I have some questions and please feel free to answer any to your knowledge.Im in jacksonville,FL if it matters.

What kind of gas should i use on a 87 vette that is stock. The last guy said he used regular 87 octane and it ran fine. but would it be better to run another type of gas through it to make it run faster or better?

I also plan on making this car as fast as i can. I am planning on putting a new exhaust system with a new air filter with new headers and a bunch of other things. Now the car is fine as it is. Would it be better if i replace them now or should i wait until i start having problems with them? This corvette has 84,000 miles on it.

Also should i keep the regular engine or should i save up for a new one like an LS7 engine?

Also if yall know any good sites to get cheap parts for corvettes please let me know.

 

For #2 make a plan and a budget. Once you have both established you can take a more logical approach and purchase components that work well together. If they car is running fine now then start collecting and enjoy it while it's stock because once you start modding there's usually something going wrong.

 

A budget is going to be important as the costs associated with mods climb rapidly. And mods do not necessarily increase the value of the car, especially early C4's.

As far as gasoline, a stock '87 should run OK on 87 octane for daily driving. Hard acceleration will create pinging or knocking but for steady cruising, it won't be a big deal. My '87 has some minor mods (cam, head work, bored .030, and true duals; 87 octane with 10% ethanol is borderline for city streets driving. Passing on the freeway or climbing small hills results in lots of pinging.

But use a "top tier" gas like Chevron or Texaco if available in your area. Stay away from cheap gas like ARCO or Safeway where they typically don't put additives in. You can always add a bottle of Chevron Techron every couple of tankfuls if you go with the generic gas.

Going "as fast as you can" will cost. A bunch. Years ago in speed shops across the country, you usually found a sign that read: "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?"

If you are after really high speeds, have fun and drive the 87 for now and start reading up on how the later Corvettes like C5's will be a better platform. By the time you spend many thousands on improving an 87 to handle the speed (and the corners and the braking), you can have a nice C5 that will basically be as fast if not faster with little work. The factory suspension, brakes and drivetrain on the C5 will be a much better platform for high speed use.

Oh, there are no "cheap Corvette parts".

 

I own a stock 87 and the owners manual says to use premium gas, octane of at least 91. The manual also says you can use octane as low as 87 but not lower and to expect lower performance. Personally, with 232k miles and driving my 87 everyday, I have never nor ever will put 87 octane in my vette, it would ping so bad I could not stand it and I would worry about engine damage. My opinion is the previous owner knows less than GM does about the 87 vette and its fuel requirements !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!