fxkenny

I purchased this car about 3 weeks ago. I am out in the middle of nowhere, so with some help from this forum & the registry I went over the car with a fine tooth comb to verify it was what it is supposed to be. Also, I had one just like this in 1990, so was somewhat familiar even though it had been awhile.
Short history of the car as I have been able to figure out. This is from what little history I have found & also visiting with the previous owner.
Car was originally shipped to Chevy dealer in Lewisville, TX. Dealer transferred to Dealer in Las Vegas, NV where a gentleman from southern CA purchased the car. The car has federal emissions, so it looks like it was driven somehow until 1993 and accumulate enough miles to get it titled in CA. CA emission check records show the car had some miles put on it regularly over the years. Car currently has 34,000 miles.
Car was owned by the first owner & then his estate until Sept 2014 when a gentleman in west central Texas purchased it. Car had 32,000 miles when he bought it. He traded it in on a new (or newer) Z06 at a small Chevy dealership which is where I located the car.
My challenge is trying to reconstruct some type of service history. I have found that the car was at the Chevy dealer in Ventura, CA April 2014. Car was diagnosed as needing injectors replaced, but the customer refused the repair. Car was also at an AC repair facility in Van Nuys, CA July 2014 and diagnosed as needing upgrade to R-134. Again the customer refused the repairs.
It appears someone did both the injectors and AC upgrade in the summer of 2014 before the car was sold. The previous owner confirms they had been done when he picked up the car. Previous owner took car to Henderson in New Braunfels, TX August 2016 because of an engine miss. Henderson replaced all 4 coil units, plenum gaskets, PVC connector & AC switch. I assume they would have checked everything under the plenum while they were in there.
I've put about 500 miles on car including a trip of 250 miles. Everything is as expected except for a few things I noticed when inspecting the car.
They are: Radio not working. Dr. Don says tuner/receiver. Not fun to get out!!
Small oil leak. Not cooler hoses. Not sending units. Will need to trace from underneath.
Seat lumbar pumps not working. Haven't checked this yet.
Everything else is great.

If anyone knows anything about this car would love to hear. Any comments welcome.
Pics coming in following post.
Thanks guys,

fxkenny

Here's some pics as promised!!
All I have done to it before these pictures is give it a bath & drive it.

whichvette

nice car congrats!

Z51JEFF

Welcome to the madness. The bladders in the seats disintegrate and fall apart and also the diaphragm in the pump falls parts as well. Parts for both are available.In all the years of working on my car getting the CDM controller out of the car was the biggest pain in the ***.

ccmano

Congrats nice car. Interesting wheel treatment. That’s the second one I’ve seen like that. Must have been a thing back in the day. My guess is it was a dealer “enhancement” for which they handsomely up-charged. Sounds like it has the usual C4 issues. Oil leak is likely the front oil pan bolts loose. Enjoy your new ride. Make sure you go over the ZR1.net forum too.
H

FASTAZU

Congrats on ZR-1 ownership.

fxkenny

Thanks for the info WHICHVETTE, Z51JEFF & CCMANO.
The pumps for the seat bladders are not coming on, so I will chase that & see where it leads.
I am going to work with Dr. Don on getting the radio going. He is here in Texas also, but still a long way away. Texas is a BIG state!! I DO NOT look forward to getting the tuner out from under the dash. Will probably procrastinate on that for a bit.
Going to get the car up and check bolt tightness on the pan. It is really just a small leak, but I know it won't do anything but get woese.
Got a "STORY" on the wheels. Here it is for what it is worth.
The original owner thought it was too much trouble to properly clean the wheels so he had a set done to make them easier to clean. The treatment was obviously professionally done.
I am going to get the wheels off sometime and check the markings. I am thinking they bought a second set to have refinished and put them on the car. The reason I think this is that I saw a DOT code on one of the wheels that leads me to believe they were built in early 1990. The build date of the car is 10/89. Will see what I find.
BUT, for right now while the weather is still nice I intend to drive it a bit!!
By the way, I am over on ZR1.net also. Will get this posted there as soon as I can.
Thanks again for all the input !!

fxkenny

Thanks to you too We Gone !!

ghlkal

Congrats on the Z

That's a fact.

I like the stock 90 wheels and this treatment looks good IMHO

billschroeder5842

Looks good- and you have all the extra "goodies" that come with the car.

fxkenny

Thanks for the responses Guys!!
ghlkal, the wheels are starting to grow on me also.
Going to drive it over Thanksgiving a few hundred miles and then do a little clean up on it when I get back.
Still have not convinced myself to attack the radio tuner. Who wants a radio anyway when you can listen to the LT5 ?
Everyone have a great Thanksgiving.

Z51JEFF

The wheel inserts were popular years ago when these were new.

TealZR1

Nice car and welcome to the club. To clean up the engine, plenum, etc. paint I used Meguiar's Color X Color restorer. All done by hand and polished it really brings back the paint and lustre. About a 6 pack or so.

fxkenny

Thanks for the tip TealZR1.
I haven't gotten to the engine clean up yet, but hope to soon.
A 6 pack of the restorer sounds like a lot. I think I'll go with a 6 pack to consume while using a bottle of the restorer !!

1971 Judge

Welcome to the tribe! Very happy for you, I'm a Texan as well (Grapevine) and own a black '90 #1797 and have really enjoyed it. I'm lucky that I have 2 good friends around the corner from me who also have ZR-1's. It helps to have access to other owners; the ZR-1.net forum is invaluable and the folks there are as good as they get.

fxkenny

Thanks 1971 Judge,
I am over on ZR-1.net as well. Everyone on this and the other forum are very helpful.
I am currently in the Brownwood area (West central Texas). I don't think anyone around here has ever seen an LT5, much less know anything about them. I had one just like this back in the early 90's, so if I can get my memory working I think I can get most of the stuff done with the help of the shop manuals and these forums.