Looking for some advice on a C5. Brief history of car ownership: lots of European cars including a C63, 911, Audi TTRS (mostly manual cars). Currently drive a ram rebel pick up as my daily driver as I hunt and fish extensively and just need a truck. Looking for a fun weekend car. Prefer a coupe and prefer a manual. Budget is probably around $15k. Know it will be an older car with high mileage which doesn't scare me if well taken care of. Live in Wisconsin about an hour and change north of Road America so would probably do some limited track days. Issue I'm having is finding manual cars. Seems about 80% of vettes are automatic. There doesn't seem to be a large price difference in price between M and A as there is in the 911 world as an example. Comparable 911 automatics are always worth significantly less. Second is will I enjoy the car as a toy if it's auto as I may be looking at some of those cars as well. I have read every thread in the last 37 pages shown and have picked up on issues to look for and watched lots of videos on updates that might already be done or should be done:
Battery tray(look for signs of spills and replace with AGM)
Harmonic Balancer
1-4th brown wire bypass on automatics
Steering lock by pass on all cars
Update headlights/lights as they are not terribly bright and could use an upgrade

I'm 53 and have attended many driving schools (BMW M school, AMG school, bondurant, probably close to 1000 track hours in various cars). I work in the auto industry so have had lots of opportunities to spend time in all kinds of great cars.

Looking for a coupe, manual, modded is fine as realistically I will swap out seats, steering wheel etc. Like cars that are set up for more aggressive riding vs cruising to car shows. Love going to them but to just walk around, will never show.
Anyway sorry for the long intro. Seems like a very welcoming group vs some of the other marquees I have owned in the past.

 

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your search. Based on what you've said, I would really advise that you hold out for a manual. To be completely honest, I think that a Z06 would be the very best match for you, but you won't find a well cared for Z06 in your current price range. For the record, the LCM5(steering lock bypass) and brown wire mod are for manuals not automatics. Automatics can be great cars (I own one myself), but given your history, and the fact that you want to track the car, you won't be satisfied with an automatic. If you've read the last 37 pages, there likely isn't a ton of new advice. A per-purchase inspection is a must. You seem to have a pretty good handle on things. The biggest piece of advice that I have have is to be patient. The perfect car for you is out there, and if you wait, you'll find it. Also, keep in mind that Corvette prices in general are VERY high right now. Once again good luck, and welcome to the forum. Let us know if there is anything that you need.
Don't forget to SAVE THE WAVE!!

 

Warlord
Appreciate the feedback as I find the right car. Thanks for the heads up on the steering lock etc. I'm now at page 49. Amazing that while there are always little things there are no catastrophic issues for the most part with these cars which is very different than the other brands I mentioned. All of them have one real Achilles Heel that can cost upwards of 10's of thousands of dollars to repair or replace. I guess when the basic architecture of your motors hasn't changed in 50 years you tend to get good at it.

 

Yeah. the LS1 is rock solid. Nothing like the IMS bearing on the Porsche. Really the biggest thing to look out for the EBCM issue on the older C5s, as there really isn't a good fix available. It's easily repaired or replaced on the newer C5s though.

 

good luck with the search and be sure to post pics when you find the right one

 

Welcome and best wishes with your search!

 

Best of luck in your search for a C5 and welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome and good luck with your search. Best bet is to start a thread in the C5 Corvettes For Sale / Wanted Section like these WTB (Want To Buy) C5 Z06, possibly FRC for track car - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

 

Will do but I want to learn more about options by year and things to look for/stay away from and not waste anyones time. Will be ready sometime late Feb and will post at that time. Thanks for the tip

 

^ narrow your search to -01 - -04 as a start

 

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your search. Lots of great people here so I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

Welcome to the forum, and good hunting for your C5.

There are not a great deal of options, but one you might study is MSRC, or Magnetic Selective Ride Control. These electronically controlled fluid shocks were ground breaking at the time, so much so, that Ferrari licensed them from GM to use in their cars! I‘m not into racing, but this is a system to study and decide if it’s right for your purposes.

Aside from the Z06, there were no engine options. All the non-Z06 cars with the manual 6 speed have the same transmission gear ratios, and all manual trans cars came equipped with a 3.42 rear end ratio and positraction.

The interior options included telescoping steering column, heads up display, memory seat/steering wheel, and variations to the radio, like CD player.

It’s easy to find all the factory specs and designations with an internet search. Oddly enough, when I am having difficulty searching this forum, I’ll do the same search on the net and find the link for this forum! Something that might help. Best of luck and enjoy your new adventure.