My first 'vette
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,261
Likes: 2
From: Prather, California -1990 ZR-1 White/Flame Red- -SOLD!!-
My first 'vette
I just wanted to share with you all my experiences with my first corvette. I finished all the work on it about a year ago.
I had initially wanted a later model C3 (I really like the body style), but after reading up on them, I realized they are too underpowered stock and I didn't want to dump a ton of money into it to get the power I wanted. I then researched the C4's and decided that I wanted a later model C4 with the LT1 and a 6-speed.
I knew at the time (around a year and half ago) I would need to spend $11-15K for a good condition C4 with under 100K miles and I didn't have that kind of money. So I knew I was going to have to wait awhile. But then I saw an ad on craigslist for a black 1993 6-speed coupe for only $5,000. It looked pretty good in the pics, so I figured it was worth a look at least.
Turns out it had been sitting for around 2 years. The guy had put in what he called a 'race cam', and then went out and blew the engine. He said it had around 114K miles at that point. So he sent the car to a specialty corvette shop, and they completely rebuilt the engine, overbored a little and new pistons. He put around 8K on the rebuilt engine, but he started having problems with the engine quitting at idle and not running good. He talked to a shop about it and they told him not to drive it until he got it fixed, so that's why it sat, I guess he never got around to it.
So, I decided to take a chance and buy it even though I couldn't hear the engine run since he lost the key. The paint is in good condition and the interior looks great also. But the front bumper is damaged and needs to be replaced. I got it towed home and first thing I did was get the ignition lock cylinder replaced and a new set of keys cut. I started the engine and it did start, but it wanted to quit and ran like crap. I pulled the sparkplugs and some of them were very oily and black.
I wanted to check the condition of the clutch and see for myself if the engine really was rebuilt, so I decided to just pull the engine and check everything out. I bought the factory service manuals before I started this project. I also frequently researched on this forum and it was a big help.
Here are some pics of the engine after it was pulled and of the empty engine bay:
After pulling the valve covers and intake, I found that all the exhaust valve seals were up off their seat and not sealing at all. No wonder the plugs were black/oil fouled and it ran like crap. For some reason, one piece plastic seals were installed on the exhaust valves and a metal/rubber type were on the intake valves (those were still seated). I removed the optispark and pulled the cover, it looked like it needed to be replaced too.
I decided to do a cam upgrade since I already had the engine out. I went with a Hotcam kit since it gives a decent power increase but still would pass California emissions. This is what I installed:
-Hotcam w/1.6RR & LT4 springs
-New optispark
-New waterpump with new thermostat
-New clutch kit
-All new gaskets and valve seals
-New radiator hoses, IAC valve and heater control valve
-New sparkplugs and wires
-Got a 'load yourself' tune from PCMforless
-Flashable chip and BURN1 programmer from Moates.com
-Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil with Mobile 1 oil filter
I also changed the oil in the ZF6. I used the Castrol TWS oil from BMW
All that cost me about $1,750.
Here are some pics of the interior of the engine:
Ready for intake manifold (which I painted red because I liked the look of the red LT4 intake) and valve covers to be installed:
Intake manifold and valve covers installed and after engine detailing and cleaning:
Fuel rails/injectors assembly, throttle body installed and engine ready to be reinstalled:
Once I got the engine reinstalled and everything put back together, I took the car off of the jackstands. I fully expected to have some type of problem starting it just because when you take something complicated apart that far, there is always something you forget to connect, or put the wrong way. But I put the key in and to my surprise, it fired right up and ran perfectly!
What a relief!
Here are some pics of the car after I washed and waxed it:
It's been a blast to drive, and I have really been enjoying it.
I really like the 6-speed transmission. When you shift at that certain sweet spot, man what a rush! I even took it on a trip to Long Beach to visit my sister and show her the car, which is over 500 miles round trip from where I live. I had no problems and it drove great. It definitely has enought power to get me into trouble! 
The only major thing left to fix on it is the front bumper. The guy's wife had apparently driven the nose of the car underneath something and I guess when they backed it out, it pulled/bent the bumper out about 2 inches on the drivers side and ripped it at the top in the center. I just don't have the time or the money to fix it yet. I will detail my progress on that project here when I start it though.
I had initially wanted a later model C3 (I really like the body style), but after reading up on them, I realized they are too underpowered stock and I didn't want to dump a ton of money into it to get the power I wanted. I then researched the C4's and decided that I wanted a later model C4 with the LT1 and a 6-speed.
I knew at the time (around a year and half ago) I would need to spend $11-15K for a good condition C4 with under 100K miles and I didn't have that kind of money. So I knew I was going to have to wait awhile. But then I saw an ad on craigslist for a black 1993 6-speed coupe for only $5,000. It looked pretty good in the pics, so I figured it was worth a look at least.
Turns out it had been sitting for around 2 years. The guy had put in what he called a 'race cam', and then went out and blew the engine. He said it had around 114K miles at that point. So he sent the car to a specialty corvette shop, and they completely rebuilt the engine, overbored a little and new pistons. He put around 8K on the rebuilt engine, but he started having problems with the engine quitting at idle and not running good. He talked to a shop about it and they told him not to drive it until he got it fixed, so that's why it sat, I guess he never got around to it.
So, I decided to take a chance and buy it even though I couldn't hear the engine run since he lost the key. The paint is in good condition and the interior looks great also. But the front bumper is damaged and needs to be replaced. I got it towed home and first thing I did was get the ignition lock cylinder replaced and a new set of keys cut. I started the engine and it did start, but it wanted to quit and ran like crap. I pulled the sparkplugs and some of them were very oily and black.
I wanted to check the condition of the clutch and see for myself if the engine really was rebuilt, so I decided to just pull the engine and check everything out. I bought the factory service manuals before I started this project. I also frequently researched on this forum and it was a big help.
Here are some pics of the engine after it was pulled and of the empty engine bay:
After pulling the valve covers and intake, I found that all the exhaust valve seals were up off their seat and not sealing at all. No wonder the plugs were black/oil fouled and it ran like crap. For some reason, one piece plastic seals were installed on the exhaust valves and a metal/rubber type were on the intake valves (those were still seated). I removed the optispark and pulled the cover, it looked like it needed to be replaced too.
I decided to do a cam upgrade since I already had the engine out. I went with a Hotcam kit since it gives a decent power increase but still would pass California emissions. This is what I installed:
-Hotcam w/1.6RR & LT4 springs
-New optispark
-New waterpump with new thermostat
-New clutch kit
-All new gaskets and valve seals
-New radiator hoses, IAC valve and heater control valve
-New sparkplugs and wires
-Got a 'load yourself' tune from PCMforless
-Flashable chip and BURN1 programmer from Moates.com
-Mobil 1 fully synthetic oil with Mobile 1 oil filter
I also changed the oil in the ZF6. I used the Castrol TWS oil from BMW
All that cost me about $1,750.
Here are some pics of the interior of the engine:
Ready for intake manifold (which I painted red because I liked the look of the red LT4 intake) and valve covers to be installed:
Intake manifold and valve covers installed and after engine detailing and cleaning:
Fuel rails/injectors assembly, throttle body installed and engine ready to be reinstalled:
Once I got the engine reinstalled and everything put back together, I took the car off of the jackstands. I fully expected to have some type of problem starting it just because when you take something complicated apart that far, there is always something you forget to connect, or put the wrong way. But I put the key in and to my surprise, it fired right up and ran perfectly!
What a relief!Here are some pics of the car after I washed and waxed it:
It's been a blast to drive, and I have really been enjoying it.
I really like the 6-speed transmission. When you shift at that certain sweet spot, man what a rush! I even took it on a trip to Long Beach to visit my sister and show her the car, which is over 500 miles round trip from where I live. I had no problems and it drove great. It definitely has enought power to get me into trouble! The only major thing left to fix on it is the front bumper. The guy's wife had apparently driven the nose of the car underneath something and I guess when they backed it out, it pulled/bent the bumper out about 2 inches on the drivers side and ripped it at the top in the center. I just don't have the time or the money to fix it yet. I will detail my progress on that project here when I start it though.
Last edited by bdw18_123; Sep 28, 2008 at 07:29 PM. Reason: add pics
