Hi everyone new to this forum and in the market for my first Corvette. I'm considering 90 through 96, and wanted to know what problem areas I should pay special attention to when looking at C4s. I understand these C4s are old and things will break I'm just interested in major $$$ repairs or repairs that must be done so frequently that would make owning the car a headache. Also, I've heard that Corvette paint jobs are very costly, is this true or is that only the case for cars that have many cracks? Your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Two questions come to mind...

1. Can you do your own wrenching? If you can do even most of it, a C4...any C4...can be kept running forever for a reasonable amount of money. If you have to farm it out every time it hiccups (and it WILL), it can and will bankrupt you.

2. How was the car maintained? The Corvette is as reliable as it's maintenance history. You can do the math from there.

Potential areas of wear that = $$$ Weatherstripping, suspension bushings, interior, and paint.

And yes, paints jobs that are done to factory specs are expensive. Paint ranges from $600 Maaco specials all the way up to concours restoration quality...and the sky is the limit on cost. All depends on what you want.

Bottom line: You would be MANY dollars ahead to buy a nice car to begin with than to try and rehab one that needs work.

 

Yes, fairly decent with a wrench. Typically will do all maintenance repairs myself, farthest I've ever dug into an engine is a head job, everything brake and cooling system related, can diagnose electrical and that type of thing. What I absolutely cannot do is transmission and differential, everything else is doable.

Is the issue with the weather stripping cost the actual parts or labor? What symptoms would bad bushings exhibit? Squeaks and clunking?

Thanks

 

Weatherstripping is expensive because the parts. You can replace it yourself... The better the car is maintained (is the owner super careful, was the car neglected?) the longer it could last you in the long run. The best way to tell if it was maintained is the condition it is in. If it is taken care of, it will be in good condition.

 

Seems the rear ends and trannys in most of the C4s are bullet proof. Don't see too many threads with issues regarding these 2 areas.

There are 3 motors (generations) in the C4, in case you are looking for a particular motor

1984 crossfire 230 hp
1985-1991 L98 255hp
1992-1996 LT1 300 hp

In 96, the LT4 avail 330hp

And of course the ZR1 1990-92 375hp and 93-95 405hp

 

Well, if you can do all that, can read a Factory Service Manual and follow it's directions explicitly, and know when you're in over your head and pop in here for advice, you will do fine owning an old C4. I still say buy the NICEST, best maintained car you can find. This is not always the newest or lowest mile car.

Weatherstripping isn't hard, just time consuming...but it is expensive. Shop around and look at prices. DON'T BUY THE JUNK ON EBAY. Buy from a reputable source, like Wilcox...or buy GM original. The eBay junk is hard as a brick and there will be fitment issues.

Bushings will exhibit clunking, squeaks, and funky handling if they're bad. Look in my profile under "84 Corvette" and you will see pics of how bad mine were. Again, not expensive or all that hard to do, just time consuming.

I just bought a 95 Polo that is a nice, low mile car....but has some minor issues I'm sorting. I'm enjoying my "bonding session" with my new ride so far. Check back with me in a month and see if I'm still this gung ho.

Happy shopping. Once you drive one, you'll want one. Once you want one, you'll buy one. Once you buy one, you'll want two.

 

Pay attention to the intake gasket, the injectors, the valvae cover gaskets and water pump on the 90 to 91 L98. Find out, if you can, if these have ever been replaced.

Also the fuel pump and fuel filter

 

If a car is up and running 15 to 20 years after manufacture I tend to think it must be somewhat reliable.

 

Thank you for making the L98 look great with the 255hp but it
240-245hp

 

1990 Corvette
The base engine received a slight bump up to 245 bhp through an added air-intake speed density control system, a revised camshaft and increased compression ratio (this was 250 bhp in coupes with the 3.07:1 or 3.33:1 axle ratios). A newly efficient sloped radiator design precluded the need for an auxillary fan, which was no longer available for 1990.

 

That weird I got the 3.33:1 ratio my vette came with the tag of 245 hp. I need to look more into my vette. Thanks Sweet for the info.

 

The '95 and '96 have the newer vented optispark. The '94 - '96 have dual airbags.

 

I would say these C4's can be very reliable.....
Mine is now 17 yrs old with 74k miles on it, spread out evenly of the life of the car, and I have replace only 1 part....
And it was the clutch master cylinder, thanks to the previous owner giving me the car with a dry master cylinder...
It's all depends on how it is taken car of. Mine is a (driven) garage queen.
Not bad for a 17 year old car.


Rik

 

Thanks to all that contributed, sounds very encouraging. I will begin shopping around within the next few months.

 

I have owned 6 different C4's since 1998. Each one has had it's own problems and different. I have owned 2 of them for at least the last 10 years and still own them. I will be honest and tell you that if I was to buy another C4 (and I plan to in the future) I would settle for nothing less than a 95-96 garaged kept with less than 40-50k miles. It would have to be at least a 8.5 out of 10 overall condition before I would pull any trigger.

One in average to bad condition will consume your life...or at least that is what I hear from my wife.

I believe that GM just about got everything right by 95-96 (bumper to bumper).

 

Werd.

 

Oh yeah....it will have to be a 6 spd manual (LT1, LT4, or LT5)

 

Crossfire in 84 was 205HP - Not 230HP
L98 was 230-250HP as improvements were made from 1985 to 1991.

 

90-91 have regular distributer so they are technically more reliable.
92-96 have the opti spark, which is not a bad thing, but they are more sensitive to elements, and tend to go out more often. (not guaranteed to break though).

I would focus more on what trans you want, and intake.

 

It has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. My car is completely stock. As of today the odometer has 191,XXX miles. I has never left me stranded. The most important ride you can have in any car is the ride home and I have always made it home. I'll second the weatherstrip comments. What Have I replaced? The tranny went out at 182,XXX miles, I replaced the injectors, all u-joints, shocks, heater core, waterpump, tioming gears/chain and harmonic balancer. You can expect to replace these items on any car with the 100,000 + miles. Some items needed to be RRed and some I just did while I was doing some other repair or routine maintenence. Like another poster said, buy a car in the best condition you can afford. An extra 2K on the initial buying is well worth the money as you can see what I have spent on my car to keep it running strong. I have never seen one that does not leak a little oil or need a little TLC. There is always something that you can do to a C4 to make it closer to showroom condition. Some can be rough around the edges and eventually shine like a new diamond. I all depends on how much money you want to spend - either on the initial purchase or to bring it back to road worthy condition. Learn to work on your own car and you'll be money ahead.Personally, I would not buy a modded car. There is too many unknowns and most mods don't work as advertised or compromise the car in some way.
If you are not sure what you are looking at when you find the "one car", then take it to a reputable mechanic and let them put it on the computer scanner and go over the car. It is money well spent. I bought my car with every reciept that wes ever spent on the car - from tires to any dealer repair. It was not very many reciepts, but I had the history. The sticker on the car was $43,000+ and I bought it for a fraction of that and still had a relatively new car.
Good luck in your search.
Barry