97 Corvette Daily Driver

Hey Guys

First a warning..this entire build thread will be documented with a potato camera.

I recently sold my Cammed LT1 Z28, pretty much as soon as I got it where I wanted it. It rode well, handled nice, and had plenty of power.

The Z28 after paint, before new wheels and suspension build

I wanted an S197 since they make a good comfy DD, make decent power, and only have a few common problems. Then I realized I was going to pay more for a mustang (ewwww) than a C5 that Ive always wanted. So I put the Z28 up for sale, and sold it a week or two later on a saturday for 3K, then 2 days later I picked up my C5 for 8500.

Here she is on the way home. She made the hour drive home with only a few niggles. First the C5s have a common problem of the bushings in the seat track wearing out and allowing the seat to rock back. Well the first time I punched it the seat rocked and my foot came off the gas then went back off then on and so on. My buddy called me thinking I had forgotten how to drive a stick.

Has a bad TPMS sensor, speedo doesnt work, and the A/C quit working, more on that later.

When I got her home

As I pulled in to the neighborhood, I though the brakes went metal to metal because I heard a grinding. Nope. The C5s also have a problem with the harmonic balancers coming apart. In this picture the rack is already freed and moved forward a little bit, the balancer was touching the rack, and threw the A/C belt, why the A/C quit working, but the main belt stayed on, so the car didnt overheat.

Well I got my first parts in. Jacking pucks New rack and pinion (well about 26K miles)

Also why I wasnt worried about the seat track. I already budgeted about 1K to redo seat with new covers, new foam, and rebuilt the tracks.

Well in the last two days Ive ordered lots of parts, just waiting for them to get here. New radiator cradle, mine is all busted up New timing cover, mine got all ate up from the harmonic balancer Flywheel holder, so I can torque the balancer bolt New balancer Powerbond Oil pressure sender Timing cover gasket set New balancer bolt

I did get the old rack out. Pics of damage

I pulled the cowl, and hit it with some back to black and painted the wiper arms since they had lost all their paint.

I also have a new reason the a/c doesnt work I bent over and broke the A/C pressure switch

Also pulled the battery to clean up some acid damage and a ground contact point, common reason the speedo quits working.

Ground off the rust and hit it with some paint

Also cleaned up the new rack and its in the garage getting painted. Will post pics of final product.

Keep us updated lease! I've always liked those, so much more than the c6s. So sexy.

Did the crank pulley and steering rack damage happen on the way home or was that part of why you got it so cheap?

I checked it before leaving and it wasnt rubbing and didnt seem to be wobbling, but the damage to the timing cover looks like its been doing this before, so Im assuming, he knew and thats why he let it go so far under his asking price.

I dont know if he pried the outter ring back onto the inner part of the balancer or what but it wasnt wobbling when I left and it was less than an hour later, but I didnt rev it out a few times on the way home.

He was pretty ignorant about cars and it didnt look like it was well cared for, much like the old camaro, I like bringing them back.

It does have a newer GM engine and tranny though (I have the paperwork, i think they are like 5 or 6 years old), he was one of the few guys that made out good with one of those aftermarket warranties.

Sounds like a good price for something like that. Early C5s and Boxsters are on my radar for my next 'real money' car purchase. Therefore, the presence of "cheap c5" and "cheap Boxster" threads here on GRM pleases me.

Same here, I'd love to run across a C5 for that kind of money needing those sort of semi-simple mechanical repairs.

I can turn a wrench and replace old with new, just don't know anything about electrics.

How many miles on it?

140k about 60k on engine and tranny. I was finding cars with similar mileage in good shape between 13-15. I kept reading abound people picking them up for 10 and a little over but I couldl only find autos in that price.

I did find a red FRC 6speed for 10 and almost cried when I saw it had over 200k. The camaro is the first car I've sold before 200k but I really didnt want to start there.

I fix and prep tons of c5 corvrttes for track work. Lemme know if you have any questions.

Nice, I'm also interested in cheap C5s!

I will be watching with interest.

The replacement rack is drying.

Such a shame that the problem and eventual damaged caused by the pulley necessitated your buying a new rack. Is the pulley breaking apart like that a common ailment with the C5 or just a random act of violence? Any other common problems that you're planning on checking into/repairing/replacing?

This is a very interesting and informative thread for me, thanks for starting it !

T

In reply to TeamEvil:

All the LS motors have a rubber bonded harmonic balancer that falls apart as the rubber deteriorates. I just swapped the pulley on my LS2 for a new one from Summit. I didn't paint my steering rack while it was out though, I'm wondering why I didn't after looking at yours.

Nice car, body looks great, I love the targa top. It was a big selling point for me to buy a C5 and then a C6.

I couldnt see the extend of the damage to the rack until it was removed but racks arent readily available for C5s so I didnt want to pull it and then find out it was damaged and have to wait even longer, so I stumbled across a low mileage one on ebay for 240 which is less than the core value at most places so I jumped on it.

I figured even if it wasnt damaged from the pulley, I new it was leaking, and both outter tie rods were busted, so it just made sense.

After pulling it the damage wasnt near as sever as expected, and probably could be rebuilt so Ive contacted some of the rack rebuilders to see if they are interested in buying it at core value.

I painted it cause I bought it from up north (Brooklyn) and there was some salt or oxidation on the painted spot that cleaners wouldnt take off so I got a fine sanding block to knock it off and it ended up knocking off most of the paint, and generally i dont like to put ugly parts on my car, knowing next time I get under there Ill be pissed at myself for being so lazy. So I taped it up and shot some semi gloss rustoleum at it, came out better than expected.

I like the targa too but mine looks like E36 M3, its all spider cracked which apparently is a common issue, some people rebuild them if you have a good from for about 700, Im just going to buy a body colored one and paint it silver, then if I find a glass one later Ill pick it up, but I think the body color ones look better.

Also tossing around the idea of a black halo and targa. Something like this Will probably end up running the dark argent Z06 wheels

Also like the idea of a faux carbon roof and halo, on the fence though. This one is pewter not silver

-1 on the faux carbon. +10 for a real carbon roof.

Just did a harmonic balancer on one at work the other day. Man that sucked. At least you're taking the rack out anyway. Not fun. Good luck to you!

I keep thinking about getting one of these, but turbo Miata is still cheaper to upkeep.

8500 for that!!!??!?!?!

WOW, it looks great and I want one.

go with black halo and roof. looks better in my opinion.

and im jealous of the red interior.

and yes, the harmonic balacer job is as bad as a kick in the daddy bag.

More parts came in today. Timing cover gasket set harmonic balancer flywheel holding tool (for torquing the harmonic balancer bolt)

Still waiting on brake components, timing cover, and radiator support (wait til you see how busted up mine is)

I'm liking this thread.

Just got an email, that I got more parts in the mail. Ill take some pics after work. In off friday and hop in to have her on the ground and ready to go at the end of the day.

Got my replacement radiator support. Mine is BUSTED!!!!! I cant wait to get it out Friday and have the two side by side.

New one in bare metal.

Remember NO UGLY PARTS.

First coat of self etching primer after knocking the surface rust off the welded spot and areas that had been grinded/worked.

After last coat of semi flat E36 M3 can paint. Ive been called a rattle can savant. Yes I know it is amazing. Also notice my sweet paint booth setup(see: Cover all the things in cardboard.).

Just waiting on my timing cover, should be in tomorrow or friday, then I have all I need to get her running. Will probably pick up an intake set, because I plan on doing the oil pressure sender and have to pull the intake. I know they are reusable but Id rather throw some new ones in there to be safe.

If I get her finished Fri, Ill go ahead and swap out all the fluids as planned.

Gonna run Engine: Penz Platinum Coolant: Dexcool Trans: Amsoil Torque Drive Diff: Mobil 1 with GM additive P/S: Stock GM Synthetic fluid

Gonna hold off on brake fluid til I do the pads/rotors/stainless lines.

Also need to get a few vacuum lines, a PCV Line assembly, clutch cycling switch, and plugs and wires.

Im getting pretty excited.