Hey guys, I am in the process of shopping for a vette. I have been a honda guy for years but at this point im ready for something different. I just wanted to ask you all about things to look out for as far as maintenance and things that will break. I am looking at a 95 6spd with 73k on it. the body and interior is in good shape, its black with leather interior. I would appreciate some feedback before I dive into buyin a chevy! They seem like great cars, but some people are telling me they are cheaply made and they have alot of electrical problems. I figured no better place to start research than here. Fill me in!!! Thanks -Casey

 

Welcome to our
The 95's are very well built and quite reliable. The problem you will incurr is on the car of the car. Any car, if taken care of, will last you quite some time... it doesn't matter if it's a Honduh or a Corvette, if it was abused and ran to pizz... it won't last you at all.

 

I recently bought my first ever Vette a '95 C4 Vert..I am loving this car you will benefit from this forum..these folks have a vast knowledge of Vettes and are willing to share it..already helped me with a few questions I had, and I am sure I will have lots more.

 

See if you can find out the backround of the car who the owners were. What work has ben done to the car mantance, records you know the usual stuff that any one should do befor you buy a used car. If you are realy concidering this car see if you can find a shop that specialize in Corvetts and have them check it out. Good luck and happy shoping

 

Check the operation of all the electrical goodies when you do the test drive. Get the owner's manual out and read it as there are a lot of little extra things on the car that many people are not aware of. Try out all the toys to see if they work.
If you like the car then take it to a shop that works on C4s and have them check it over. This may be the best money you ever spend and sometimes the best decision you can make is to walk or run away if the mechanic finds too many problems.
Replacing weatherstrip, tires, wheel bearings, clutch, interior, Opti Spark, water pump and electronics can cost you a HUGE amount of money.
Have it checked and get back with us. There are many LT1 owners that have been through this and they are willing to help the FNGs.

 

thanks for all the input. im going to try an test drive it tomorrow. he told me over the phone that there is nothing wrong with it, it just needs a good home. he is asking 10,800 for it. its got 96 chrome special edition wheels with new tires and new brakes. OH, and one more thing, what could i expect a stock 95 corvette to run in the qtr mile? and is there potential to make these cars fast without spending alot of money? I'm very knew to domestic's, but I can see that they are easier, and cheaper to fix up! -Casey

 

Price seems fair if the car checks out

 

Indeed the price seems right so take the test drive noting how it performs cold and at operating temps.

You should be able to run mid 13s in the 1/4 mile soon as you learn to launch and shift it. It is pretty easy to get one into the mid 12s with spending a ton of $$.

If you turn wrenches you will have little problem with maintenance and have the knowledge that your Vette will be well worth the effort as these cars have about bottomed out on their depreciation curves.

Good luck with the search; I think that once you drive a 6-speed C4 you will be sold on it.

 

Price seems very fair post the Vin # in the C4 for sale section for someone to run a carfax on it.

 

You should hit high to mid 13's bone stock very easy. The LT1's have good low end grunt so if you launch well, there are not many cars that will catch you. The LT1's pull like a **** at the big end so hang on for the ride and have fun.

If you modded your Honduh, you are already familiar with the inherent tax that specialized cars bring. Certain parts for vettes will just azz rape you at the register, and others are very reasonable priced. It's just the nature of the beast.

With a CAI, intake and head porting, 1:6 rockers and a hot cam, headers and aftermarket cats, you should hit mid to low 12's easy!!! The real challenge is taking it to a road course or Autocross and running at speeds thru the turns

 

With a Honda, your dollar buys build quality.
With a Corvette, your dollar goes towards performance.
Keep that in perspective, and you won't be disappointed.

Good luck and...if you take the plunge...welcome aboard.

Larry
code5coupe

 

Bring it to an autozone or somewhere where they lend you an OBD I scanner and see if you have any codes in memory. the only probs associated with this vintage 94-95 vette that I was aware of , was the OPTI Spark which can get corroded. the 95 was supposed to have a vented unit to help, but not sure. Also, cooling systems are areas of weakness so make sure you check out the coolant areas and find out what temps it runs at various ambients and speeds.

 

95's and 96's distributor is vented by vacuum source line from front of intake manifold to the distributor and a fresh air supply line from the distributor to the top of the rubber accordian air intake snorkel just behind the Mass Air Flow Sensor. While it is true that moisture getting inside the distributor (known as "OptiSpark" distributor) can cause problems, regular water ins't an automatic deal killer for the distributor, it can dry out and be okay, BUT when engine coolant gets inside it, that is what can cause the optispark to fail. A very noticeable high rpm power loss can be a symptom of a failing optispark distributor. The design enigma with reagrd to the optispark is all about its location: on the front of the engine block directly underneath the water pump. No where else to put it, give the fact that it is driven directly off the camshaft. Water pump is direct drive, too, so if the serpentine belt breaks you don't lose the water pump, just the alternator and power steering (and air conditioning). The number one killer of optispark is the water pump starts leaking and pisses coolant onto the opti, which eventually kills it. The reason is because as the name implies, the distributor uses an optical mechanism to determine timing. Coolant residue can interfere with function of the optical component, etc. At least that is my understanding.

There is a common oil leak on LT1's that happens at the rear of the intake manifold, and oil weeps/seeps down back of block. Only an issue with the original factory gasket compound and a lot of LT1's have had this repaired with upgraded gasket coumpound by now which doesn't fail and let oil seep past, but be on the lookout for this leak just the same because you'll want to repair it if it is there.

If the car has the automatic air conditioning or climate control check to make sure all the settings (buttons) respond to touch. Sometimes with age the buttons get finicky about working every time but this can often be fixed by removing the facing and cleaning the board behind it.

6-speeds are harder to come by than automatics, so you lucked out finding that one. I think for every ten Corvettes they build GM builds about 6 or 7 as automatics.

Pay close attn to the clutch operation because new clutch is expensive on these cars. Mine's an auto, so maybe some 6-speed guys will chime in about the potential expense of clutch replacement with the ZF6 manual trans.

If the back tires look much more worn than the fronts, don't assume its because the guy has been burning them off-- you can't rotate front to rear because the rears are 285's and the front's are 255's, unless the guy has gone to 275's all around. Pretty common to replace just the rears one time between full set of new tires. You can rotate them side to side, though, which can help if you've got a little negative camber on them and the inside area wants to wear down quicker-- that is, if you break them down and swap tires side to side not rims.

If the car has the original spark plug wires, figure on changing them. Carbon core wires like the 7mm stock type tend to inherit more resistance the older they get. Put on a set of spiral core after market wires like Taylor Spiro Pro, MSD, Moroso, Accel, etc. Same with the plugs-- if they're the original plugs they'll need changed, even though GM tries to claim they are 100,000 mile plugs. Lot of guys like the NGK plugs. I like the AC Rapidfire's.

In summary, the build quality wasn't bad in the later year C4's (4th gen). Try to get a '95 or '96 if you can. '95 was OBDI emissions logic whereas '96 they went to OBDII. DOn't let the parts store with the scanner try to tell you that '95 is OBDII just because it has the 16 pin ALDL computer socket (located up under dash on driver side)-- In 1995 GM installed the 16 pin OBDII style socket, BUT the car is still OBDI. They didn't go OBDII until the 1996 model year. OBDI can be a little more forgiving when it comes to mods and tuning, than OBDII.


If you have the buck$ try to find a '96 6-speed: it will have the LT4 engine. Officially rated @ 330hp by GM, it's pretty widely accepted in the Corvette community that the engine was underrated by GM and the LT4's in bone stock trim can be around 340hp with reports of some LT4's @ 350hp bone stock at the crank. The LT4 is basically an LT1 with 1.6:1 roller rockers, better flowing heads, and maybe a better cam but I'm not sure on the cam.