Hey all, today 9/11/2021 I bought back my 1987 corvette from the guy who bought it from the guy I sold it to. The backstory behind it is what makes it so special. On 11/17/2020 my dog lucky passed away, then 11/18/2020 my father in law passed away, and now recently 8/11/2021 my dad passed away. It’s been a very very rough year but God’s getting us through, I lean on Him heavily. Those three had a tremendous influence on me and my wife and I have so many distinct memories with that car and my dad her dad and our dog. To say it’s a breath of fresh air is quite the understatement. I will NEVER sell the car again it’s staying in the family and getting passed down to our future kids.

So side note: I have aspirations in mind to really work the kinks out of the car and have it be a true monster while still maintaining drivability and comfortability. Before I sold it, I had already installed OBX headers and finished off the exhaust the way I wanted to. The guy who bought it made a few changes to the exhaust tips and pipes but nothing major. I want to ultimately do a heads, cam, and intake swap as the weeks and months go by, then get it tuned and see if I need to change the trans, fuel pump, and rear gears etc. with all the extra power. I already have an idea of how I want it laid out. I want the car to perform like stock, basically a torque monster at the bottom and keep pulling all the way to maybe 5000–5500 rpms, similar to stock, just with more power through 0-5500 RPMS than it had before. I’d like to keep the stock ECM with a new tune when all the work is done, and I know this limits me, but I’ve figured a nice combo with the help of Ken from First TPI. The combo I like to achieve this is the FIRST TPI intake, which comes with the whole new manifold as well as fuel rails and injectors, AFR 180 Heads, and a comp cam 8-502-8. I want to try to keep it tamed as stock as possible but basically with some C6 type of power lol. Any suggestions? Comments? Input? Advice? Thank you guys very much for any advice or suggestions, I appreciate it and I am looking very forward to making my girl become a beast.

 

Very sorry to hear of the hardships that life is throwing you. Keep faith in God and continue to trust in Him. Glad to see that you got your in back! It looks to be in very nice condition overall. I absolutely love the black exterior and the red interior!! You don't see many in that color combo at all!! I would definitely love to see more pictures of the car!

 

Thanks so much brother appreciate you. I remember asking many a question on here about this exact Vette and you gave some great advice, I remember the name mazdaverx7 lol. I agree love the black with red interior, my favorite combo. I’ll post some more pics later on, it’s not a perfect car by any means I’d say looks great from 10 feet away you can see some blemishes as you get closer. That said it didn’t matter to me. It was my first corvette and I’ll never be selling it again.. I could’ve gotten a pristine one for $15,000 with low miles and a crystal clear paint job but this one and the sentimental value is worth so much more. Any advice on the heads, intake, cam combo I was talking about?

 

Sounds like a pretty reasonable build plan, def do headers. It will run pretty hard A converter would be a nice plus

 

Sorry for all of your losses. Glad you have found a way to turn it into happiness.

Joe K

 

Thanks brother yeah I have headers on it already and slowly but surely I’m gonna finish the rest of the motor the way I want to.. why in your opinion will it run hard all the extra torque?

Thank you very much!!!!!

 

The upgrades that I would co aider to an aluminum head tune port car are a Super Ram intake manifold, a mild cam, and you have the exhaust part covered. You can do some head work with roller rockers and some mild porting. Those will get you moving along on a stock block. But if you pull the engine to do a cam, you can have the engine rebuilt to be a 383 stroker. Costly, but if you intend on modifying the engine for more power, that's an option. I think if you wanted to keep it mild, the Super Ram would be a nice touch to go with the exhaust.

 

Didn’t even know the car was a Z52!!!!! If I did I completely forgot until now 😂😂

 

Thanks guys looking for those who’ve done similar builds or anyone having any advice to offer. Appreciate it.

 

First, get the spare tire outta the cargo area.
how redneck
if it were mine and i had a place to work, i would put a 383 short block in it. Then a 3.07 rear.
i did that to my 86, and it really wakes up the car.
looks like a nice cruiser.
the black paint is the only color that looks good with the factory wheels.
congrats on your car coming home.

 

Sorry for your loss.

Happy for your gain.