Hello everyone, obviously new member here lol. My name is Wesley, and I'm a 27 year old refrigeration technician. I'm used to buying old volvos and turning them into little tire blazers. Well after 6 or so years, all that work is catching up to me so I wanted something that didnt require quite as much work. So begins the car search. One spin on cargurus and I found a 2003 base coupe about 20 miles away. Up until this point, I'd only ever sat in a corvette as it idled, never any movement. Well, after a 5 minute test drive, I was hooked and she came home with me.

Now that you've got the back story, I'll tell you about the car itself. As stated, it's an 03 coupe, both roofs included. It has the heads up display, the 3:15 gear ratio, and it does not have the suspension package (magnetic suspension with a dial that adjusts firmness, if im not mistaken) I'm glad not to have that particular option. It's a red car, but currently has a blue wrap on it. Sadly it is an automatic, but coming from a 1990 volvo, the driving experience is far superior anyways, and I couldnt seem to find any manuals in my price range. Shes got 100k miles on her, but doesnt show it mechanically. Of course less than 24 hours after buying her, she got the old zip tie mod and advanced auto "performance" hood seal lol. Other than that I believe shes bone stock. She ls got an aftermarket pioneer head unit which I'm not too crazy about, but I'm sure it beats the stock mid 00's gm unit.

The reason I bought this car is because the volvo ive got has bent valves, and it's about to be August, and it will be miserable here in Arkansas. I figured I'll pull the head this winter when its cooler out, and once it's running and driving somewhat reliably, my attention and wrenches will turn towards the Vette.

I dont want to get too crazy with the mods, its plenty fast as is. I'm thinking heads, cam, and header back exhaust. Maybe I could be convinced to splurge on a vararam intake, as that seems to make the most power intake wise. From my research that should net me 400-450 whp, if I'm not mistaken.

Does anyone here have any tips and tricks for a new owner? From my understanding this car is new enough that I wont have to worry about the column lock issue.

 

Welcome to the Forum, Wesley, and congratulations on your C5!
If you haven't already, you should read the Sticky Notes at the top of the General and Tech sections at https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...s-1997-2004-2/. Lot of great info there, especially for a new C5 owner.
You are correct; the column lock issue (and recall) applied to 1997-200 C5s with A4 trans (and all year C5s with M6 trans).
Enjoy your ride and save the wave!

 

Thank you! I dont see too many corvettes riding around near me, so I will surely wave when I do see another one!

I spent about 2 weeks doing lots of homework before pulling the trigger, but can always read up some more. I will check out the stickies tonight.

Thank you for confirming about the column lock!

 

Welcome to the forum. In order to get you some more comments on your car, I’m going to move this over to the C5 General section so you don’t have to repeat the post over there.

 

Welcome to the asylum...

 

WELCOME! Congrats on your new (to you) C5. It looks nice. We're glad to have you on the forum. I will warn you that if you start modding your Vette, you might never stop. When I first got my C5 I said, "it's perfect, I don't need to do anything to it". Now it's supercharged, and making 500 WHP. Planning on bumping that to about 550 WHP in the next year or so. Anyway...Enjoy your car!

Save the wave

 

Welcome, nice looking 03!

 

Leave it stock, it will last longer.

 

Welcome and very nice ride!!

 

Congrats on your new to you C5! Enjoy your new baby and welcome!

 

ok , thank you!
I've spent years turning old volvos into decently quick daily drivers. If you think I've got the self control to keep a car like this stock...well, you'll get to know me better as time goes on lol

 

Nice ride, welcome, wealth of information here.

 

I'm quickly learning that! I'm surprised there's so many people out there upgrading these things. I've only seen one or two in person in my entire life...maybe I just lived in the wrong areas? 🤷‍♂️

 

Welcome
My advice to guys that want to hot rod their vette is simple.
Have a plan. If you have more hp ,than ,the tranny will have to be
beef-up. The drive train. Your going faster, you need better suspension and brakes.
More hp you will need coolers tranny ,steering box, and on and on.
Make it right, do it right ,have a plan. And you won't be replacing the wrong
parts ,because ,you did not have a plan.
Good luck and keep us informed.

 

Welcome to the madness, enjoy the ride!

 

Great advice. Pretty universal suspension goals that apply to any car. Coilovers, sway bars, and poly bushings. That normally seems to make any car "worthy", though I havent dug deep into seeing about these cars specifically.

For the trans my buddy suggested a turbo 400 swap, although I'm not sure how exactly that would work with the way these are setup. 3600 stall converter more than likely.

Brakes I hadn't looked into yet, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a z06 or possibly a c6 upgrade possible though

Im.sure research and some an fittings and hose will have all the coolers sorted out
ever since buying it, work has been sooo long. I spend all day looking forward to the drive home now

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Corvette ownership. You're going to enjoy it a lot. Stock? Yeah, I'm not much for leaving anything stock either. Just don't get crazy with it so it stays pretty reliable. Enjoy...

 

if it does get too crazy, itll be years down the road (no pun intended), and probably wouldn't be a daily anymore