermarket instead of using the donor. The cost can climb very rapidly.

[POWERZONE]

This topic has been discussed many times. The most common finding is that using a donor will be much cheaper, especially if you take the time to ebay the parts you do not need. Also, seeing the parts attached to a car is very helpful in understanding what they are and how they attach/function once you attempt to attach them to the GTM. However, many people start customizing every aspect of the build and don't want to use some of the standard donor parts. Wheels, suspension parts, door parts and seatbelts are a good examples of things people may decide to purchase aftermarket instead of using the donor. The cost can climb very rapidly.

Thx

[VD2021]

This is one of the first questions that arises as you begin to plan a build.

Yes, it has been discussed many times (you'll find most of the info on the other forum), simply because it is one of the first questions that arises as you begin to plan a build.

After you've read through the new responses and old threads you'll be able to make a well informed decision. Good luck.

[Nitetrain]

I say go with a donor for many reasons. As long as you do not have many damaged parts, it is going to save you a bunch of money. I purchased a 1998 vette with a front end wreck for 6K. It came with a bunch of replacement parts which I sold. I could have sold a bunch more parts, but I only made about 2k and got tired of boxing parts up. The best part of the donor, is all of the other parts that you can get that are not called for on in the manual, but make the build much easier. I cut as many electrical connection as I could find. I used the plugs all over the GTM. For example, I used a wiring cannon plug to connect the headlights to the painless harness. It made is so I could remove the hood without cutting wires...and it was free. The corvette also has a bunch of ground busses. They small black containers that bolt to the chassis as a ground and have a bunch of black wires coming off of them. It really cleaned up grounding the GTM. If you are creative, you can probably use the corvette poppers for the trunk...there are just a ton of options with a donor. Good luck