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Don't know your year. But my 86 is a old car, bought from auction.Could've got her running to flip....But fell in love with her ragtop an 4x3....Had my problems....Took some time...FSM an this forum helped.
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Take some time away. Step back for the rest of the summer and come back to it later.
Make a priority list and fix one thing at a time and limit the time you spend on the car.
Remember how beautiful these cars look and how much pleasure it is to drive one.
Last edited by corvetteronw; 08-13-2017 at 02:06 AM.
The way I feel right at this moment ? Fix and sell it. One thing after another. Way to much down time, way to little drive time. I'll keep ya posted.
Aww quit your wining, get your tools out and fix it. If you cant do that right now, park it till you can. Believe me, once it's rolling and you got all the kinks out, you will thank yourself you didn't give up.
I think we've all been there. It's the nature of older cars. They reach a point where stuff just starts to give out. IMO, there's two ways to do it.
1) Only replace what's broken - this ends up leading to constant issues as things break down in series. You're always chasing something.
2) Bite the bullet and replace all related components at once - This reduces your chances of constant aggravation. It makes the down time longer each time, but it's not that bad. It's no more expensive than option 1 either, and in a lot of cases its less time you spend working on them.
I recently did both. I had a no start that I (incorrectly) identified as an Opti due to the genera prevailing wisdom. Turned out to be an ICM and then a brand new ICM that was also bad. So I did al ignition related stuff at once. ICM, Coil, Opti, Plugs, Wires, all new ignition system essentially. My fancy aftermarket coil failed so I replaced that again. But after it was all buttoned up, it was good.
Then I developed fuel issues. Started by replacing the fuel filter and fuel pump. Then still had issues and did the regulator. Now since I pulled the rails to do the regulator, I have a leak at one of the O-rings I didn't replace the first time I pulled them. Had I just bit the bullet and bought the FPR, injectors, and rings, id be driving the car right now. But I made a decision that I thought" my injectors were good, and that since the fuel rails aren't that hard, if the FPR didn't fix it I'd replace the injectors.
The decision is to cleanup and sell while you can break even?
Then what? Buy another with lower miles? Or follow the crowd to C5's?
Its a tough decision. But summer is over and the buyers are waiting for a good deal.
Fix 'er up and wait till spring.
Then check your emotions again..
C5's are getting to the point where they are next on the "everything is always broken I can't take it" list. Then people will tell them to move up into a c6.
The irony is, people who buy the cheap c4 that is broke a lot buy the cheap c5 that ends up being a nightmare.
I expect after I finish my fuel injector rings, my c4 will be VERY reliable. Then I just need to do the dreaded heater core...
Not at all, in my experience, but I bought a beauty and it's still well shy of 100k and 18 years junior to my C4 Shinoda.
Like others, I' ve been discouraged with the '84, more than once, but a refocus via pals here and in RL, those short periods passed and the rewards awaited, delivered thru my garage door!
best thing you can do is browse the tech sections for awhile to get a feel for them see if its for you.
Try and find a bone stock garage queen that hasnt been hacked to death Their electronics are much more complex so be ready for that or know someone.
Dont know why GM can make other yr models that hold up fairly well but the vettes just seemed to be plauged with stupid stuff, pick any year. Not many post hey I had no problems the last 20k but still....
I bought mine in 2006. It was rough cosmetically, but was supposed to be mechanically good. I think I got only about 500-700 miles on the dial when I blew a head gasket. That started a crazy saga of pain to get it all fixed. Mechanics messed things up more than once and I haven't driven it in 10 years. It's getting a well built 383 now, but after spending all of my money I am concerned that I won't even like it when it's all done and said. It was my dad's though, so I'll never sell it. Point is...I feel your pain. But I'm seeing very few of these on the road anymore, so a nicely built one really stands out. I had a high school kid drooling over it once. I don't think he had ever seen one....and he didn't know what it was, lol. That was fun!
St. Jude '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Originally Posted by cuisinartvette
best thing you can do is browse the tech sections for awhile to get a feel for them see if its for you.
This is exactly what everyone wanting get a Corvette needs to do.
Read and research!
Thats how my 86 became so reliable after 120K miles.
I noted the problems others were having and fix/replaced parts before it became a problem.
Such a simple process for everyone to use........
Break things up into bite sized chunks or they will overwhelm you.
Good Advice.
Begs the old question: "How do you eat an elephant?"
Answer: One bite at a time.
Take things one at a time. Get one corrected and tested then go onto the next. Doing multiples at one time, if you run into some issue you don't know the cause or where to start when looking for the solution. One at a time, and whatever you were working on is the likely cause if you run into some problem.
Here is another thing to think about. I had bought a 84 silver/grey coupe and started finding 1 thing after another wrong with it because I did not look it over good enough when I purchased it. I finally came to the conclusion that I could buy a newer car with less miles and in better condition for less than it was going to cost me to fix it. Something to think about. Look around be patient and have yours on Craigslist to get an idea for what you can get out of it.
08-12-2017, 11:06 PM
The way I feel
