Fazdagt

Hey everyone! I've been away from c5's and Corvettes in general for a few years while I was taking care of more important financial things. (starting a family)

I sold my 99' FRC just after my daughter was born nearly five years ago and I've regretted it nearly every day since.

Now that she's growing and finances are much more stable I decided to go on the hunt for a "cheap" C5 that I can use for my daily duties and play with on Saturday mornings.

I had a budget of $10k so I was looking for a fixer upper or high mileage car. I didn't need a show winner as I plan on commuting in this. I've found that the workday goes so much smoother when you get to get in something enjoyable for your drive to and from and I've got a four door pickup for family trips and an e36 bmw for the racetrack now.

My requests were simple: Runs, Drives, Six Speed.

I began searching a few weeks ago and had several cars on a list and began making phone calls, sending emails, texts, etc. Every car I was interested in was sold before I could take a day off to go pick it up.

Early in my search I came across a gorgeous looking car, it had everything I was hoping to find within' my budget and was listed for just $9K. The downfall was an automatic trans.

Discouraged from all of the sold cars I sent the guy a message because I just loved the look of this one and figured maybe an automatic trans for a commuter wasn't so bad.

The car had been posted for a few weeks and I wanted to pay $7K for it to justify taking an automatic home.

Not wanting to lowball the guy I started the conversation off letting him know that a six speed was what I was after but his car caught my eye and I'd be keeping it in mind. His response was a good one letting me know that the price was negotiable. I replied asking for his bottom line number to which he says "$7K with everything"


Sold.


I gathered my funds, planned a trip and headed six hours to Virginia Beach last Sunday morning.

The car looked as I had expected. Fresh black paint, nice wheels with new tires and an interior that needed some love.

There were many small issues but nothing I was afraid of at such a low price.

We closed the deal and I drove her home..it took 8 hours in traffic and the car did very well.

It came with a hatch full of parts and two sets of wheels so that was a bonus.


I'll be using this post to share my progress, somewhat keep track of what needs done what I have done and how expensive my "cheap c5" becomes.

Here's what $7k buys in a c5:


1997
178K
Automatic w/ 3600 stall converter and 3.42 gearing
Fresh black paint
Oem C6 wheels with new tires
Vararam Cai
Generic aftermarket exhaust
Ugly Chrome engine bay dress up
Euro Tails
Tacky caliper covers
Poor dyed red seats (brand new upholstery included though!)
Spare z06 replica wheels
Trunk full of spare parts, extra parts, etc.


With the low price comes several exciting projects:

-DIC buttons don't work, can't clear error messages- More annoying than anything.
-Abs/Traction service pops on after a small bump
-Strange almost grinding noise from the torque tube (started about halfway home - Maybe the tube needs rebuilt?)
-Check Engine Bulb has been removed, car has several codes.
-Driver window regulator is funky
-Keyless entry stopped working on day two
-PCV system needs help (currently venting to the air)
-TPMS sensors not installed
-c6 wheels have spacers installed that look sketchy at best.
-Seats need recovered (but he gave me new pre-cut/formed leather)
-Various small trim pieces are missing
-Targa top has a few cracks, doesn't leak though!
-Euro tails aren't wired properly so signals flash fast
-Oil leak from under the intake manifold
-Exhaust is cheap and fits poorly


Fortunately I am very mechanically inclined so nothing here is very scary to me and I'm hoping the noise I'm hearing is just something in the torque tube needing servicing. For a nearly 20 year old close to 200K mile car I think overall it's doing pretty well and the guys at my office that aren't car savvy are dumbfounded that you can get a car that looks like this for such a low price.

I don't see a lot of money needing spent just time invested and the car runs, drives, and performs well as is so once I fix this torque tube noise I can drive it regularly and fix the small things on those Saturday mornings this summer just as I'd planned. I expect to have about $9k into the car once its completely up to par and I can sell off most of the extra parts I was given to recoup some of what I need to spend.


And of course here's a few photos so far.



First Fill Up:




Home in the garage:




Finally my black PA Dare plate is back on a vette



And the obnoxiously red seats.






I think I'll keep trees off of the roof of this one

Thanks for reading!

-Jason

Jeff T.

Congrats Jason and Welcome Back!!!

It certainly looks like your going to have enough projects this summer!!

With fresh paint it's hard to believe it's a 178k car!

Enjoy your summer, one project at a time!

2FAS4UU

This is what makes for close ownership and pride and not having a fear of having to put hands on, Good luck !!

AC1074

That is a nice looking C5. Not in bad shape at all. I agree with you about the caliper covers but the seats are not that bad hehe. Much like you, I picked up a "bargain" c5 a few months ago. Mine is a 2001 base corvette with a T top torch red color. It has high mileage but it's a weekend project car for me. I can relate to your post. Iam so so mechanically inclined but buying a bargain C5 was the only hope of ever owning one of these awesome cars. Good luck and please keep us posted on your progress. I wish you were my neighbor lol.

4XLR8N

From a fellow '97 owner - welcome (back) to the asylum!

Looks to me like you scored a nice bargain!

Enjoy your summer commutes!

knewblewkorvette

$7K? Why can't I ever find a bargin like that , lol.
Awesome car.
Do not ignore the torque tube. I snapped one apart and it sucks to be stranded.

Jud Chapin

Looking good...

Stealth02

Great find. Hope you enjoy it. Could very well be the torque tube bushings. If it has a 3600 stall and 3:42 gears under it. I would suspect a few holeshot launches in its past. Lot more stress on stock bushings especially if they are the original ones that came on the car.

Deneb

Wow, sexy vette.

1Willy1

actually a good looking car , I like the hood, wheels and yes, even the caliper covers.

If your using the caliper covers to pretend you got a big brake kit then yes , I can see why people hate them, but if your just using them to clean up the look I really don't see a problem with them at all.

Its nice to see these cars still going strong with the higher mileage

jjaaam

This thread brings up something I posted a long time ago...

When I didn't have a C5 I drooled every time I saw one. I never for a second thought about "how many miles" or anything like that...just how flippin' cool it was and how bad I wanted one.

Your car is an epitome of that. It looks GREAT. 178k? I never would have known. And you know what? It doesn't really MATTER how many miles are on it. It's awesome that you have another one in your garage!

These cars are just beautiful...

My wife made a good point today. We were talking about our 2011 Tahoe that has 112,000 miles on it. I asked her when she would feel uncomfortable driving it. She said "it still drives great and I love it more than any other car I had. Why would I want to get rid of it? If something breaks...just fix it".

Fazdagt

Thanks for all of the kind words everyone!

I'm excited to "tear into it"

Cars are always more enjoyable when you've got a little elbow grease into them.

I just fixed the keyless entry after reading something about resyncing the remote, stepped outside the office for a minute and it's fixed!

Torque tube overhaul sounds like a task but looks pretty straightforward, looks like its time to pick up a new press.

I found an excellent write up on installing the new seat covers as well. I'll wait for a warm spring or summer day for that though.

After years on BMW groups and forums it's a much warmer environment here and that's refreshing.


Good Eye on the hood! It's an RK sport fiberglass hood, I like how it's different but subtle.

The caliper covers can be yours for a fraction of the new price if you want them haha... I like that they aren't over sized or excessive but I prefer the original caliper look.

El original

It looks like a gorgeous C5 example with a little love you will have a budget minded one too. Wishing you many happy miles/smiles with your new baby. Hey keep us posted on how any of your projects are coming along. If you need any help, you can count on us here on the Forum to help you. Greetings, Rob

Fazdagt

Can anyone point me in the right direction for a torque tube overhaul kit? Is this something that anyone offers?

Vetteman Jack

Not a bad looking car at all for $7K. Best of luck getting all the little items fixed and then enjoying your car for many years to come.

cessna10

Fazdagt

I think I'll always miss the FRC but another one just wasn't in the budget right now and I ran out of patience of not having a vette at all.

Corvette#2

That's a really sweet car. I remember when the C5 first went on sale, I had just bought a 120k mi rubber bumper C3. C4s were still out of my price range. It's incredible the performance you get with used vettes today. They are still faster with better handling than 99% of what's on the road. Like your coworkers said, it's amazing, almost hard to believe that you can get such a beautiful high performance sportscar for the price of a high mileage Japanese econo car.

CROOZ1N

Great looking start to a special summer. Hope you get much pleasure and few headaches out of the project. Keep us in the loop and we'll try and help anyway we can.

zeevette

Nice project, Jason. Thanks for sharing. I've replaced my clutch on jackstands, and of course, it involves disconnecting the torque tube from the housing. From your description, it sounds like your problem is in the tube, but check the diff, too. Inside the tube there's several things that need attention, especially high milers. From your pics, the rear suspension looks like there's problems there, too. GL, and have fun!