Hello all, haven't been around since I sold my 02 Z06. Recently picked up a 92, 78k original miles, automatic. I have tons of questions, and I've been searching the internet for days but thought maybe it would be beneficial to just post of all of my questions here so we can get some more personalized discussion.

Optispark. I've been reading about issues with the optispark on my year C4. How do I know if I have the original optispark, and if so, suggestions for solid replacement aftermarket options?

Fuel gauge. My fuel gauge does not work. Are there known issues with either the gauge its self, or the sending unit? Nice to know common problems before getting into trouble shooting.

Interior. I want to replace all carpet, door panels, seat covers. Can anybody recommend a good company to order from?

Sound system. The car has the original bose system still functioning, but the sound is definitely worse for wear. 2 questions. One, does anybody know the factory speaker sizes? And two, does anybody make a nice double din mounting kit? Id like a nice touch screen in there.

Headers. I cannot find headers for less than 1500, are there any companies making cheaper headers for these LT1 cars?

Manual swap. Can anybody link me to some good manual swap articles or posts, information or whatever?

Power adders. What can the factory transmission, bottom end, and rear end hold? I'm looking to break 400 flywheel NA. Is this feasible? Recommended power adders to get to this mark?

Thanks guys for any and all help, happy to be back in the Corvette community.

 

Optispark is not has bad as you have led to believe. If its working just keep an eye leaks from the water pump and you should not have an issue. A lot of people have issues with new replacements that do not have the Mitsubishi sensor. The Optidoctor on here sells replacements with the Mitsubishi sensor.
Fuel issue is most likely the sending unit on the fuel pump in the tank. Good place to see how to repair it is the sticky section at the beginning of this section. I did the repair per the thread on my 92 with only 22,000 miles because it had the same issue. Worked out well.
Headers can be had from TPIS for $895. Good quality and fitment as posted by a lot of members here. I have stainless works but they are $1500.
Manual swaps can be costly per some of the threads on here. My 92 is a six speed but I also have a 90 auto that I like driving to save my old left knee.
Try some searches on the rest of the items and most will have been covered over the years.

 

Only question I can help with is seat covers. I got mine from ridies.com and they are excellent.

 

You could add a vented cap and vacuum hoses to improve the reliability of the early optispark. Requires pulling the water pump but really this is the best thing you could do. As stated, the optispark is not as bad as people cry about. Yes there have been failures, but most of those came from abuse, neglect, or something else (driving through too many puddles LOL). The opti system does a very good job keeping spark timing and performance.
Unless you are completely in love with your car, a 6-speed swap just isn't worth it. Get a car that has always been a 6-speed, they are out there.

 

Thanks for the answers guys. I'm glad to hear the optispark isn't a big deal, I'll keep running it. I really like those seat covers puterami, thanks for pointing me in their direction.

Every thread I've come across says not to do the 6 speed swap because it's too expensive. Every 6 speed low mileage car around me is like 10 grand, I picked mine up for like 2. Is the 6 speed swap really 8 grand? I understand the transmission its self is going to run 1500 give or take, but what else involved is that expensive?

 

Also, I realize the engines and transmissions were different, but if you had a complete 86 manual, could you swap everything from that into the 92, using the LT1? Not sure about bolt patterns etc.

 

The shifter mechanism for the 4+3 is mounted to the trans tunnel. You would need to buy the tunnel piece and graft it in. Plus a host of other changes.

 

It couldn't be cut from the donor car?

 

So you got a low mileage LT1 automatic for $2k? Sounds like a killer deal. All other things being equal, a 6-speed will run $1-2k more than an automatic. So it's hard to believe the transmission is the only difference between your $2k auto and the $10k 6-speeds in your area.

 

Better paint and interior on those, neither of which concern me. I'm sure an auto in that same condition would go for a good bit more, but after shopping around the last 6 months or so, this one was by far the best deal I had come across. I haven't seen a single manual under the 9k+ range go up for sale. I'm not totally dead set on manual conversion, but I would enjoy a manual more and nobody really has pointed out the specifics on why the manual conversion costs so much money. I've done it on 6 cars in the past, mustangs, fbodys, panther platforms. I'm trying to figure out why this one is so much more difficult.

 

There's a lot of key differences between the 6-speed and auto, not in the mounting points but the other details: PCM, differential gearset, possibly driveshaft length, etc. not to mention the pedal conversion, clutch/starter safety switch, etc. Wouldn't add up to 8000 in most cases but doing a conversion and trying to figure out all the bits so everything works right is more expensive (and laborious) than just buying a 6-speed car from the start. The higher price is totally worth it IMO.

 

Thank you for this explanation, very helpful. Has anybody done a write up on doing the swap? I would like to see the labor involved. It sounds like if I can sit on the auto for a while, and find a wrecked 6 speed or something, it might not be so bad,

 

When I opened my optispark it was rusty (but still working). I bought a vented version of the 92 opti by the optidoctor

The fuel gauge is really easy to troubleshoot you just need to disconnect the connector on the sending unit and insert resistors in the harness if the gauge works with the resistors the sending unit is bad. Good thing is a sending unit isn't that expensive and easy to replace. Mine was actually binding It read 3/4 then I hit a bump and found out I was on reserve.

Metra makes amounting kit that works perfect. I put a Pioneer with Car Play on my 92. I just put the phone in the console and I have phone, music and nav.