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If you don't have one yet pick up a swivel spark plug socket, its helped with almost every spark plug on a V engine I've had to change, especially as you approach the firewall or emissions piping. Those lines all look like low pressure lines, even in the stock setup I think they just used hydraulic hose and clamps. The high pressure side all has swedged together fittings. Don't dismiss the corvette forum so quickly the autocrossing and road racing section has a lot of good information and these cars have been around for 20 years there isn't a ton of reason to re-invent the C5, just don't put louvers on your tail lights..
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Another tool recommended, I can blow your entire car budget on cheap tools.. I like to use a cable operated spring clamp plier for those, makes them so much easier to get on and off, I prefer them to a worm drive clamp as a result. I wonder if the bottom clamps are the crimp style which are single use, I don't know of any way around cutting off the crimp part to remove them and then replacing the clamp.
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I had heard the headliner thing, I've got an '01 and have plenty of headroom with a helmet (I'm 6'). I can vouch that a co-worker who is substantially taller than me sits in it just fine too but struggled with an '04 Z06.
I'm a little suspicious of the power steering overheating just from sitting around and the culprit being the cooler. If the cooler was the issue then why would it start working again once you are in motion? It seems if anything that the cooler is actually working, but you might have problems with the fluid.
Did you try flushing and bleeding the system?
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Sounds like you need to pull the radiator shroud and clean out your radiator and a/c condenser. Also, I find that low mile cars that sit tend to have problems with the water pump, when you were changing the accessories and belt did you give the water pump pulley a spin? These cars run "hot" but I'm surprised your temperature is creeping up that much in stop and go traffic when the ambient is that low.
That sounds unusual. I can see the PS overheating during an extended autocross session, but in traffic in 50 degree weather? That doesn't make any sense.
The cooler isn't going to do anything when you're sitting in traffic, because it's not getting any airflow, so upgrading the cooler isn't your answer. At the same time the pump isn't really doing anything when you're sitting in traffic either so the fact that it's overheating points to some other issue with the system.
As dclafleur says in 50 degree ambient the fact that the car gets that hot is unusual. Check other areas of the cooling system before you start swapping out the power steering stuff.
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Did you hit the radiator with some compressed air to blow crud out from in between? It definitely sounds like you've got something else going on with your cooling system that would be worth digging into. Base C5s didn't even come with a power steering cooler so the power steering overheating in traffic is definitely a symptom of something else going on.
If you're looking to build a new power steering cooler just because I'd also explore better mounting locations too. The stock location makes it prone to getting the fins banged up working on things and also makes it a pain in the neck. It also doesn't get a lot of airflow there. My long-term thought on power steering cooling was using something like an integrated oil cooler on a high performance radiator (Ron Davis/Dewitts) and plumbing it to the power steering instead.
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When I said the pump wasn't doing anything in traffic I should have said instead the steering rack isn't doing anything in traffic and so it's probably not the problem in that it isn't getting any fluid being pushed into it in traffic, but you're right that the power steering pump is going all the time and that the fluid pressure increases as RPM goes up.
This really points to some sort of fluid flow problem. It could be an actual blockage in the system or air in the system, but since you've done some checks in that regard it is probably the pump is just not able to flow enough to keep the system from overheating at low speed. Then when you accelerate the cooler comes into play and/or higher pressure flows more fluid which cools things down.
If you have a refurb PS pump I'd probably just get the new pump like you're planning and see if that fixes the issue. I wouldn't bother spending bucks on an upgraded cooler at this point. If the pump doesn't fix the idling overheating problem then there is some sort of blockage elsewhere in the system, but I'm betting the pump is it. Refurb parts these days are often not very high quality.
The temps you see for the cooling system though are normal apparently. The fans turn on at low speed at 226 unless you run the AC at which point they turn on at 185. High speed is 235. I wouldn't worry about those temps. I keep thinking of regular motors, but these are not regular motors and are designed to run hot. The LS7 in my C6 also runs hot.
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Wait, did you remove the windshield washer tank entirely? 
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russ_mill said:Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I used it and it was a leaky, yellowing plastic eyesore so out it went!
You're funny. You're just not really interested in conventional things are you?
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What did you use to change out the interior lights, I've thought about doing that while I've got the interior out in mine.
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