considering a c6z, couple questions
04-14-2018, 08:57 PM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
considering a c6z, couple questions
hey guys, long time member, first time c6z looker. had a c4 track car nearly 20 years ago. c5z fairly recent. sportscar-less for the past 2 years. had my heart set on a GTR but something clean and newer is basically 70k. then i noticed c6z pricing. 08s with 20k miles are going for 35k at dealers. my interest went up....a lot.
the questions.
1. heads. yes i read the countless threads and so far have concluded that AHP is the way to go on a stock engine simply because they are using a spintron tested combo. the PM guides seem to hold up to the OE ti intake which was my 1st concern since those valves were not moly finished. do we have any long term mileage reports and or heavy track reports? 100 track miles is probably equal to ....a lot of street miles. who knows what exact number
2. any other quirks? the c5z was a fun balanced car, after changing the valve springs i really had no other issues other than general maintence. anything different here?
3. what's wheel bearing life like with the massive tires. they still a 100k street or full season of track item?
anyway, just bouncing ideas around as the price point these cars are selling at is getting more and more attractive {which is ironically why i bought a c5z}
the questions.
1. heads. yes i read the countless threads and so far have concluded that AHP is the way to go on a stock engine simply because they are using a spintron tested combo. the PM guides seem to hold up to the OE ti intake which was my 1st concern since those valves were not moly finished. do we have any long term mileage reports and or heavy track reports? 100 track miles is probably equal to ....a lot of street miles. who knows what exact number
2. any other quirks? the c5z was a fun balanced car, after changing the valve springs i really had no other issues other than general maintence. anything different here?
3. what's wheel bearing life like with the massive tires. they still a 100k street or full season of track item?
anyway, just bouncing ideas around as the price point these cars are selling at is getting more and more attractive {which is ironically why i bought a c5z}
04-14-2018, 09:44 PM
#2
Safety Car
Other than the cylinder head issue these are great cars. I put 100K on my C5 never had the valve covers off of it. The C6Z I have now only has less than 30K on it but the only thing that came stock with the car that I've had to change is the hood struts.
The only two things I'd suggest is to not go cheap on the head repair, spend the money the first time on all the good stuff. The other thing would be to make sure you don't have the OEM run flats on there and get a good set of Michelin's that are less than a year old if your buying new ones and if they are already on the car make sure they're not more than 5 years old. You can check the date code on the tires.
Good luck, you're going to love it.
Just thought of another thing, A lot of guys mod the hell out of these cars, meaning blowers, turbos and all that kind of stuff. Along with that equipment comes a very heavy foot, meaning they're beating the hell out of the car. Make sure you can figure out the history of what has been done to it. Most of the time these guys remove all the mods, return the car to stock form, sell all the parts separately and you have no clue what has been done. I wouldn't buy one that has had more than one owner, but then that's going to make the price go up.
The only two things I'd suggest is to not go cheap on the head repair, spend the money the first time on all the good stuff. The other thing would be to make sure you don't have the OEM run flats on there and get a good set of Michelin's that are less than a year old if your buying new ones and if they are already on the car make sure they're not more than 5 years old. You can check the date code on the tires.
Good luck, you're going to love it.
Just thought of another thing, A lot of guys mod the hell out of these cars, meaning blowers, turbos and all that kind of stuff. Along with that equipment comes a very heavy foot, meaning they're beating the hell out of the car. Make sure you can figure out the history of what has been done to it. Most of the time these guys remove all the mods, return the car to stock form, sell all the parts separately and you have no clue what has been done. I wouldn't buy one that has had more than one owner, but then that's going to make the price go up.
Last edited by meanjoe; 04-14-2018 at 09:52 PM.
04-15-2018, 02:15 AM
#3
Race Director
Thread Starter
Other than the cylinder head issue these are great cars. I put 100K on my C5 never had the valve covers off of it. The C6Z I have now only has less than 30K on it but the only thing that came stock with the car that I've had to change is the hood struts.
The only two things I'd suggest is to not go cheap on the head repair, spend the money the first time on all the good stuff. The other thing would be to make sure you don't have the OEM run flats on there and get a good set of Michelin's that are less than a year old if your buying new ones and if they are already on the car make sure they're not more than 5 years old. You can check the date code on the tires.
Good luck, you're going to love it.
Just thought of another thing, A lot of guys mod the hell out of these cars, meaning blowers, turbos and all that kind of stuff. Along with that equipment comes a very heavy foot, meaning they're beating the hell out of the car. Make sure you can figure out the history of what has been done to it. Most of the time these guys remove all the mods, return the car to stock form, sell all the parts separately and you have no clue what has been done. I wouldn't buy one that has had more than one owner, but then that's going to make the price go up.
The only two things I'd suggest is to not go cheap on the head repair, spend the money the first time on all the good stuff. The other thing would be to make sure you don't have the OEM run flats on there and get a good set of Michelin's that are less than a year old if your buying new ones and if they are already on the car make sure they're not more than 5 years old. You can check the date code on the tires.
Good luck, you're going to love it.
Just thought of another thing, A lot of guys mod the hell out of these cars, meaning blowers, turbos and all that kind of stuff. Along with that equipment comes a very heavy foot, meaning they're beating the hell out of the car. Make sure you can figure out the history of what has been done to it. Most of the time these guys remove all the mods, return the car to stock form, sell all the parts separately and you have no clue what has been done. I wouldn't buy one that has had more than one owner, but then that's going to make the price go up.
i know all about the beat cars people try and return to stock. when i was c5 shopping i would even inspect the exahust manifold bolts. it's usually pretty apparent from the socket marks on the bolts if those have been off in the past year. hidden leaks, wobbly wheel bearings.
typically i look for older owners. over 60 preferably that are really well off and bought the car for a commuter or just something to drive. garage ornaments also work.
also agree on tires. i normally change out at 3 years or 48 months from the manf. date on the tire. whichever is first. also have a love affair with the michelin pss for a street tire. it's wicked fast in rain and has outstanding dry traction without the need to have heat in them
this time i'm putting a hitch on the car for a bike rack and taking the mountain bikes around the country. no more low mile garage ornament corvettes. this of course means all stock and max reliability which is what made me notice AHP. there are tons of ways to rebuild heads but i liked the fact they push {at least for stock cars} a design that's been thoroughly tested
04-15-2018, 09:20 AM
#4
I had been tracking C6z’s for about two years now, fell in love with C5’s on the early 2000’s when a buddy showed up with a black ‘01 FRC heades/cam/exhaust. I’m active duty so I was just gonna wait till I transferred to a west coast team. But I found a car I could t pass up, ‘06 13,700 miles black on black. It’s is moded out so I knew I was taking a gamble but with the car having such low miles(sub 14k) and less than 4K on the motor after mods I was willing to take the risk. Price was around what you quoted, was at a dealer so they couldn’t mark it up because the mods. It’s in great shape the tune was garbage and it had a few things that needed immediate attention, plugs/wires/injectors and some of the stuff the tuner did internally was just careless(turned off and deleted all knock sensors) but I had it looked over by a very good LS tuner and he’s got it up to speed. Heads are fine at the moment but the cars making pretty decent power with a mild tune as of now so I’m gonna go ahead and rework the heads in June just for longevity. I’ve removed the cats did the muffler mod added an AEM air fuel/boost gauge all wired through a dash logic. My advice is be patient but be ready to pull the trigger on a gem!! I’ve got before/after vids on the new guy forum page.(I’m a new guy lol) but I’ll put them up here as well.
04-15-2018, 09:24 AM
#5
04-15-2018, 09:26 AM
#6
Obviously run the vin on whatever you choose, try and get in contact with previous owner if possible( dealer wouldn’t give me previous owners contact and most won’t) and good luck hunting!!!!
04-15-2018, 10:41 AM
#7
Team Owner
Katech is the only spin tron tested combo out there last time i checked. Never seen anything from ahp spintron tested. Now you can try to apply it but it isnt the same.
04-15-2018, 02:54 PM
#8
Melting Slicks
As far as wheel bearings go, I have 130k on my Z06 and have only replaced 1 wheel bearing (left rear) at around 85k. I don't track the car so that is also a factor.
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racebum (04-15-2018)
04-15-2018, 04:34 PM
#9
04-15-2018, 05:08 PM
#10
Race Director
Thread Starter
of the 5 tests only 2 or 3 were worth using. i'm not sure if anyone has actually posted that information as it cost someone at least $50 to see the results at the time.
if you spend a few hours researching you can piece together from the comments which combos worked and which didn't
04-15-2018, 05:11 PM
#11
Race Director
Thread Starter
oh for sure. i pay for carfax pre purchase. it's cheap when you consider what might be on there. when i sell cars i put the vin in the ad. always makes me wonder when people don't do this. i get some owners are paranoid and will disclose via email but i'm all about full disclosure
04-15-2018, 06:33 PM
#12
Race Director
Thread Starter
I had been tracking C6z’s for about two years now, fell in love with C5’s on the early 2000’s when a buddy showed up with a black ‘01 FRC heades/cam/exhaust. I’m active duty so I was just gonna wait till I transferred to a west coast team. But I found a car I could t pass up, ‘06 13,700 miles black on black. It’s is moded out so I knew I was taking a gamble but with the car having such low miles(sub 14k) and less than 4K on the motor after mods I was willing to take the risk. Price was around what you quoted, was at a dealer so they couldn’t mark it up because the mods. It’s in great shape the tune was garbage and it had a few things that needed immediate attention, plugs/wires/injectors and some of the stuff the tuner did internally was just careless(turned off and deleted all knock sensors) but I had it looked over by a very good LS tuner and he’s got it up to speed. Heads are fine at the moment but the cars making pretty decent power with a mild tune as of now so I’m gonna go ahead and rework the heads in June just for longevity. I’ve removed the cats did the muffler mod added an AEM air fuel/boost gauge all wired through a dash logic. My advice is be patient but be ready to pull the trigger on a gem!! I’ve got before/after vids on the new guy forum page.(I’m a new guy lol) but I’ll put them up here as well.
texas direct has a couple 08z's with 20k miles for 35k. looks like that's reasonable dealer pricing and private party or auction you may move a couple k lower
04-15-2018, 07:29 PM
#13
The miles were what I was focused on, I could deal with a color or trim package that I wasn’t excited about as long as in found a reasonable price and low miles. I usually searched 06-10 those seemed to be mostly under 38k which was about the top of my budget, lucked out with an 06 with 13,700. My bank had the blue book on an 06 at 34k I think, maybe it was 35k after they put in the package and options and miles they said they’d loan 39k😳 I didn’t need all that but I thought it was interesting. I tracked CarGurus pretty heavily normally a good spot, that’s where I found mine. I had a deposit on it within 24hrs of it listing(pure luck there) but after I put $500 down two other people called the dealer about it and we’re informed someone already has a deposit on it, both said they didn’t care and put $500 down to be second and third in line Incase I didn’t buy it😂
04-17-2018, 01:34 PM
#14
Melting Slicks
Heads are the biggest concern. The rest of the drivetrain is pretty solid. I replaced my sway bar end links. I replaced my cooling fan controller. Pretty minimal maint.
They're solid cars.
They're solid cars.