sjhanc

I was trying different brands of cleaners on the top to try to improve it from the gray, pitted and flaking condition it is now after almost 20 years of neglect. I would put a small amount on a spot at the left rear corner to see if I could find one that would not attack the plastic.

By accident I spilled some and grabbed a rag to try to wipe it up quickly. The stuff soaked in quickly and as I frantically wiped at it I managed to get it off after changing to a clean cloth. Taking a look to assess the new damage I realized that now I had a spot about 6 inches across that was the only clean area on the whole top.

The stuff I tried is Meguire's clear plastic cleaner. I have had this stuff since around 1980, I used it on my motorcycle helmet face plates and always thought it is polish. Reading the label it says that it does not have any abrasives. I started applying it to a larger area and rubbing it in then removing it with a clean cloth. I was amazed to see what must be an accumulation of bug juice,road tar, and multiple layers of wax and dirt start coming off and leaving almost smooth plastic.

After 2 hours of work yesterday and 2 more today using a buffer and Meguire's clear plastic polish it started looking really good. I can even look up and see through the top now. It lets a lot more sun in though, before the cleaning I could barely see a brighter spot that is the sun.

My plan had been to send the top out for replacement of the plastic window, but now I can't see any need for that. Most of the pitting and cratering that I thought was into the plastic cleaned right off. At one point the plastic had gotten somewhat transparent but felt really gritty so I used the clay bar and cleaner I had bought to use on the paint and had worked nicely to get a lot of the luv bug, insect debris and dirt off of the front end. The clay bar cleaning worked as good on the targa top as it did on the paint.

Roscoe

Welcome!

sjhanc

There were swirl marks in the center like someone had used a high speed drill motor with a buffing pad in an attempt to shine it in the past. It was not orbital and what it does is overheat the plastic and push it around. I won't be able to get those marks out unless I block sand the area with 600 grit and work up using finer paper until I get to the 2500 grit again. I am afraid that might take too much plastic off and weaken the window.

Anyway, what I had thought was a disaster turned out looking pretty good. Not show quality but acceptable, the only downside being now I have a LOT more sun light and heat coming through. I am thinking the right window film might solve the sun light issue.

I also found I could use the clay bar and bug-and-tar remover to get a lot of the luv bug damaged areas cleaner so the luv bug damage is not so visible.
When the car crashes into the bugs the white stuff (eggs and juice) dries hard and eats through clear coats right down through the base coats and primer.
What is left, if not cleaned the same day, leaves a white dotted trail back from the impact point 1-2 inches long (depending on how fast you are going).

When the bug stuff is left uncleaned it absorbs road dirt and becomes a mixture of white and black that can only be removed with a hot towel soaked in DAWN dish detergent and draped over the bug residue for at least 15 minutes, then scrub the paint clean and re-wax with carnauba to protect against future bug splashes.

After the paint is actually damaged all you can do is get the bug stuff out of the paint and don't wax. Since you can't shine wax buildup down in the craters it turns white and hard and is very visible. I used to use a tooth brush and rubbing compound or fine polish to get the crap out of the paint, but the clay bar and bug-and-tar remover works better and takes a lot less time. After cleaning in this way the larger blemishes can be touched up, then sanded flush and buffed for an almost invisible spot repair.

And why didn't somebody tell me that if I pull out to pass a slow car doing 45 in a 65 mph zone it would downshift to second gear and blast off like a rocket sled?

dahogan

I would appreciate the opportunity to hear your answers. Just ignore all the know it alls. However thats easy to say since I know several who have left the forum for that very reason. Welcome aboard

sjhanc

To Roscoe and dahogan,

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread.

sjhanc

After a few days I found that the right rear wheel (which had a slow leak before) began to lose air more quickly. I took it back to the tire shop and they gave the wheel another inspection. They found a cracked wheel rim. Evidently, the new tire uncovered more of the crack and the air leaked out faster.

I took it back home, went online and found numerous wheels offered for sale. I chose a practically new wheel from VetteNuts who shipped it to me promptly. Back to the tire store to get it mounted and balanced, then a ride to check for a smooth ride. So far, after a week, no air loss.

Today the correct blower speed module arrived so I removed the pass. seat to lie on my back and change it out. I had been concerned that the HVAC control unit was the problem but after installing the speed module the AC now works on automatic like it should. The only remaining AC problem is the pass. blend door actuator which runs continuously. I will have to remove the dash pad for that repair.

sjhanc

My first ever work on a Vette was when I was 16 working in a Cities Service station owned by a relative. I attended high school during the day and started work in the garage at 2 PM. By this time I had been overhauling engines since the age of 8. I had established a reputation as a kid who could fix anything.

After working at the garage for several months doing all types of auto and motorcycle work a 53 Vette drove in. The owner said he had heard from a friend that I had done tune ups for, that he thought I could fix his tune problems with his Vette. I repaired a vacuum leak by changing the intake and exhaust gasket set, replaced the worn out advance diaphragm in the distributor, set the points and finally replaced a leaking condenser that was burning the points.

Happy that I had fixed the problem that a trip to a Chevy dealer in Miami couldn't resolve he told another 60 Vette owner what I did for him. The new guy came by and told me about how he had taken his 60 to most of the shops and dealers in the Florida keys for a rough running and chattering clutch issue. After tuneups and a new clutch did nothing for his problem he was frustrated and if it couldn't be fixed he was going to sell the almost new, low milage car.

I rode with him (I didn't have a full drivers licence yet) to experience the chattering clutch (pretty bad) and he left the Vette with me at the garage to check out. I went over all of the ignition and carb settings and then put a vacuum gauge on the intake manifold. I got the shop owner to drive it while I held the gauge to see what the vacuum readings were while driving and the rough running problem stood out when the car accelerated slowly just off of idle in first gear. While letting out the clutch from stopped the vacuum was 24 inches and started fluctuating from 7-13 inches until the engine got over 1,000 rpm.

Back at the shop I pulled a valve cover for inspection, then called the car's owner to come back for the bad news. I showed him the excessive valve stem to guide clearance (It was supposed to be around .001 and was actually measured at .008 intake and .015 exhaust). He wanted to know how a new engine could have worn out clearances and at that time in my short life I didn't have that answer.

When I told him the fix was to pull both heads and have a machine shop install new guides and do a valve job, I told him I understood that he might want a second opinion from another mechanic. He said I was the first mechanic who had been able to pinpoint his problem and go ahead and do it. I had both heads off and in the NAPA truck to the machine shop in Key West in a couple of hours. The heads came back 2 days later, I reinstalled them on the small block and the shop owner and I took a ride in it. I called the owner to come back and try it out, he took me for a very fast ride in it, back to the shop he paid the bill (wasn't much, prices and labor were cheap then) and smiling, he tore off to tell his friends what I had done.

Years later I found that Chevy had been building small block engines on worn out machine tools which they later sent to Mexico to have small blocks built more cheaply. The Mexican engines continued to have the same poorly fitted parts in them and when I returned from Vietnam (10 years later) to work in a Chevy dealer's service shop in Gainesville Fl, I made a living fixing worn valve guides in customer's cars under warrantee. The factory rep wouldn't approve a guide replacement but the service manager knew how to word the job as valve leakage, and the guide repair as part of the overall job. I even had to fix a pickup truck sold to the University of FL that was going to be returned under the lemon law, same problem.

sjhanc

This is a picture of the 402 cu in big block that I traded a 327 engine for. It came from the factory in a 70 Nova a friend bought with his re-enlistment bonus. The Nova was so far out of balance with this heavy engine that he could only get a 17 second 1/4 mile e.t. at about 95 mph. He said that wheel spin was so bad that the car wanted to spin out at higher speeds when he increased throttle. I didn't really want it but I was getting out of the army in a few weeks and going back to street racing with my best friend Danny so I thought maybe we could use it for racing.

Before I dropped it into my 67 Vette I had the crank, rods, and pistons balanced and did a hand fit of the bearings and rings. The engine came with a solid lifter camshaft (stock) so I installed Crane springs and aluminum retainers and I cleaned up the ports and did a 5 angle valve job. I had the pistons fly cut for valve clearance and increased the thrust bearing clearance for better rear main oiling (a lot of big blocks spun their rear main brg. at high rpm). I used the Holley 600 from my 327 at first then later a 750. Street racing was easier with the 600, I could control wheel spin easier.

The kid who got my 327 went out to the local track to try it out and came back smiling. He claimed the 327 Nova would do around a 15 sec 1/4 with his street tires and got good mileage. I tried out the 402-Vette combo soon after and got times in the low 12 seconds at 118 mph with a best of 11.97-121 shifting to third just before the finish line. My gear box was a wide ratio with a big drop in rpm going to fourth gear. Rear gears were 3.57 open diff. Tires were Goodyear wide tread GTs at 40 psi. I always used my street racing setup at the drag strip so I knew what was going to happen in a street race. The Interstate going west out of Savannah wasn't completed so we had a 4 lane strip going 15-20 miles straight into the forest, dead-ending where the construction stopped to wait for more money. Top end racing went on out there but I only did that a few times.

At no time during accelleration was I able to go full throttle with this engine, the tires would just burn up. It was strange to have to feather the throttle and do easy shifts to prevent wheel spin. Up to this time I was always able to push as hard as it would go. After shifting to 4th gear it would hook up from 130 to 140mph then start spinning the tires again at higher speeds. This made me nervous so I did most of my racing at lower speeds.

Other racers bugged me to get a posi rear gear in it to control the wheel spin so I found a complete 4.10 posi unit, swapped it out and was disappointed as the wheelspin problem wasn't any better even after I installed a set of 7 inch slicks. Elapsed times were about the same and were a lot more work doing all that gear shifting so I put the 3.57 back in so I could get 10 mpg again. You guys are so lucky now that Vettes come with much better tires as stock equipment.

sjhanc

Just back from the Custom shop, new tailpipes to replace rusty old stuff.

Some pictures showing progress, new stainless tail pipes, brakes, passenger window glass, lots of paint polishing, repair the pass. sun visor, changed the wiper blades, repair the horn switch again, polished the Heater/AC readout window, now I can see it. I overhauled the wsw motor.

I removed the dash to replace the passenger AC blend door actuator, now, for the first time since I have owned it, the AC works on AUTO mode. I almost wish it had some engine or drivetrain issues, that's the stuff I know. It has been 100% reliable.

I found a shop that does everything, he specializes in auto transmissions. They did the service on my high mileage tranny, they report the fluid , filter, and oil pan all clean. I cleaned and detailed the wheelhouse areas and cleaned and painted the rear exhaust area from in front of the wheels back to the tailpipes.

The car gets lots of thumbs up, horn honks, and guys want to see under the hood when I fill up. Everyone from Honda turbo street racers to old men in pickups. At the grocery store women come up wanting to talk Corvettes.

I have enough driving on the new tires to reach an opinion, They are great in all kinds of weather and are not showing wear. I had to do an emergency stop to avoid that stupid Fox squirrel, I'm doing 50mph, it jumps in front of the car. I managed to stop without hitting it. Damn tree rodent just looks at me, then hops away in my lane like he didn't almost die. Probably one of the hardest stops I have done. The stock brakes in these cars are incredible.



R&R dash to replace the passenger's A/C blend actuator.



Another view of the mayhem.



Mine is the C5 on the left Ocala Vette club picnic.



Just riding around N Florida enjoying the Vette.

Route99

Hi Steven:
I've enjoyed reading about the renewal of your C5 and have picked up a few pointers, too.
I probably missed it, but what tires did you put on?
I remember running across a few of your "Blue Team" troops while I was visiting the RVN.
Welcome home!
Happy 4th of July!

sjhanc

Hey 99, I'm glad you like my forum posts. The tires I settled on after much research are Cooper ZEON RS3 S in the sizes for my stock 98 wheels. I bought them from Amazon online when I couldn't get a local estimate that I thought was reasonable. Delivery was UPS in two separate shipments about 3-5 days after ordering.

After installation at a Discount tire store (mount and balance was inexpensive) I began to get a right rear tire low msg in the DIC. I took it back and they found an old crack inside the bead area of the wheel rim. I had them reinstall the wheel/tire and drove it home to find a salvage yard rim from a Tennessee C5 yard. They had the rim in an almost new condition (it makes my other three rims look shabby) for $200. When the new rim arrived I aired up the leaker and returned to Discount tires. This tire store treated it as if it was warranty and mounted and balanced it no charge.

Some time later I became concerned that I had made a mistake in my interpretation of the Cooper's speed rating so I did research on line and found that this particular tire had been designed for German Autobahn use. The speed rating was actually 186+ mph.

They are not runflat tires so I carry an air compressor onboard to keep them aired up to get to a shop for repair.

The only expensive part of the tire deal was the replacement of the TPS sensors. I could find no mention of their replacement in the maintenance history and one of the previous owners said they had not been changed while he had the car. That made them almost 19 years old. I needed them quickly so the tire shop got them overnight at a cost of over $400. If I had shopped online I could have found them $160 cheaper.

I don't normally leave the house in bad weather, but this is Florida, the weather changes in 20 minutes. A couple of times I got caught out and had to drive back in thunderstorm weather that is like driving through a waterfall. The rain comes down so hard it can't run off of the streets. I have not experienced any hydroplaning with these tires but I slow to 45-50 mph to make driving less interesting. So far I have no wet/dry traction complaints. If I run into standing water it is more of an impact than a splash with the car this close to the road.

A car shop I visit is replacing an engine in a C5 that the owner drove into a puddle in a food store parking lot and blew a piston when the induction system sucked water into the engine causing a hydraulic lock. This is an even better reason to not drive them in wet weather. It never crossed my mind that the front spoiler could scoop a large quantity of water into the engine.

Vetteman Jack

This thread has turned into much more than an Intros one, so I'm moving this over to C5 General for continued discussion.

sjhanc

Update on the dash removal to replace the Passenger side blend door actuator.

I got it all back together and everything works like it is supposed to. The actual work time was spread out over three days because of the intense heat of the Florida summer. At my age I can't stand temps over 90F for long so the only daytime work sessions are before 9AM and/or after 6PM. I estimate that I spent a little over 4 hours on the A/C part replacement. The dash removal was not difficult.

I took the opportunity to finish the installation of some parts and wiring to solve the 'Pull key wait 10 seconds' DIC issue. Months ago, I built and installed a 3k ohm resistor (the pill value for my car) to spoof the security system into believing that the key had never been removed after turning off the engine. It works fine after a shutoff and restart. The only catch was that I still needed to leave the key in the ignition. This is because of the OTHER key security circuit that reads the key in/out status. I live in a secluded rural area that no one else has access to except for me, so leaving the key in the ignition over night with the car doors locked is not a risk. If I went to town I still had to remove the key and, depending on the length of time, I got the 'pull key, wait 10' for restart.

After analyzing the ignition switch wiring diagrams and the old ignition switch I had on hand I designed a fix that now allows me to remove the key and still never get the message. The fix involves installing parallel wiring and a spst switch (to return the circuit back to stock if I did have a problem). I installed the socket for the 3k ohm resistor in the space beside the 12 volt cigarette lighter socket (in the center console). I can leave this 3k ohm resistor in until I decide that I need more security. The parallel circuit is installed in the harness at the ignition switch and the 2 wires go to the center console where the switch is installed inside the left side of the center console. With the console lid shut nothing is visible from outside. The switch is left on (closed) at all times and only completes a BCM circuit to ground that tells the BCM that the key is in the ignition at all times. If, because of a possible error signal the BCM requires that the circuit be OPEN, I only have to move the switch to the off/open position to restore the circuit to the stock condition.

Now, I can remove the ign. key and take it with me and NOT get the 'pull key, wait 10' message EVER. I only remove the 3k ohm resistor if I need the extra security. The engine WILL NOT start with the resistor removed. This mod does NOT defeat the car's alarm system and if the key and its pill switch is in a NEW state the parallel wiring and switch may not be necessary. I balked at paying the ridiculous price the Chevy dealer wants for a new pill switch. It is a shoddy design and likely will wear out frequently. The switch I installed is never operated so is unlikely to wear out. All of these parts and wiring are out of sight and do not interfere with normal operation. The ign key 'nose switch' circuit can be returned to stock by cutting the two wires.

Finally, after owning this car for almost a year I have a normal starting routine that is just like all other cars, and no DIC messages. Looking back at this issue and all of the Chevy and aftermarket fixes that didn't solve the problem, I wish I had thought of this sooner.

ZAZZ

congrats on the car! also a new C5 owner here. a 99' FRC model. only problem I have had so far is the harmonic balancer went bad, causing the car to throw the AC belt. I also bought new tires, and put the C7 Z51 style wheels on it. made a world of difference in the appearance and handling of the car!

I really enjoy the stories of your cars and experiences of the old days.. feel free to keep them coming.. I wasn't around to enjoy them back then!!

sjhanc

For you guys who have tried the method of fixing the horn membrane switch, I tried it too, but I was not aggressive enough. I opened the wire side of the membrane and insulated the shorted area at one edge. It worked fine until the first cold night in the 40Fs, then shorted again in the middle of the night. I pulled the fuse to wait until I had to go into the dash to attempt another repair.

This time, when I removed the membrane to fix it, I separated both sides and applied electrical tape to the whole switch, leaving 1/4 inch strips of the switch exposed. I reassembled it and tested it with an ohm meter, it shorted again so I installed a piece of 4" by 3" 1/32 hard plywood between the switch and its plastic base to prevent the airbag from applying too much pressure and closing the switch. This seems to work but I can only blow the horn by pressing the left side of the molded C5 emblem. This works for me, I can blow the horn when I want to and the horn beeps when I lock the car with the keyfob. I stored the horn-airbag assembly in the freezer for several hours and got no shorts. Then I left it out in the florida sun until it was too hot to touch and still got no shorts.

It is back in the car now and works fine.

sjhanc

I found a way to repair the 2 red reflectors mounted in each door. I slid a piece of 1/4 inch plywood between the door trim panels and the foam insulation at each end of the reflector sockets. Next, I drilled a counter sunk hole at each end of the reflector for a #4 wood screw 3/4 inch long. The screw penetrates to the plywood to hold the reflectors in place. No holes were drilled in the door trim panel so the reflectors can be removed to install new parts.

A drop of Torch red touch up paint on the screws makes the repair almost invisible and I saved the $60 plus shipping that suppliers want for new reflectors.

sjhanc

Last week the left front turn signal bulb and socket blew up-fried. The bulb got so hot it melted the plastic reflector above it. The plastic dripped on the bulb. I decided to change the bulbs to leds, the parts store sold me 4157 led replacements and a pair of resistors that they said would solve the hyper flash problem.

After hours of work I tested the turn signals, they flashed too fast. The new resistors supplied were at 6.7 ohms. I googled the problem and found the correct resistors were 60 ohm 50 watt at 12v, Amazon sells them for $5-6 a pair, 1/3 the price for the same brand I bought from the parts house. Well, I ordered them and buttoned the car up to wait for the resistor shipment.

While I was under the car's front end I inspected for damage or other problems and noticed a lot of grass clippings in the ac condenser coil. I got the vacuum cleaner out and sucked out a lot of debri and dirt. I had to clean the vacuum cleaner's filters there was so much. I was able to see up between the radiator and the condenser coils and realized I was looking at some major clogging. I cranked up my air compressor and blew out a huge amount of dirt from back to front, getting the condenser pretty clean. The radiator is a different problem though, I could only get air to the lower 1/2 of the coils, again realizing that more work is needed, I will probably have to remove the radiator to clean the top 1/2.

I took it for a test drive and saw a huge difference in the a/c efficiency, before cleaning it would slowly drop to 65-70 F, taking about 20 minutes to get there. After the cleaning the temp at the dash vents is now below 50 F within 2 minutes. The engine temps had been at 185-190 F at cruise and in city traffic it usually got to 225-235 F. Cool down took quite a while after getting back up to cruise speed. Engine temps after cleaning 1/2 of the radiator are now 170-180 for cruise and 195-205 F in city driving, a worst case drop to as much as 30 F lower than before. The thermostat installed is rated at 165 F.

I have to do the engine oil/filter change and install new spark plugs and ignition cables soon so I will get it up on jack stands and do all of it including removing the radiator for cleaning. I was preparing to buy a larger radiator for the high operating temp I see but now, I think the stock radiator is good enough after it is thoroughly cleaned. The strange thing is that the dirt that is coming out is black granite sand, not the type of sand we have in Florida, so it has been in there for 20 years going back to the first owner who lived near the great lakes. He bought the car for his wife, she wouldn't drive it so it sat for a couple of years. The only driving it got was when the farmer took it out on his dirt road for a 3 mile drive a couple times a month until he sold the car to my Doctor. The Doctor said it had 1600 miles on it when he bought it.

This makes me wonder how many other Vettes have radiators plugged with dirt causing the engine to run hot.

The helicopters I worked on in the Army had air/sand separator filters for the turbine engines. The design forced intake air to make a sharp turn inside the filter housing, centrifugal force spun the dirt out to a separator vane that dumped dirt and sand overboard before it could get to the engine's intake housing. We need an intake design that does the same thing. There were no moving parts in the turbine engine intake air filters.

jjc508520

Good luck with the new wheels. You will find the fit and finish of the interior hasn't improved much since the 60's! I tell people that about my 4runner - you snap panels off and they go back on the same way - snug with no gaps...

99cpe

Glad I found and read your thread today. Like Yogi Berra used to say "It's like deja vu, all over again".. Semi retired, auto repair shop owner for over 20 years, past owner of a 65' C2 factory big block convertible (miss that car) and a few other vintage vettes. Wife left cpl years ago and now I'm working the bugs out of a 99 coupe with 120k on it and lovin' every minute. I'm going to have to check that radiator and condenser on mine a little closer. I'm sure it's in need of a good cleaning
Keep pluggin away brother.

sjhanc

99cpe,
I'm glad my problems may lead to solutions for other Vette owners. Your 65 is a very nice Vette. During my stateside duty after my Nam tour I shared an apartment with 2 other GI's, One had a 67 427-435hp Vert. He got it tuned somewhere before I met him and drove it with detonation due to an over-advanced ign timing. The first I knew of his problem was when I followed him on a drive hauling blonds to the beach. I noticed a lot of blue smoke from his exhaust and told him.

We had to pull his engine and replace the piston rings (all cracked). I think he got off lucky, he could have blown a piston and destroyed his engine. The bushing in his distributor wore out, we had to fix that too.

One of the later guys who shared that apt. with me had a blue 65 fastback California custom with flared fenders and road race suspension. He may have had a 396 engine in his car, I'm not sure. He was a Nam chopper pilot so I got to fly in maint. test flights with him. He flew a chopper under the Savannah river bridge in pitch blackness at 2 am. he drove his Vette like it was a fighter plane. He was one of the two best pilots I ever flew with. Some of the things he did with a chopper made people think he was crazy, but he always flew with smoothness and precision, making the manuevers look easy. He could pull a Huey up and over going slightly inverted and not bump the rotor head against the mast (fatal). I flew with another pilot in combat who could do the same thing. I would fly anywhere with those two pilots.