I figured I would make a thread to track the progress on my corvette build. My search began about 8 months ago when I sold my 02 Camaro SS. I had done all the basic bolt-ons to my ls1 camaro, and knew that if I wanted to go any farther with it, I would have to drop some serious coin into the engine/drivetrain/rear end. Not to mention I was already eating up the 10-bolt rear with the power it was making. I was already eye balling corvettes in the for sale section on the forum and once the vette bug bit me, I knew I had to let the camaro go. I wanted a better platform to build upon for my goals, and the C5 seemed to be a great entry point. Here are some pictures of my old camaro:





So I began the hunt for a C5. I looked at some nice vettes at the local dealerships and even considered some C6's, but the bang for buck just wasn't there compared to a C5. When browsing Craigslist one day I found an 02 C5 6-speed that had just been posted hours ago. The price was great and the condition looked fantastic. I drove over after work to check it out and ended up driving home with it! It had exactly what I had been looking for in a used C5 at a great price:

- 6-Speed Manual Transmission
- Z51 Performance Handling Package
- Torch Red
- Corvette Coupe Preferred Equipment Group 2
- Dual Zone A/C
- Fog Lamps
- Luggage Shade and Parcel Net
- Memory Package
- Adjustable Sport Bucket Seat
- Power Passenger Seat
- Twilight Sentinel
- Electrochromic Mirrors
- Heads Up Display
- Power Telescoping & Manual Tilt Steering Column

And It did include some mods from the previous owner:

- Hurst Billet Short Throw Shifter
- Blinking Third Brake Light
- Corvette Logo Exhaust Plate
- Column Lock Bypass
- GAGS Defeat
- Lloyd Floor Mats
- Red Painted Brake Callipers
- K&N Filter
- Rear Bumper SS Inserts Laser Cut Silver CORVETTE Letters
- Door Sill Protectors

I was also excited to find that this vette had been sold previously on this site in the for sale section, so I know an enthusiast owned it before and took good care of it. It had just over 76,000 miles on it when I purchased it. The condition of the car overall was exceptional. I had looked at a few C5's before, but this one was at least three times as nice and in way better condition. The paint has almost zero imperfects, same for the interior. Here are some pictures from when I first got it:





Current plans for this build are to make a street/track car. My future list of mods will include:
-C6 Z06 wheels/tires
-LG 1-3/4" headers
-QTP E-cutouts
-large cam/heads

And for now mostly need to do the small things, like maintenance and fluid changes. There are some minor issues that will be addressed like the dreaded seat rocking issue, and some electrical gremlins here and there. Will be updating this thread with the progress and steps I take to reach my goal. Thanks!

 

NICE !!!!!!! so a bit better than the Camaro I presume !!!!!!

 

A LOT more refined than the camaro, although in some ways it still reminds me of it. Mainly some of the plastic interior and the way the seats try to fold forwards during hard braking

My first order of business was to get these little chicklets off the rear fenders. Who would want these?? Does anyone know if these are factory on the 02+ or did a previous owner install them? I know C6's have them. Anywho, I hit them with the heat gun and pulled them right off. Much better!!





They did leave a slight mark on the clear coat that I was able to remove with some orange pad on the Porter Cable XP. I do auto detailing on the side, and the vette will soon receive the full paint correction treatment.

 

Great looking car and some nice mods already on it.

And no, the chicklets were not put on the car from the factory - the previous owner must have done that.

 

Barf. Hate the chicklets so much.

Great looking car, hope you enjoy it!

 

cool ride

do you think 80000 miles is not too high to start engine mods?

I ask because mine has about 85 000 and I was wondering if I should even bother.

Id like to go headers-intake-full exhaust as a start

 

Great looking car! I came from a 1999 Camaro Z28. While I loved the car and a big fan of 4th gen Camaros/ Trans Ams, the Vette is much much better car. I'm really happy I made the switch. Remember once you start modding its hard to stop!

 

Definitely not to high of mileage at all. Id say go for it and with those mods you will get a nice HP increase as well. Many owners mod these LS engines at 100K plus with no problems. My 98 A4 has 104K miles, so far I have a , Xs Power Exhaust, Callaway Honker CAI and Ported and Machined TB. Im planning to add headers, x pipe, and tune in the next few months.

 

I do auto detailing on the side as well! And I just bought the same color as you. What are your plans up attack. I'm a chemical guys fan and most all my products are from them now. I also have the same porter cable da as you. Mine is in great paint shape as yours but still a decent amount of paint swirls. Here is my plan let me know yours ad we can compare.

1. Wash with all clean a pc and follow with honeydew snow foam
2. Compound with cg v34 then v36 and/or v38 for polish
3. Finish with isp alcohol wash then 2 coats blacklight.
4. 3 coats petes 53 was
5. 2 coat v7 hybrid

I'm just scared of the famous hard/thin clear on the vette. Will be interesting.

 

Love these build threads!
Thanks for the effort.
My vert is stored nearby in Henderson

-Jimmy

 

Thanks for all the comments!

I have read up a lot about the Chemical Guy's stuff, and was a fan of their touch-less wash foam for a while. I now use almost everything that is a Wolfgang product, as it has been much easier and faster to use. I will document the full paint correction in this thread so you can see the process I follow. It has worked great for me, although there was some trial and error. I have detailed a C5 and a C6, but the C5's paint was not nearly as hard as the C6's. I wouldn't worry too much about it, I measured and the C5 has plenty of clear coat thickness to work with.

I recently acquired some parts from North American Tuning here on the forum. I ordered the front hood seal, and the "add and forget" jacking pucks. Hood seal install was a breeze, the piece came longer than needed so you just have to cut it to the exact length you want. The tape was per-applied to the seal, so just peel and stick. I really wanted to make sure I had this before I added a "cold air" intake, as it is easy for water to drip down onto the exposed air filter. Hood shuts and forms a good seal now, just something simple that should have been from the factory:





As a precaution to the future of jacking up the car, I ordered the place and forget jacking pucks as well, which just popped in as advertised. I was afraid that they may not be thick enough to clear the teeth on the jack pedestal, but they were just tall enough. They are not visible from the side either, so you wouldn't know they were there unless you were under the car.



More updates to come

 

Definitely not. User C599 has over 500k on his Cammed bolt on ls1.

 

Thanks for the response. The Wolfgang stuff is good from what I hear. I just went cg because of the diversity of products offered. You really have to look past their marketing hype though. Good to know you measure the c5 clear though that was a big help. Mine doesn't need major correction but I was worried about the future corrections though. Nice look in vette tho man enjoy!

 

I got my "track" wheel and tire set today. Thanks to DOCZ here on the forum. I went with the Nitto NT05 tire, which is a 200 tread-wear compound, and usually the lowest allowed in most auto-cross events for a street car. These Nitto's look mean, and the price for them is hard to beat. Wheels are the gloss black C6 Z06 style and sizes are as follows:

Front 18x9.5 275/35/18
Rear 18x10.5 295/35/18





I'll post up some more when they are on and the weather clears up!

 

A quick pic while the car was in the driveway. Will post more when I get a chance, the wheels and tires look great and fit perfect. I am in the process of moving so things have been a little busy lately. Just bought a house and trying to get everything situated, the vette is taking a nice sleep in the garage for the winter!


I did start to turn the lowering bolts too. This is with the car lowered about an inch front and rear. I think I will completely remove the front bolts and find longer bolts for the rear to get the drop I want.

 

that was a clean ss you had!... I have a feeling you won't miss it much after you start tearing into the c5 though, that's how it was for me anyway... don't worry about the mileage, mod away, and if something happens then just build it better than before... LS motors are still in production and for the most part not a whole lot has changed and the c5 shares a lot in common with the c6 so there is still a huge aftermarket for these cars... good set of tires you got too

 

The rims look excellent and the stance looks great as is.

 

Thanks for the comments! I would love to go out and take some more photos but unfortunately we have been hit hard with snow here in Indiana. I just finished moving into the new house and got the garage mostly arranged how I'd like, and it was time to do some winter projects while the weather is bad out.

My first task was to install some insulation on the garage door to keep some more warm air in. I went to Menards and picked up a garage door insulation kit. I ended up needing two to do my whole door, but it was wayyy worth the $70 of materials. The difference was pretty big and not only did it have a noticeable effect on heat but sound was blocked as well. Plus it looks much cleaner!




With the garage warmed up a little I decided to tackle some of the small issues I was having with the C5. Main one was the seat rock issue. I started pulling out both seats to repair the seat tracks.




It was a little too cold on the floor of the garage still, so I brought the seats into the living room to work on them


I followed a tutorial I found here on the forum and ended up making my own spacers to repair the work out rubber ones. The bushings had completely dessinagrated and it was no wonder the seats had so much play. Once I was able to get the drive screw out for the seat track sliders the rest was a breeze:




The fix was not bad at all. I would say it is a 3/10 on difficulty. The hardest part is getting the clips unplugged under seats to remove them. They are all back together now and waiting to go back into the car. Although I won't be able to test them out on the road until the snow clears up!