Hey guys....
Well heres the story....im an 18 year old corvette fanatic.....my friends call me ck(corvette kid) my parents passed on an 86 corvette dont to me.....mint condition 18k miles paints is amazing and ive bene taking care of that car since i was 12....Now i wanna add some spice to it whether it be head cams rims exhaust maybe tints idk w.e....just lookin for some ideas out there........ thanks in advance....

 

First off congrats on the car!

Second...what are you trying to accomplish? Make it faster? Catch more eyes? More fun to drive? Louder?

 

Personally on a 18k mile car. I would leave it stock and buy second one to mod.

 

 

Get some wheels
i would add exposed lug 1990 wheels

 

that's called posing. it would look like a '90 when its not, thereby implying you've got more going than you really do.

if you've got a little $$ to burn, forget the visuals and get yourself long tube headers, gut the main cat, and do muffler elims (to save money on $$ spent on headers, rather than also getting a catback which will do nothing in the performance dept.)

 

18 years old with a Corvette in New Jersey. I can only imagine what your insurance rates are.

With an 18k mile car I'd be inclined to leave it as is.

 

Not posing,he want to add rims,i would go with the 90 style
why ? Not to show off,just because they are nice Corvette wheels.-

 

Why tear up a nice one when there are so many more deserving examples out there. Or you could buy my book, "How to turn a $12000 car into a $3000 car with no money down".

 

Allow me to stand in for someone much more knowledgable than I am... don't gut the cat. If you find yourself in dire need of flow, reconfig for a true dual, but don't gut the cat. Street cars that were made with cats should have cats.

But I agree with those who say, leave this car alone. If you really feel a need to mod, and can't have 2 Corvettes, sell this one, buy one with more miles and mod the heck out of it. You'll be money ahead.

 

84-87 has a different offset. 90 rims would require spacers. I'd go with some direct fit wheels, whatever kind floats your boat. I just got a great deal from AFS, I'm waiting for them to show up.

 

I totally disagree. It isn't a collector (nor will it be unless you put it in a box now and sell it in 30 years) and if you tastefully mod it (cam, heads, exhaust, wheels for instance) while keeping it super clean/low miles, its resale value down the road will be about the same or maybe even slightly higher.

Real world examples:
My super-clean modded '88 with low miles sold for $1.5K more than high retail book to the first person that looked at it.
My super-clean modded '92 with low miles sold for $2.5K more than high retail book to the first person that looked at it.

Make it YOUR car, the way YOU like and enjoy it!

 

When I was 18........my thoughts may have been (most likely "would have been") the same as yours right now. With that said, a few years have gone by and I will have to agree wholeheartedly with what some are saying. Leave that sucker STOCK. Your parents obviously babied this car and it was a pride and joy to them. Best thing you could do for this car is treat it the same way your parents did or sell it to someone that will take care of it properly, then use the monies earned from it to buy a higher mileage vette to have a ton of fun with (as stated allready).

I actually am in sort of the same situation as you with the current vette that I own. I will be selling it this Spring so that I can buy one that I am comfortable with modding.

I will assume that this was not an inheritance car. If this is true.....discuss what you are contemplating with you Father. If he agrees with what you are wanting to do........get him involved in the proccess (goes against everything I have just stated though ). That would be the ONLY acceptable thing in my mind if you do in fact mod this vette. Life with your family is short so spend as much time with them as you can. Done this way, you could be creating a bond with your Father that you will value greatly in 25 or 30 years. I speak from experience on this and others may chime in with the same thoughts.

Good country song out right now (don't remember the name of it (doesn't matter)) states something about being "3 years old and you take a nap, wake up and your 25, your highschool sweetheart becomes your Wife". To make a short story long, times goes quickly, sell the car to someone who will appreciate it for what it is or use it to bond more with Pop.

 

to clear things up just lil.....
I love the car.....i used to wax it once every 2 weeks.....now i do it when ever i take it out....i agree with the comment about how its not going to be worth anything unless i box it for 30 years.....its very true...sad but true....i love my corvette more than i could love a newer one...ok yes a new z06 would have been amazing but hey im not some punk kid tryen to make this a ricer P.O.S.......i want to make a mid to low 13 s car.....thats my coal and cosmetics rims and tints at MOST!!! i dont wanna ruin an american great....i actually have gotten many compliments from my buddies car group...hes got an srt8 charger and i ussually chill with them and all the lx guys....and they love my state of mind...which is rare in an 18 year old in jersey..ussually its loud fart cans on accords or civics.... long story short....the car is my baby.....

 

Hey Dale i forgot ..yes maybe if you like the stock look can get 90 wheels and spacers ..now my post is corrected

Hey Steve,post some pix !

 

Here are some pics taken by a good friends of mine...the prowler is the photographers fathers....and the srt is my buddies....The rest is all mine....

http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ics/Fun%20Day/

 

You wont ruin it by modding it. Port the stock heads (head gaskets are probably on their way out anyway), slide a small cam/converter in and enjoy the car. Will still look stock and dont have to spend a bunch of money. 13s no problem.