I retired and bought myself a car.

Stopping point for the weekend. 
 

Currently waiting for RockAuto to deliver water pump and some hoses. Jegs to deliver the radiator. And an exhaust shop to deliver the exhaust system. 
 

Do you need sweet Radwood rims?

I bought these because they're awesome, then I realized I just don't need them. Cousin_Eddie pricing available. The other two look just like these.

Those wheels are very rad but I'm pretty sure my budget would not be able to afford them and shipping. 
 

In other news, still awaiting parts arriving. 

Just some guy said:

I hope I'm not clogging up your thread, but this car is inspirational to me.  Love the GS rear flares.  not my car, not my picture.

Nice looking car. Makes me want another C4...almost.

The exhaust showed up today. It looks nice. Puts the current Flowmaster catback to shame.  

Today I did exhaust work. 
 

To start off I ran over to Summit Racing and grabbed a piece of exhaust pipe and a clamp and a pipe union. I harvested the flange and ball flared end off of the old converter and combined it with a piece of straight pipe. That way it all bolts in exactly like the converter originally did. The factory setup is slip joint and clamp on the front and flange on the rear so I felt no need to change that configuration.
 

After I got all that built and installed I put the new exhaust on. 
 

 My ever suffering wife was out there an hour helping me get them tweaked and aligned as I snugged the connections down and finalized everything. 
 

I haven't started it yet but I suspect it's going to sound snottier than a 3 year old with a head cold. 

I really want to hear that snot.

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

I haven't started it yet 

But... why?

Mr_Asa said:

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

I haven't started it yet 

But... why?

Somehow, despite the lube and new orings and careful work I somehow managed to get a fuel injector leaking at the fuel rail. So I ordered new orings, new retainer clips, and new plenum gaskets. I'll have it squared away first thing next weekend. 

I am beginning to realize that I tend to hoard parts. 
 

I started my magnet collection over from scratch two years and ten months ago. 
 

As I was under the car meditating I couldn't help but fixate on the weeping transmission leak. It was coming from the VSS. Then I remembered I had bought a five pack of GM orings last time I needed one. 
 

All back on the road again. I'm still deciding on what I think of the exhaust. It is not quiet for sure. 
 

And I found an old picture of myself. I built this car 25 years ago and daily drove it 100k miles. 
 

I've been a car guy for a long time !

That thing is a beauty!

Any more pictures/details?

Piguin said:

That thing is a beauty!

 

Any more pictures/details?

The 54 Chevy ?

Fatmans Fabrication Mustang 2 front end. Nova rearend. 12 volt conversion. Goodwrench crate 350. Turbo 200 transmission. ECI disc brakes. 

So the Corvette is loud. Like not socially acceptable loud. Like I really want to drive it to work but it's so loud that I wouldn't dare start it at 5am to back it out of the garage. 
 

So this weekend I'll be installing a big honking resonator in the exhaust. 
 

That will be project number one this weekend. 
 

Then I need to pull off that and do some work on my GMT400 truck. Should be a busy couple of days.  

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

So the Corvette is loud. Like not socially acceptable loud. Like I really want to drive it to work but it's so loud that I wouldn't dare start it at 5am to back it out of the garage.

My first thought was that you'd just park it so that you could head out quick first thing in the morning.

We had an 18-19 YO kid near us that was studying engineering at our community college and putting himself thru by working at Walmart as a mechanic.  

He was also building a '76 Corvette for drag racing that was a bit loud.  He'd leave on Saturday morning and drive to Joliet to drag race.  What time was it, 10:00am?

All the Karen's would freak out how loud it was and illegal it has to be.  I kinda gave the kid credit for what he was doing and his involvement with cars.  

Maybe you've got a neighbor like me; look at that cool Corvette that retired old dude is working on.

I live in a very quiet neighborhood on the lake. It's open with wrought iron fences and noise will carry. I just didn't want to be that guy. This car was loud as E36 M3. Stupid loud. 
 

So I did this 

much better. Now it just sounds like a car with a performance exhaust. I'll drive it a bit and make sure that I stay happy with it and then I'll drop it back out and weld it up and get rid of that band clamp  

the front clamp is factory. I'll probably leave that. 

I put on my finest cargo shorts and went to a little monthly parking lot gathering last night.

I am slowly adding the miles and building confidence in the car. 

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

Is it bad that that picture is exactly what I imagine a Corvette club meet to be like?

It was an all makes car gathering but for some reason those dudes pulled up and parked next to me. The silver car has an LS7 engine so I guess he thought it was sort of a big deal. I left my hood shut so the L98 Tuned Port wouldn't steal his thunder.

I need to get a fanny pack to hold my phone. These jean shorts pockets aren't ideal.

Today I lowered the rear of the car about an inch. The spare tire was removed some time in the past and the aftermarket exhaust is way lighter than OEM so the car sat a little high in the back. 
 

On these cars, lowering the back is stupid easy. Just replace the factory bolts with longer ones. I chose to replace the original bushings at this time too. 
 

The factory setup. 
 

New bolts and bushings installed. 
 

The end result

I'm sure I'll wind up fine tuning the adjustment to get it sitting like I want it. 
 

A new issue has arisen in the last few days. I either have a parasitic draw or the battery is dying. Twice I had to use my jump box. I'll dig into that and see exactly what's going on. 

You're doing a great job - congrats 

Datsun310Guy said:

You're doing a great job - congrats 

Thanks bud. 

As further "getting to know" the car I dug into the dash this afternoon. Someone had added a "Parrot" brand of Bluetooth stand alone horseE36 M3 system to the car. It had a box that integrated into the sound system and little doodads stuck to the console. I ripped all that stuff out. Not my thing. Baby Jesus wept at the scotch lock and tape and general hack work. I got it all cleaned up. 
 

I started a thread on this board awhile back asking for sound system advice for my Corolla. I wound up with an Alpine head unit and Infinity speakers. I think I'll do the exact same thing on this car. I've been completely satisfied with them in the Corolla commuter. 

You can't go wrong with infinity speakers and an alpine deck.

Car is looking good. Hopefully it continues to be awesome for you. 

CuzzinE , this doesn't look the least bit plug n' play .....what a friggin ratz nest.    The stance ROCKS!!!