New 1994 C4/ New to forum/ lets get this beast back to it's former Glory
04-24-2018, 09:08 AM
#1
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New 1994 C4/ New to forum/ lets get this beast back to it's former Glory
Hello Everybody!
I had just purchased a 1994 C4 Corvette with 175k miles. She runs and starts no problem, but needs a considerable amount of work. I am game to take on this LT1 but some jobs are just way out of my league without proper experience. That being said, any help to get this 350 small block back to the torque crackling sound of pure adrenaline will be greatly appreciated. I have a list of things below that i believe will need to be addressed. however i am having a difficult time prioritizing the work to keep it running. If YOU had a 1994 running C4 with 175k miles on it what would be the FIRST thing you do? The car had 3 owners and the last owner had it for 12 years and only drove it 200 miles, I put a full take of premium and some techron in the tank and went for 100 mile cruise to get the motor used to high temp operating again.
I really want to focus on getting this car to a reliable state then I will be introducing more and more performance parts to modernize some simply outdated parts but keep the same classic appeal. Any help is again greatly appreciated!
The Good:
I had just purchased a 1994 C4 Corvette with 175k miles. She runs and starts no problem, but needs a considerable amount of work. I am game to take on this LT1 but some jobs are just way out of my league without proper experience. That being said, any help to get this 350 small block back to the torque crackling sound of pure adrenaline will be greatly appreciated. I have a list of things below that i believe will need to be addressed. however i am having a difficult time prioritizing the work to keep it running. If YOU had a 1994 running C4 with 175k miles on it what would be the FIRST thing you do? The car had 3 owners and the last owner had it for 12 years and only drove it 200 miles, I put a full take of premium and some techron in the tank and went for 100 mile cruise to get the motor used to high temp operating again.
I really want to focus on getting this car to a reliable state then I will be introducing more and more performance parts to modernize some simply outdated parts but keep the same classic appeal. Any help is again greatly appreciated!
The Good:
- Clean paint good shape all around
- all lights in dash work( that i know of)
- Starts up without struggle(95% of the time)
- ROUGH idle, assuming opti needs changed along with wires and plugs
- Loss of power when accelerating, lots of hesitation in harder accel.
- When coming to a stop the car stumbles like crazy, think there may be a fuel issue or just old gas or bad pump.
- Valve cover gasket is leaking like a siv and gets worse when motor heats up
- Has OBD-II port but is OBD-I computer, tried paper clip trick but maybe i was doing it wrong. I cant read codes at this point so thats making my starting point very challenging to find.
- Brakes are like pushing on a soft piece of iron, stops without shaking or complaining but assuming theirs some air in the lines.
- After about 45 minute drive in the Florida heat, white smoke comes from the back of engine, thought maybe cause of gasket leak but it smells like radiator fluid burning.
04-24-2018, 09:39 AM
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Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your C4!
You should post this in the General Discussion or Tech/Performance areas of the C4 section of the forum at https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-1984-1996-19/ . You'll find lots of helpful members with great insight into this generation of Corvettes.
One of my first reactions to some of the symptoms you present is a blown head gasket but there are certainly other issues it could be.
Of course, it you are going to get the car running good, you also need to get it stopping good, so brakes should be up on your priority list. Sounds like you may just need new brake lines and purging the system.
Good luck with your fixes.
You should post this in the General Discussion or Tech/Performance areas of the C4 section of the forum at https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-1984-1996-19/ . You'll find lots of helpful members with great insight into this generation of Corvettes.
One of my first reactions to some of the symptoms you present is a blown head gasket but there are certainly other issues it could be.
Of course, it you are going to get the car running good, you also need to get it stopping good, so brakes should be up on your priority list. Sounds like you may just need new brake lines and purging the system.
Good luck with your fixes.
04-24-2018, 09:53 AM
#3
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Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your C4!
You should post this in the General Discussion or Tech/Performance areas of the C4 section of the forum at https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-1984-1996-19/ . You'll find lots of helpful members with great insight into this generation of Corvettes.
One of my first reactions to some of the symptoms you present is a blown head gasket but there are certainly other issues it could be.
Of course, it you are going to get the car running good, you also need to get it stopping good, so brakes should be up on your priority list. Sounds like you may just need new brake lines and purging the system.
Good luck with your fixes.
You should post this in the General Discussion or Tech/Performance areas of the C4 section of the forum at https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-1984-1996-19/ . You'll find lots of helpful members with great insight into this generation of Corvettes.
One of my first reactions to some of the symptoms you present is a blown head gasket but there are certainly other issues it could be.
Of course, it you are going to get the car running good, you also need to get it stopping good, so brakes should be up on your priority list. Sounds like you may just need new brake lines and purging the system.
Good luck with your fixes.
04-24-2018, 10:51 AM
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Welcome to the CF! 
04-24-2018, 10:52 AM
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04-24-2018, 03:07 PM
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Welcome to the forum!
Congrats. on your C4, and best of luck with your project and plans!
Congrats. on your C4, and best of luck with your project and plans!
04-24-2018, 03:15 PM
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Since this more appropriately belongs in the C4 section and you have already posted it in the C4 General section, this thread is being closed.