Whoops, wrong turn.

 

Thanks for that info, Mike. I'll definitely look into those items. I went to a shop in West Point yesterday morning to talk to them. The owner was a Corvette guy and had a few. He unfortunately passed away last fall. This shop had my Vette a couple years ago to look at the AC that had been leaking down for a few years. I had it to 2 different shops in Arizona 3 different times and they didn't figure it out. This shop did finally and it's been tight ever since. So I am happy with their work. I talked to the lead mechanic yesterday and they've not ever done the oil pan gasket on a C5 before. He said they could do it but they don't have any of the specialty tools for the job, like the engine support. He was going to look around and see if he could get whatever they needed from other shops and let me know if they could get it done for me. I'm not going to hold my breath that he'll get back to me though. I'll give him until Monday or Tuesday before I check out another shop that's actually here in my town I live in. I don't really want to go to the dealership if at all possible either. I'd rather use a custom hotrod type shop any day. I also did find a Corvette shop that's located in Gretna. South western part of Omaha. I don't see any contact info for them other then facebook so I may send then a message and see what they say. They haven't been in business very long so I can't find much info on them yet. I'm not in a super big hurry so I'll make sure I get the right place, I hope. We're suppose to get 3-6 inches of that heavy wet stuff starting at noon today, couple more hours. So I'm staying inside for the day today. I did go out and cleaned off the pan yesterday so I can figure out how quick it will get wet again. There's no actual drips on the floor since I put it up on quickjacks last October, so I don't think it's to bad a leak. I'll probably be doing some snow removal tomorrow morning as it's suppose to snow all day and all night. I'll get to play with the Ranger and snow blade again. That will be fun. The temperature has dropped off 15 degrees since I woke up 4 hours ago. Windy too. Gonna be a cold day.

 

You might want to call Ralston Automotive. I've known these guys for years. The owner has a C3 & they've worked on mine.

They have good mechanics. 402-339-1029 Ask for Bennie..

 

Thank you very much for that info. I'll definitely check them out next week sometime. Word of mouth and personal experience goes a long way with me.

 

What color are your fuel rail covers, and are they a metallic? They look almost a dark gray in the picture. I decided to paint mine but am waffling on the finish and color. Typical, lol.


Oh, and does the plastic radiator hold down fit over that new radiator? It looks great.

 

Sorry for the late reply. The fuel rail covers are black. I don't think they put any metallic in the paint when they were done. The stripes and the 5.7 are silver as is the GRAPE APE lettering. The plastic hold down fits perfectly onto the new radiator too. Very happy with that fitment.

 

Got done moving that white stuff from last night. Heard we had about 8.5 inches. Went from having a diverse landscape to having a ton of white supremacy. 😮👍 Didn't realize I moved to such a racist area. 😏 😉 😃 🤣



I sure like playing with that ranger and the snow blade. Almost as much fun as mowing, but colder.

 

Pool guy or Bigfoot?

 

😄👍 That is both. He's been hanging around since I moved in. Keeps an eye on all the critters that come to get a drink for me, makes sure they behave.

 

Well, I haven't had anything to write home about in a couple weeks. But.......this last week I had something drop into my lap that I still can't believe happened. For some reason I can't upload pictures to this site right now, but if I can figure it out I'll definitely show ya all. It's not an issue with the site, but my tablet is acting up on me. Anyway, I fouud a unicorn.....the holy grail if you will. Whatever you want to call it. I'm still pinching myself to make sure it's real as stuff like this doesn't happen to me much. I'm not even going to say what it is until I can upload the pics so I have the proof and nobody will have the grand old saying....thread is worthless without pictures thing. 😄 🤣 I'm pretty sure you all will be amazed as am I still. So I'll be back later to let you know. Sorry for the delay.

 

Sounds like something very special for Grape!
Anticipation….

 

I'm waiting with bated breath.

 

An aztec gold garage mate?

 

Maybe a low mile, Speedway White '01 Z?

 

Well, I think I've figured out my tablet issue so hopefully this will have pictures with it. Here's the story as I lived it last week. Started Wednesday evening. Wife was watching the news as she always does. Got my tablet out and went on that marketplace site to pass some time. Didn't see much on there so I typed in what I always love looking at, C5 Corvette stuff. Started scrolling and about 2 swipes up, there it was......I looked at the picture and thought to myself, self.....that looks very familiar. Clicked on it and read the description. It was what I thought it was, an MCM low-rise cowl hood. With the carbon fiber center still exposed and the raw carbon on the backside. I just sat there looking at it like it wasn't really there. The wife looked at me and asked why I kept saying, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH....so I showed her the pictures of it and she yeah, so what, It's a frickin hood. So I informed her, in a nice calm voice, that this frickin hood is only the holy grail unicorn hood in existence for the C5 Corvettes. And it's frickin brand new, never installed or painted. So I let it go at that and I sent a message to the guy without her knowing what I was doing. I was actually shaking a little knowing it was out there and it was fairly close. Not close enough to just go get it though. It was down in Kansas and a 4 hour drive one way. The next day when she woke up for her morning meds, I asked her, more like pleaded with her, if I could pursue it and maybe get it. After making me wait anxiously for about 10 minutes, she gave me the go-ahead. So I contacted the guy again right then and there. We talked a few messages back and forth and I was convinced it was the real deal. This was Thursday. He told me later that day there was a guy coming on Saturday to get it and if I could get there Friday I could have first dibs on it. Wife and I were getting her meds in town that evening and I waited in the car for her to get done. A buddy of mine was on the phone with me and he conversation went to this hood. I told him I was going to let it go and someone else will have it. I didn't think it was going to still be there if I waited another day anyway. He talked me into pursuing it anyway and see how it played out. So I told the guy I'd be there in the afternoon. So I woke up the next day early, didn't get much sleep anyway because I was so anxious to get going. Had to wait for the wife to wake up and get her meds at 10 AM. That was tough to wait on let me tell you. I contacted the guy and told him I was leaving at 10 and he said it was still mine if I got there that day. The town was between Kansas City and Topeka. We have family that lives in Topeka so it made it easier to go, even if I lost out on the hood. Got there right at 2 PM and there it was, waiting for me on a forklift with the plastic wrapped still on it and some towels under it to protect it. I looked thru the paperwork he had, looked it over fairly well and said sold, I'll take it. Handed him the money, he counted it and then we loaded it up into my truck. I about pee'd myself when I first saw it too. He did tell me he had quite a few ask about it and even had people really low balling him. He didn't want to ship it either otherwise I'd have lost out for sure. I can't believe I actually got it. I thought for sure someone more local then I would have snagged it right up without question. But I guess it was meant to be mine. So off to Topeka we went and spent a few hours there and then off to home. Got back to Grape Ape Acres around 9 PM. I'm not going to say what I paid for it, but I consider I stole it. That's why I thought it was going to be gone before I got there, it was really cheap for what it is. I'm going to talk to a painter on Monday and see what it will take and how much to get it Grape colored. I'll leave the carbon on top exposed and cleared and the bottom side I'll see about painting the framework purple and clear the exposed carbon too. Thinking I'll have him put a 1/4 inch stripe just on the inside of the carbon perimeter too. I think that might be cool. Very sorry for the novel, but I am super excited about this find and how lucky I am to have got there in time to get it. The guy that had it bought a Z06 with only 13K miles on it and wants to keep it stock. This hood came with the car when he bought it and got tired of moving it around as it was going to get damaged at some point. So he wanted it to go to a good home. Glad I was that home. I'll update you all when I can get some things done with it. Might take a while as the wife has a knee replacement surgery coming up soon and I know I won't be able to do anything for a couple months when that happens, she'll need 24/7 attention like last time I'm sure. So now to the pictures, unless you cheated and skipped the novel and went right to them, then you already know what it looks like.

Again, sorry for the novel. 😆👍

Pictures aren't that great with the light coming in the door.











Covered up until it goes to the painter. Soon I hope.

 

Congratulations, I'm glad you were able to get it.

 

Excellent score, Mark. I bought an MCM low-rise hood about six months ago but decided to keep my Caravaggio hood, instead. Sold the MCM to a good friend of mine here and it's going on his supercharged C5Z.

 

insane score! i hope to have the opportunity to grab one of those puppies one day

 

My friend who purchased mine found another MCM hood, a few months ago. Yes, he now has two of them and will be selling one.
If interested, pm me and I'll get you his contact info.

 

That's a great find 👍 an authentic MCM hood.

And it's incredible that it has never been installed or painted. You made the right decision to get it. It will look awesome in purple with a carbon fiber exposed scoop or whatever you plan for it.

Congratulations Mark!!!