Zordak buys a C4 Vette.

In reply to zordak :

You need to remove the chrome electrolytically. Sanding/grinding takes forever and has a great possibility of damaging the substrate on something as soft as aluminum, as well as nasty poison dust.

zordak said:

Ok scored 4 17" wheels from a 96 collectors edition. Look like they were blasted and cheaply chromed and have tires on them. Now the bad, 1st 2 of the wheels are pitting badly from under the chrome. Next the nice looking tires from the ad are over 20 years old (3 digit date code) so I will still need tires. I'm not too disappointed I only paid $200 for them. So I'm thinking to sand down the rims and paint them with something close to the body color or go with a silver/gray like they were originally.

 I would doublecheck the offset difference between the 87 and 96. You'll get a clearance benefit for bigger brakes going to the 17" wheels from the 96 but if I remember from conversations on some Corvette forums the later wheel offset will tuck the wheel/tire in a bit unless you get some spacers. Here's a link to model year vs. wheel size offset for reference: http://image.mamotorworksmedia.com/production/website/articlefiles/TechTipFiles/C4_Tire_Reference_Guide-a.pdf

Having said that, congrats on a good looking car! My current 93:

Cheers,

Mark

Man Mark 

that is an excellent colour and example 

wow 

I my age addled brain is working correctly the back spacing are the same. I was checking the midamericamotorworks site when looking for wheels, so I think they should fit. If not thin spacers are not too expensive or can be fabricated. As for paint I think a good rough up and some primer should give enough bite for a paint job to last a couple of years and other wheels can be located. I am mostly interested in getting it streetable right now.

I have a set of wheels for a C4 that are not pitted and should be able to be easily reconditioned. They are not curbed and are 17 x 9.5. 

Shipping might be a killer (I am in Maryland) but let me know and I'll send you pictures and details. 

Thanks for the offer but I spent the money on these and will wrestle with them for now. 2 do not look bad the other 2 may be I will just knock the blistering off and use them. I am not looking for great looking just get decent tires on it so I can drive it.

Started to work on the wheels, not going well. I am going to need to get some better sanding drums. I think I can make the rims look ok.

I got the drivers door panel in and tune up parts for the vette. I tried a 1" sanding drum on the Harbor freight grinder and it blew the sleeve off after a minute or two of work but took off the chrome really quickly.  I will try to find a rheostat to slow the grinder down and see how that works.

Couldn't find a rheostat but got a smaller drum and sleeves and can clean up a wheel in a decent amount of time.  I was right about what made the chrome blister, improper surface prep. I found corrosion under the blistered areas. Who ever chromed these did a lousy job by not making sure all the corrosion was cleaned up.

Here is a before and after for the wheels.

Beforeand After

O.K. The Firebird is giving me more trouble, so it is parked for a while. I started by checking how well the 17" rims fit. The only interference I have is at full doop on the front at full lock. At ride height it is ok. I have all four scuffed up and painted. Next was a tune up. I got all new platinum plugs, 8mm wires, new cap and rotor. Just running it in the garage it feels and sounds better.  I had to fix the air cleaner the 2 tabs that hold the cover on had broken so I pop riveted in some sheet aluminum ti fix it.

I also tried the other MAF sensor I had laying around. But after running it and restarting it the SES light came on again. I have done some checking and this MAF burn off error seems to be in the ECU as I have checked the relays as being good. More checking to come. I also determined this has the Bose system and seeing as it is non functional I will have to see what is more expensive, replacing what is broken or a whole new system.

I now have decent tires on the vette now. The collector plates should show up in the net week( I can't get a temp plate cause the DMV service centers are closed)  Went to work on the doors .(I have new speakers and waiting on the radio) Here is the before:After a few hours work here is th result:I have the rivers side done and I am working on the rear speakers.

Things have moved quickly, the rest of the stereo showed up along with the plates. So after a saturday of work I ened up with this:

And here she is all washed up:

Took her out for a drive today unfortunately it developed an oil leak and I need to get it looked at hoping for just drain plug problem.

Looks great!  I've always loved the interior in the early C4s.  

Thanks, hopefully an oil change will cure the leak problem and it is not a 30 some odd year old rear main seal.

I got out last night and jack it up and tugged on the drain plug, tight might need a new gasket but not the source of the leak. The left cat is soaked in oil. Either oil filter (not likely), oil pressure sensor or cracked block.

In reply to zordak :

My money is on oil pressure sending unit. 

i had the same issue.  oil pressure sender had failed.  easy fix, cheap part

Ok after I looked around with the little camera, I found oil all over the area behind the distributor.  So a trip to the auto parts store to get both oil pressure switches (might as well do both cause the distributor cap and the wiper motor had to get removed) I have the oil leak fixed. The oil change went a bit sideways. When I pulled out the drain plug it felt really loose, a check with the dial calipers confirmed 12mm x 1.25 plug not the 1/2"-20 it is supposed to be. So to double check I scrounge up something 1/2"-20 and screw it in. Another trip to the parts store (a long wait to check out wearing a mask that limits breathing through my nose) and I have the vette back together and not leaking.

Drove the vette around a bit on Sunday. After burning off the rest of the oil it is running fine but showing much less oil pressure. I am not too worried, 95000 mi on an older SBC will show low oil pressure at idle, but it comes up nicely at speed.

In reply to zordak :

i love it when problems are cheap and easy to fix.  well done!

I took the wife and our remaining dog out for a long drive on friday.The vette drove nice and showed no drivability problems. However being out for drives we tend to do a lot of "Let's find out what is down that road" and sometimes need a little assistance finding ou way home. Needing a charge on the cell, we discovered the cig lighter outlet dead. We had a second phone so no big problem but something to look in to. Next day, I check fuses and find all in working order. but no power at the outlet. So pull everything out to get the console cover off. Yep I loosened the plug for the cig lighter when doing the radio. Get everything all back together. Ok that is done. As long as I am out here I tackle the power antenna. I has not worked since I got it and replacing the radio did no help. I crawl under the back and discover a cut wire, connect it up the motor just runs.  Well just pull it. cut the other 2 at the crimp connectors and unscrew the coax cable form the antenna then start pulling screws until the bracket is loose then unscrew the big plastic nut  and pull the antenna.  I go the the clean spot on the workbench and pull the clips to reveal instead of a gear and rack strip I was hoping to shorten to get it to work I find a plastic cable has broken and it is un fixable as it is 1/8 dia and brittle and cannot be any larger. I can't get at the end of the mast to connect the broken end to the mast so I have ordered an aftermarket universal replacement the manufacture claims will work. I will let you know when I try to install it.

I got the replacement antenna. Putting it in was like building a ship in a bottle, only one arm at a time. Anyway I managed to get the antenna mounted and the supplied strap connected to the lower bracket. then worked out the wiring.  Just bypassed the rely and was able to hook it up. A few wire ties to keep the wiring away from the muffler and everything works as it should.

O.K. I have been driving the Vette around for a while and have run into a minor problem. Once I get below 1/2 tank of gas the gauge goes wonky and reads random levels. I am thinking sending unit. I am relieved to find out I do not have to drop the tank to fix this. I just have to find a decent one with a decent fuel pump. I got a few dress up items 3 weeks ago but a trans swap on my grandughters Jeep Liberty took up 2 weekends. So here she is with a little dress up.

I got tired of the dash not working right, so I pulled the trigger on a rebuilt unit. Hopefully it will be here in a week. I am also going to replace the brake pads as I feel there is too much pedal pressure needed to stop the car. My reasoning for this is I just put new pads on the front of my DD Eclipse. Now it seems to stop with just a little toe pressure. I am thinking the pads on the vette are old and have gotten hard or glazed over. If new pads don't work I will check the booster.