JimGnitecki

You know you have come to the right shop when . . .

This morning I took my 1992 C4 convertible into Colvin Automotive in Austin, Texas to get the rear axle ratio swapped, to replace an acting-up oil level sensor, and to have the shop examine my seat leather and make a recommendation.

I’d come to K.C. Colvin’s shop many times before, but this visit, starting right at 7am, reminded me that when I am at KC’s, I know I have come to the right shop.

Follow along with me, starting chronologically at 7am, and see if you don’t agree:

I pulled into one of the 2 properties that compose Colvin, one each on the north and south of Hancock Avenue, a quiet commercial area tucked into a large old Austin neighborhood before zoning would have prevented it.

The first thing I literally saw was KC himself, across the street, unlocking the yard gates, so that the costly stock and custom cars hiding inside could be moved out for the day to free up precious shop space. Note that this is THE BOSS, out there at 7am opening up, not a yard crew.

First out were these 2:




Yes, I know they are covered. KC got them covered before I realized I should be snapping photos with my iPhone. The Ferrari is a low mileage beauty (I saw it before he covered it) that he just sold for one of his clients, to another client in Houston. Talk about complete “service”. The cover is put on even for the day presumably because KC cares about both unapproved touching and the hot Texas sun that burns the life out of interiors exposed to it, and this Ferrari IS a roadster.

The other cover, which I helped him carefully put on, hides a 427 C3 with genuine sidepipes (Heard them! They sound every bit as good as the legends say!). And yes, KC’s team did that car.

Then, there’s these 2:




Another prime C3, and the official Colvin “rental car” . Of course, being this is Colvin Automotive, the “rental car” is a little special. It’s a Viper, with a built 750 hp engine. The rentals are to folks who want to experience a track day at the nearby Circuit of the Americas F1 track, and need a reasonably worthy car to not be embarrassed! I’m not kidding.

Next up was this sweet ’58 Vette, on the other side of the street:




Makes you yearn for that American Graffiti street scene, doesn’t it?

KC’s team has done a LOT of very nice cars, and this photo, if you look carefully, gives you some clues (Lance Armstrong, Sheryl Crow, etc):





But, the piece de resistance was this modestly simple beauty, still inside the shop, after a pretty amazing makeover:





I told KC I don’t normally even like Broncos, but man, look at the detailing on this one! The owner is a VERY exacting guy. Here’s the front end:





And examine this interior:



This rear seat is in a league all by itself:



How could anyone NOT like this Bronco?

KC’s team does all this stuff in-house. All the design, mechanicals, paint, interior, tuning for emissions test compliance, etc. THAT’s full service.

He examined a couple of discolored worn spots on my seats and says he can dye them for a temporary solution for very little money (two digits), but he likes better the idea of replacing the 21 year old leather.





Besides being the right thing to do (even though I cringe at giving up 21 years of this car’s very “high touch” history), it would allow his guys to tie the exterior white convertible roof and body better into the gray and black interior, by using alternate panels of white and gray in the seats. He’s going to take a serious look today while the gears are being done, and shoot me a price. If it’s financially doable for me at this time, he says they might be able to temporarily install a set of seats from a wrecked Corvette so I can drive while they recover my seats without any time pressure. (My car is my daily driver and ONLY car beyond my wife’s car which SHE drives daily).

I asked about what kind of work they have done recently on maximizing LT1 engines in C4s. KC grinned, and told me about a recent project that maximized performance while retaining emissions compliance, when needed and where needed, via a second PROM. I am not going to quote a power number without KC’s specific approval to do so, but the number he gave me, when I plugged it into my performance modeling software just now, yielded about 11 seconds as a sensible target with a good driver and proper traction measures.

KC and the guys felt bad I had to rent a car for the timeout, as, like most hot rod and restoration shops, they don’t do loaner cars, so Larry, the super experienced guy doing the actual gear swap, promised to not dawdle, but insisted on “precise and quiet”.

I know I came to the right place. It’s GREAT to be in good, experienced, and careful hands that have the right respect for both history and performance, and the right approaches.

Jim G

91 black convert

Do you have your C3's and C2' confused?

Both of those Vette's look like C2's to me.

ucfsaxman

I know the feeling of going to a good shop that specializes in vettes and knows what they're doing. You should see this place I go to called Corvette Masters they have about 15 corvettes at the shop on any given day. This place does and has everything including an in house dyno. They handle simple things like broken door handles and lights all the way up to superchargers, engine swaps the whole deal.

mrmtrtrnd

Looks like they have nice cars and do good work there.
Theres nothing like that here in Mid America

1991Z07

C3's are from '63-'82...

The one under the cover and the yellow car...those are C3's.

The red/white one is a C2.

You are the one who's confused.

Daniel_Mc

http://www.hookedonvettes.com/corvettegenerations.html

Little_Red_Corvette

Obviously there was no picture of a C4 available. How many of those generations does the speedometer work in reverse? Just another bonus of the C4!

JimGnitecki

Gosh, I thought C3s began before 1968. My Bad! Sorry, I've only ever owned a C3 (1976), 2 c4s (1995 and the current 1992) and 1 C5 (2002 Z06). Looks like I need to review "the early years".

Jim G

JimGnitecki

You're forgetting my own white C4 was in one of the photos!

I never knew about the speedo working in reverse. Really?? I've never thought to see what happens in reverse. Gotta try that . . .

Jim G

WVZR-1

Will there be a "QUIZ" tomorrow?

Durissus

With such attention as that, it makes you want to drive hundreds of miles to get your car worked on...almost... As for the C2/C3 debate...I thought you had it correct, but that "Hooked on Vettes" has me even more confused!

JimGnitecki

91BlackConvert appears to be correct. I checked 2 online and one physical book source, and all say that C3 began in 1968!

Jim G

1993C4LT1

No, C3's are from '68 to '82.

ucfsaxman

Oh and the vettes in the pictures are a C2 the yellow one and the white and Red 58 is a C1. No C3's I always forget how short of a run the C2 had 63-67.

Edit: 93C4Lt1 beat me to it

91 black convert

I don't think so.

C1's = 53 to 62

C2's = 63 to 67

C3's = 68 to 82

C4's = 84 to 96

I'm sure that's the generally accepted generations.

If you say the 58 is a C2, then what years do you consider as C1's and what years do you consider as C2's?

I think if you look at how this forum is divided up, you will see that it agrees with my list above.

mnstrlt1

I can honestly say there are no "true" corvette specialists shops in Phoenix anymore. Definitely not for c4 guys. There are a "few" guys scattered in the valley that work out of their private residences, but nothing I'm 100% comfortable with anymore (based on a very bitter experience with my 93').

JimGnitecki

Now I'm really sorry I mentioned ANY "generations"!

This is not a thread about Corvette genealogy. It's about detecting the differences between great shops and other shops!

Think about the kind of work, for years, to develop this kind of business, to these capabilities. Not many entrepreneurs can do that, but KC has.

Jim G

JimGnitecki

I know that a lot of Corvette "performance" shops abandoned the C4 shortly after the C5 arrived. The reason was simple: The C5 is so much easier to soup up reliably, and no "performance" shop wants to stay with a base that has more opportunities for trouble than a newer solution.

But KC and his people are not a narrow dimension "performance" shop. They understand the history and values of hot rodding, restoration, custom cars, and show cars. Yes, they build performance cars, but when a car model with an engine with more power potential arrives, this shop has no urge to "forget and abandon" what has existed, worked, and thrilled its owners BEFORE the newest next thing - and continues to do so. The Bronco is a stunning example.

And, in how many shops would you expect to find BOTH a Bronco and a Ferrari? THAT's real "bandwidth".

Jim G

mnstrlt1

Jim- I completely agree, I'm totally jealous I don't have a shop like this around!

lt4obsesses

It's always amazing how a little thing like that can derail a whole thread for days. lol

Looks like a great shop, not too many here in Kansas City, if any like that. We have plenty that work with the new stuff, but most won't touch a C4.