Car Show Queen: 2004 Z06 Commemerative

Just kidding....

Please excuse the lack of pictures. I'm hoping to snap some more this weekend. To be honest I've been too busy driving to take any. I am also the world's WORST photographer. For those with short attention spans, I picked up a 2004 Z06 Commemorative Edition (Z16). #1834/2025. To understand how I ended up here, let's go back a few years.

Since I was 13, we've had this Corvette. It is a 79 L-48 with a TH350. Looks great, horribly slow. Still, it was the first car I ever drove. It is currently stuck in a perpetual restoration as a bad radiator turned into what will eventually turn into another build thread and a new engine.

My first car was a 99 Neon. Unfortunately, no ACR. Still, it was a complete E36 M3box which really taught me how to wrench on cars with actual sensors and electrical systems.

I then picked up a mint 98 XJ with ~50k original miles. Had a blast wheeling the E36 M3 out of it all around northern Michigan, Western PA, and blasting around Detroit.

Unfortunately, I was bit by the "fun" car bug. After searching for a few months (originally looking for a Shelby Charger), I found a peach of a 98 ACR. I purchased it from the original owner who primarily used it for Auto-X with NWOR. Not to mention, the 17 MPG my Jeep yielded was difficult to deal with when I had one job nearly 40 miles away.

The car was everything I wanted at the time. Relatively quick, a great handler, and looked great. However, I have a problem. I am extremely picky about cars. The ACR had a few niggling cosmetic issues that I wanted to address, (horrible looking engine bay, poorly-relocated battery in trunk). I was hoping to sort things for HPDEs/Auto-X and eventually Targa Newfoundland. I had some reservations because how unmolested the car was.

I came across a NOS Keystone Viper hood, and a set of Electromotive ITBs soon after to go along with it. Numbers were being crunched and parts sourced for a high-compression 2.6 swap (stroked 2.4). I was close to pulling the trigger on sending the Konis for a rebuild (DA conversion, threaded spring perch, etc.) when I really began to add up the costs. With paint, the car would've been pretty far into the 5 digits. I began to re-consider the whole thing. Here's a few pictures from when I sold her last year:

I began throwing around the usual GRM-type sports cars. I am fortunate in that I got my first "career-type" job nearly 2 years ago, so I finally had enough disposable income to purchase a car without adversely affecting my standard of living. I looked at GTOs, CTS-Vs, M3s, Focus ST, the twins, Cobras, and Corvettes. After I got behind the wheel of a Z06, I was pretty much sold. Unfortunately, the one I drove at the time sold before I could get my ACR out of the way to use toward the down payment.

So I waited...

And waited...

I then realized it was October and that there was no point in buying something. I had also received a promotion of sorts at work. Started heavily putting money aside.

This spring, I started to open up my options when I couldn't find the right Z06. There was a fleeting moment where I was hoping to purchase my late cousin's 1969 Boss 302, which left most of March and April looking for the correct missing parts it needed, instead of Corvettes. Unfortunately, that fell through. I began looking at Vipers too.

A few weekends ago, I was trolling Craigslist. There was a nice Red 03 locally which I was hoping the owner was going to drop the price on. An 04 Commemorative popped up. I got on the horn to the owner, who answered promptly. He explained it was his father-in-law's car who was retired from Pontiac. The gentleman on the phone explained he worked at the GM Tech Center and has the build sheet as well as the original documentation from Cauley Chevrolet from the time of purchase. He also told me he would have a Carfax for me in the AM. I arranged to view the car the next day (Sunday).

Long story short, it is a 1-owner 04. Bone stock, minus a newish set of Toyo T1Rs. Guy also had a 454 Chevelle and a nicely-built Nova, as well as a Factory Five Cobra under construction. Very well maintained. It was driven, and is luckily not too perfect to where I would be afraid to drive it. Here's a picture from after our test-drive:

It took me two days to get the loan closed at the bank with the seller, but Tuesday night it was in my driveway. I proceeded to drive it to work on Wednesday. Stupid me didn't look at the weather. I ended up driving to my meeting that afternoon in a torrential downpour. T1Rs aren't half bad in rain if you know what you're doing. Not to mention, having A/C is a luxury that's pretty foreign to me.

The car came to me at the worst possible time as far as garage space goes. The garage still has the 79 in an inoperable state. I was tossing around pulling the engine and going with a crate 350 or maybe budget LS swap. I'm also finishing up a motor build for my old DD, a 96 Neon which puked it's bottom end. My storage unit is currently occupied with said 96 Neon. I'm hoping that by the end of June I will be able to get the 79 out of the garage. As it stands, the Z06 is unfortunately parked outside.

It shares the space with my DD 'Bruick'. The Bruick goes through PS fluid quicker than it does gasoline, or so it seems. I've gotta hand it to GM though, it didn't miss a beat in this horrible winter. New intake gaskets, coolant, plugs, and wires. The blower motor resistor started to E36 M3 the bed in February, but it was too cold at that time to matter.

The first thing I did was remove the "old-man" billet rear light louvers. They just weren't my thing:

I threw on my Speedhunters plate frame that I bought over the winter in anticipation of buying a new car. Figured the extra JDM points were worth AT LEAST 30 horsepowahhs. It looks a lot cleaner than the oddball stock black plastic thing the car came with.

I've splurged on some good detailing supplies, and learning from my past mistakes with the ACR. Once I can get it parked inside, I plan on taking clay to it, and giving it the wax that it deserves.

More importantly, it is getting all new fluids next weekend. M1 0W-40, M1 filter, M1 ATF, M1 gear lube, fresh coolant, and ATE Typ 200 for the brakes/clutch. Might do new NGK TR55 plugs and Magnecor wires before I go. I am unsure if it has a slight miss, or if it is just he lope from the cam.

I'm also going to be doing a LCM5 Column Lock Bypass and a skip-shift eliminator. The hour drive home in rush hour traffic along US 24 was horrible. Every light the damn 1 -> 4 shift caught me with my pants down. LEDs just came in for the trunk/cargo-area lamps, license plate lamps, and under-hood lamps. That's about as far as I plan to take things cosmetically.

See, I have this horrible plan. My friend is in Raleigh. I'm the best man at his wedding in July. He is doing it as a last minute surprise for his girlfriend. I decided to bring my other best friend along, and we're going to drive the Z06. It looks as though we'll be hitting the Dragon "area" on a Thursday. Possibly VA beach and/or Pittsburgh on the way back. I want to make sure everything is 110% before we go. Brakes and tires should be good enough to get me through the season. I might still splurge for Rivals this summer, depending on how old the T1Rs turn out to be, but I also don't want them getting hard over winter.

As for the near future, there's a few small issues to address that I haven't discussed. The bezel around the ignition cylinder is cracked. $25 replacement on eBay. The driver's door card is cracked where the PO's elbow put too much pressure on it. Not noticeable unless you apply heavy pressure to the arm rest.

Further out, I'd like to replace the crank pulley before it begins to slip/separate. At that time, I will most likely take care of a few other things (C5-R timing chain, blueprinted oil pump) "while I'm in there." Let's hope that if I get to that stage, it doesn't end up like my C3.

Truth be told, it is too nice of a car to hack up. I'm planning on doing some AutoX and HPDEs for real this time around. Lucky for me the Corvette Club of Michigan hosts plenty of events along with the Michigan Council of Sports Car Clubs. Things will most likely stay stock until I can learn to drive better. My next real mod looks to be a Bell M-4.

very nice, following

C5 Z06 is high on my attainable next dream car list.

A friend in Houston just bought the same car. I can't wait to see it. These are cool.

xflowgolf wrote: C5 Z06 is high on my attainable next dream car list.

I'm just partly disappointed that this one is so nice and I'm now hesitant to get too crazy with the modifications. Next purchase might be a 'beater' C5..

Drove it to work today. It rained for about 5 minutes this morning. Car again looks like garbage.

On the plus side, I found that I can put my carry-out bags from the Coney place between the rear seat and the bulkhead. Putting the seat far enough back to secure the food seems to be an optimal solution. Not sure how I am going to manage pizza, and you can forget about any open container.

I can say one thing, being dressed for work and heading out to meetings and such is a lot nicer with working AC.

I really can't stress how docile the car is on these horrible MI roads. Granted, one needs to be careful of railroad crossings, approach angles, etc. but it is FAR from a jarring ride. The car is actually quite supple. My only complaint is that it has so much power on tap, you really need to be diligent to keep your foot out of it. If that turns out to be the "worst" thing about driving the car, I think things will turn out alright. It is certainly nice having gobs of torque at low RPMs, rather than spinning the thing to the moon like every 4cylinder I've owned...

Sweet car, Ryan. I'm jealous!

Kramer wrote: Sweet car, Ryan. I'm jealous!

Thanks! I'll let you take it out next time I see you. Still bummed Indy didn't work out (thanks work).

Mazda787b wrote: I really can't stress how docile the car is on these horrible MI roads.

Where at in MI are you?

Downriver. About 1/2 way between Detroit and Toledo.

Detailed the hell out of her last week. My area had their annual car cruise on Saturday. In all actuality, it was 3 days of cruising/hanging out. Even in 90 heat, the AC stayed cold, and temp never crept much above 210. Definitely impressed with that aspect.

Fun updates! Replaced the PS fluid with fresh Redline. Brakes/Clutch got a "poor man's" bleed with a plastic syringe and a fresh tin of ATE Typ200.

We're driving it straight through Wednesday night from Detroit to Raleigh, and coming back up the east coast. Can't wait.

Ive had c5s on my 'list of things to buy after a house' for a while now.

Right now i've got a customer C5 taken pretty far apart and supposedly am closing on a house next Weds.

Ive autocrossed a c5 before and enjoyed it. This one im working on is the farthest ive ever taken one apart (rear main and ALL it entails, plus oil pressure sender and oil pan gasket), and ive got to say, even though it is tedious, it really isnt bad and knowing that i wont hate even major repairs is just making me want one more.

Next step would be to do some major work on a Boxster so i can decide whether its PITA factor is too high or whether i should keep it in contention.

Car show ehh? You need one of these:

ScreaminE wrote: Car show ehh? You need one of these:

Bleh. I avoid car shows just for that reason. Do people still do this?

Unfortunately, yes they do. They scare me.

I want one of those that looks like it's been sucked into the grill at speed and the top half is soaked bloody. I'd put that out. If I ever did shows.

Nice Z06!

I'm curious. Are the stripes on the car removable? One of the guys who comes to our autox has one without stripes because I guess he ordered it that way. I love that color, but don't like the stripes.

In reply to Harvey: Probably an Electron Blue Z06 instead of a Z16 Z06.

No it's definitely that blue.

They're vinyl. Easy to remove. Probably a million dollars to replace. Mine have a few rock chips in them. Hunting for another set, and possibly a set of wheels as well. One has a few minor blemishes. Unsure if I want to buy something like HREs or fork over coin on a mint stock set.

Harvey; Both Cars are EB. The z16 is a special edition of the z06. Not sure what else was different. (havent looked it up for some time.)

but you could get a plain z06 in EB...

Actually, LeMans and Electron Blue are supposed to be two different colors.. LeMans is a bit darker. Looks to me like it might have a little more of a "greenish" hue to it too.

I just cleaned the thing out from our road trip. Put nearly 2k miles on her last month. Had an absolute blast. I'll do a write-up shortly. Need to get some pictures together (note- 90% of them are of the car parked at whatever Sheetz we stopped at on the way).

LeMans and Electron Blue are definitely different colors and I like the LeMans better. I'd probably just remove the stripes if it were mine.

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 7 months! What a summer! And a fall! And a (partial) winter! Here's some updates:

At the end of July, my best friend and I traveled from Detroit to Raleigh for our other best friend's wedding:

We went to Sheetz, a lot:

We came back via Pittsburgh to visit my uncle. He had a 69 Corvette Convertible back in the early 70s. He absolutely E36 M3 when I took him for a ride.

I bought a V1:

I got a flat:

I got (4) new tires:

I found out that Fiji water doesn't fit well in the cup holder:

I cruised Woodward with friends any weekend I had free time:

Sign from inside Duggan's Irish Pub in Royal Oak (one of our favorite places):

I drove in the rain (disclaimer: passenger discretely took this picture):

I got a promotion at work and was stationed at the hospital full time (as opposed to working in the field):

I made late night runs for food:

I enjoyed beautiful sunsets and dates on the Detroit River:

I had the windows down on the chilly fall nights:

I met my now girlfriend. She surprisingly cared little about what I drove, but supports my hobby nonetheless. She appreciated that I had an eye for aesthetics, but everything else is lost on her. All she knows is that her friends, coworkers, and family make a big deal about it. I guess that's all that matters, right? Funny thing is, she actually drove the first few dates we went on. I was a bit embarrassed to pick her up in my rusty Buick Century beater and the Z06 was down due to the flat tire issue. Needless to say, I'm slowly converting her into a car girl. I asked her to be mine while she was in the passenger seat on an unseasonably warm December night. I honestly couldn't think of a better place.

I parked her in the driveway all winter:

I didn't do much else other than drive the E36 M3 out of the car this year. She always looked pristine, even though I drove her all the way until January 3rd. It was unseasonably warm in Detroit for the first portion of winter. I had the car out as long as salt and ice wasn't on the road. I do not know the exact number off hand, but I put nearly 7000 miles on the car this year! It was certainly an amazing year.

In the last picture, you might notice my foxbody. The whole story is for another thread. However, she started out like this:

After investing cubic dollars replacing A LOT of metal:

Don't let the pictures fool you, it is a complete and utter E36 M3box. It just looks very nice. Also, it only sat outside for about 24 hours so I could park it in my storage unit. That's why the Z06 sat outside. Luckily AMMONYC makes great detailing productts...