Hi,

I should be in the market early next year for a C5Z, and I'm already decided I'll be on the look out for one with Headers, and maybe a cam.

I'm more in to corners and less into drag racing, so FI or N2O is not for me, but I hear heads and cam are good for a track car.

Question is, should I try to save myself some cash by purchasing one with a heads and cam package? Reason I ask, is I've head that engines that have had the heads off are much more likely to be potential problems.

I keep seeing H/C/I cars FS that look great value for money. BUT I don't want to be buying something that may harbour expensive rectification problems, if it hasn't been done right the 1st time.

What are your thoughts, and thanks in advance for the advice

P.S I'd never get involved in swapping heads for performance, due to time, effort, expense, hassle etc

 

When done correctly, there is absolutely no reason why a H/C engine cannot be just as reliable as stock....and there in lies the problem......who does the work. Many people cut corners, or simply don't know what they are doing. Problems will not surface immediately, until someone else gets a hold of the car.

If you can find a c5 that is well documented, adult(mature) owned, then you can get a good deal.

I searched for a long time to find the exact car I wanted, and for me, it had to be stock. I turn my own wrenches, and wanted the piece of mind knowing everything was done correctly....and to my satisfaction.

Good luck

 

It's a crap shoot ....... you pays your money and take your chances. If you are more concerned about reliability go from one that is stock and do the mods yourself or find a quality shop to do the work for you.

 

From what I have gathered from your thread you have never
been a gear head because of your personel reasons. Yet you
are looking for a gear head vette. I find that interesting and
alot little odd. But in any case .
I would recommend that you find a good shop that specializes
in performance cars and especially vettes. Before you buy take
your vette in so that they can test cylinder leak down,and other
tests to see if you have a good car. You will be so to speak
"at their mercy", since you have no experience in mechanic's.

As far as builds go -a good build and a good driver/owner, the
car should last as long as a factory car. Maintain the car when
it is suppose to be maintained and you will have few worries.

I would suggest that you consider a factory stock vette. If you
want to become a gear head start with your bone stock vette
or better yet a beater to get experience. I feel you would have
a better vette experience and enjoy it more if were bone stock.
Good luck.

 

It should be obvious when you meet the seller and see the car as to whether he/she has taken care of the car.

If they talk about it like it's a child and it looks pristine, has low mileage etc,

At that point whether it's modified or not is probably irrelevant (from a reliability perspective).

 

Thanks for the advise, I guess it is a bit more likely to be a potential problem and it's not one I can really afford to take considering my tightish budget.

Not really sure what to make of this?....

My personal reasons are made up from already having spent far too much time (and money) messing around with cars.
Do I want to buy a bargain bad *** Vette? Of course, who doesn't?
Do I want to spend whole days of my life fixing / modifying my car instead of driving and enjoying it? Well not really.
Do I have a truck load of spare cash to throw at a car? Kinda , but I have many other more important priorities other than just a car.

Thanks for the good luck, I'm just trying to weigh up the possibility of potentially saving thousands in cash and countless hours DIY time from the get go with considering buying a modified car.

I personally wouldn't want to rip the heads off a car, but would be quietly confident undertaking a cam swap. I've broken a couple of cars up, and maintain all of my vechiles without the help of a garage. I do have some mechanical experience, but no, I no longer 'enjoy' turning wrenches in my spare time.

I've been driving for 12 years, and have a 'beater', so I wouldn't think I 'lack experience'.

Sorry if this is comming off the wrong way, I just think your post may have been a little thoughtless.... Thanks for the advise though.

 

I will say this. If you don't really want to have to wrench on the car more than necessary then don't get the modded ones. Why?

I just went through a clutch change on my car which because I have LT's on it meant they have to come down. A stock car does not require this extra labor and pain. I modded the clutch install by putting in a LS7 kit which required more work because the bellhousing had to be loosened up quite a bit to get the kit in there. A stock car does not require this. Also paid $600 for a tune once the headers were installed and will never be able to revisit a dealership because of fear they might put the stock settings back during the visit.......

I have thought about returning my car to stock but the extra performance outweighs that thought process when I am driving my unique Z06.

Most mods at times introduce an issue of some sort......you should keep that in mind when the time comes to buy a modded car. If you still aren't afraid of the occassional wrench, then you are correct and will save yourself a lot of time and money. Time better spent driving and enjoying.

 

I double the advice on making sure it's well documented. Make sure there are receipts for all parts and installation (if done professionally). Then check with a local vette shop with a good reputation about the choice of the mods and maybe even have them inspect it.

I knowledgeable eye can often tell pretty quick how a car was maintained.....

Good Luck

 

One issue you may have is who would work on it. As stated before, there are extra steps in many standard service operations. I run different rockers, and their installation is not the same as stock rockers. Clutch swaps requires the headers to be dropped. In my case with the FAST, I removed the intake as well just in case. Different harmonic dampers require different tools (i.e., not tools the dealer may necessarily have). These are some of the issues you can run into when you have a modded car. Also, there are maintenance items such as valve springs to consider as well.

Not trying to discourage you but provide some issues you will run into down the road.

The owner is a big factor as well. I have looked at cars in the past where the owner takes you out for a ride and then tries to impress you by beating the crap out of the car. I ran from those guys

 

Stick with a stock internals car if you can. A Z06 with boltons and a tune will move out plenty enough and be very reliable if maintained well.

As others have said, find a shop to do a leakdown on any engine before you buy. A cherry bone stock car with low miles could have been beat hard, oil changes skipped, etc.

 

Sorry, I misinterpreted your P.S.

 

Z06 LUST -

I can certainly identify with where you are at. I have always maintained all of my cars, built hot rods from the ground up including the frames, engines, blower setups, etc. etc.(*See my Avatar) But now I am at the age when all of that just isn't as much fun as it used to be, but unfortunately I still have the need for power in my blood. My dream has always been to own a 99-2000 FRC vette, so that being said, I set out to find one which was low mileage and either stock or as close to stock as I could get it. Took a while but I found the perfect car, beautifully maintained and bought it. I can either keep it stock or start making mods, but will be paying a competent shop to make those mods for me. Just my opinion, but I think a lot of the fun is to make the changes and see how much difference each change makes. I think I am going to probably take out the stock engine as a complete unit and put another engine in, so I can always return car to stock if I choose to do so.
I am right there with you, not wanting to do the work yourself, sometimes means, been there, done that and would rather let someone else do it now. Hey that just makes the economy work.
AS10TRK

 

I wouldn't be worried so much about mods. I would be concerned about maintance. If the person has the receipts and the work is documented I wouldn't be worried if it was a modded car. If I was looking at a car with or without mods with no documentation I'd walk. Learn from my mistakes.

 

If you are considering a H/C C5Z, would you be happy with a stock one? If not I'd recommend buying one with the work already done. A lot of people fail to realize that weather you or the original owner pay for the work there is potential for problems. You just get them at full price when you're paying.
I'd personally look for a car with TFS or AFR heads, built by a reputable shop.

 

Probably, the C5Z seems a great car stock, but who doesn't want a bit more too?

That's what I'm starting to think. The head work just seems to make it a bit more risky and likely to be potential problems to me.

I never realised headers would have to come off for a clutch swap! Thanks for the info...Would a small cam in the 224/224 range with bolt ons require upgrading the stock clutch??

I'm still willing to do work on it, and undoubted I will, I just don't want to get involved in a long project like a swapping heads....

And again my apoligies to road pilot if I came off a little arsie, forums can be great places, but it's often difficult to get the whole story across without much too much writing. No hard feelings bud.

 

 

WTotally agree, depends on who does the work. You could buy a car with gears, H/C/I, the works and have no problem. For a 6 speed, the clutch could become an issue and for an auto, the tranny life could be affected depending on power levels. If you can get a test drive, you can check for codes and drive-ability. I personally would stay away from nitrous cars, but that is just my .02.

 

Okay thanks for your thoughts. When I find one I'm seriously considering buying, if it has H/C I'll check here on the builders reputation.

If I buy a baby cam car (224/224 range), or install one myself, would the clutch likely need swapping as well?

Thanks again for the advise

 

A properly maintained (tuned) preferably forged nitrous car (engine) is in no way less reliable than a stock engine would be. When modding a engine the proper approach to maintaining reliability is having the necessary components installed that are compatible with the power output that will be produced.

OP,you have mentioned several times in your previous posts that doing a head swap will most likely lead to potential problems. Nothing could be further from the truth...a good set of after market heads that are properly assembled will by far out perform and be more reliable than any OEM head. Always remember that a well thought out valvetrain is essential when performance and reliability is the prime consideration. "Food for thought".

 

I guess because I have modded the hell out of two of these cars I can tell you that I would buy as modded as possible. As long as you have a good motor (leak down, compression check etc.) then I wouldn't be afraid. If for nothing else you can take off all of the mod stuff and sell it..and make some money back. I have sold every mod I have had and did not use which includes

Heads & 2-3 different cams
CAI
Headers
Mid Pipes
Shocks
T1 suspension
pullies
wheels
stock parts
Rad

D1 Blower
TTi Turbo Kit

It all goes pretty quick. So it is worth more in my opinion. The C5 was an instant classic..but nobody is going to be collecting them for years...just watch the Mecum Auctions and you will see what collector cars go for the most dough.

Good thing about a C5 except for the body parts all the important stuff will swap over from the C6....it's kind of like the difference between 67' and 68' models.

If you can find a good used modded Z06 you will be doing good and it will be just as fast as anything else.

BTW my baby 224/224 cam as you put it has been used with my D1 blower and it made 630 rwhp with the stock heads and headers, it made 595/700 rear hp/tq with my TTi Stage III kit, and 1K bhp with my PTK setup. Had the cam for 8 years now.