Well I am looking to get my 1st Corvette. I am looking at a 86 4+3 vette.. It needs some paint, Weatherstripping, and a couple other things as well. Car has 78,000 miles on it. Car runs but runs a little ruff. It idles good but when you give it gas it backfires though the intake and cuts off. We had the car idleing for about 20 mins or so the other night and it sounded good. The owner said its been sitting since July and hasnt been started since. the car ran good before he parked it . The car pretty much fired right up when I looked at it. No Check engine light is on. I was looking at the motor and noticed LS1 thin style fuel injectors that are yellow in color which seemed a little out of place. I am thinking it could be as simple as bad gas, or something like fuel filter, plugs, timing or a fuel pump. I am going to go check it out again this weekend in the daytime with a fuel pressure gauge and was wonderring if anyone had any other suggestions. The owner also said that the tranny whines 1-4th gear but doesnt whine in overdrive. Might just need some tranny fluid.. I am not that knowledgable about Corvettes as I have owned pretty much nothing but F-bodies so any help will be great.

 

Mechanics on a 78000 mile car should not be too bad to fix. If you cant paint it yourself then its probably not a good deal. Paint and interior are expen$ive. You can spend $2000 on interior with a couple mouse clicks.

 

Hope you got some deep pockets youll need it with this one.

C4s arent really a good car to buy "cheap and fix it up" as many parts are Vette specific, the price tags reflect it.

If you love wrenching and dont mind throwing some money at it then maybe.

Best C4 is a good sound well maintained one.

 

Another problem with these old cars is that the supply of new parts has dried up.

You can get used parts, but they're 25 years old. You never know what kind of problems the used parts may have. I bought used ABS sensors for my front wheels and the guy CUT the wires instead of including the connector. I have also had vendors LIE to me about the year of parts and they didn't fit my car.

 

So if I can get this car for 1500-2000 is it still a bad deal? I was thinking it would be fun to fix up with my daughter but yet still a car that doesnt need to much work. The interior is actually in pretty good shape.. All the componants on the dash work, the door panals are in great shape, the seats are very nice, the carpet is clean.

 

At that price, you could always take it to Maaco, or Earl Sheib for a paint job.

 

If the seller is going to sell it for $1500.00-$2000.00, expect lots more things to really be wrong with it.

 

Such as??

The car sat and idled for like 20 mins and sounded really good. The oil pressure was in the 40-50 psi range the whole time. The fans kicked on when the temp got to around 200 degrees. All the lights work on the vette. The stereo works, the windows ( the regulator on the Driverside is broken but he is throwing in a new one with the car), door locks, power seats, wipers, turnsignals, high beams, A/C works, Heater works, power mirrors work, everything that I thought to look at to make sure works works. The tires are fairly new as well.

The issues I know that need addressed are...

Driverside window, Center consol lid needs replaced, the steering wheel wobbles which I believe is that tilt knuckle assembly, Headliner needs to be put back up, needs a new catback as it has some stupid muffler delete resonators on it and sound like crap..

If I were buying an F-body and all this checked out I would buy the car but since this is my 1st vette is there anything to really look for that would not want me to buy this car? I am going back to take it for a nice drive on Sunday and see how the car handles and rides. Anything to look out for while driving?

 

I picked my 86 for $2000.00 it sat outside in a dirt field for 7 years lastime it was started was 3 years before I got t with 140000 miles on it everything was there But I already knew going in to it I was going to go thought the car Paint,New Motor, trans Int, ect.

Like other have said parts are kinda hard to find and some are not cheep as long as you know It can become a money pit going into to a C4 and your Ok with it go for it.

It been almost 2 years now and like most of us C4 owwners dont want to add up how much money and time we have into out C4"s.

 

I think I could find agreement here that $1,500-$2,000 is little more than a down payment based on your comments. I am no Doug Nash trans expert but I do know finding anyone who will work on one is both difficult and expensive. Weatherstripping is not ch and an engine that will not accelerate could have serious problems. My suggestion is buy it, you will always wish you did if you don't. Be ready for some surprises when things begin to go wrong.

 

I want to get the car running and driving before I buy it. I usually dont buy a car without driving it 1st. I am pretty lucky as there is a big corvette junkyard here in Philly that have pretty much everything you could want or need for a C4. Of course I know parts are not cheap but it wasnt cheap to build my 383 LS1 motor for my WS6 or cheap to replace the fuel pump in my wifes 95 Firehawk.

Thank you all for your suggestions but if this car can run and drive good, shift good, and accelerate then I think I will purchase it.

 

 

I will take some pics of it Sunday..

 

Most of us here on this forum who actually own a C4 and know the real difference between a high priced C4 (excellent condition) and a really low priced C4 know that a $2000 or less C4 is a "project car" or in other words, it's a car that will need LOTS of work and LOTS of money to correct all the things you see, and most importantly, all the things you don't see. If the seller has owned the car for a few years he should at least know that this car should be in the $4000.00 plus range if it's in safe road worthy condition. I've never seen a C4 go for that low of a price unless it was trashed out or only a parts car. Look out for brake problems, "mickey moused" wiring, parts missing under the hood, worn out leather seats, aftermarket stereo systems, dash gauge cluster replaced with one from a lower mileage car, cheap repaint job that will definitely peel and fade, and last but not least, check the engine oil out. If it's perfectly clean, something could be wrong and it was changed to maybe hide a leaking or oil burning engine. Good luck, but be smart.

 

Thanks..

 

My '86 is cold natured, it will pop back like you describe when its cold. I've done most everything, tune-up wise, to cure it with no luck. Runs great warm, 1st year of the '165 ECM, maybe its just open-loop fueling of the earlier models.
The rest of your list are more troubling but can be done. The window regulators aren't too hard, but are spendy. The column is regular GM, nothing special. Headliner is easy, redid my own cheap. The 4+3 is the biggest strike against the car, search the forum about those things. My OD unit has failed, a T56 will be swapped in eventually.
Your car sounds a lot like mine was when i got it. I'm glad i bought mine

 

The 4+3 is not a "strike against" the car at all. That type of opinion is most usually formed by someone who bought one that was neglected or abused. If you know how to maintain it and drive it, it's a very strong T10 4 speed with lots of torque and a very nice overdrive option for highway use. Lots of buyers who like the older Vettes prefer a 4 speed transmission (like me) just because they feel it's what a Vette should feel and sound like from the older Corvette generations before it.

 

Well I just got back from driving the car and I must say it runs very well.. There is a very loud whine from the tranny We believe but when you engage the OD the whine goes away. Might just be low on fluid or a rear bearing or somthing as the whine comes from the rear of the car. The clutch works well and the tranny shifts good. The oil pressure stayed between 40-60 psi and the coolant temp stayed between 175-190. With the OD engaged and going 70mph the gas mpg gage said we were getting 30 mpg.. The reason the car wasnt running was because the gas was low. We put a couple gallons in it and it ran but still a little ruff. The car needs a full tune up, Fuel filter, Air filter, Oil change, new brake pads and rotors.. The paint has bubbles and will need to be repainted. The right turn signal light on the dash doesnt work but everything else on the dash works. The power seat works great once we were able to find the switches. He has a New Window regulator, and a center consol arm rest cover thats in good shape. I am glad we saw it during the day as the interior is in very good shape. Cruise control doesnt work. The car was parked on his driveway the past 5 months and hasnt moved and there is not a drop of anything under the car even with it at idle for 20 plus mins the other night..

I dont know how to upload pics here so I posted them up on my Fquik page..

http://www.fquick.com/garages/Chevro...te/1986/39998/

 

The "whine" can turn out to be expensive to fix. Engaging the OD should not impact anything in the 4-speed portion. It may be a mainshaft bearing that is noisy. If the noise is in the 4-speed part, you may be looking at a rebuild. The mainshaft is unique to the 4+3, not the same one found in the regular Super T-10. This could be LOTS of money to fix properly.

A low fuel level should not really impact how the engine runs. The fuel pump delivers full volume and pressure as it sits at the bottom of the tank and the fuel pickup is very low. Might be a fuel pressure problem or clogged/dirty injectors.

Given the problems you have describe, I would keep looking for another car. By the time you have the tranny whine fixed, the car painted, fix the electrical issues, and get the car to run smooth, you could be into the car for another $5000 to $7000 which depends mostly on the quality of the paint job.

If the cost of the car, the repairs, and paint gets to the $7000-$9000 area, you would be much better off looking for a 92 or later LT1-powered car that would need much less work. The price for a nice later year C4 will be about the same as an 86 that needs lots of work. If you turn your own wrenches, that saves lots of cash. But expect that a 25 year old car is going to have lots of small hidden problems, The costs can climb rapidly because of that.

How is the interior? If seat covers and foam are needed, figure $1200. Carpet? $500 for repro pieces. Tires? The 255/50-16 tires are very hard to find right now. Does the A/C work? How is the weatherstripping? Replacing all of that can run $500 to $700.

Edit: just looked at the pics. Suggest you run away. Fast.

 

A/C works, Heater works as well..

I am not looking to restore this car to pristine condition.. I would be happy with a cheap Macco paint job and have a decent driver. The goal is to have a car that needs a little TLC that I can still drive during the process of fixing it up. Something that is cheap and hopefully will not need alot to make it a good driver. Something that My daughter and I can work together on..

The tires are brand new almost with tons of tread left on them. I can pick up a good used tranny from the corvette junk yard here locally for a good price if needed that comes with a warrenty. The weather stripping around the targa top needs replaced, around the hatch it looks good.

The fuel issue could also be a bad sending unit as well.. That could be why the car wasnt running good enough to drive until we put a couple gallons of fuel in it.

No offense I own a LT1 car and I really dont want to own another one.. If I were to get a C4 it will be a TPI car...

I guess my opinion of Needs lots of work is different then yours.. In my eyes Lots of work means I would need to tow this car home because it is not drivable and I would need to get body panels replaced as they are dented in or what not. To me a car that I just drove 30 miles around town in both stop and go traffic and cruising on the interstate and also having 4 people give me thumbs up in other cars including a nice C3 corvette is not my idea of a car that needs lots of work.

Will I get this car?? I dont know yet.. Still have a couple more cars to look at. I do feel better about this car after seeing during the day and driving it..