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New member here from Kansas City area with a new-to-me '96 LT4 Collector Edition. The car is basically sound with just over 40K miles now. A ton of deferred maintenance and typical ravages of age (which I am getting to as time permits), but a beaut and a little monster! I do about 30k miles per year. The C4 joins a Fiesta ST as a daily driver in a 1/3, 2/3 ratio. Of course the Vette is the fairweather car. Aside: The Vette/Fiesta ST combo is interesting--I already find I love both cars more by way of their contrast. They are so remarkably different, but each with their own style of Awesomeness. Rocket versus go-kart, relentless shark versus enthusiastic puppy.
Back Story: Half a lifetime ago I bought one of these new from a Chevy dealer in Dallas, TX. Drove it for about 12K miles in a year, it was my daily. Then we learned we were expecting our first son, and it seemed kinda foolish to keep the Vette, so I traded it and joined the GSC (German Sedan Crowd). Well, 26 years later, here we are. The '96 CE was always "the one that got away," that car that every enthusiast-driver remembers selling or trading with regret. Well, if I had kept it, it would probably have like 600k on it by now! So this is a good conclusion--low miles '96, and I'm going to drive the heck out of it. This was a BaT auction car with four POs, last one had it 14 years. While the C5, C6, etc. are objectively superior in every way, I admire the C4 aesthetic, it has sufficient power, and it's a nostalgia-car for me. The early C4 was my high school dream car, and the '96 is (to me) the epitome of the generation.
Fast-forward, what's been done so far in my 5 weeks of ownership:
Fluids--aside from diligent motor oil changes it looks like this has had fluid maintenance either a long, long time ago, or else never. Clutch, brakes, diff, transmission so far, others soon.
Replaced the battery, it was a 7YO that seemed a little weak.
Also replaced what seemed to be the factory-original shocks that were completely shot. Although this is an FE1 car I went with the Bilstein B8's, couldn't be happier.
A little roar in back, coupled with rear-end squirreliness, I thought must be bearings--though perhaps unlikely with this mileage and a car that looks like it was babied. Anyway, replaced them with Moog. After determining I didn't like trying to get to that third T55 hub bolt from underneath, I just removed the knuckles and replaced the highly stretched factory-original bushings with the SuperPro lot while I was at it. Control rods seem fine, but were totally dry and boots starting to crack, so replaced those. Did not go so deep at the diff carrier bushings this time around. I'm sure I'll contrive a reason to pull the diff at some point, then I'll tackle those bushings while I have the carrier off. She drives much, much better with the back end mostly sorted.
Ah, and I replaced the factory head unit with a Kenwood, and yanked out the Delco-Bose receiver from behind the passenger seat. I wound up removing both seats to route things properly, and had I known how deep into seats and trim I was going to have to go for a simple head unit swap, I would have done amps and speakers at the same time.
Other plans for 2023 include:
Rear camber is slightly positive now it has settled out, I need to fix that in the next day or two--1 hour project. Torquing that stuff down is a workout.
Finish the fluids: Power steering and coolant soon; and although it has fresh oil that looks good, I dunno what it is, so that's on my short list.
Will turn to the front suspension as my Big December project. Maybe December+January...
Front and rear alignment after suspension rebuilds complete.
New tires, the current ones are pretty hard with 2014 and 2015 date codes.
Need to address power windows, they are really sketchy. I don't dare put one down until I figure that out.
VATS bypass soon for sure, cleaning the key and cylinder helped but it is still questionable.
Full fuel system clean/service including injectors (maybe just clean, maybe replace).
Possibly plugs and wires.
Tasteful exhaust mod to get the soundtrack a little more...well, just more. Corsa would be nice, but it's awfully $pendy. Let's say the continuum is from muffler delete + Helmholz resonator on the low end, to Corsa cat-back on the high end.
Paint correction and ceramic coat. It isn't a show car, but I want it to remain at least half this good over the next 200k miles.
Further audio system upgrades: I think new speakers at the corners and a tasteful sub might be The Thing.
And of course, all the things that will break in the first year of real activity for this rarely-driven machine.
Then I'm going to just drive it for 200k miles with periodic maintenance/repairs, then perhaps repeat the whole process with another example if they are still extant by then. This is my forever-car, I am content.
Final Thoughts: I LOVE this forum. The value I have received from it has already easily surpassed the cost of a lifetime membership. Thank you to to this whole community. As my experience grows I hope I can return even a tiny fraction of the value I have received to the community here.
Welcome to the Forum and congratulations on your “new” C4!
Great that you are back in “the one that got away” and wishing you many smiles in many miles with this one!!
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
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Welcome to the forum and good luck with your C4.
Based on the content of your post, I am moving this over to the C4 General section where other C4 owners can read and comment on your car and your plans for it.
Congrats @C44EVR !! Great story and a beautiful example. Looks like a steal, too, especially on BaT *and* from CorvetteMike, at that! Wow... I'm in Raymore. I've had my LT4 since 2001 (I couldn't ever let it go... important memories attached, and I will never find another one like it again). Haven't had it out much in the last few years but working on that and some overdue maintenance. Hopefully will see you around sometime. Enjoy the car!
Nice car. '92 ZR1 and '94 Convertible here. I love talking up C4s at our local Corvette Club meetings. I should take pictures of the looks I get. Only a couple of us "in the know" at the club.
C4 4evr
