Has anyone had a 1984 Corvette?

I know they are slow for a Corvette, but how bad are they really?  I saw a couple for sale recently for very cheap (~$2500), and it seems like they could potentially be fun.

Didn't they come with the god awful Crossfire fuel injection? If so, expect it not to function.

Appleseed said:

Didn't they come with the god awful Crossfire fuel injection? If so, expect it not to function.

They did, but isn't it not that much different than the TBI on tens of thousands of trucks? That's what I'm curious about though, whether it's "the TPI one has more power and gets better mileage for not much more money" or "there is some important part that breaks every 5 years that has been NLA for 20 years" lol.  

You get what you pay for....

C4 Corvettes.....  I literally owned one of the best and most desirable versions but C4 Corvette electronics are their bane.  If you love soldering, circuit repair, electrical diagnosis, and fragile electrical connectors you will have lots of fun.  
 

Nothing cured me of wanting a C4 Corvette like owning a C4.  

Knowing little of these, it seems like a car you could almost total by wearing out the tires.

I had a 94 and I loved it. It was a PITA to get in and out of but it felt fast (even though it wasn't) and it was fun to drive. My father has an early C4. Not sure but between 84-89 and he and my mother have a ball with it. He is 78 so he doesn't care if it goes fast, take the top off and have a nice cruise. It gets a lot of positive attention per dollar and it makes him happy. Again it feels fast because it's low with the giant hood in front of you. I'm pretty sure my CR-V would take it in a race though. 

I did a 200 mile road trip in an 84, came away disliking it less than I thought I would. The auto trans kickdown was on a hair trigger so it always felt like it had more power than it did. It ate up the highway miles in a way I didn't expect. 

One of the important controls is in a very stupid place. I forget which. Headlight switch maybe? It is down low on the door or something.

I think they are 7.6 seconds 0-60 which is slow for a sports car but acceptable enough to not be annoying.  If I did get one it would mostly just be for fun and to drive to work occasionally (9 miles so nothing too difficult).  I don't think i would bother if there are a lot of expensive NLA parts needed to keep one running, but I wouldn't care if non essential stuff still worked or not.

The crossfire is a weird set up but can work with a lot of effort.

Just get a TPI car. 

I had an '88 for years and liked it.

If you buy a beater, don't fix it up, let it be a beater. If you want a nice one, buy one that already is. 

Tk8398 said:

Appleseed said:

Didn't they come with the god awful Crossfire fuel injection? If so, expect it not to function.

They did, but isn't it not that much different than the TBI on tens of thousands of trucks? That's what I'm curious about though, whether it's "the TPI one has more power and gets better mileage for not much more money" or "there is some important part that breaks every 5 years that has been NLA for 20 years" lol.  

I used to work with someone who knew how to make them work right.  Key is getting the throttle bodies synced correctly.

Wish I could remember the full details...  but I have experienced the twin TBI setup working flawlessly.

My late brother-in-law bought a low mileage one for $10,000 in the 90's and was convinced it was always worth a lot of money.  His brother has it now and rarely drives it. 

I drove it once and it wasn't bad. 

I believe that Edelbrock can cure the injection. 

I don't know the year differences well, but spent the day with a girl that had a brand new one in 86(87?) I did drive it some.

Having driven a few mid '70s at the time, it was a fair bit more refined. Not necessarily a good thing! Not particularly fast, but didn't stand out as slow. But an ok car, at the time. 

I currently have an 84 Corvette, a good friend gave it to me after it has been sitting in his moms garage for years, and it has great sentimental value to him. I have spent many many hours getting it back into good street shape.  Now that it is, it is a pretty terrible car in most ways but is kind of fun because it is so rad.  I just put a new full stereo system in it to replace the half dead crappy Bose system and that will probably increase the enjoyment.  
 

What specifically do you want to know? 

I had an 84 that had been neglected. It was far from the worst car I've dailied. The crossfire has an undeserved reputation. It is just dual TBIs as noted above. Not difficult to service or sync if you've ever dealt with multiple carb setups. That said, you'll never make power with it. The manifold is terrible, the cam is tiny, and the heads are junk. The electronics are way more of a problem, and most of the parts are NLA. Bad cluster? Too bad. The cooling system is hard to get bubbles out of, my PS cap was broken and I couldn't find a replacement, the rear axles are built from u-joints and won't take much abuse. The interior is 80s GM, only with more weirdness. The battery is a PIA. Seats are bad. Emissions is a concern in most places, as in you won't pass and the parts you'll need are extinct. 
 

I wish I still had it. Excellent car. So much character. 

A bud of mine has an 86 he's put an iron block LS into. He tracks it, he let me drive it back when it was stock. The 4+3 transmission is junk for track use. The overdrive will kick in in the middle of a turn sometimes, which is spooky.

For $2500 I'd rock one as a cool beater, and only upgrade the parts that break. SBC power parts are cheap, and a carburetor is much easier to mess with than crossfire injection.

Sonic said:

I currently have an 84 Corvette, a good friend gave it to me after it has been sitting in his moms garage for years, and it has great sentimental value to him. I have spent many many hours getting it back into good street shape.  Now that it is, it is a pretty terrible car in most ways but is kind of fun because it is so rad.  I just put a new full stereo system in it to replace the half dead crappy Bose system and that will probably increase the enjoyment.  
 

What specifically do you want to know? 

1.  What if anything has broken that required a tow truck (or parking it until it was fixed at least)?

2.  Are there any parts (essential or not) that you have wanted but can't find new anymore?

3.  If you live in a state with emissions testing, has it been an issue to get it to run well enough to pass?

barefootcyborg5000 said:

Emissions is a concern in most places, as in you won't pass and the parts you'll need are extinct. 
 

That's one of the main reasons I would want to know more before buying one, I live in CA so that's definitely an issue.

Stiffest suspension of all the C4 Corvettes - GM wanted to play up that it could pull 1g on street tires. California emissions might be a challenge - most other states either won't check at all, or would just do a sniffer test you could pass with a well tuned carb. 

I had an 1985.  Think slower car fast sensations.  Handles fairly well.  Will bring smiles to your face.  Alas for me, fall in crawl out, not good on these old bones.  As above, battery location, cheap interior parts, small foot box, etc.  Never had a problem with the fuel injection on the '85.  It actually produced decent MPG.  Plus there is some after market support. Big problem is tires.  The 16 inch size is very hard to find.  I think 1989 they went to 17 inch.  Still, if you can find one in good condition, for a cheap enough price, it will be sporty enough to have some fun.

It will squeak a lot, the handling with the leaf spring set-up is different.  I've known enough people that have had one at least 20 years after the C4 came out that I would probably motor swap it right away if I got one.

A friend of my dad has an '89 that's been sitting in his garage for about 20 years. He's getting to an age where if he doesn't start soon, it will never get finished.  I'm very tempted to make an offer on it, throw a 2.0t and Tremec 6spd from a Camaro in there and track it, or possibly even throw a cage in and run it in Champcar.  The 2.0t would be very similar in power, and nearly double the gas mileage.

1.  What if anything has broken that required a tow truck (or parking it until it was fixed at least)?

2.  Are there any parts (essential or not) that you have wanted but can't find new anymore?

3.  If you live in a state with emissions testing, has it been an issue to get it to run well enough to pass?

1. The window was stuck down and wouldn't come back up, had to replace both window motors, kept it in the garage to keep the rain out.  Nothing else kept it from regular use since I got it running, but I have three other cars I would rather drive.  
 

2. Some specialty crossfire adjustment tools have been out of stock forever   Most normal things are available and downright cheap.  There is a limited selection of tires in the stock size for the 16" wheels  which I had to keep because they are so rad   
 

3. Our emissions testing here in PA is 96+ only.  The emissions system is all stock and apparently working.  The O2 sensor broke and half fell out, a new GM replacement was $12.  

Every time I see a C4 being slowly cruised around on a sunny day or at the car wash I want one less.

Every time one of the members in my local SCCA chapters brings his to the cones I want one more.  That thing is MEAN.

Tk8398 said:

barefootcyborg5000 said:

Emissions is a concern in most places, as in you won't pass and the parts you'll need are extinct. 
 

That's one of the main reasons I would want to know more before buying one, I live in CA so that's definitely an issue.

This is anecdotal but it seems like the only C4s I ever see driven in NorCal, even at gearhead events like rallies and shows, are LT1/LT4 cars and the ZR1s.

The old, failure-prone electronics on the L83/L98 cars (particularly the earliest ones) would certainly give me pause.