Hi guys! I've been a long time lurker, and I figured I might as well post what I've been working on. After a Miata (1994) and two Subarus (2005 Legacy wagon and 2017 WRX) I decided to give v8 power a try.
Up first is Burt the 2005 Corvette.
As purchased
Burt is silver with the black interior, and came equipped with the T-56 Manual, Navigation, Heads up display (broken), Magneride (blown), and 87,000 miles for the price of $14,500 (back in 2019) I've since fixed the HUD, replaced the shocks with DRM Bilsteins, installed a new Kenwood headunit with Apple Carplay, and installed a short shifter from MGW. Burt now has 142,000 miles so I've definitely been driving it as much as possible. Apparently I've also been taking as few photos as possible so i just have a random assortment.
Dad bought a C5 the day before I bought my C6
And my younger Step-brother bought a C5 Z06 to replace his Cayman S that caught on fire (also pictured in Dad's autocross C2)
Had to replace the headlight lenses ( and I already need to do them again)
Shortly after getting the Z06 my brother missed his Porsche and sold the Corvette to get the silver 996
Nice. I'm somewhat of a Chev fan myself. I'd love a c5.
Up next is Bert the C10 ( Confusing right???)
The day I got him home
He is a Canadian built 1982 Silverado single cab short box truck with a 305 and a TH350 transmission.
So far Bert has received new tires after this happened
A new vent window after this happened
Lower door carpets to cover this (only on the passenger door for some reason??)
After that he got new carpet and an application of Amazon brand sound dampener (In keeping with tradition of being terrible at taking photos, I have yet to take a picture with the new carpet)
While I had the seat out I took the covers off to add seat heating elements to all three spots and added a new marine fuse block to power the seat heaters, the aftermarket radio, and the tach.
My mounting solution is not the best for the switches, but I'd rather have them under the seat than drilled into the dash.
After the interior it was time to get to work on the suspension. He got was lowered 4.5" front and 6" rear (UMI 2" drop springs up front with 2.5" mgaughys drop spindles, UMI flip kit in the rear. Bilsteins all around) and replaced the stock front sway bar with the 1 3/8" solid bar from Belltech.
The Green XJ is also mine but I've done absolutely nothing with it so far.
Future plans for Bert include a 5.3/4L60 swap and a Vintage Air setup after the swap.
In reply to Scotty Con Queso :
Thanks! I was initially shopping for a C5 but wound up with a C6
In reply to Doubleoh9 :
Dang, y'all got a nice family fleet!
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks!!! It's a large and ever rotating fleet.
Your Dad seems to have a '68 Impala or Caprice, too. What's the story on that one?
Puddy46
New Reader
6/8/22 11:22 p.m.
Man, that's a killer combo of bowties. I am especially jealous of your C10.
In reply to Stealthtercel :
1968 impala convertible, done up as an SS427 to replace dads actual SS427 car that was totaled way back.
In reply to Puddy46 :
Thanks! The C10 has been great so far.
Time for a general update i guess!
Truck is still fun and mostly reliable, fuel gauge is starting to get wonky so I need to investigate that further.
My brother's dog is still no fan of the truck, and much prefers to lounge on the back seat of the Chrysler my brother picked up.
Had to do the rear brakes on the truck, they were slimed up good.
Ruined the bedside not paying attention and backing into my brothers truck, have yet to order the panel to fix it.
Hit an important mileage milestone
And swapped the Edelbrock out for a Brawler
Corvette has had nothing interesting except a flat tire
And a trip to the Foothills parkway and Tail of the Dragon
Unfortunately the Corvette suffered from a rapid unscheduled disassembly at the hands of a kid going way too fast towards stopped traffic in an older explorer ( As did a city bus and two other cars )
At least I got to watch the TDOT truck use the big brush guard on the front of it to ram his SUV out of the lane of travel! Insurance totaled it out and gave me a buyback number I didn't think was worth it, so it has gone on to the great insurance auction in the sky.
Unfortunately this left me with just the old truck as a daily, and as much as I love it, Its just not do-able for me with no A/C and a 45 minute commute each way. So enter "Old Reliable".
The Jeep is a 2000 Cherokee Sport that has been languishing in retirement in my yard for the past two years. It has 240,000 miles and the 4.0. It was two of my siblings first car, and just a general use family vehicle until I wound up with it.
So far, I've put the decent red top battery from the Corvette into it, a Kenwood double din, a new valve cover gasket, spark plugs and a coil, an oil change, and the finest $37 LED headlights from Amazon. I do not recommend them, but they're decent.
Other than deciding to shred It's upper radiator hose as soon as I parked it at work, It has wound up being a very decent daily that has the most important thing, functioning A/C!
Sorry to see the fate of the C6.
I hope you came out ok.
Cars can be replaced. I hope you and your family didn't suffer any significant injuries on that crash.
a_florida_man said:
Sorry to see the fate of the C6.
I hope you came out ok.
Loweguy5 said:
Cars can be replaced. I hope you and your family didn't suffer any significant injuries on that crash.
Thanks guys! I came out with nothing but some soreness where the seatbelt grabbed me. It definitely can be replaced, I'm already shopping for a better version of it. I just can't decide if the LS7 problems scare me enough to get a Grandsport over a Z06
Well, the replacement car has been secured!
After getting up entirely too early to head east, we wound up at the Bucee's for the second time that day
All to pick up this guy (featuring the trusty brown Hyundai belonging to my girlfriend)
A 2009 c6 with 18,000 miles! It's a 3lt car with the 6-speed manual, dual tops, and the Z51 package in Cyber Gray Metallic.
After spending the night in Asheville we made it back home (and I really need to get on with cleaning up the garage)
So far the car has been a dream, It's so stock it even still has the skip-shift enabled. Other than installing my radio and floor mats from the previous c6, so far I'm planning on leaving it alone and just drive it. Except for the exhaust, after having the Corsa sport axle back on the last car this one is way too quiet!
Very cool! Decided against the z or gs? Looks pretty cherry
In reply to jfryjfry :
Yeah, I decided against the Z and GS. I realized I would only use a Z as a weekend/fun car which didn't make much sense since I already use my truck for that, and I just couldn't stomach the extra premium for a nice Grandsport over a nice base model.
Well, I've got the radio and mats installed. Man, the modern head unit is such a big step up from the factory one, except for the loss of information displayed in the HUD from the factory one.
Also took a day trip with the girlfriend up to the Corvette Museum, something I'd always planned to do with the old car but never managed.
and went for lunch/ice cream to Chaney's Dairy Farm while we were up there. I'd never seen an Ice Cream Flight before but it was a good time.
Well, I finally got the Vintage Air kit installed on the truck.
Everything fit fairly well, and the new control panel looks great in the dash. Only complaint I have are the finicky tubes they use to route air to the factory vents. Airflow out of the vents is much stronger than factory and its gets much warmer than the factory heat, I can't compare to the factory A/C but it seems on par with my other vehicles.
Well, It's time for a little update.
The C10 has been the only one getting attention lately, It's had a Holley Sniper 2 installed with an in-tank fuel pump setup, and a UMI tubular control arm setup, of which I apparently took zero pictures. The front was lowered enough afterwards for the 275's to rub bad so a step down to 255's has it sitting with just a smidge of rake.
It's even become a quilt model to support my girlfriends new hobby
The Corvette has just been sitting a lot since the truck has been updated. It's a lot more comfortable to drive and Nashville traffic makes the Corvette miserable to drive most days. I think I'm going to sell it and look for a Gen-2 CTS-V.
I've also gotten way too into fish tanks lately. I dug my childhood fish tank out of my mom's garage and got it put back together with all new equipment.
Starting with just the basic shell of an old Emerson console TV, the original tank dad put in it was long gone. We found a 25 gallon cube tank that would fit within the shell and made an entirely new structure to hold the tank.
My girlfriend made the doors for the lower to cover the canister filter and other equipment and it's been doing great so far. we've also got a 55 gallon and a 20 gallon tall tank running.
Well, "I think I'm going to" turned into I did real quick.
2011 CTS-V sedan with 55,000 miles. It's probably my favorite daily I've ever had so far. It's comfortable, fast and I don't even have to run a clutch in traffic. It needs rear shocks, and the Nav/Radio updated which will get done shortly.
In reply to Doubleoh9 :
Did you already sell the C6? Manual with 3LT is on my list, and I have money for such things now.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Unfortunately yes, it went to the Ford dealer I got the Cadillac from
The Cadillac is my favorite daily I've ever had, and in the running for favorite car I've owned. It's comfortable, It's fast, and it just makes me smile.
The only complaints I have are the A/C dash vents are too low and freeze your hand on the steering wheel when its on full blast, and my right knee wants to exist in the same spot as the side of the console.
Square is largely the same. It has a pesky water leak under the dash I can't track down and an exhaust hanger seems to have lost its rubber, but it is otherwise still trucking along.
My new mower even fits in the bed.
Girlfriend's Hyundai Accent decided to try and self immolate after the feed to the high pressure fuel pump split (A week after the converter clogged badly enough the car wouldn't move) so she picked out a new to her car. 2022 Toyota RAV4.
I like it, Radar cruise is rad, and she loves it so happy on all fronts