I love the color blue.Drive it up to the Black Hill Classic next week so we can all enjoy!

 

, fly out and drive it back, from the looks of the miles that poor car is being depraved of what it was made for "driving"

 

Came in late Tuesday evening, a day earlier than expected. Lots to do, still hafta retrieve a Release of Lien the guy forgot to provide with the title, shouldn't be a problem, temporary state sticker issued and in place. Emissions check & VIN Verification all passed. Tomorrow I gotta see about those shipping blocks in the shocks that must've been left in THIS car TOO, dang small town car dealers, don't know what they're doing with Corvettes! This thing bottoms out on the mildest of speed bumps, and F55 does nothing. Idiots.

Anyway, the car is as expected, perfect, not a mark on it anywhere, and faster than spit. I'm already having WAY too much fun for a guy my age! Hahaha... Thanks for all the support and info folks, and I'll still be around, count on it.

I'll post some more pix of it this weekend, having too much to do and too much fun to get at that just yet.

Best regards,
...z

 

Zeek......congrats man! When can we expect a before/after clip of the SLP powerflo? And, a list of goody remarks (supplier, quality, like/don't like, etc.)? This type of info is very valuable to people who don't know (like myself). Have fun buddy, which nobody has to say.....you already are having a blast.

 

I have been following your reports and happy to see that your car has arrived. I am in a similar age group as you but got my Vette much earlier. When I turned 16 my Father was having a party and one of the younger couples in the group had a 62 vette. For some reason his girl friend - soon to be wife talked him into letting me take the 62 vette for a ride. My younger brother and sister hopped in also and we took it to town. We were afraid to stop and park it in town so the other kids could see it because we did not want to scratch it so we just drove around and waived. When I got out of collage I got a used 64 Falcon convertable with the 260 V8 and stright pipes. That sounded great. I only had it a couple of months before I was off the Nam and then my wife and sister used it while I was gone. When I got home they had waxed all the paint off the car. Then it was time to start a family and work. I would go to the restoration places and drull over vettes and one day my wife said she was sick of following me around looking at vetts - just buy one. So I got a 78 Silver Anversarry with 9k miles in 85. We keep that car 20 years and sold it for more then I paid for it. We then moved to a 97 C5 wilth 70K miles (mistake) which we sold last month and moved into a 99 C5 with only 16K miles. The 99 is a much better car and in better shape then the 97 was. We though after selling the 97 that we were not going to get another but that though only lasted about a week. My wife is a C5 lover and would not even think of moving to a C6. I am not much into mods but do follow all the mods people list here on the forum. Some strike my interest but I would rather just drive the car as is, I don't need the speed on the back roads of NH.
By the way, we love Colorado. Our oldest daughter went to U of Colorado in Bolder.

 

Congratulations on your new C5

Hope you enjoy the car as much as I enjoy mine

 

Congratulations Z... I know you're going to love driving it.

What does one look for to insure those shipping blocks have been removed? Could someone please post a picture showing them in place?

 

Wow, quite a story Ollie! Glad your wife is a fan of Vettes, too! My wife is being kinda quiet about it, but she was very excited when I took her to Walgreens in it, yesterday. But, those @#$%^&* blocks in the shocks, the rear end hits bottom going over a mild 3" speed bump. But, I explained it to her, and she's more leery of all the stuff I want to do to it, than of the car, itself. She's now expressed a desire to drive it, when at first, she said she'd be afraid to... Hahaha She used to work at CU Boulder about 15 years ago, moved to Front Range Community College, where she plans to stay until she retires in the next year or two. I just take care of the house & yard, and now, my Corvette.

Best regards,
...z

 

Dick Brimmer sent me a picture of one off the car, it's a small cylinder of white nylon, about 2" tall it appears, and the same diameter. Depending on whether I can remove them myself this afternoon or have to take it to the local Chevy dealer (there's a dealer who's a Corvette specialist about 30 min away, too), I'll see if I can take pictures of them while they're still on the car. But, if you can get it up in the air enough to see the shocks at all, you should be able to see them. They're probably right at the top of the shock's shaft, to keep them from full compression while being hauled on a transport. Dumb idea IMO, esp if small town dealers consistently forget to remove them. And obviously, they have forgotten MANY of them.

Best regards,
...z

 

I have a busy afternoon starting now, but I'll post more tonight, and maybe those pix.

...z

 

Thanks Z,

I've got a 2004 that only had 1350 miles on it when I took posession in February. I want to insure they were removed.

Dick

 

Glad she finally arrived, hope you enjoy it!

 

Well, it was too hot & humid here today to do much of anything after other obligations were tended to. BUT, BLOWNALKY01 (Jack, a local forum guy) stopped by to see the car & give me a look at his Torch Red '07 ZO6 (WoW!), and he showed me the technique for jacking up the car. Gonna be a PITA to figure out how to get jack stands under it if the jack is in the only safe place. WTF, GM???

I may buy those rails that go the length of the sides & provide stable jacking points on the ends and perhaps, enough area to get stands in place, too. I won't work under a jacked up car.

I'm thinking I might go to a dealer in the meantime, but you just have to remove the wheel to get at the shocks, lift up the rubber boot, and the blocks can then be seen, if they are there. I dunno though, if I can find a cool hour or two tomorrow, I may just jack it up & pull a wheel while on the jack to look in there, as long as I'm not crawling under... I'll let you know.

Anyway, they can't be seen any other way. Dick told me all that today (the guy who sent a picture of one), and there's a yellow plastic band that holds them on, and it should be just a matter of cutting that and they should then literally just fall off.

So, all this is the only way to know for sure if your car still has them on, regardless.

Best regards,
...z

 

Thanks Zeek,

If you're able to get in there and it's not too much trouble, pictures of them "in place" would be a big help.

Dick

 

Don't want to rain on parade but, why no release of lean as of yet?

 

The guy's wife forgot to include it with the title. Daughter sent it to me Express Mail, arrived yesterday, all is well.

Tomorrow, one way or another, I'm going to learn if those blocks are still in the shocks, and I'm wagering they are. I'll get the Colorado license plates on then too, I don't think I'll have to wait for them once the title transfer is in progress, they issue Honorably Discharged Veteran's plates on the spot and those plates' color scheme will go great with the LeMans Blue (I already have a set on my van). Still waiting on a polished stainless front bracket, so I won't put the clear plastic domed front cover on until the stainless bracket gets here, should be by the end of the week. Should look like it all belongs, instead of the ugly front license wart on a C6.

I installed the 50th Anniversary embroidered leather console cover/cushion yesterday, a tight fit on a CE, which is already cushioned (vinyl covered), with 100s of staples holding it on, that I didn't feel like removing. It took a bit of stretching, patience, and figuring strategic places to place the double-sided adhesive, but it's on straight and securely. Looks & feels fantastic! (Smells good, too.) The leather armrest cushions were a piece of cake, same with the door pulls and grab bar leather wraps, all of which match the (lighter) seat color, and make for a nice contrast against the darker shale color of the dash & console, etc. Important note; the plain "shale" leather, and 50th Anniversary Shale ARE the same color. But if you're getting this stuff somewhere other than CorvetteMods, ASK. I did, & Neal said they would match, and I can now confirm they do. All that leather is a nice addition to the new car smell, too.

I installed the VetteNet rear windscreen and trunk/cabin partition today, and they also fit like a glove. I have to fiddle with the partition a little, 'cause it has black carpet, only way they come, so I'll find a piece of carpet that matches the light carpet that's in the car and just lay it over the black on the one side visible with the trunk open & staple it on w/my electric stapler, then it will look factory stock. It sticks on with Velcro, so with some tugging, it can be removed, but it isn't going anywhere, otherwise. Important note; there are 2 of these partitions I've seen, one is $20 cheaper than Neal's, but it's 2" foam, wrapped loosely with black carpet, and "one size fits all," so I think it would look sloppy, rub on the lowered top, and there's nothing to staple shale colored carpet to, you'd have to glue it on, maybe even removing the black carpet, first. The one from CorvetteMods SPECIFICALLY for convertibles (there are 3 models) is 3/4" fiber board (heavy), with black vinyl on one side, black carpet on the other, and it has a fairly large (4"x10" apprx) oval cut-out with a piece of shiny stuff in the oval to protect from the possibility of wear on the front of the top when you have it down. It doesn't touch now, but bouncing around "might" make it touch, and the smooth whatever (plastic?) would prevent undo wear/stains, should the front of the top ever touch it. It also keeps ANY thing you have in the trunk from hitting the top, should you jam on the brakes. Cool beans.

Haven't been for a ride yet with all that stuff on yet, I'll do that in the morning (all day tomorrow, actually), we're dropping off another car for a power steering leak repair, then I'll take my wife to work, then go back to the shop and have the guys look at my shocks for those blocks, then go for the plates/title transfer, and ahem, a little highway ride.

All the accessories installed so far are from forum vendor CorvetteMods, with the exception of the VetteNet, which was from RWCiS Distribution - Home of CCA / CMCA / Performance Pedals also a forum vendor, I believe. That thing is made really well, simple as pie to install, and has a nice protective cover for when not in use with the top up. I'm very pleased so far, and I'll take a thorough set of pix when I'm done, probably within another week or so. I want to get the SLP exhaust on too, so I can capture all the visible changes in one shooting.

Then, I'll go through my receipts, list every item, where it came from, how much hassle it was to install, and whether or not I'm satisfied with the results.

So RON (rwilkins), just another week or 2 (I hope, I still have to order Burlwood trim pieces, Neal [CorvetteMods] is looking into getting a better product than what he currently offers that I found elsewhere, & I need to polish the metal dash bezels I already have, which I'll wait to install until the wood trim is here, to make sure the metal doesn't either go on top of it, or something have to be trimmed for it all to fit perfectly), then get out your credit card man, or better yet, PayPal account. I think there's only one store so far, where I had to use a credit card instead of PP.
Best regards,
...z

 

congrats i just bought a 04 commertive in feb, learn how to wash and polish/wax that color shows swirl marks i'm slowly fixing what the 1st owner did it will drive you

 

Zeek!
Thanks a lot for the update....I'll be patiently waiting.
Can someone tell me how to tighten the front license plate cover? Mine is wobbly in there, and I'm hoping it's not a major project to tighten it. Once I get Zeeks list of mods, I might consider replacing the original with something fancy. Do they make a billet piece for there like the grille?

 

Are you're sure about wood trim? I did my other 03 targa, did'nt like it. Check "my garage" first picture to see what mine looked like if it helps you make a choice.

 

I just got my license plates this morning Ron, I'll let you know where the bolts are for the cover and how hard they are to get to. Should be able to get at them just laying on the floor in front of it, but we might have to reach down from inside the hood somehow, dunno. I have to wait until tonight to do it though, this morning I drove both vehicles that are in there now, and now the garage feels like 110+ degrees. I need to get more of the house's AC into my garage, there's only one register at the front, partly blocked, too.

And yes, they make several nice choices for the fog light/intake grills, but I found only one thing that covers the parking/running lights/turn signals, and that outfit's grill pieces have cutouts for the fog lights, and besides all the pieces being very expensive (and don't come in a complete set for a lower total price), I don't like the way those fog light cutouts look. Those are "Laser Cut" grills for the prkg/run/turn lights, and are a close pattern match to the RaceMesh screens for the grill/intake/fog lights, and all the other openings in the front, sides and rear. The RaceMesh won't be here for another 10 days or so, it takes 4 weeks from the time you order them for them to be made & sent to you. Each order is "custom made." Don't know why they don't make pieces for the prkg/run/turn lights, but they don't. Maybe they can't do the necessary curve around the corner..?

If you want to leave those side/corner lights alone, this is a nice "old school" billet grill, almost my first choice: http://www.corvettemods.com/servlet/...let-Fog/Detail OR there's these chromed "rail-type" but they're expensive: http://www.corvettemods.com/servlet/...OME-Fog/Detail

So, I got these Laser Cut pieces: http://www.corvettemods.com/servlet/...er-Mesh/Detail to go with the RaceMesh ElectroPolished Stainless Steel entire set, saving a few bucks over buying the pieces for each set of openings, individually: http://www.corvettemods.com/servlet/...plete-8/Detail for about the same price as just the "bar-type" grills, as long as Neal has this sale price running. I'm hoping that from a few feet away, you won't be able to tell the Laser Cut from the RaceMesh. And, as you can see in the Laser Cut picture, the cutouts for the fog lights, and we never have fog in this part of CO, anyway.

Okay, I'm gonna go try to reset my Check Engine light that the @#$%^&* Emissions Testing somehow turned on; car passed emissions just fine, but I swear that light came on just when I started it up after the gas cap check. I'm told there are any number of things that could have caused it, none of them dangerous to the car, just a PITA, and maybe a long while to get rid of without an OBDII computer clear. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the car, or it simply wouldn't have passed emissions. @#$%^&*!!!! Of course, the mgr of the testing place said it was on when she drove the car in, and that's a lie, because that light being on is an automatic FAIL of the testing. Morons. Moronic test. They should go back to the old Safety Inspection, which actually saved people's lives. More later...

Best regards,
...z