I just picked up what might be my all time favorite color combination, a 1994 Black Rose Metallic with light tan interior, only 44k miles and in pristine condition. It drives beautifully, I really scored with this one. Three days in and I am already building up a list of things to take care of, and I'll keep track of them here in this thread. Here's what we have so far:

Updated 8/5/24

1. Remove LED tail lights - this was the first thing to go, pulled them out and put the stock lights back in place. They will be for sale soon, along with the matching LED 3rd brake light.
2. Driver's headlight motor bushings shot - new ones already on the way, I'll replace both sides.
3. Passenger arm rest has come loose - the plastic bosses were shattered, replacing it
4. Gas tank is pressurizing, probably a clogged vent hose.
5. Radio antenna doesn't work and annoyingly, is stuck about 2" up.
6. Smell of coolant after going for a drive in the summer heat. I'll get a pressure tester this week and see where it's coming from.
7. Replace water pump
8. Replace heater core
9. Chime has kicked the bucket. Doesn't work with lights left on or when the key is left in the ignition. Occasionally hiccups to life and sounds at random while driving.
10. Turn signal flasher seems toast too. The signals work fine, but silently.
11. Hood needs a slight adjustment - it moves a LOT when hitting bumps.
12. Headlights are horrible. I live in the country and deer are a big problem, I need very good lights. Currently looking for some H4 E-codes. I wish Cibies were available, I had them in my ZR-1 and they were fantastic.
13. The steering wheel is perfect...and terrible. It's just not a very good design for driving, either fun back roads or long trips. I'll be looking for something, and I really like some of the carbon options I've seen from VQ Customs. Does anyone know if the earlier 4-spoke airbag wheel will fit on a later car?
14. Exhaust drone is awful 1500-2000 rpm, which is right where you cruise in 6th gear. It's got Magnaflows now and I've got to do something about it.
15. I'm going to order some Lloyd's floor mats, probably in a contrasting black color. The originals are near-perfect and I'll put them on the shelf.
16. Getting a slight shudder in the brakes at highway speeds, might just need to skim the discs.
17. I'm not sure the FX3 shocks are doing the job any more. I don't see any signs of leaking, but the 3 settings don't seem to do much and the car feels bouncier than it should. I remember changing shock settings on my old ZR-1 made a big difference.
18. Heel-toe is something I just do out of long time habit, and of course the throttle pedal is terrible for that. Possible, but way harder than it should be. I'll come up with a solution there.
19. I need to tint the side windows to match the rear glass, anything to reduce the heat load.
20. Definitely needs an alignment. It's more nervous than a Corvette should be.
21. Check the evaporator drain
22. Clear the windshield drains
23. Got a small leak at the power steering reservoir
24. Tensioner is noisy, probably replace the idler too
25. Crank pulley wobble - replace harmonic balancer
26. Replace power steering pump
27. Lubricate throttle linkage
28. Change engine oil, gearbox oil, diff oil
29. Replace harmonic balancer
30. Replace optispark, plugs, wires, coil, ignition controller
31. Replace shocks
32. Check brakes, maybe replace the lines
33. Stereo with CarPlay
34. Wheels? Maybe. I love the stock wheels, but I've seen a couple with the C6 Z06 wheels and they look incredible.

That's the list so far. I've had a brand-new car for the last couple years which is nice, but leaves me with nothing to do in the garage, and I really missed that. Now I have something to play with and work on, and that's awesome.


All cleaned up

 

For your chime, this is what I did a few months ago:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...8-buttons.html

 

Thanks! I already have your thread bookmarked. 😁

 

Congratulations, that looks great!

Why don't you like the LED lights?

and, have you considered LED headlights? I have them and they are great.

 

I just don’t like the look of the LED tail lights, they don’t fit the aesthetic of the older car. I much prefer the stock lights.

I had a combination of LED and HID in my C5 and they were great, but the reflectors, lenses and housings were designed for them, and that upgrade was expensive. That isn’t really available for the C4 so you’re left with a compromise. Euro code H4 lights in a C4 I think work better.

 

Yes, headlights suck. It's like having two candlesticks at the front of the car. If you want H4 E-Codes, try Aardvark International (http://talbotco.com). They still sell Cibie square E-Code headlights, about $200 a pair. If you want to move to LED's, Holley makes excellent ones and they look like stock headlights, not the "kid racer" stuff you see a lot of. You can also choose between bright white and yellow-ish. About $400. I've had the E-Codes on my old C4 and they're excellent, but my eyes aren't what they used to be, so I think LED's are the way to go for me. I have heard that you might actually be able to re-sell the original Wagners to someone who's going for that silly Bloomington Gold designation and wants factory correct original lights on the car.

The C4 Airbag Steering Wheel is probably one of the worst GM designs ever, BUT consider they were working with near 1st generation air bags. Apsis USA (https://apsisusa.com) makes a gorgeous, flat-bottom carbon fiber wheel specifically for the C4 which utilizes the stock C4 airbag. Not cheap...around $900, but damn, it is beautiful and makes the interior. I'll definitely be getting one. I THINK they are (or were) a forum vendor.

Magnaflows drone. Period. If you want a Cat-Back system, Corsa is the choice for no drone, and it sounds good too. I decided to leave my exhaust completely stock, as it is good for up to 415HP or so. Nice and quiet driving around yet a little growl when you step on it. At my age, that's all I need. So you might think about going back to stock.

Beautiful car. Hope this helps.

 

I doubt these headlights are original, they look like generic halogens. I've already put in an email to Daniel Stern - I've gotten lights from him on several other cars, hopefully he's got a good solution.

I contacted Apsis too, and asked if they knew if the earlier 4-spoke wheel would fit a 94. Would you believe they offered to send me an earlier wheel so I could test it first, and then work with me on the order? I thought that was incredibly generous. I'm going to try to find a junkyard wheel first and see if I can make it work, and then Apsis will be getting a call.

I keep hearing that. The Corsas are more money than I want to spend, but it might be the first thing I do. I probably should pick up a stock set and see what it would take to fit them. My wife and I took an anniversary drive on Saturday up to Blue Ridge GA, spending a lot of time at 75mph. It was her first trip in the car, and that noise is just horrible, especially up and down hills where the engine needs to pull. I've got tinnitus (thank you covid) and the combination is almost unbearable. I ended up staying in 5th a lot more, just to keep it down.

Thanks!

 

The PKE, passive keyless entry, auto lock, demon fob is the most irritating thing since baby shark. I get that it was early days for remotes and there was no standard for how they should work, but the way this thing functions is ridiculous. It does work like it's supposed to, it's just that the way it's supposed to is dumb. It's very close range so I pretty much have to be standing beside the car, and it will unlock the driver's door. I press the other button to pop the hatch. Then while I'm behind the car putting things in the back, or taking them out, it's constantly locking and beeping the horn, and then unlocking, then locking again, as I walk around. Like at the golf course when I'm getting my clubs out - that goes over well. I know I can hold the door button while near the door and everything cycles, and then it's disabled...but not for long. Within one or two start cycles and it's enabled again.

It's fine if all I'm doing is getting in and driving somewhere. But I'm in and out of the hatch frequently and that's where it sucks. I want to disable it and then leave the fob at home, but I'm guessing it will just re-enable itself.

Does anyone know if there's a way to permanently disable it?

 

From page 39 of the Owner's manual

 

If it is turned "off" it is off. Either you accidently pushed the door key, or the unit is malfunctioning, it doesn't re-enable itself if it is working properly. But if you just want to leave it at home anyway, why do you care? Put it somewhere besides the garage and forget about it. Or you could put it up for sale; I'm not sure what they go for these days, but it's a lot.

 

If it is turned "off" it is off. Either you accidently pushed the door key, or the unit is malfunctioning. But if you just want to leave it at home anyway, why do you care? Put it somewhere besides the garage and forget about it. Or pull the battery. Or you could put it up for sale; I'm not sure what they go for these days, but it's a lot.

 

If I disable it, but still have the fob on my keychain, it definitely re-enables itself after a couple starts. So now I've got it turned off and leave the fob at home, and that seems to work. Like I said, if all you do is get in and drive, then it's fine. But if you're in and out of the back frequently (and I am), it's a royal pain.

 

I should have some parts coming in this week so I can start doing some of the maintenance. I'll be fixing the headlight motors and upgrading the lights significantly. I'm also going to pressure test the cooling system and see if I can find the leak. I'm not so sure it's the heater core yet, since I get the coolant smell only when the outside vent is open. If I have recirc on, the smell goes away. We'll see this week.

 

Any guesses where my coolant leak is coming from? Hint: you're looking at the crossmember under/behind the crank pulley. I'm sensing back trouble in my near future.

 

The good and the bad. Good, a major headlight upgrade just arrived from Daniel Stern. Koito H4 E-code lamps with 55/60 Osram bulbs and an updated wiring harness. I will post before and after pics. And the bad, I rented a pressure test kit because I need to confirm this coolant leak. I'm certain it's coming from somewhere around the water pump, but the weep hole doesn't show any signs of leaking and I can't find any other traces. It still might be the gaskets, but I'm hoping I'll find a bad hose somewhere. In the event I have to pull the pump, I'll probably go ahead and replace it. I'm really hoping I don't have to replace the optispark at the same time.

 

The pressure test confirmed it's the pump. Loaded up to 20psi and zero visible leaks, no bubbling sounds, tight as a drum...which means it's coming out the weep hole when it's running. I just ordered an AC Delco pump, a Cardone opti-spark, thermostat, misc gaskets and a throttle body cooling bypass kit from Summit. They had the best prices on everything which surprised me, and free shipping. It will be here Monday and I get to have some fun in the garage.

 

Corsas used to be reasonable. Now they're outrageous...something over $2K. WAY too much for a cat-back system IMHO. That's mostly what caused me decide to stick with the stock system. That plus when I was under the car I just didn't really want to hack up the stock pipes. Everything is nice and tidy up there and I'm good with the sound. I'd just like to find a way to adjust the tailpipe tips a bit.

I'm curious...when I got my E-codes, there was no replacement harness. They were plug and play. Do you know why there is a new harness? Also...something you might consider doing...the E-Codes are much heavier than the stock lights (at least mine were). You might consider getting brass gears for the headlight motors. The weight of the new lights will wear out the stock nylon gears in short order.

 

I'm keeping an eye on local ads for exhaust systems, both stock and other brands - I've always been a big fan of Borla. I'll land on something soon for a reasonable price.

The harness is pre-wired with relays and will power the lights directly from the battery for maximum efficiency, relaying from the stock wiring. It's the best way to run them, and his price was very reasonable for a pre-built harness. Plug and play, no cutting involved. I thought it was worth it. I'll be installing the lights later this week, keep an eye out for the before and after.

 

Current state. The water pump bolts have been cracked loose and I'm letting the remainder of the coolant dribble down the front of the block, hopefully saving the optispark. New parts will be here today and I'll hopefully be driving tomorrow. The factory-original throttle body gasket did NOT want to let go, and it finally came off in pieces. This is probably a good maintenance job to do, even if I wasn't replacing the pump. New gaskets, serpentine belt, and a general cleanup.

 

Daniel Stern Lightning is always source for stuff. Let us know how those work, sealed beams on the '89 are hilarious at best....amazing how H4s have been out forever and our government did not allow them.

I FINALLY scored a used Corsa at a reasonable, to me, cost. 3-4 years back this one was I believe $1200 new, after all the freight and such I am into it for about $850. Tips are good, some scratches on the cases, but I am pleased and cannot wait to pop it on with the Flowmaster Y pipe (I want some LT1 Hooker shorty headers bad!). The car is not pristine and will never be a show car. It is a driver. Hopefully someone else here can use the OE Y pipe and aftermarket stock replacement style muffs.

Have you considered the Meziere pump for the LT1? I am probably going to pop one on my 96 Fleetwood Brougham when the pump goes. Do you plan to go back with Dexkool or something else?