rnbiker I hope you get this fixed. I have no help to offer but is there a local owner who has a modified c5 to come and drive your car/you could drive theirs? It might help you understand how good or bad your car is running.

good luck and I'm subscribed for the outcome...which I hope is good!

 

Thanks to all for all of your help, advice and support. I have the car back at the builder's/tuner's shop and he's going to check it out and "run some tests". Hopefully he will get it figured out and all will be well. If not, it will be time to demand a refund because I'm all out of patience and really need this car to be solid and drivable. If that doesn't work, I've setup the groundwork for a lawsuit and I'll be stuck with finding someone else to take it to. So far, the next closest highly-recommended shops are in either Dallas or Kansas City. I hate the idea of having to trailer the car that far, but I'll do what I have to do to make her right. Again, thanks to all.. And if the guy who's working on it now doesn't get it together and make it right, I will let everyone know who you need to avoid in the OKC area... Obviously, if he can't figure out what he did to mine and make it right, you don't want him working on yours. I'm hopeful that he is going to prove himself to be a stand-up guy. If that's the case, I'll let you know about that too..... Cross your fingers for me guys.... I'm dying for this car to finally be right!!

 

If it doesnt work out (I pray that it does) and your going to be transporting the car for a REAL build, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you consider ENGLANDGREEN Performance. Stephen and Jason come very highly recommended, are extremely knowledable and highly trusted. They build some fantastic powerplants. Visit their site and give them a call.

http://www.englandgreen.com/

Bill

 

I drove the car and honestly couldn't tell anything wrong with it. I have an 02 Z06 making 450+ hp that was built by the same shop.

 

You saw the smoke coming out of the oil fill... I showed it to you, remember? Remember that instead of blowing out (with smoke), the same area on your car had a nice VACUUM when you removed the cap?? BTW, I've driven three other cars with mild mods/cam and NONE of them run like mine. As expected, except for the sound of the exhaust, they ran like ordinary cars. Two of them were cold starts on cold mornings....no issues. The car is throwing all kinds of codes, my tranny guy's scantool shows it's in "limp mode", it cuts out when you are driving it... Honestly, I know you guys are friends, but my car is not right. I'm glad for you that yours is.... Maybe he should give mine the same attention, yes?? I've got no problem with the guy if he makes it right. Everyone can make a mistake and it's no big deal if the person is willing to find it and make it right. My tranny guy had an issue with the first tranny on my '90 and I had to take it back. I still sing his high praises (if not more so), because he was not only willing to make it right, but he actually did make it right. He figured out what was wrong. I have not been able to drive my car for weeks for all of these troubles. It's time we get it right I think. I paid the guy and trusted him with my ride. Did I mention I already paid the guy???

 

The car is in with the builder/tuner now.... I am hopeful that he will find out what all is going on with the car and get it fixed properly. Cross your fingers for me guys.... Will my car be good to go and code/problem free...?? Stay tuned.... lol...

 

I'm still watching.

Good luck!

 

Okay.... He's had the car for a week now and no word yet from him on the status. I'm hoping this means he has found something and is working desperately to get it perfect and not that he's still trying to figure out what's wrong. The latter would be bad news. I didn't want to be a bother (okay, and maybe I was a little afraid of bad news ruining my week..) so I'm going to touch base with him again tomorrow to see how thinks are going. It's been hard because we have had bigtime spring fever around here with beautiful weather and here I am driving my backup vehicle ('77 Ford LTD II station wagon!!).... I'd have much rather been cruising with the top off on the Vette, but if she's fixed after this, I'll make up for it when summer gets here Keep crossing your fingers for me.... Maybe tomorrow will bring good news....

 

 

Shweet Ride. That is such a contrast to your vette, you must have or had a bunch of kids. Hope all gets worked out for you.

 

You're killing us smalls.

131k miles on the original LS1/clutch/drivetrain and I'm making 512rwhp. She's been boosted for 4 years and 24k miles and made a good car, GREAT! I can't go back to a stock C5(or c5z for that matter). It would be too slow!

 

 

Soooooo, I checked with the builder/tuner yesterday and he hasn't done anything to my car yet. He said he had to order a valley tray for my ls1 to ls6 pcv conversion and I guess it takes a week to get one from the dealer??? Anyway, he said the "good news" is that he had "finished up all his other cars in the shop" and he would be able to devote "all of his attention to fixing mine".... So, with no other cars there, maybe I can expect that mine will be fixed next week sometime, eh? I guess we shall see. In the meantime, I'm guessing my car was just there for decoration for the last week?? Oh well, I guess it's better than decorating my driveway everyday as a stark reminder that I can't drive her... Anyway, hopefully I'll have more for you guys in a few days. If she's right after all of this, I won't mind so much.....but I am expecting that I will either be done with this and have a good-running car or I'll have my refunded cash in hand and be looking for someone else.... Let's hope for the best, shall we....??

 

As of yesterday, my pcv system has been restored and the builder/tuner says there is no more smoke rolling into the car. He was working on what is wrong with the engine and the codes it's throwing but I never heard anything today...so I'm kinda concerned it's not something simple after all...but who knows? I'll check with him again tomorrow to see if there is any news. Hopefully he is working on it and can get it figured out. I'll update again when I know something...

 

Progress is a good thing. He should know something isn't right if it keeps tossing codes. Good to hear he doing something at last.

 

I have been following each of your updates. And I really hope it gets figured out for you.

But, to me and my knowledge it sounds a little more involved than a simple fix. It sounds, to me, like it is internal and you might be looking at replacing some hard parts!

Now who flips the bill for the repairs is to soon to tell.

I am hoping for the best for you!

Thanks,Matt

 

Okay, where to start.... I got my car back today.. The good news is that the engine seems to be running great, I've got no smoke coming from under the hood or into the cabin and my transmission tcc issues seem to be gone and it's shifting normally. I was told that there were two vacuum leaks found in the engine and that this was the cause for all of my running problems and could have rightly contributed to every issue I've had. It seems to be running great and no problems or codes on the way home (long way home of course ) Now the bad news... I've got a big scrape on the right hand side that is way through the finish and was not there before. I didn't notice it until after I picked up the car and had driven away. I called him as soon as I noticed it (within 10 minutes) and he said "nothing happened while I had it" and denied damaging the car. My car's finish was not flawless when I took it there (rock chips and the norm, etc.) but there was NO BODY DAMAGE like this when I dropped it off. I said this to him and told him I would be bringing it by tomorrow. I took it by the car wash and the scrapes are definitely into the finish after the wash. When it's daylight, I'll snap some pics and put them up for all to see. Can you believe this crap?? He finally gets my car running right and he gives it back to me damaged?? Doesn't this beat all? Does this happen to you guys as well? Cracking up my car is one thing....let's see if he'll make it right folks... After all, what good is paying for engine work if you get your car back needing body work from rough handling?? Stay tuned folks.... I'll post again tomorrow. Cheers...

 

Sorry to hear about the body damage. I hope you get satisfaction.

I'm glad to know your car is running properly now.

 

You are a very patient individual. i wish you well in this

 

Holy cow if that happened to me I would have had a friend shoot me in the head.Good luck, have case of beer on me or whatever your poison is.