Ok so I have a summer project and its obviously a C4. Im a 20 yr old college student so this will be done on somewhat of a tight budget, but i think yall will like it. I got the car FREE yes FREE from a friend because the engine caught afire and burned a lot of stuff pretty bad. Before anyone ask, heres the story...


Fire story: well the car wasnt mine when this happend, but this is what i was told. The car lost compression in a few cylinders, but limped to the old owners home. He was working on it and had the spark plugs and cables off doing some work. He told someone to crank it up and the plug sparked, lighting a big fire, (leaking fuel line?) and just went out of control. He slammed the hood and put a hose under the fender putting the fire out, but when the FD got there they insisting on chopping the hood open to "make sure it was out". Waste of a good hood. Luckily the old owner was a friend of the family and pretty wealthy. He knew i liked cars and GAVE it to me. FREE! It was/is in pretty bad shape but thats going to change.

This is my first REAL project car although ive gone through 4 differant vehicles already, (3 jeeps and a truck). I just cant stay away from stuff with an engine! This willbe my first "fast" car so im very excited. Heres some pics to show you what im starting with.

 

Now for some engine pics






Let me know what yall think!
Ill be posting my daily/weekly progress to keep yall updated, and trust me, ill be asking PLENTY of questions

Joe

 

I'm kind of wondering why you started a second thread on this?
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1709403

 

The most expensive car in the world is the one you get "for free"...

 

RUN,Forrest, RUN. I,like you have a very soft spot for cars that need a lot of TLC. This one exceeds the throw-away limit. By the time you are finished pouring money(which as a college student, don't have) you will have an investment that is far greater than the cost of a decent running and appearing 88. If you are absolutely committed to doing something with this pile of ashes find a late 80s C4 and swap parts. I don't even want to think about how long that would take. You posted twice now you need to think twice.

 

I applaud you for going at it but I think its gonna cost you a pretty penny to get it to where it once was. If you are up for it then by all means go for it. Otherwise I would part it out and use the money for a Vette that is running.

 

If you are sure you are going to keep it and fix it up, I would recommend getting a running parts car of the same year that had been wrecked or has a bad interior, because replacing all that stuff is going to nickel and time you to death. It is a lot more money up front, but much cheaper in the long run.

 

even tho id love to see another yellow c4 running around i think i would part it out and atleast buy a running one. then again if you want a long term project and arent worried about the end cost compaired to just buying one this is a great car for that. just from the pics i know you will have more $$ in parts then you could buy a running driveable c4 for.

 

If you take it on be sure everything you take off is cleaned, bagged and labeled. It'll help in the future when you have to replace it and want to use a similar new part/fastener. A camera helps with digital being a good choice.

Haynes 84-96 C4 Corvette Repair manual is a good guide to what tools you'll need to get. Some brackets in the engine bay that may show rust can be hit with a brilo pad or a wire brush, repainted the original color and help save some money.

Don't feel bad if by the end of the summer you're not as far along as you feel you need to be. There's more than plenty of research that will take quite a while. Use your time at college while you're away to make out a gameplan for the next summer and learn about issues such as rewiring a car. You don't have to learn it all at one time just section it out and educate yourself as you can. Learn wiring and eletrical theory one summer and engine operation/maintainence/installation/rebuilding the next summer after that one. Learn torque requirements, differences in metric and standard threads/bolts/fasteners, rust protection, the list goes on and a long way at that.

I'd say this summer should just be a process of disassembly of what needs to come off.

In the end it's up to you if you want to go through with this. If you want something bad enough, you'll work for it.

 

 

I would have to know a few things before I would say DOT DO IT!

1. Did the fire get inside the passenger compartment?
2. How bad is the firewall damaged?
3. What is your intent with the car, restore or just modified street car?

If the firewall is not damaged bad and the interior was not damaged and you are not wanting to restore the car to original, then I would say GO FOR IT.

I do agree that you might want to look at some parts cars due to all the small items that you will need DO add up. Trust me I have been going through this with the build that we are doing.

I do wish you luck and im sure that the Forum will help you out all you need. It has been a life saver for me.

I do commend you on taking on the challenge at a young age and I hope that you have help from your father or a fiend for all the technical things that will come up.

Phil

 

 

I would part it out and use the money you receive from sale of parts towards a decent running 84-90 C4. There appears to be a lot of damaged trim and parts that would be difficult to find. Plus you won't know the true extent of the damage until you have the engine and everything damaged taken out. I see you spending AT LEAST double what the restored car will be worth in the end.

$1,899 for a new OEM hood at Ecklers
$5,000 new paintjob
$2,000 replacement used engine

There's $9,000 before you even start considering every little part that needs to be replaced in the engine bay and there are literally thousands of them.

 

Are you trying to put it back as it was? I think I would make something like this into a project race car. I'd look for the biggest small block I could go with, probably carberated. Something that would fit nice under a new cowl induction hood. I'd also add a cage, some new gauges, and maybe loose some weight. But it's easy to spend someone elses money.

Good Luck

 

O yea of little faith. Sorry i didnt tell you my plans. This car will in NO way be close to original. Its getting a carbed 350 with almost 400hp and will be a just for fun street car. Pretty bare bones, just headlights, tail lights, CD and speakers, custom gauge setup, turn signals, the basics. If i wanted a stock corvette i wouldnt touch this P.O.S! I love all the comments, but ive been at this project for only 2 weeks and heres my progess, i think youll be impressed.

Now you see it

Now you dont



This is the only real underhood damage the fire did, all around the brake booster and behind the fender, ive already re-fiberglassed this tho, pics soon, and i already have a factory booster and master cyl on the way for $60





Heres a little crappy paintshop job of how i might setup some gauges


Or i might go 3 where the A/C controls are and have a switch panel by the "corvette" logo plate. O yea, this car wont have A/C if yall didnt already see that. But im only 20, and 2 or my 4 previous cars didnt have air, it really doesnt bother me especially since the top will hardly ever be on this thing

More pics soon

 

RickReeves summed it up well, this is going to a racecar pretty much, with a corvette body. And yes, i have labeled EVERY nut and bolt taken off this car. And im sure it will shock you, but this car will be running high 12's low low low 13's in 3 months, and under 6K. yall just dont know how to budget like a poor college student

teaser pic of whats REALLY behind a C4 dash

 

Looks do-able. Try not to destroy stuff that you remove. You may be suprised how much cash you can make if you ebay everything you dont need.

 

All i can say is, you've taken on a heck of a project.... good luck... The progress will be interesting to watch...

 

I see you're going to turn it into sort of a street rod with a corvette body. Now I see the merit of the project, I was thinking you were going to restore it back to stock-like condition. Your hood may be repairable with a fiberglass kit and a lot of sanding. Your firewall looks pretty good. I'm not sure if the digital dash can be made to work without the original ecm, its going to take some ingenuity. Maybe you should put some flames on the side and on the hood or repaint it with ghost flames. Good luck with your project.

 

Good Luck The car will make a good race car