Hi everyone! My name is Tony I live in Seattle and just bought a 1995 arctic white coupe. I have been lurking in this forum for close to a year and absorbing lots of info. I have always loved corvettes. This forum is fantastic and hope to be able to contribute as my skills grow with this car.

I have been looking for cars for some time and in our area for some reason prices seem to be much higher than on the forum board ect. Long story short I may have been hasty in snapping up what appeared to be a good deal at a "reputable" dealer here in town. It is a automatic 1995 coupe. It has the standard 2.59 gears. The car is in very good cosmetic condition, it looks like it was at least mostly garage kept. Car has 70k miles and seems to run strong. I paid 14.5k.
I have sence learned they did not use synthetic Oil during there oil change. My question is what should I do about that. Can I just go get the synthetic put in (any reccomendations as to where to get it done right in my area). I drove it pretty hard a few times to test it out a bit I will obviously stop that until the change is done but do you all think things will be ok? The car does not display any problems. Everything works well on it.
However it did not come with any service records. So I guess I really need to get connected to someone in my area that can go through it and give me the run down on where I actually am. I realize now the importance of knowing the cars past...I am just hoping to come out reasonably ok, and set it right. It is my car now so I just have to deal with it. I still love it, but it is like taking in a stray pet....it needs to go get its shots!

I am also interested in adding the K & N and perhaps a new exhaust system. So there you have it. I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks in advance,

Tony! :D

 

Congrats on the vette! I'd just change to synthetic soon. The use of synthetic oil is for it's ability to withstand high heat usually associated with high speed sustained driving without an oil cooler. There are many on the forum who don't use synthetic, but I feel it is cheap insurance in the long run. :cheers:

 

There's no problem whatsoever in going from conventional oil to synthetic. As mentioned aboive, the synthetic withstand more heat. However...the only time problems (might) surface is when you switch from synthetic back to conventional oil. Another thing...conventional oil is better to "break" an new engine in, but the vettes come with Mobil1 from the factory...never quite understood that.

Good to see you got your car...enjoy it...and remeber to share on here....that's what makes this place great!

 

Congrats :thumbs: ..Change it back to Mobil 1 …as far as K&N air filers go a clean AC Delco will give you the same performance but I run K&N filters in all the Vettes in the long run its cheaper to clean them than buying new AC filters every 10K miles..

 

:grouphug: welcome

1. Oil change mobil 1....10/30
2. replace transmissiom fuild and filter
3. inspect brakes....pad and rotors...back and front
4. change plugs and wires.......start saving money for opti spark ign. you are on borrowed time if it has not been replaced...also get new water pump went replacing opti...never get opti wet do resrearch and learn about opti-spark
5. enjoy and drive your car for awhile ...then start deciding what mods you really want to do on your car.... modding vettes are expensives..especailly if you don't do your own labor.
6. start doing all the free mods one at a time.
K&N filter with open air lid
throdle body bypass
cheap mod.. air foil......no gain ...but cheap pass the time mod
7. get into car care section another paas the time something to do with my vette
8. By now your thirst for more performance can do longer be contain..
do a search on the following mods.
exhaust
gears
torque converter
headers
roller rockers ....ported heads
hot cam
nitrous
the addiction goes on and on.... rebuilt motor..rebuilt trans..buy a ZR1..maybe a..C5....Z06.. C6..on and on and on!!!!....



[Modified by redcorvettedave, 5:35 PM 10/23/2003]

 

Thanks so much for all the help. I feel better now knowing that the oil is not going to be a big deal. I have no idea about what kinds of oil previous owners had in there and if they put regular in after synthetic at the dealership. I think I will take it get the mobil synthetic put in and hope for the best. It sounds like the best thing to do. Should I be woried about transmission fluid? The manual says that it should be changed at 100k but as I know nothing of its past would it be a good idea to get all the fluids redone just to be safe? Or am I just throwing money away doing that?

Thanks!

Tony :confused:

 

Welcome. I have a 95 also that didn't have synthetic when I bought it. I just recently changed over to Mobil 1 (10-30W) and a Mobil 1 filter as well. It's not hard to do yourself (and save quite a bit) but you do have to get that front end off the ground to crawl under there. You can buy Mobil 1 at Walwart for less than $20 for a 5 qt container. Put in a K&N air filter like everyone says. Everyone has an opinion about after market exhaust systems - they're expensive and some resonate inside the car pretty badly.

Most all however...........have fun. These are great machines! :steering:

 

Oh, and watch your coolant temps. C4's like to run hot. Make sure the front of your radiator is clean. The design likes to suck stuff up in there. I installed a Hypertech 160 degree thermostat and it runs a lot cooler now.

 

Thanks for all the great info. I really appreciate it. Looks like I have lots to learn..and perhaps be concerned about.

Anyone have any repair shops in the Puget Sound area that they would like to reccomend?

Thanks,

Tony

 

Welcome and enjoy :flag :thumbs: :hurray:

 

Don't be shocked or think your car is falling apart if it develops a leak when switching back to synthetic oil. Might be the reason dino was put in in the first place....or just being cheap. Who knows.....
Anyway, syn oil is thinner and will find all the best places to leak from if it can. Most likely is the intake ends (mostly rear).
I bought my '93 from Seaview Chevy on Hwy 99 about 5 years ago now with 82K on the clock for 19K when I was stationed on Whidbey Island. Enjoy the ride and don't forget to wave. :seeya .
I can't recommend any shops in the area, but you should contact a local Corvette car club up there and feret out that type of info from them as well. Might get a discount.
If you can change your own oil then do so. Not hard and buying an older car means you will need to do your own maintenance or go to the loan manager at the local bank and start getting real friendly.
Lots of opinions and advice on here, just remember it is free and thus not to be trusted all the time....especially from me. :skep:
DO NOT BUY AN AIRFOIL from TPIS or anybody else for that matter. Waste of money. I recommend a new rear gear set first. If you intend to do any amount of drag racing with slicks and stuff then buy the Dana44 from the get go. Else, you can get by with the Dana36 set on the auto cars and street tires.
Lastly, congrats on the purchase, welcome to the Forum, and welcome to a new obsession. :crazy:

EDIT: spelling again....D'OH!! :banghead:


[Modified by Goody, 4:55 PM 10/23/2003]

 

Thanks for all the info! This forum is amazing. I keep hearing dont drive it in the rain...I live in seattle :sad:

I just wonder why everyone says that ...is it becuase the car leaks, or the opti issue...or the power....or all of it? Or is it becuase it gets amazingly dirty? I gotta admit there are some dirty cars here. Anyhow I have other options so if it is downpour I am not going to take it out. But honestly...it will survive a bit of rain..wont it?

thanks....

T

 

All of the above is very good advice just take your time and you will have nothing to worry about. I would also make sure there is no debris in front of the radiator, these cars are like a vacumm and I clean mine every 6 months depending on how much I drive it. Congrats and have fun Vettes Rock. :cheers:

 

Awesome, I've got a 1995 artic white as well, all though a few more miles (130k), you paid a good price for your car if in good condition, congrats :cheers:

 

:lolg: :lolg: :steering: We just hate to get our babies wet and dirty! :hat :auto:

 

Punto wrote:
"...so if it is downpour I am not going to take it out. But honestly...it will survive a bit of rain..wont it?"

Absolutely! It will survive a lot of rain and even snow. I've been through major amounts of both in two different year C4s and no mechanical problems because of it. However, I will say that once you've got more than a couple inches of snow on the road unless you like going sideways, the driving fun is pretty much over... :)

 

Enjoy it,Punto.Oh,by the way,you bought the right year of corvette :D

 

My 1995 is a daily driver with 137K on the clock. I drive it when it rains or when it doesn't , and I haven't had any trouble with the opti or anything else. (Due to the rain anyways).. For that matter my 1997 Camaro was a daily driver for 85K miles and I never had a problem with the opti and I even drove it though a hurricane once. :eek:


Congrats on the purchase!

-Dave C.


[Modified by Dave C. '97 Z28, 4:12 PM 10/24/2003]

 

welcome..........like your choice of years and colors :D

 

thanks for all the support guys! I checked the belt and it looks great. No marks on it that I can see. It looks near new. The car looks real good under the hood. i am going to spend some time on saturday getting in there and checking on some of the suggestions above. Thanks a lot everyone.

Tony :auto: