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Finnaly after waiting for 30+ years I'm now a Corvette owner, it's a 1985 with 36,000 miles, 4+3, and in excellent condition. Weather stripping, seats, radio, dash, all work and are in very good shape. What kinds of things should I watch for given the age of car? I did tons of homework before I bought and looked at about 30 cars before I found this car. Plans were to find later C4 but the condition of this 85 was just too good and I graduated in 1984 and now realize the early C4 really was the dream car. That said, I don't have to worry about problems with ABS, VATS, or Optispark, so given miles and condition, what will be possible issues ?
Welcome to the forum and congrats on getting an excellent condition 1985.
With that low mileage I would make sure to change all the fluids. Be sure and check the age of the tires. Check the brake lines for external rust and be sure and flush the brake fluid.
During The Street Machine Nationals this summer I was talking with a 1986 Coupe owner and he was so proud of his low mileage car and noted it still had the original Goodyear tires. The car was like new but he had driven over 300 miles on tires made in 1986.
Other than that the L98 engine is very reliable. The 4+3 I would service it as well and other than that I would drive your new Corvette.
During The Street Machine Nationals this summer I was talking with a 1986 Coupe owner and he was so proud of his low mileage car and noted it still had the original Goodyear tires. The car was like new but he had driven over 300 miles on tires made in 1986.
Wow, that's scary to drive that far on original tires from the 80's!
To the OP sounds like an awesome find, but you broke the #1 bragging rule by posting no pictures!!!
I would probably flush and change all fluids, otherwise nothing else to be concerned about if its running fine.
Congrats and let's see some pics!! I recently as of two weeks ago just got my own after 30 years of waiting...a '96. And as mentioned....all fluids are the primary concern.
Tires were dated 1996, made that upgrade as soon as I got it home. Not many tire to choose from now days on original 16 inch rims, but the BFG Comps look good and a tad safer than old tires. Oh, and the Deoxit D5 did a wonderful job on the Bose radio previous owner said was toast.
Did you get work history from the PO (previous owner)?
That would give you better basis for what might need to be done, plus what's been done here and there.
Us owners of 30+ year old cars do need to replace some things, even though mileage is low. Bushings, battery-as-in-check-it and shocks. My Bilstein shocks were fine, but the bushing in the collars were shot. Check basics too, does the A/C work, does heat work (we Iowans need heat due to the wily Mother).
But the most important thing..ENJOY!! The drive is worth any fixes!
Finnaly after waiting for 30+ years I'm now a Corvette owner, it's a 1985 with 36,000 miles, 4+3, and in excellent condition. Weather stripping, seats, radio, dash, all work and are in very good shape. What kinds of things should I watch for given the age of car? I did tons of homework before I bought and looked at about 30 cars before I found this car. Plans were to find later C4 but the condition of this 85 was just too good and I graduated in 1984 and now realize the early C4 really was the dream car. That said, I don't have to worry about problems with ABS, VATS, or Optispark, so given miles and condition, what will be possible issues ?
You might not have ABS, VATS, Optispark, but you have a 4+3. You have to change the fluid every 10,000 miles with Dexron 3 and change the transmission filter which is getting tough to find or pay thousands to have it rebuilt when the +3 side of it fails. If you did tons of research you already know that you should engage/disengage the +3 overdrive after you push the clutch in.
You should do the TPI coolant line bypass mod if you don't drive it in cold weather.
You can do the 4+3 manual mod but you'll get mixed feedback on here about whether it's good to do it or not. I have and haven't had any problems but then again I don't try to engage overdrive in 1st gear.
When you change the rear differential fluid you have to add limited slip friction modifier. When you change the manual transmission fluid, you have to make sure the gear oil does not contain friction modifier.
The stock tire size is hard to find but it appears they were available again on major tire vendor sites.
You probably will have problems with the valve cover gasket leaking on the driver side. You should check to see if your car had the factory service job done to it to give you longer studs to mount the cover on.
If your AC doesn't work I got a conversion kit and converted mine to 134, it works fine.
Last edited by Steven Haffley; 09-12-2017 at 03:45 AM.
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 Dls1dls1
it's a 1985 with 36,000 miles, 4+3, and in excellent condition. Weather stripping, seats, radio, dash, all work and are in very good shape. What kinds of things should I watch for given the age of car? ......... so given miles and condition, what will be possible issues ?
Of important note is the car is 32 years old. Mileage is not that important with general maintenance items. Such as seals, rubber bushings, fluids, hoses and cooling systems. If your plans are to make this a weekend cruiser, best be replacing most of the items above. First and foremost the battery, antifreeze, brake fluid and anything else that wiggles when it shouldn't.
I bought a garage queen. The problem with many of these is, they sit parked in a garage way too much. Heck, even my high beam switch acted weird the first few times I used it. I'm betting it wasn't used in 20 years time. Tires are almost always going to be a problem. These cars MAY get 2,000 miles a year on them. Imagine what the date code say's on the tires !!!!
Before anyone goes over the edge, yes those are 87 wheels on the car and I have the original 85 wheels tucked away. The first owner liked the grey on the 87's and bought a set in 89 for his car. Funny thing is I always liked the look of the grey center too, so it made it even better when I saw the car. He also changed the exhaust, stainless square tips, again I would have done the same exhaust. Also was able to talk more with the most recent owner and he had transmission service and flushed brakes about 3 years ago...
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09-11-2017, 11:49 AM
New first time owner, 1985 w/ 36,000 miles
Wow, that's scary to drive that far on original tires from the 80's! 
