KevinRR

This will be a long story and post so go make a sandwich and come back once the pics have loaded, lol. I've been looking forward to making this thread for almost 3 years now!

In 1994 my dad bought the 85 vette, it was all stock except for the window tint he had put on. Around 99 he started driving it less and less. In about 2000 he put some of those knockoff zr1 chrome wheels on it with brand new tires. Then in about 2001 he bought a 97 vette and left this one sitting, aside from the occasional startup to move it around the yard/house.

In Summer 2007 he gave it to me for my 30th birthday, because he had no time or motivation to fix it up. He knew I'd always wanted a vette since I was a teenager and said that since I was married with a kid he thought I could "handle it" now lol. (Little did he know I'd been building and driving 3-400hp rx7s for the last 5 years that would thoroughly spank the corvette in every aspect, but that is another story). He wanted me to fix it up nice like I do all my other cars, keep it, drive it as it was meant to be, and maybe one day give it to my son (now 5).

The car had about 120k on it (odo stopped counting a while back, he said) ran very roughly and would not hold an idle, had a dead battery, flat spotted tires (the same ones from 2000 (!) with about 500 miles on them), cracked windshield, crappy interior panels that were swollen and peeling at the edges, sun destroyed carpet that disintigrated into dust when you touched it, crappy paint that was faded through to the yellow fiberglass in spots, half falling off exhaust, steering column had about 3 inches (literally) of play in it, non functional bose radio, half functional digidash, cracked/separated targa top, etc. Pretty much everything that can be wrong with a c4 was wrong with this one. It was worth maybe 2000-2500 on a good day the way it sat I'd guess.

The car was faded 2 tone silver/gray like this one, but in FAR rougher shape paint-wise, and with the cheap knockoff zr1 wheels. It even still had plates from 2002 on it. Believe it or not I didnt take any actual pics of the car before starting on the project, a failure for which I am now kicking myself. I need to see if the old man has any old pics of it I guess.

KevinRR

I took it home and stored it out of the way for a while as I finished some other current projects. The first thing I did was send it out for paint, along with new weatherstripping, a ground effects kit that I bought secondhand off this forum, and some new emblems. I also had LED tail lights installed while the rear bumper was off being painted. Had a new windshield installed at the same time.

Here it is the day it came back from the paint shop about 18 months ago. To this point I had about 3 grand into it, but hadnt touched it mechanically or interior wise.

Black84vette

She looks good man, I think the body kits are starting to grow on me!

KevinRR

Next I set to work on the mechanicals, trying to tune the engine up. Tore everything off the top end of the engine and cleaned it, powdercoated it.








I messed up the driver side valve cover slightly and so I got another set to do which I am actually doing right now. I decided to go with red for the new ones.

I got new fuel injectors from FIC. I put in a new 160* thermostat, radiator hoses, heater core hoses, replaced the o-rings in the a/c system and recharged it with freeze-12, smog elimination pulley, removed all the air/smog stuff, new belt, oxygen sensor, a/t fluid and filter, new waterpump, new idle air control valve, blocked off the EGR, installed an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, a new upgraded fuel pump. I put in new plugs, MSD street plug wires and looms/holders, distributor cap/rotor/HEI kit from summit, plugwire boot protectors, and cheap long tube headers.

Here's some pics of the engine bay during those modifications, before everything was added. I will post some updated pics later once I install the red valve covers.






I also put on a full magnaflow exhaust system from the headers back, the one for 92-96 models.

After doing all this the car runs WAY better. Starts up on its own and idles pretty much normally with no assistance from the gas pedal...fluctuates and struggles to idle slightly for the first 15-20 seconds, but after that it is almost as smooth as a new car.

Then I did some other work. I installed the lowering kit for about a 1" drop (hair more in the back) to level it out and take out wheel gap. I cleaned and painted the calipers, installed new performance pads and aftermarket slotted/drilled rotors. I picked up some cheap wheels on craigslist locally but they were the wrong offset, so I wound up using some hub centric spacers to get flush fitment. I installed some longer, stronger wheel studs to accomplish this. I think the wheels suit the car pretty well, although I do not plan to leave them on forever...only until I find something that suits it better. I know much **** gets talked on this forum about 20's on a c4, but I think I've pulled it off pretty well, and they don't look too out of place like the chrome ones some people use.

KevinRR

Now the exterior was mostly in place so I set to work on the interior and stereo.

Here's some of the old interior.



Some of the stereo stuff, including the box I custom made to hold the amps, clear the bins and still allow storage of the targa top.







I tore the entire interior out except for the dashboard. Rebuilt the steering column while doing that. Dynamatted the entire interior.

KevinRR

Black interior for c4 is near impossible to buy used. Most of the interior I bought new. Some items like the seatbelts and some large plastic trim were refinished with the interior paint systems they sell. The stuff gets stripped, sanded, prepped, and sprayed with special interior paint.

I used dye to change my gray seatbelts to black. Screw redneck43 who wanted $250 for a set of used black seatbelts, this cost me about $10 and a day's time and they look great.

KevinRR

I used the entire deluxe interior kit from Willcox, and replaced almost all the soft trim, plastic dash panels, even the shift ****, boot, etc. Had a friend rewrap my e-brake handle, although it is not as good as I'd like, it's certainly presentable and far better than most worn stock ones.








The dashboard was actually okay but a bit dull and faded. I refinished it with the same interior paint system.

KevinRR

Here are the shots of the car as it is currently. I just put a new glass top on, had the windows tinted, got the stereo finished (including sirius satellite radio add-on) and most every part in the interior is new.

At this point I have right at $14k invested in the car, not including the cost of the car itself obviously since it was a gift. I still have several upgrades planned including c5 brake upgrade, different wheels, and an LS6 engine swap (parts already gathered for that). For now the plan is to drive it around for a year or 2 and work out the bugs before I do that major engine swap.

The plate is in reference to my favorite show in 1985 when I was a kid. Not sure if I'll keep it or change it, it was just something to throw on it that seemed fitting for the time period the car represents.

KevinRR

uptown193

Wow, nice work man. I am in the process of doing the same exact thing. I think I will be coming to you for advice many times. I just got my car back from paint now its time to detail it and then to my carpet and all the trim. Did you paint all the door panels and the door sills also? I was thinking about doing that to mine.

Here is a pic of mine. I think my car is your twin.

DA1984VETTE

WOW!!! looks awesome... . It would have been great to see some before pics, but man what an undertaking that must have been...You did a great job all around....

jon0108

looks good. what kind of paint did you use for the interior pieces? seat belts, dash?

KevinRR

Seat belts got RIT dye from wal mart. They sell a cleaner/color remover type dye that I soaked the belts in first. Then I used a double strength batch of black dye. That's the stuff in the bucket you see. I had to pull the seatbelts all the way out of the retractor, and use screwdrivers to hold the mechanism from retracting them. Then just let the belt material sit in the bucket for about an hour.

All the plastic trim and dash trim was done with SEM landau black interior paint. You also need some wax/grease stripper/remover. What I did was to wash my gray parts with a terrycloth towel and the stripper. Then sand them with some 220-400 sandpaper depending on the surface. Then wash them again with the stripper. Let dry, then spray on the SEM adhesion promoter that is part of the "system". Then spray on the SEM paint, couple coats. The stuff is made with a little gloss in it, not as much as standard gloss black, but more than semi-gloss black also...it closely approximates a stock interior finish IMO.

I got the stuff at the local automotive paint supply store. Each can is about 10 bucks. Took about 3-4 cans of black and 2 cans of adhesion promoter and stripper to do the few parts you see here.

KevinRR

Your car does look like my twin. I think your paint is better, lol.

The parts I painted are:

-door sill panels, e-brake cover panel
-rear halo/b pillar trim
-console side trim panels
-seatbelt plastic trim/buckles
-A pillar trim
-dashboard
-header panel (trim in front of targa top, what the rearview mirror goes through)
-back/sides of seats
-steering column

Everything else you see is NEW.

Sunvisors
door sill pads
console lid
console lid pad
dash trim panels
all electrical switches
carpet
door panels
seat cushions/covers
steering wheel/horn pad
targa top
brake pedal pad
shift ****/button
shift boot
PRND2L indicator dial/lense
door handle bezels (dont come with door panels)
door sill covers "corvette"
floor mats
rebuilt cluster
targa top front mounting "pad" plastic trim covers
targa top storage area plastic trim covers
rear package tray plastic trim
hatch solenoid and release button
hatch shock cylinders
dash side seals/weatherstrips (not included in normal w/strip kit)
turn signal/cruise control lever

CRUZN C4

Looks very sharp!

mnstrlt1

really nice work. I'm a mazda fan myself (owned something like 3 miata's- various modification levels, and an RX7).

yaknow

nice job

tankman

Outstanding job

tankman

fc_soldier

Nick DL

That looks incredible! Congrats on all of the hard work & effort that you put into bringing that Vette back to life. Hopefully one day you will be able to pass it on to your son.