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Hey folks,
I have recently purchased this 1996 Corvette for $500. It has a clean title, it runs, drives, and works perfectly all for, that's right, five hundred US dollars.
It unfortunately is an automatic, and thus has the LT1 motor, but it hauls and is a good time. Over the next few weeks I will completely fix it and attempt drive it regularly.
The issues include:
A minor coolant leak
Intermittent, infrequent airbag light
Climate control doors malfunctioning
Horns malfunctioning
Windows disoriented
Left front headlight misaligned
Worn wheels
Worn windshield wipers
So far we have fixed the:
Coolant leak -- loose bolt on water pump housing
Horns -- $47 horn buttons
Climate control doors -- replaced crushed vacuum hoses
Headlight -- Adjusted bolt
I will continue to chronicle the work done on the car, and hopefully it won't be a disaster. The only other "problems" are the C5 Z06 seats and wheels. I have to return the wheels to the previous owner, and eventually I will replace the seats, but for the time being I will leave the seats be.
I am thinking about purchasing these wheels: https://www.oewheelsllc.com/17-Fits-...e-Black-17x9-5 Thoughts?
Eventually I will get stock wheels for it but I prefer these.
Thanks folks!
Thanks guys! Super excited about it. Indeed a crazy deal. It has about 145,000 miles, and the engine was rebuilt at about 45,000 by Jasper Engines and Transmissions.
Yup. I might be biased... thats what my daily wheels are, haha. Another thing to decide is if you want to run square wheels and tires or not. I run 275s all around on 17s because theyre cheap and my car came equipped with the wider wheels for it. It allows free rotation of the wheels and tires, which is nice
Eventually i will go to big giant brakes and have to run 18s. Until then i will enjoy my cheap tires.
This is what those wheels look like installed. The red rings are "Rim Blades". They protect the rims and add a bit of contrast.
I also run it "square" on all 4 corners. If you don't buy a uni-directional tire, you can do traditional tire rotations (ie: lt frt to rt rr etc.).
If you get rims like these, make sure they use stick on weights to balance them. If you notify them ahead of time (them being the folks going to do the mounting and balancing) they can order black skinned weights. Otherwise, get a big black permanent marker and color them black.
The black lug nut covers I have came from Napa. They were ridiculously inexpensive. (considering what Corvette places want for the silver ones)
I installed federal 595ss tires on my c4 recently. They came at the staunch recommendation of a friend of mine, who might be an idiot. He claimed they were the greatest thing ever, super grippy, last forever, and cheap.
Let me tell you, they are definitely cheap, I got a set of 4 for under 400 bucks. Grippy is not how I would describe them though, they flat out suck as a performance tire. They squeal like crazy at low speeds, and can be lit up into a cloud of smoke easily. If you want a tire that will make the car feel like a beast, they are not the tire to buy. But if you want a set of tires for doing ******* stuff and generally being a miscreant, they're cheap and look cool. So I like them for my purposes, haha.
From the picture of the interior it actually looks well preserved. Is the carpeting in good shape? I think many here would have jumped on one that was only $500, it is almost a no lose situation. Congrats on buy. I look forward to reading about updates on it.
I installed federal 595ss tires on my c4 recently. They came at the staunch recommendation of a friend of mine, who might be an idiot. He claimed they were the greatest thing ever, super grippy, last forever, and cheap.
Let me tell you, they are definitely cheap, I got a set of 4 for under 400 bucks. Grippy is not how I would describe them though, they flat out suck as a performance tire. They squeal like crazy at low speeds, and can be lit up into a cloud of smoke easily. If you want a tire that will make the car feel like a beast, they are not the tire to buy. But if you want a set of tires for doing ******* stuff and generally being a miscreant, they're cheap and look cool. So I like them for my purposes, haha.
I hate those Federals, they are garbage. Even when you put up with what you describe above, the tread starts cracking 7K miles in!
The $500 Corvette
although mine still wears the original wheels.
Have some fun with it and sell it for a profit!
