kelmbaker

I've had the 'vette bug for awhile now. I usually buy and sell American independants from the fifties and sixties. So no Corvette experience. I bought a engine (short block) from a guy in Craigslist. Turned out to be from a '90 Corvette. I bought it cheap to have on hand. Now he is selling the car.....for 4 Thousand dollars! He admits to a "little oil leak". He is a serviceman here and generally seems like a straight shooter. What particular things would I look for on a
'90? My home email is kelmbaker@msn.com. If you have useful suggestions please drop me a line. I don't know if I'll be checking back with the forum before he brings the car over this afternoon (Mountain time). Thanks Kelly

Nowhere Man

buy one you can drive home. unless you really want a money pit.

gerardvg

You have to check all the electronics are working, check the check engine light works when turning ignition on and it doesn't come on while driving the car. Check everything works, heater air con electric windows and ABS brakes engage with a hard stop.
Check there is no hissing when braking, the plastic brake boosters can crack but you will also need a lot of pedal effort then to stop the car if there is a booster vacuum leak . Make sure all the dash instruments work, the usual stuff when buying a car go over it with a friend make sure all the body work gaps are even and the paint is good.
A good paint job will set you back almost as much as the car is worth...

The mechanical stuff is pretty straight forward with the L98 engine and transmission, however if it is an auto trans make sure it shifts good and doesn't slip. they are a 2 to 3 thousand to rebuild properly.

Listen for any squeaks from the rear of the car (universal joints dry up and rust) they are easy enough to replace with general mechanical knowlege and tools)

Check for any water leaks or marks on the floor/seats quality weatherstrips will set you back a few hundred if it leaks when raining or after washing her.

The 90 has the new cockpit dash and airbag, i have seen many posts on this forum with airbag error codes so make sure you take her for a good drive as long as posible.

As usual you have to look for the best car you can afford, you can spend say 4,000 on a car and have to spend 3,000 to get up to scratch or you can buy a 5,000 car and spend nothing if it has been maintained well.
If you live in a state that needs smog tests you want to make sure the service history is there.

Do not forget to note the vin number and do a history check and do not buy when you see it, sleep on it and make your decision when you have checked the VIN number. (I am in Australia and am not sure on what you guys in USA use to do vehicle history checks, someone might post how to do it the correct way)
Good luck hope she is a keeper

kelmbaker

Thanks no-where man for the observations. The car ran well with very faded paint and noticable interior wear. It has been a California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado car it's whole existance. I ran a car-fax and the car hasn't had any accidents. The A/C system was overhauled last year. It looks like normal maintenance at the Chevy dealer for the first 15 years the original owner had it. It ran good, shifted good and the brakes stopped well (less than a year old with receipts). Otherwise a honest car with 150K mileage. The guy is getting deployed back to Afghanistan and was in a hurry to sell it. He accepted my offer for $3500. So I guess I will be learning the care and feeding of a Corvette. I'm excited. The car is far from perfect. But I think it will be a good old car. Stand by. Thank you again...... KM

pcolt94

It is said buy something that is in good shape even if you pay more to at least have a good starting point and a good running car.

Having said that, the mileage is not a big factor for me on those cars. But repairing those kind of bus communication problems can really be a problem. ECMs can be repaired. You can buy CCMs but a used one will have another vin number and mileage different. Only a new one with less than 100 miles can be programmed with the special software, hard hard to find .

Running rough is to vague a term for me to point at any one items. When were the plugs last replaced. Injectors on the 92 not a big problem but not to be forgotten about. Any plug wires sparking including hot coil wire. Check for water pump leak on top of opti.

The opti in "most" cases cause bucking and missing under heave acceleration after warmed. There are some other symptoms but not usually a bad idle. The opti can stop an engine with no spark, not that common with original opti's.

The ECM on the 92 & 93 were a big problems. Causing all kinds of runability and starting problems. When they heat up engine would quit, injectors would lose drive, lots of weird stuff and tough problems to troubleshoot.

Just some things to think about. Looks like with paint and repairs you could be nearing 5000. Just an rough opinion, who knows, good luck.

drcook

I am pretty sure the OP made up his mind 5 years ago see as how this thread was from April 2014.

vette196

Cool Runnings

Why are people bumping old threads here lately ?

drcook

Maybe looking at the forum on a phone and the original date doesn't stand out ??

ie: giving someone the benefit of the doubt.

Blind in one eye and can't see from the other ?

Got drug in by Google, or followed a link from somewhere else and didn't notice the date ?

pcolt94

You are right, darn. I posted my information in the wrong thread some how.
Sorry about that. Crap happens.

Patsgarage

It might not be you, there has been a lot of posts showing up in threads that they do not belong in lately. A glitch in the Matrix ?

drcook

This new software version for the forum is not stable. There are some quirks and problems. You will see a post from the front page (the one showing tech general for sale etc) try to follow in to it and it is not there

plus there are some hidden key combinations that if you get on them, it will erase what you typed

people are having issues sending pictures through PM's etc

jefnvk

Considering the thread that appears below this when I scroll down is from 2013, it isn't hard to understand how they get resurrected. What I don't understand: every forum I've ever been on has this issue, why doesn't the VBulletin software (or whatever this site uses) put a safety catch in when responding to a thread that hasn't been responded to in a certain amount of time? Lats response more than six ago? A box pops up asking if you really want to respond before it posts.

drcook

what do you mean, "the next thread". Are you looking at it on a phone ? If not, what browser, operating system ? (ie: Win 7,8,10) Etc.

cv67

Most times its from someone new who doesnt know about the old thread rule..not such a big deal?

colo63sw

It is the 'Related Thread' that get added to the end of the thread that you are reading. If you scroll down quickly to get to the end of a thread, you are on a completely different thread. I think it is a recent new feature.

andybbbb

I did this too without knowing I went into another Thread.

drcook

I turned this off somehow. I am going back through to see how I shut that stuff off. That doesn't happen to me and I don't see it.

Patsgarage

I thought I was losing my mind, now I know it is not just me.

Patsgarage

It is a choice under the "edit options" menu.