C5R USA

October of 2013, I had noticed a 1986 Corvette Coupe that had been for sale for some time, on this forum. Although at the time, I was leaning way more for a '72 Coupe to undertake, something kept bringing me back to this car, and after conversing with the owner darkman5001 we finalized the transaction. I then had it shipped from New Jersey to Baltimore. Then loaded it up on my car-hauler for transport to it's final destination in Saint Charles, MO.

Two big reasons I bought the car....Both the engine and transmission had been rebuilt fairly recently then. Although I prefer a manual transmission, an early C4 is one of the few I prefer it to be an automatic.
Overall, this car still needed a LOT of work but, that was expected for what I paid for it, and I wasn't looking for a garage queen.

Not long after acquiring the car, I began the 1st phase of the restoration, getting all the mechanicals and electronics up to new condition.

Here's some of what I have done in that regard over the years, that definitely had to be replaced or fixed:
Valve cover gaskets
Oil pan gasket
Ignition lock and cylinder
Rebuilt rack and pinion
Power steering pump
New fuel tank, pump, sending unit, charcoal canister, and all new stainless steel fuel lines.
New shocks
New distributor cap rotor and wires
Borla exhaust
Belt tensioner
Wiper switch
Front air dam
Vacuum lines
New tires
U-joints
Alignment
Digital dash with new odometer motor/Electronic Climate Control were both sent out a few years ago for restoration.(Just haven't installed them, yet.)

After nearly 5 years of acquiring 30-35 boxes of cosmetic restoration parts and enhancements from various forum members, vendors and Corvette outlets. Today begins the 2nd phase of the restoration, to bring Project: 1986 back to full glory.

The car originally came in Black with Medium Grey interior but, I've decided to reverse things a bit, and go with House of Kolor-Galaxy Grey for the paint scheme with black interior. I've also decided to ante up for a set of CCW Classic wheels in 18x10 and 18x11.5, and will have them shipped to Wheel Concepts in Camarillo, CA for chroming, as they did such a beautiful job on my C5 CCW 505A's. I'll stick with the Borla exhaust for a little longer but, I'll move on to a Corsa.

Project:1986 as it sits today awaiting beautification from Elite Customs

Stay tuned for the transformation, this is where the fun part begins.












































Just a pic of the engine bay....I had to replace both of the hood wheel well liners, as they both were cracked and had holes in them....Plans to brighten up the engine are pretty simple.....Have the intake plenum and runners powder coated silver, and powder coat the valve covers (not the present ones) in wrinkle black...Lastly, to install the new Champion radiator I acquired here on the Forum.



1986 Corvette window sticker. This Corvette was originally sold from Curry Chevrolet in Scarsdale, NY.

Dt86

Cool project! Can't wait to see more. 86

zachaeous

I went through this with my 84 starting in 2012 and I just finished it last fall. The last thing I did was replace the carpet.

The car looks like new now and runs better than it did when new. Hang in there and you will have one great 86 when you get it all done.

My 84 had at least 5 resprays when I stripped the paint.




This picture is before I installed the new red carpet last fall.

1bdvet

Loved to see the finished product!

JungleCat

Neat project.

C5R USA

I'm right there with you....

Your '84 looks fantastic, that is something certainly anyone in their right mind would be proud to have accomplished. Nice work!!


I'm right there with you, definitely looking forward to it.

It's been great for the most part, no question.

ghlkal

Cool. I'm glad to see an early C4 come back to life.

Silver96ce

I'll second that. Please post photos of the process as you go along.

C5R USA

I wholeheartedly agree with you, and it's certainly one of the reasons I chose to go ahead and purchase it. As the years have gone by, I see less and less C4's at Corvette shows, and even rarer for someone to show up with an early one that is in really nice shape, that hasn't been stored in a time capsule.



I'll do the best I can in that regard with the photo progress....The car is now out of my hands but, I will talk again with my body shop guy to make sure he gets photos of the work being done...I'm looking forward to it myself. I just left home, so when I return in 4-6 weeks I imagine he will have gotten a few things done. My goal is to have the car ready by the end of summer if not before, and that certainly is looking good at the moment. The wheels might take a little longer, CCW is running 8-10 week production time and then for shipping to Cali for chroming, tack on another 4 weeks for the process and shipping. All in all, everything is looking good so far. It's not a matter of if but when....

C5R USA

Just a brief update, and some info to share....A couple weeks ago, I went ahead and ordered a brand new windshield from Eckler's. Although this car won't be the modified monster my C5 is, no sense in starting to get cheap about the restoration process.

There is a part I spent a great deal of time trying to locate concerning the windshield components, and that is the Windshield Lower Glass Molding. You just don't see these being offered for sale new or used.... Luckily, after some searching, Corvette Central stocks these, and sells them by the pair for $15.95 plus shipping. After reading a few other C4 restoration processes, I read that just about every one of those old seals just fell apart into nothing upon removal. Pretty much a no-brainer to buy some for a 32-year old car, that certainly wasn't a garage queen.

It's just one of those small "detail" parts, that is a must have in working order. Just another chalk up to unexpected expenses but, hey it's a fun/relief expense at the same time, as well as a learning experience.

Here's the link, if anyone else is looking for those seals:

https://www.corvettecentral.com/c4-8...et-of-2-414319

Bckmstr

B17Crew

Looking forward to following your progress, nice to see an early C4 rescued.

B17Crew

mazdaverx7

Awesome project! Can't wait to see more pics! I think the Galaxy Grey will be a great color choice for sure!! do you have any pics with it on a car?

C5R USA

Here is 3 good examples of what Galaxy Grey represents.....Long before I came across this color shade. I had already narrowed the paint choices down to either Silver Beige, or Charcoal....After seeing Galaxy Grey, I was convinced this offered what I was looking for.

JungleCat

^ Yep, that will look good on that ‘86.

Weck86

Nice to see an early C4 being taken seriously and brought back to full road status! Your color choice is a good one.

Keep us posted with progress.

Silver85

Following! Looking forward to seeing more.

DMITTZ

Great thread, I enjoyed reading through it. Glad to see another early C4 gettimg saved. I've done lots of work on mine, but still have lots more to do.

Keep up the good work

xrav22

Been working like you have keep on keepin on!

C5R USA

I believe it will too....Trust me, I hemmed and hawed about the color choices for a long time but, that was a luxury I could afford to take since my mindset from the beginning was to never rush this project. Definitely waiting paid off in this case. Funny thing is, I picked up a guy's '69 Camaro a few weeks ago(not the same one pictured) that has Galaxy Grey, and I was blown away by it's luster. Needless to say, the choice for color was set in stone after seeing it in person.


Thanks for the Kudos, and I do appreciate the keen observation with the operative word "seriously". That has been my outlook from Day 1. No, it may not have the end result of being a concours vehicle but, I'll make sure that it is aesthetically pleasing, everything functions correctly, with some modest contemporary working upgrades (i.e. lighting, cooling, wheels, etc.)
I think the color choice is good too, like many hues, it's not fully appreciated until you see it in person.


Thank you, I'll be looking forward to posting more in the coming weeks/months.

It's like apples to oranges at this point, lol!! I've seen what you've done just recently on your '88 reading thru your Vol 2 thread, and the work you've done is stunning. Without a doubt, I would be beaming with pride driving that to a Corvette show for judging. I'm not going to go near the route you've done with the upgrades on mine but, if it looks as good as yours, I'll be satisfied with that. Certainly your work is a benchmark to follow.

Nice work you've done!! You can certainly tell a difference. I don't think I ever appreciated bronze interior until in the recent past but, yours is a fine example of why I do appreciate it now. Looks great!!