ZR-71

Dude, if you got it for considerably less than $13.5K, you stole it
Anyway congrats on your new ZR-1 and welcome to the Brotherhood

BlackbirdZ07

SEE BOTTOM OF PAGE 2 OF THIS THREAD FOR PICTURES.

Thanks. That's what the seller told me as I was loading it onto the car trailer. But this sale should NOT be taken in any way as a reflection on the state of the ZR-1 market. It was a divorce sale where the ex wife got the money, and it was not advertised at all as far as I know. I heard about it by word of mouth.

phrogs

Anything this old in most states doesn't even get the OD reading placed on a title anymore.

Its a fat finger mistake that some tool at the DMV did somewhere some how.

Car fax is a joke and I do not recomend the use of it at all.

A good car like this is branded with some BS and I know for a fact that 3 cars ZR-1s that I parted out had clean anc clear carfaxes but were COMPLETE totals!!! its a crock of **** not to be trusted in anyway shape or form.

gmonsen

Congratulations. I have just been bitten with the bug to get one of these and your story and at least the look in the pictures says you did steal it. I'm glad I joined the forum, as I have just been cruising the for sale sites and seeing much higher prices for low mile cars. Says I should wait and bide my time for the right deal. Most very clean cars with the pizza box and all the rest seem to be mid-to-high 20's with asks just over 30 for some and the odd ball 37-38 that will never happen.

I notice that, just as with the other forums I spend time on, people here do not think their cars are collectible, apparently. I have one of those early BMW M3's and a 3 rotor Rx7. The M3 guys think they are collectible, but the Rx7 guys do not. I would have thought the LT5 and other bits would make this perhaps the most collectible of the post 67 vettes? No?

Gordon

DRM500RUBYZR-1

Very, VERY well bought!
You did right not to let that one get away.
Right time, Right place, cash needed by seller, buyer ready to pull trigger,
that all adds up to a winning purchase.
Good luck with it, but it looks in FAR better shape than I expected to see.
People who abuse cars generally do not put sill plate covers, dash pad covers, and other personal touches on a car.
I think this one was pretty well cared for, then left to get a bit dirty.
First, read up on maintenance on this site and ZR-1 Registry, and start with basics.
1- oil and filter
2- coolant
3- brake fluid
4- fuel filter
5- change, but save those tires.
Then simply start on whatever fails to work as it should, but bet it's not much.

Just read here first, as oil change and coolant change have some unusual practices, so don't just dive in.

Well done!!!
Enjoy!!!!!!!!!


Marty
1FUNZR1

Z51JEFF

Sounds like you have definitely been following the market.This car was an easy $20-$22,000 car if it has no hidden damage issues.Those of use that have followed these cars from the start have always known at some point these will take off in value,just a matter of time.Ive been saying this long before I bought one.To the OP,you got a SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKIN deal.I cant remember the last time I heard of somebody getting such a low mileage car at such a cheap price.Now the first order of business would be the get the ODO issue with the DMV straightened out.

BlackbirdZ07

I would not be afraid to pay a fair price for a good car. Mine was one of those deals where I was just in the right place at the right time. I was not looking for a ZR-1, and if I was looking this probably would not have come up.

I agree, I think these cars have all the ingredients of collector cars and will be highly collectible one day for several reasons: 1. They are reasonably rare; they just didn't make that many. 2. The LT-5 was, and still is, an engineering marvel. It's unlike any other engine GM put in a Corvette, and it already has a great reputation for reliability. 3. ZR-1's are milestone cars. They were the first cars (at least since the 1960's) that put Europe on notice that America was capable of building a supercar. They were the first modern truly high performance Corvettes. ZR-1's were legends in their own time and they still command respect now, when few C4's do.

I think maybe a lot of the guys here are in denial about their cars' collector status. If they came to terms with that, then they'd feel badly about driving them and they'd leave them to sit in their garages, and they're having way too much fun for that!

Thanks Marty. I think you're right on in your assessment... this one was reasonably well cared for and then just sat (indoors) for a while. I don't see any signs it's ever been abused.

Thanks for the tips on the oil and coolant. I already have the LT-5 Service Manual Supplement and I'll start reading up. Any other books/manuals that I should have, besides the factory service manual?

Tires are Goodyear Eagle HP's in the front and F1 Supercars in the back. They're all in excellent condition. Is there a place I could find F1 Supercars in 275/40/17's to match the rears? They don't seem to make them anymore.

BlackbirdZ07

A couple questions... In the engine compartment picture below, there is a component on the left side of the engine compartment. It has a vacuum connection at the front, an electrical connection at the rear, and a large diameter air hose on the bottom (not visible). In the picture, this component can be seen directly in front of the brake master cylinder. What is this component? The vacuum fitting at the front is broken, and the lose vacuum line can be seen directly below the #1 spark plug wire. Maybe that's the source of my vacuum leak?

On three of the four exhaust tips, there's a winged logo with the word "SEPYTSA". I assume that's not original? The mufflers look original, so maybe these are aftermarket tips?

[QUOTE=BlackbirdZ07;1577993622][IMG][/IMG]QUOTE]

VetteMed

[QUOTE=BlackbirdZ07;1577997145]A couple questions... In the engine compartment picture below, there is a component on the left side of the engine compartment. It has a vacuum connection at the front, an electrical connection at the rear, and a large diameter air hose on the bottom (not visible). In the picture, this component can be seen directly in front of the brake master cylinder. What is this component? The vacuum fitting at the front is broken, and the lose vacuum line can be seen directly below the #1 spark plug wire. Maybe that's the source of my vacuum leak?

On three of the four exhaust tips, there's a winged logo with the word "SEPYTSA". I assume that's not original? The mufflers look original, so maybe these are aftermarket tips?

That's a solenoid for the AIR system (emissions, injects air into the cats for faster light-off upon cold-start). I believe the vacuum line there is constant vacuum, so it would indeed cause a leak. I believe it's connected by a t-fitting to the vacuum reservoir ball under the LH headlight.

BlackbirdZ07

Thanks. The vacuum fitting is broken off so I figure I'll probably have to replace the whole thing. Any ideas where I might find one?

VetteMed

I think I have one removed from my '91, should be the same part - I will check when i get home from work later.

-Andrew

BlackbirdZ07

Thanks Andrew!

USAFPILOT

Wow dude, amazing purchase. You will find that there will be some work to do, but once you have it sorted it is a phenominal car. The vacuum secondaries can be a problem, but are easily fixed by you and the brotherhood. Once you have them going be ready for the permagrin! Also, the ethanol gas will eat away at your injectors over time, so be ready to replace them with a dry coil design. There is alot of power to be gained from headers exhaust and a tune, but might consider leaving it original due to the low mileage. That car could clean up to be an NCRS Top Flight type car. Awesome! Ohh and from my initial glance the car is all original except for the tires and exhaust tips.

BlackbirdZ07

Thanks! I'm researching injectors and planning for the plenum removal. I'll probably leave it original, at least for a while.

ammrpm

This looks like a great car and bought very well. One thing I did notice while looking at this engine picture. It looks like the coolant fill cap on the upper radiator tank is not fully closed. Its the metal cap that is in the lower left hand of this picture. You may have already seen that, but just didn't want you to run down the road and loose a bunch of coolant and overheat.

[IMG][/IMG][/QUOTE]

BlackbirdZ07

Thanks... that's a good catch! I just went out and checked it... it wasn't loose, but you're right, it wasn't turned all the way to the right to the "locked" position. I took it off to inspect the coolant and then reinstalled it properly. Coolant is nice and green and full!

Aurora40

FYI, on a car with an aluminum motor, the coolant will look nice and green long after all the protection additives have been exhausted. It won't get rusty or scaley, but that doesn't mean it's still good.

Your exhaust tips should be dual squares on each side, painted flat black. Take a picture and someone can easily tell you if they are stock or not.

Your engine bay just looks dusty, but resist the urge to just hose it down, or you'll probably be replacing the starter in the future.

And nice buy!

WydGlydJim

I've been following these cars for about 5 years now, and this is the best deal I've seen. Without a doubt, the mileage is correct. It is obvious in the seat wear, and the camel seats show wear the most. Judging only on the pictures, this car is right, and very very very well bought. With that little of an initial investment, you could conceiveably
send it to Mark Haibeck and have the 600 H.P. package put in it, and have a world beater for 40K total investment

BlackbirdZ07

Great point... the coolant looks good but it's probably at least a few years old. I'm planning to change all the fluids, and the coolant should be no exception.

The pictures at the bottom of page 2 of this thread show the exhaust. The tips are aftermarket. They look good so I'll probably just leave them for now, unless anyone has a set of original tips or mufflers.

I owned a '92 LT-1 for 10 years. Of course it has the optispark distributor, which can not get wet. So hosing down the engine compartment of any C4 would feel totally unnatural to me!

There's minor wear on the driver's side bolster, but not much. I'm very careful and after driving my '92 for 10 years and 60,000 miles, the seat bolster looked just as good as when I bought the car. The sport seats in this '90 are a little tighter, but I'm still very careful not to rub the bolsters when I get in and out.

I definitely got a great deal on this car, but as I said in a previous post this sale should NOT be taken as an indication of the state of the ZR-1 market because it was a divorce sale and it was not advertised. It also needs some work.

Aurora40

I guess I didn't wait long enough for all the pictures to load. Your exhaust looks like they might just be tips replaced. The way the cans are tucked up looks like the factory setup, though it's hard to tell in those pictures.