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10/8/2018
My goal for today is to install the radiator and fan. I started by attaching the fan to the radiator but decided to take it apart later on and install one at a time. I reinserted and tightened down the coolant drain plug. I proceeded to remove the coolant hose that was on the radiator and will replace it with the HPS high heat silicone hose later on. I attempted to install the radiator and fan assembly together, but was not successful. After removing the fan, I was able to slide the radiator in place and reattach the large coolant hose on the passenger side portion of the radiator. I then proceeded to reinstall the fan. After the fan was reinserted, I reattached the two fan connectors and the large ABS connector from the wiring harness. Next I connected the thickest coolant line to the thermostat. I then reattached the new HPS coolant line from the radiator to the water pump. The alternator, belt, and valve covers are coming up next.
10/8/2018 Part 2
To continue with the last few steps, I started with the new re-manufactured alternator. I inserted it back into its bracket and pushed the bolts through. I torqued those bolts down to 22 foot pounds. I then reconnected the plug on the top of the alternator and reconnected the wire on the back. The bolt was tightened until it felt snug. Next, I routed the belt according to instruction. Then I installed the coolant line that comes from the top of the radiator onto the water pump. After that, I ran the two small coolant lines from the throttle body and coolant reservoir onto the top of the radiator (passenger side).
10/9/2018
The last day hopefully of working on it. I started by placing the new valve cover gaskets and rubber seals around the bolts that tighten the valve cover down. This process was surprisingly tedious. On top of that, the gasket that I ended up placing on the driver's side was just bad so I had to buy another one later on. The vacuum tube that goes around the engine and sticks out right next to the firewall was re-inserted into the back of the valve cover. The bolts were torqued down to 8 foot pounds. I proceeded with installing the passenger side valve cover, which was exponentially less difficult. I re-inserted the two vacuum tubes onto it as well. Next, I reattached the coils on both valve covers and tightened them down to 106 inch pounds. I finally plugged in the main connector on both coils.
10/9/2018 Part 2
I continue by installing the air-tubes. The driver side air tube is connected in 3 places. The first place is behind the driver side head. The metal piece plugs into a rubber hose behind the head. Next is right in front of the brake booster. There's a rubber hose there as well. The third piece is on the header itself. This piece requires a gasket and the two bolts need to be torqued down to 15 foot pounds. The passenger side air tube is easier; you only have to attach the two bolts onto the headers and insert the gasket. Those have to be torqued down to 15 foot pounds as well. After both sides were done, I reattached the fuel line on the driver side and screwed the fuel pressure release cap on the fuel rail. Next, I applied some silicone to the inside of the spark plug wire boot. I then inserted that boot into the metal piece that clips around the spark plug. I pushed each of the spark plug wires onto the spark plugs and actually heard a small click when they hooked. The other end of the spark plug was plugged into each corresponding coil; when inserting those, you'll actually hear 2 clicks. I reattached the top Corvette plastic engine covers. Finally, I inserted the plastic that goes around the battery; it's held by two clips.
I removed the 2 plastic pieces around the fog lights by disconnecting the wiring harness that's attached to them and unscrewing the 3 bolts on each side that were holding them in place. The two intake tubes just slide in and are screwed together in the middle. A rubber piece is attached over the intake and the piece that holds the air filter is attached to rest of the intake. Next, I reattached the existing MAF and opted not to install the Power Duct, but use the stock one instead. The smog tube was then plugged into the air filter box. The AC condenser protective plastic was pushed from the bottom and put into place. The ambient temperature sensor on the passenger side was pushed through the small opening inside the protective plastic at the bottom. I then screwed in the 7 bolts that hold the protective plastic in place. The radiator shroud was installed next by tightening the 4 nuts that hold it in place (2 on each side). I proceeded to plug in the MAF connector and tighten down remainder of the intake down. At this point, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but the engine is done! I just had to install the remainder of the exhaust, put the fluids in, and crank it up. So, moving underneath the car, I attached the front two oxygen sensors to the extension wires. Then, I inserted the two doughnut gaskets and attached the catalytic converters. There was another small piece of piping after the catalytic converters that had the holes for the other two oxygen sensors. Those two were installed as well. The X-Pipe was next. I attached it to the top two spring bolts and to the Borla Muffler Deletes; that required new gaskets. Moving back to the engine bay, I placed in the new battery, added coolant, power steering fluid and engine oil. After letting it settle, I reattached the wheels, and for the first time in a long time, took the car off of jack stands.
Aren't kids fun!!! The video for the fuel line, plugs and air tubes is the one I'm referring to.
"Someone pooped!!! I can smell it!!!
That is to funny, glad you kept it in the video.
Also, just an FYI on that last video, the MAF wire harness goes between the drives side retainer clip for the duct and the duct itself. At least it does on my '98. There's a little molded area for it. It doesn't "need" to be there but it's there if you want to use it.
Aren't kids fun!!! The video for the fuel line, plugs and air tubes is the one I'm referring to.
"Someone pooped!!! I can smell it!!!
That is to funny, glad you kept it in the video.
Also, just an FYI on that last video, the MAF wire harness goes between the drives side retainer clip for the duct and the duct itself. At least it does on my '98. There's a little molded area for it. It doesn't "need" to be there but it's there if you want to use it.
Hahaha I didn't think anyone was gonna catch that. I didn't want to point to it explicitly but left it in there as an "easter egg." Good ear 😁😂
Thanks for the photo of the MAF wiring harness. I'll make sure to run it through there.
After working on my C5 for months, it's finally time to see if it'll start. My brother helped me push the car outside. I didn’t want to start it inside the garage and something unexpected happen. Once we were away from the house, I told my wife to take Harrison and watch the start up from the street. My mom, who lives across the street, came out to see it too (my dad was on a business trip). It’s right after 7:30pm. I was hoping to be done by 6:00pm but didn’t want to rush the final few steps. After a couple of tense moments, it cranked up. The video does it no justice. It’s probably one of the loudest, if not the loudest, cars I’ve ever heard. I turned around a couple of seconds later and saw my mom b-lining it for her house. I’m staring at the oil gauge making sure that the oil pressure holds like it should. It shot up to 50-55 for a couple of seconds but stabilized around 40-45. I’m also holding the gas down slightly, keeping the RPMs around 1200. Every time I let off, it seemed like the car was about to shut off since it dips to around 500 rpm. After about a minute, the car started smoking and here comes my brother running up to tell me that the car was about to explode. My wife was the one that calmed him down telling him that it was supposed to smoke due to all the paint, grease, etc. I prepped her prior to the start so that she doesn’t freak out. Another minute passes by, and I slowly let off the throttle. The car started idling around 800 rpm. As I was getting out, I noticed that my police officer neighbor was standing next to my son and wife. I walked over there, and he was grinning from ear to ear saying how awesome it sounded. His wife asked him if I bought a chopper. He told her, “No baby, that’s his car!” He has been following the build regularly, stopping by frequently. He continued, “When are we going to start working on my Jimmy?” We laughed, and I went to turn the car off. I pulled it into the garage and was surprisingly calm. My brother came up to me and said, “Man, I thought he was coming down here to arrest you. I guess I didn’t know how good of a relationship you guys have.” I cleaned up the garage and went inside the house. For the next hour or so, Harrison asked me about 10 times if I heard that. He also mentioned that Corvette was gonna backfire. Right as he went to bed, my dad calls me. He said, “Glad to see the car turned on. I was getting worried. That was a lot of work.” I said, “Yeah me to. Did mom call you?” He said, “No, the security cameras turned on when you turned the car on and I was able to listen to it.” I went to bed around 3:00am the following morning. The adrenaline seeped in and I must have watched this video about 30-40 times that night.
As promised, here's the full part list of everything purchased, and links. Some links might have expired; some prices have gone up while others have gone down. I'll have a summary later with the total project cost.
There are also tools that I specifically bought just for this build. This also includes items like paint. I didn’t include all the other tools that I already owned.
TOOLS
COMP Cams LS Valve Spring Compressor (Qty: 1) - $92.71
Dremel 531-02 Stainless Steel Brushes (2 Pack), 1/2" (Qty: 1) - $6.99
Dremel 530-02 Stainless Steel Brushes (2 Pack), 3/4" (Qty: 1) - $10.72
Dremel 532-02 Stainless Steel Brushes (2 Pack), 1/8" (Qty: 1) - $5.99
AVANTI PRO 3/4"END BRUSH GP 1/4SHANK (Qty: 1) - $6.27
AVANTI PRO 4" CRIMPED WIRE WHEEL (Qty: 1) - $5.27
AVANTI PRO 3"WIRE CUP BRUSH GP (Qty: 1) - $5.17
AVANTI PRO 2" CRIMPED WIRE WHEEL GP (Qty: 1) - $3.67
3M PROFESSIONAL FACE SHIELD (Qty: 1) - $13.97
20 Pc 1"/25mm Cup Wheel Brush Mini Wire Brush for Dremel Die Grinder Rotary Tools (Qty: 3) - $26.87
POR-15 42606 Black Caliper Paint - 8 fl. oz. (Qty: 2) - $28.20
POR-15 42506 Silver Caliper Paint - 8 fl. oz. (Qty: 3) - $42.30
Enkay 115-C Flex Shaft with 1/4-Inch Chuck, Carded (Qty: 1) - $25.25
Dremel 530-02 Stainless Steel Brushes (2 Pack), 3/4" (Qty: 1) - $5.99
TEKTON 15356 1/2-Inch Drive by 24-Inch Breaker Bar (Qty: 1) - $15.00
Performance Tool M834 1/2" Dr. 6-Point Impact Socket, 24mm (Qty: 1) - $8.08
ARES 71002 Harmonic Balancer Puller Set Remove Damper Pulleys (Qty: 1) - $35.16
LS Harmonic Balancer Install Tool LS1 Pulley Installation 551141 ICT Billet (Qty: 1) - $19.99
GearWrench 81911 6 Piece Flex Flare Nut Wrench Set Metric (Qty: 1) - $97.52
Throttle Body Cleaner (Qty: 1) - $6.35
VHT Paint Engine Metallic, Gold Flake, 11 oz, Aerosol (Qty: 1) - $9.95
Red Engine Paint (Qty: 1) - $9.95
VHT Paint VHT Flameproof High Heat Coating Paint - Primer, Aerosol (11 oz.) (Qty: 1) - $10.48
VHT Exhaust Paint Flameproof, Flat Black, 11 oz, Aerosol (Qty: 4) - $41.92
VHT Paint Wrinkle Finish, Black, 11 oz, Aerosol (Qty: 1) - $11.01
Duplicolor Engine Enamel, Cast Coat Aluminum, 12 oz. Aerosol (Qty: 1) - $7.73
Duplicolor Engine Enamel, Gloss Black, 12 oz. Aerosol (Qty: 1) - $7.73
Duplicolor Lacquer Thinner, 128 oz gallon (Qty: 2) - $44.07
Purple Power Industrial Strength Cleaner/Degreaser (Qty: 1) - $5.29
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner and Degreaser (Qty: 1) - $8.47
6.5 Quarts of Mobile 1 5w-30 plus Mobile 1 M1-107 Filter (Qty: 7) - $36.03
Prestone Dex-Cool Extended Life Antifreeze/Coolant, 1 Gal. (Qty: 3) - $80.52
Valvoline Power Steering Fluid (1 quart) (Qty: 1) - $5.82
Brian Tooley Racing Valve Seal Installation Tool (Qty: 1) - $9.99 Total Tool Cost: $750.43
Total Project Cost: $12,331.31
Last edited by dinocajic; Apr 4, 2019 at 08:07 AM.
After I installed my Long Tube Headers, I noticed that I cracked the plastic on my coolant temperature sensor. I didn't think much of it, however, once I started driving the car, I noticed that the temperature gauge was swinging wildly. I knew it was time for a new coolant temperature sensor. First, I disconnected the negative terminal from the battery. I removed the plastic engine cover from the driver side. I removed the serpentine belt and then removed the alternator and at that point I could start working on removing the sensor. I was under the impression that only a little bit of coolant was going to spill, however a lot of coolant came out. I quickly inserted the new coolant sensor and tightened it down to 15 foot pounds. I then reattached the connector to it and placed the alternator back on, reinserting the two bolts on the alternator bracket, plugging in the connector to the alternator from the top, and reattaching the power cable from the back. After everything was tightened, I reattached the serpentine belt, refilled the lost coolant, and reconnected the negative battery terminal to the battery. After cranking it up, I noticed a smooth temperature rise; the gauge was fixed
I decided to take the car out for a quick spin and it dies on me. After a couple of miles, I decide to step on the gas just slightly above 3000 RPM. Just as I reach 3000 RPM, the car turns off on me. I get stranded in the turning lane. There's a bunch of college kids that keep pulling up behind me even though I have my hood up and hazard lights on. I tried to fix it on the spot, but couldn't. I end up getting it towed home using Barrow Wrecker Service. The guys came out and loaded my lowered Corvette in about 5 minutes. They took me home and dropped the car off in the garage. I started thinking about what the issue could be and decided to fill it up. The car still had a quarter of the tank left, but the last time I filled it up was about a year ago. After putting some fresh fuel in there, the car cranked right up. Moral of the story, don't drive on old gas. I'm just happy it wasn't with anything that I did.
Awesome thread... and here I thought I was an OCD perfectionist. If you ever run a track day all that exhaust paint will burn off; been there done that on an old C5.
Who makes the brake lines? How'd you stop the master from dripping dry with the hoses disconnected so long?
How's rear axle CV boot clearance with the coilovers? I had LG G2s (not GT2s) on my C5 racecar and we had to relocate the toe-rod due to hitting the springs.
glad you kept it in the video.
