( I was going to post this in the General section but I thought I might get better technical answers here.)

Back story,

I have been searching for my first C4 Vette for about 3 months now and I need some tech advise on a couple cars I am looking at. I am working with a $7500.00 max budget. I want a ZF6 trans preferably a Vert but for the right car will take a coupe.

I am going to look at two cars soon. Both cars are in the same price range.

1991 6SPD vert with 145,000 miles. (California car through 2005.)

1995 6SPD coupe mileage unknown or possibly 110K-125K. (MI/OH car) The seller is estimating 107K. Clock reads 10K but the carfax I did may be telling a different story that is why I am estimating 110-125.

First questions:

The mileage on the 1995 was reset to 0 between 2004 and 2007. The last odometer reading was 87K in May of 2004. The seller told me the previous owner repaced a computer and did not send in the old coputer to have the mileage set in the new computer.

Does this sound like and feasible explanation? I had read when changing to a new cluster the mileage is still stored in the car. So what rolls the mileage back to 0, the cluster or the computer? Is there any possibility that the accurate mileage is still stored and can be retrieved?

Second questions:
I understand the performance improvements with the LT1 motor vs the L98 motor. Is there a quality or durability difference in the two motors? Event though cosmetically the 91 vert is in better shape should I give serious consideration to the 95 with the LT1 motor.

Third questions:
I understand the ZF6 trans has either a blue tag or a black tag. The blue tags were built overseas and the black tag were built in the US. Is there a quality/dependability issue between these two tags?

Buy the way, I love to wrench as a hobby. I am buying a Vert to drive but just as important to me is to tinker with it to learn everything I can about these great cars. You never know with our wonderful Michigan economy I may need the knowledge for a new career path.

Thank you for your patients and I am sorry if I should not have posted these questions here.

Al

 

PUll up Craigs list for Phoenix, there have been several cheap LT1-6spds for sale cheap in the past 30 days. No appreciable difference in the two 6spds as far as driving. The mileage is resident in the CCM, when that is replaced the mileage is lost unless immediately programed into the new one. That car (95) has been offered for a while. Carfax is your friend, though not infalible. The costs for a C4 are in order of $$ for complete redo are, a. paint, b. interior, c. motor, d. trans (unless it's a 6spd, than it's b,) Generally speaking, for $7500 you're going to have to work on it. Now, they are out there, I see Lt1's almost weekly for under $6k, but again they usually need something. You need to accurately assess you abilities and capabilities. If you have to pay someone to do something you are probably going to lose. Do it yourself, and if you're carefull, you can usually get most if not all of money back (if that's your aim).

 

I'd go out and drive an L98 and an LT1, preferably back to back - see which you like better. They are different cars, and you may find you like the low end grunt of the L98 or you may like the upper-RPM power of the LT1 better. The LT1 might be a little less reliable because of the optispark distributor mounted behind the water pump which has proven troublesome. Other than that, the L98 and LT1 are stout, reliable motors without any significant problem areas.

Given a choice of C4's, I'd always go for the cosmetically better one. The interiors on these cars are junk, and you'd be suprised how much you can spend replacing little plastic broken thingies. Also, chances are, the cosmetically clean ones have been better maintained - not always, but often. Usually, worn, tired looking C4's also come with their share of "hack" mechanical or electrical fixes that will come back to bite you later.

Good luck in your search - there really is no match for the C4 in fun per $!

 

Find one where the owner has at least a partial history on the car. Things like oil changes, clutch, brakes etc. Oil changes every 3000 miles are the Vettes best friend. I have 120K on my 88 and it had 68K when I bought it 5 years ago. The car has never left me stranded and runs as strong now as when purchased.

 

Black tags were made from 89-mid94 and manufactured in Germany(?). They are a bit stronger, supposedly due to straighter tooth angles in some gears. This also means they're louder at idle.

Blue tags were made after that through 96 in the USA. Most on here prefer the black tag because it's stronger, yet it was redesigned for a reason, probably due to customer complaints about gear rattle.

Personally, I would not let that factor into your decision. You won't break either.

 

Repair history is very important. Mine had zero history at 50K. Turns out it had zero maintenance too.

I have receipts on all work I've done since then and it runs great. Coincidence? Nope, people who take pride in their cars will keep track of this stuff.

You're buying the owner's just as much as your buying the car. Inspect him/her thoroughly. No such thing as a careless owner with a well-kept car.

 

Agree with the above,..drive the two and it should be easy to choose one.

As a side, Ive said it before,..there is no better deal out there than C4's for performance and style. I see nice LT1's and even LT4's in the $7500 to 15,000 range,..that's real bang for the buck. Try to find another nice Vette (C2, C3, C5, etc) in that range or any other performance car.

Good luck!

 

A lot can depend on the type of driving you do. If you spend most of your time driving around town or on secondary roads the L98 may be all you'll need (it's also easier to mod); if you drive on highways and interstates a lot you'll appreciate the higher hp of the LT1.

Don't worry too much about the opti, the biggest souce of failure is a bad waterpump which leaks right onto the opti. The 95 and 96 are better at withstanding this due to better venting but they're still not waterproof.

 

On the '95, if the person that put the new CCM (computer that stores the mileage) didn't program it for the mileage, did they program the CCM for the option content of the vehicle?
The CCM has to know the option content of the vehicle in order to know how to communicate with the other options.

As an example, if the CCM doesn't know the C68 climate control exists, it doesn't know to send the necessary data to the C68 climate control.

If the CCM doesn't know the vehicle has ASR, it doesn't know to send data to the ASR, etc.

There's more to programming a new CCM than the odometer readiing.

The CCM is also programmed with the VIN of the vehicle.
This is one way to know if someone turned back the odometer by switching the CCM from another vehicle -- the VIN in the CCM won't match the vehicle.
The only way I know to program the CCM or check the VIN in the CCM is with a Vetronix Tech-1A scan-tool with the appropriate "body" or "mass storage" cartridge -- there may be others, but I am not aware of them.
If the VIN in the CCM doesn't match the vehicle, even if it was an oversite, do you want it?
When it comes time for you to sell it, it may cause problems.

Good luck.

Tom Piper