Not4spd

Time for the first oil change. I had taken a video of me teaching her, but my S7 decided to malfunction while I had a portion of the video paused and it reset the video. I was in hopes that it would have saved it somewhere, but it did not.

So I was only able to capture a portion of our adventure which sucks because there was some good teasing between the both of us.

















And then it was on to using the $20 paper clip to pull codes:

MrJoelieC

This is the Coolest Post EVER!!!!!!!

Not4spd

One of the codes the 85 was throwing was the TPS so we checked and adjusted. It was originally reading in the .68 range.











Of course her favorite thing to do.



We took the 85 for a spin and all seems well (knock on wood). It wasn't stumbling when driving normally like it did before. Hitting the gas and we were rewarded with full power and no more sluggishness. Keeping our fingers crossed it stays this way.


Check engine light is off for now....





From there it was time to put on the Reavers car club logo.













The other day she wanted to do another video:


Jayden will be leaving for STEM leadership camp at a college this weekend and will return next weekend. As I posted earlier I have sourced another bumper with impact bar. The plan is to head to that vehicle on Monday to remove it. Since Jayden will be out of town my wife will be sharing the adventure of removing the donor front bumper. If you haven't figured out by now, she too doesn't mind working on cars.

From the ad pictures the bumper doesn't seem to be in terrible shape, but then again we won't know how it really is until we arrive. There is a spot on the front center of the bumper where it looks as though the paint is gone. However, it still appears to be in much better shape than the one we currently have. The front bumper is the same red that her 85 is.

We have a couple of options from here as Jayden has no clue we are going to get this bumper:

Option 1 Install the new bumper while Jayden is away and surprise her.

Option 2 Wait till she gets back home, surprise her, and have her install it with me.

Option 3 Surprise her with the bumper, have it repainted, then her and I install it.

What do you guys think?

MrJoelieC

I vote for option 3.....

hockeyhead019

+1 on the option 3 vote. Really cool thread man!

P.S. I wish i could have those tail lights on my 92... damn square lights :/

VikingTrad3r

very cool. I got a very inexpensive 86 4+3 last november and my wife and i have been thinking about giving it to our oldest daughter as well (i have 3) but she is 3yrs you ger than yours so many years to go before she can enjoy it.

personally i think you and your wife have made a great decision her as it teaches her things that she would never get anywhere else. and the boys will not be able to wow her with car-ism. :-)

great job! ill sub your yt channel

Not4spd

thanks for voting and your kind words from the earlier post.

Thanks for voting and we appreciate the kind words as well. This is a fun thread to be updating.

Looks like option 3 it is. Tomorrow is the day I drive out to go pull the front bumper and impact bar. Crossing my fingers I don't run into any issues.

A Corvette has to be the best gift you can give your kid or any relative for that matter. I fully support yall's decision if you decide to give that 86 to your eldest daughter. I might be a little biased though Oh Lord, I can't/don't want to think of any boys right now.

Thanks for subbing to the YT channel. I know Jayden is more excited about having a channel than I. I have had that channel for I think 10 years now. I used it mostly for uploading old racing videos when I had some previous cars. Needless to say I set the majority of those to private.



Well Jayden is away at camp for the week and having a new project car sitting in the garage makes it difficult to keep from tinkering with it.

I went ahead and pulled the targa top today to head to the gas station and fill it up for the first time. I forgot what a PITA it is to pull the top off a C4.





I get to the gas station, hop out, lift the gas door, and remembered it had a locking gas cap. Put the key in, unlock, and turn multiple times. Nope, it's just spinning. Try locking it back thinking I did the opposite, and same thing. Well that sucks, kinda, just means I found something I need to fix.

Get back to the house and go to work



These locking gas caps are a joke, took me all of five minutes.. Squeezed the sides and yanked the top portion off.



Lock cylinder popped right out.



Used some pliers and turned



All off and ready for the new cap





Back to the Shell to fill up with their finest 92. I did find this a little odd that this was their premium as 93 is typically premium around here.




Well that's it for today. I'll get some pics of removing the bumper from the parts car. Unless something comes up I should have the "new" bumper and impact bar in my possession tomorrow.

JungleCat

Yeah, those caps aren't much. I had one on one of my Jeeps and replaced it with a regular cap. Neat project y'all have going on here.

Not4spd

Yep, worth every bit of the $8 to replace.

Got everything loaded and headed to retrieve the front bumper today:









Arrived, looked it over, and headed back home. No sense in wasting money, at least not on this bumper











And the search continues.....

-=Jeff=-

This ia a cool post.. I keep telling my 14 year old son that I wanted to do something like this. Not sure he has the interest and the car bug has not bitten him yet..

Ah well

Not4spd

I'm sure it will sooner or later, I was just about to hit 15 when it finally bit me. I'm sure only a few months shy of getting my permit had nothing to do with it though.

I did some buffing on the car or I guess the term people throw around is paint correction? I thought about doing some 2000 grit wet sanding then buffing, but opted not to.

Started with the passenger side of the hood first to test.

Before



After



Now for the rest of the car:















It always amazes me what a little compound and a buffer can do to an old car:



Went to go back over the car with swirl mark remover and realized the adapter backing of my foam pad is tore up.

I'll have to pick a new one up, swirl mark remove the car, and a final wash.

Not4spd

With Jayden back in town it was time to go stay with Grandma for the night. Jayden was excited to show "Honey" her new car.

Now you have to understand something about my mom. My mom is very humble and is the hardest working woman I know. Even at the young age of 64 she still gets up every morning to run and manage a charity. Every day she works from sun up to sun down, counseling, running support groups, and doing school and home visits. She has dedicated her life to serving others and sacrificed so much for myself and my siblings. In the 35 years I have lived, not once, have I ever heard her complain.





My mom has never driven a Corvette or any sports car for that matter. And due to her bad knees she can't drive my Z06. So this was the perfect time to let her finally have a chance to drive a sports car. I didn't think about it, but I should have handed my phone over to Jayden to record the interaction while she drove. Nonetheless, I captured the moment they took off and then returned.




My nephew was also there and went for a drive with "Honey"

Not4spd

Jayden and I headed to retrieve a bumper today. Quite a bit more of a PITA than I initially thought to get off. In total it took us about 3 hours from start to finish(with a couple of A/C breaks in between). It was a hot one today with the temperature hitting 103 degrees. Jayden did great and I'm glad she tagged along for the experience. Now that we have a better understanding of how the bumper comes off hopefully the next time will go much quicker.

Parts car is an 84.

mazdaverx7

I think this is the best thread that I've read in a LONG time! Having 5 kids myself and getting them into cars makes this thread really hit home! I think you are an awesome dad to your daughter and you're mom seems like shes the absolute best! Wonderful family! I saw your post on Facebook last night about pulling the bumper from the black 84 and as I read through your thread saw that you were also a member here! I'll be following your thread and watching you and your daughter continue to transform this C4!

Not4spd

You are too kind; thank you so much! Corvetteforum is like my home away from home. When I finish reading everything in the C4 section I venture to other parts of the site then hit up various corvette related pages on facebook.

After two power outages while editing, changing file formats, and the slow processing of my desktop I finally was able to get the video put together. Hope you guys enjoy.

Not4spd

Small update on the C4. The bumper we pulled has been painted and ready for install.

Painters pics. Obviously he isn't too good at taking pictures.





Back home awaiting for install


The painter went ahead and wet sanded the bumper, but buffing it off the car isn't easy. Once we get it installed we will drive the car up there and have him buff it.

Tomorrow we are removing the radiator and installing the new one.

Jayden also did a video talking about her Corvette. She throws a few jabs at my age and the Z06. Hope you guys enjoy.

-=Jeff=-

Those jabs from her are hilarious.. I assume you Z06 is yellow? hence Yellow Skittle?

too funny

Not4spd

Yes my Z06 is yellow. Thanks for watching. We wanted to throw in a little humor since the C4s sometimes don't get much love from the C5+ crowd.

We got the radiator all installed today. Gonna upload the pictures and then I'll add them to the thread.

Not4spd

Due to the over heating issue as well as the radiator slowly leaking we went ahead and replaced it. For the time being we just did a OE replacement and she is cooling like a champ now.





















Houston I think we found part of the issue. She had fun removing all the debris. No telling how long it's been this way.









Jayden's 11th birthday was back on August 8th. She had no idea, but we surprised her by taking her to a parking lot where she finally got to drive her Corvette. She had a blast and it was a shared memory I'll never forget. This was her first time driving a car by herself and she did it in a Corvette!

Not4spd

Thought I would do an update since it has been several months. We pulled the bumper cover and noticed the impact bar needed to be replaced due to an accident the previous owner was involved in.

I was able to quickly source one off ebay for a reasonable price from an out of state junkyard.

Pulled the bumper cover off and and then the impact bar. When we began to pull the turn/fog lens from the impact bar we realized the plastic was all cracked and there wasn't anything holding them in place, but the spring. Scoured the internet for weeks, and the weeks soon turned into months. Apparently they are worth gold because finding a decent set for a reasonable price was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Luckily my wife came across a facebook post of a guy parting his car out who offered to sell both lens housings without charging an arm and a leg.

Now that school is winding down we are back to working on the Vette. Some families go to the lake, we spend our time together working on the Vette.

Jayden installed the "new" lens and then we mounted the impact bar.

Next will be to tackle putting the painted bumper cover on and to replace the battery. Then off for inspection/registration and we should be back out on the road again. We are looking forward to hitting up some local Corvette events and fingers crossed, getting it entered into it's first show along side the C5.