Can anyone provide me with a write up on how to install the newer style opti in a '93? I need to show this to my mechanic at the bodyshop. I am unclear as to where the vacuum lines connect, about the dowel pin, and whatever else should be taken into consideration when upgrading.

Thank you,

Quote:

No argument here. I wasn't suggesting that the ZR1 looked no different or better than a base C4, only that at a glance, the average person wouldn't take any more note of the car than they would of a base C4.

The Z16, however, really leaps out at even the casual observer.

There have been times when I've seen a ZR1 from some distance, and not even realized that it wasn't a base C4 until I got a lot closer to it. I don't think that'll ever happen with a skunk...

Be well,

SJW

Im using a custo grind cam and full cnc ported heads. 93 stock bottom with 3.73 and 2400stall. New 30 svo inj, 52 tb, vented opti, and new LT4 timming chain. Started out with 275 hp and 300TQ The new dyno results are 327 hp and 322 TQ. The graph shows a hp peak at 5600 then all of a sudden both hp and TQ go straiht line down. Something is happening here. Car runs way rich at WOT in the beginning, bogs a little before it pulls and cleans out. Theres tunning issues here obviously. Im short at least 20 hp and TQ . Talking with installer says it felt like a rev limiter. My tunner said rev limiter set at 6400 and thinks it could be a valve train issue. The installer said new pushrods where needed so he changed them. Is it possible he should of left my 7200 Manley pushrods in there? What do you guys think about all this. The cam should make a little more power then tipical hot cam but it has a nice lope idle with a 110 LSA.

Yeah go ahead and send it to me. I may be able to snap some pics for it.

Quote:

If you're referring to the console lid repair how-to, no, regrettably I didn't think to shoot any pix during that repair, so all I had was text. If you're interested, I can shoot that text to you...

Be well,

SJW

heres a useful tool when selecting/deciding tire sizes:

check out this link for a tire size calculator > [url]http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html[/url]

Quote:

I agree..........The site looks bloody awesome! Fantastic!

Oh bogus, you are such a wuss... lol the C4 LS1 swap shall be achieved!! Oh, a complete LS1 swap (if using a 700r4 or 4L60E) for ~$3000 and ~$4000 if you get a low mile pullout with EVERYTHING including exhaust manifolds, A/C, and some extras (i did, but I wanted more so I obviously have more into it now)... this is an estimate based on what I have spent and doesn't include transmission, guages, and a few little things that you don't absolutely need lol...

All good points except for the not very noticable difference between the looks. I have always thought the wide body made quite a difference in the ZR-1 and the wheels with the large deep rear end dish was always quite stunning. Under the hood was also quite and impressive look too!

Believe me, I was bummed too that it all wouldn't transfer over, but it was something that needed to be done. It seemed like the forum feel flat on it's face after that and we have been chasing it ever since.

We hope to make some more changes here soon.

As far as your article, do you have pics along with the tip? If so, email the stuff to me

bruthish@aol.com

I will set it up and get it posted.

I guess I've always been a bit of a contrarian.

I'll always admire the ZR1, but I don't aspire to owning one.

But I'd have a skunk without hesitation. Preferably a ragtop with black guts, but with only 137 of 'em out there, I don't think it's too likely I'll ever end up with one of those.

The Z16, BTW, is a bit more than just a paint job. Upgraded calipers, unique wheels, fender flares (on the targas), special embroidered upholstery, special emblems and badging, its own VIN sequence, etc.

The fact that only 1000 Z16s ever existed makes it highly desirable, too (and quite a bit more than just a paint job) IMHO.

The ZR1 is a legend. There can be no contesting this. But, given its complexity, parts-availability issues, the difficulty of finding anyone who knows how to do the work on one that I'm just not equipped to do, etc, it's one legend I'm content to admire when somebody else holds title to the car. If the ZR1's level of performance were my goal, I'd buy a Z06 or hotrod an LT1 or LT4.

The fact that the ZR1 isn't all that visually distinct from the base C4 probably enters into the picture for me a little bit, too. A skunk will instantly grab anyone's attention, and the LT4's performance, while a half-tick below the LT5, is most impressive for a car of its era. I'd love to own one.

Be well,

SJW

[size=18:23ca8d680c][/size:23ca8d680c][size=12:23ca8d680c][/size:23ca8d680c]

Quote:

Maybe I will, now that things seem to have stabilized here.

I was kinda bummed when all posts that had been made here (previous to the big changes were implemented) got dumped, and I haven't been back very often since then.

I ended up re-typing at least one how-to (repairing the late-C4 console lid/cover) that I'd posted here, cuz somebody on CF was asking how to do it, and when I tried to refer them to the post I'd made about it on this Forum, it had vanished...

Thanks for the kind words. I hope the how-to post proves to be helpful.

Be well,

SJW

I agree with you guys too. I was just observing that. I like the GS though, but I wish I had the ZR-1 in my Garage!

WOw...thanks SJW! Glad to have your input...you need to come around more often!

So far the CCM article has helped me the most. Great write-up

The LT-5 puts me over the edge. Gotta go with the ZR-1

These guys have given you good advice, but I would suggest you go ahead and bleed the system, even though it's technically not likely to be mandatory.

Dot 3 brake fluid is hygroscopic, which means it'll absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Over time, this contributes to corrosion within the hydraulic system, causing problems with calipers, master cylinders, rusted-out and ruptured steel brake lines, etc. The boiling point of DOT 3 will also lowered if it has taken on moisture, and that's not a good thing, especially in a car that's driven and braked aggressively (such as on a road course).

Also, because of DOT 3's hygroscopic nature, you should always only use fluid that's in an unopened or well-sealed container. I only buy the smallest bottles of fluid, so that I don't end up storing a partial container that has a lot of air in it, and if I have a small bottle that's nearly empty, I won't use the remaining fluid after it's been stored. As inexpensive as DOT 3 is, I'd prefer to work from a virgin bottle.

If you bleed/flush your brake system every year or two, it'll go a long way toward keeping the hydraulic system gremlins at bay. If you neglect to do this basic maintenance chore periodically, it'll eventually come back to bite you in the wallet.

Since you'll be that far into it, with the wheels removed, might as well go ahead and bleed 'em while your at it. It's never easier than when the car's already in the air, and the wheels are off, so now's as good a time as any.

As a bonus, if you disturb the bleeder screws every year or two, they'll never seize on you.

Recommendation:

Use a clean (virgin is best) turkey baster to suck the master cylinder reservoir dry.

Crack each bleeder screw open for only an instant, then re-seat it. This is done only to make sure the bleeder isn't seized. If it is, the sooner you learn this, the better. If you end up needing to replace the caliper cuz the bleeder's seized, you'll be glad to find this out before you go any further.

Remove the pads as outlined by Bruthish, and press the pistons fully into the calipers with the C-clamp (don't go crazy with the pressure, just push 'em all the way back in). This will force as much as possible of the existing fluid in the system back up into the M/C reservoir. Suck the reservoir dry again with the baster after pushing each piston back in, to make sure the M/C reservoir doesn't overflow and make a mess under your hood.

You now have a system that has relatively little fluid remaining in it.

Install the new pads, and mount & secure the calipers. Leave the wheels off for now.

Before you step on the pedal (which would push the pistons back out again), gravity bleed the system. To do this:

1. Fill the M/C reservoir up with virgin fluid.

2. Put a length of hose on the bleeder screw at each wheel. This hose should be sized so that it will fit snugly over the bleeder, and stay put when you let go of it. I use clear plastic hose (polyethylene, if I recall correctly) that can be purchased at Home Depot / Lowe's in various diameters. For some bleeders, air line tubing that's used in fish tanks works well. The advantage to using clear tubing is that you can watch what's coming out of the calipers as it's bleeding. This allows you to check for air bubbles and to monitor how fresh (or not) the fluid is as it exits the system during the bleeding process.

3. Stick the loose end of each hose into a container to catch the fluid that will be released.

4. Crack each bleeder screw open. A quarter-turn or so should do just fine.

5. Crack a cold beer open. A quarter-turn or so should do just fine here, too.

6. Grab a chair.

7. Drink the cold beer.

8. Get up every 5 or 10 minutes, and check the M/C reservoir fluid level. Refill as it drops. Make sure it never runs completely dry, or air will enter the system, and you'll have a more lengthy bleeding process to remove it.

9. Repeat steps 5 through 8 until the fluid that's coming out of the bleeders looks as clear and fresh as the fluid you're putting into the system, then close the bleeders, remove the hoses and containers, and top off the M/C reservoir. Wipe residual fluid, if any, off of the calipers, etc so that none ends up on the tires. Brake fluid is NOT good for your tires.

When you've finished bleeding the system, step on the pedal a few times, going only around 1/2 way to the floor with the pedal on each stroke (you're only going 1/2 way down so that you won't run the risk of tripping the warning light switch). After a few strokes, check the fluid level in the M/C reservoir again. What you're doing now is pushing the caliper pistons back out as far as they'll go, to their normal resting position. This will draw fuild out of the reservoir, so keep checking it to make sure it doesn't run dry. If it runs dry, it'll suck air into the system, and you'll have to repeat the bleeding process to get the air back out.

Repeat this work-the-pedal / check the fluid level process until you get a firm pedal under your foot. If you neglect do do this process, the pedal will go straight to the floor when you step on it, cuz the pistons will still be recessed in the caliper bores. This can lead to Very Bad Things happening if you test drive the car before you've obtained a firm pedal -- it's the sort of nasty surprise nobody needs.

Gravity bleeding is the lazy man's way to bleed brakes, and it requires no pedal pushing or special equipment. You don't have to recruit your wife to work the pedal while you work the bleeders, you don't need speed bleeders (they are pretty cool, though), and you don't need a pressure bleeder.

Speed bleeders and pressure bleeders are faster, but if you're not in a hurry, gravity bleeding will get the job done just fine, and as far as I'm concerned, any job that will do itself while I drink cold beer is a fine job indeed.

If the car has ABS, follow the procedure in the Factory Service Manual in order to achieve a full system flush/bleed.

Be well,

SJW

No problem! Common problem. You may want to mark where the headlight is attached to the frame so they go back in the same exact spot.

Good Luck!

Thanks bruthish! I need to order those bushings and get busy. I got more time than money! Great forum. Corvette, you bet!

Somewhat easy fix, and its cheap.

Inside the motor assembly there is a gear that is held in place by a "gel type" bushing. After time, it dry rots and turns to dust and the motor will no longer turn the gear.

Ecklers sells the new nylon bushings for $4.95/side(at least it was that price a while back). It was best for me to take the whole headlight assembly off to take the motor apart. Once that is done, and you take the motor apart, you will see where the bushings go. Very easy.

You can have it all done in just a couple hours.

Good luck! and welcome to the guru!

I have an 88 vette, the headlights flip back and forth, and I have to cycle the headlight switch to get them to stay. The little motors run, I have seen them work with the hood up. The little knobs on the top just spin like crazy. Is there some kind of clutch or adjustment for this? Thanks.

I pretty much agree with Bogus. Make mine a wide body!

Welcome to the guru!

that is hard... I do the same thing... forgetting to take pics. Then I have to redo something!

I sometimes enlist bastet44 to help... she takes great pics.

If you are doing a complex project, perhaps a friend or someone can do the pics.

Ok, looks like it's up to me. I hopefully will get the stuff to do this soon. My big problem is that when I get started doing, I forget to take pictures. But I will try.

well... you see... I may be editor in chief, I need volunteer editors to do stories.

I can't do them all. I have one from JetJockey93 about heater cores... The idea is that we document the process whenever we do a project.

So... get crack'n! Grab a digital camera! send me the text and the pics and we will make it look like a million bucks!

hm. that's interesting.

I think the ZR1 is popular due to the very special nature of the entire car... the engine, the body work... it's an entire package.

The GS, however cool, is a paint job. The LT4 was available throughout the line, and is a hot rodded SBC.

I am not trying to deminish the GS... I love'm... but that's the reality.

That 16 people have voted for their favorite C4 and no one has chosen the Grand Sport yet.

I just want to say that I love the articles that Andy has done. I am printing them off and putting them in my folder to refer to. Although I am not in the process of doing any of those projects yet, if/when I do there it is. How about doing an article on replacing rocker arms/valve springs? This one job that I am serioulsy considering doing this spring/early summer. I am thinking about swapping out the LT1 Springs for LT4 (springs, retainers, valve seals, etc) and putting on LT4 Roller Rockers. I do not want to take the heads off.

A picture story would be fantastic. And if anyone (bogus; hint hint) would like to come to Kansas and help me do this and do the story, well that would be great.

I have replaced many brake rotors and pads and I have NEVER replaced the cailper bolts. You can if you want to be "on the safe side". But they do not come with the rotors or pads. You can get them from a place like Autozone or
NAPA.

If it were mine, I would just inpect them and clean them real good.

Been trying to read up as much as I can before I tackle the brakes and have another question. When putting new pads and rotors on do you also replace the caliper bolts as some recommend and does the manufacturer of the rotors and pads supply the hardware or do you have to buy it separately? Thanks again.

The Valvoline has such great heat handling properties. I have been using it in both the brakes and the clutch. It's fabulous stuff.... meets or exceeds all manufacturers requirements.

Yep, it's all about personal preference on the fluid. I have never used a synthetic brake fluid, so don't have the experience with it. I am ok with using what has been recommended by GM.

Let us know how it goes!

you might want to consider rotors, but rears don't take the beating fronts do, so I would not fret that. Cutting is doable at least once.

There is a lot of misinformation about ABS and doing maintenance on it... there is nothing to worry about! Deal with it like you would a conventional braking system and all will be fine.

I suggest bleeding it and replacing the fluid with Valvoline Synpower Brake Fluid. Great stuff! Great price!

my only thought, which is different than Brutish, is to use Valvoline Synpower Brake Fluid. Great stuff.

I am working on a brake tech tip! I hope to have it shortly.

I would fix the injection... here is a snip of my comments for our records!

----------------------------------------------

ugh... going to carbs... that is the most bass-ackwards thinking. I don't agree with it.

And it has nothing to do with being a "purist" it has everything to do with building the right engine.

The car was a mess, fine, but there are ways to repair this. First off, I am curious why the tuner can't tune it. That bothers me. The 91 ECM is pretty good. I know it's SD, but it could be converted over to MAF, so that's not a problem.

Also, harnesses are not that expensive. I would call Contemporary Corvette, Corvette Salvage (Dino's) or Painless and see what they have.

The other option is to do a FAST system, which might be your best bet.

Unlike Rich's 84, where upgrading to a carb is a good idea, I am not so sure with later injection systems.

Carbs are not as tunable as you think. They are analog devices that work great within a power band, but that's about it. EFI is so much more linear and is capable of dealing with altitude differences much easier. It is intellegent.

Then again, you would loose much of the dash board, and the ABS might just barf. The later electronics are much more integrated, the CCM is expecting a signal so it can communicate with the EBCM... this just gets ugly.

To me, it would be easier to update the injection, fix or replace the harness and be done with it.

lemme address these one at a time.

1) The IP. You have to remove it and make sure all the bulbs are solid and connected well. It's rather easy... just a bunch of screws. The IP requires a bit of massaging to get out.

2) The tranny sounds sick... that is not a good sound at all. I would suspect the bad master cylinder has caused clutch or transmission damage. I would consider replaceing the master/slave and then flushing the fluid out of the transmission and OD unit.

beyond that... I donno what to say.

Hi, I noticed my instrument panel and gages light either goes off or dims after a few minutes of operation and they frequently flicker off and on, especially when I run over a bump (but not always). This is on a 1984 cheverolet corvette coupe. was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or solutions to a fix?

recently I noticed a slow leak in my master clyinder, so I watched it for a few days, i noticed a burning smell (fluid leaking out of master clyinder and/or hose onto exhaust). Now all of sudden I can't go into reverse, i can put that shifter into the reverse position but when i release the clutch i hear a loud noise, all the other gears go into gear properly (and work) with minimal noise, but the reverse gear makes a really loud noise and the car will not move at all.
help please!!

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showt ... 1553600903#post1553600903

well guys, what do you think?

brody

Thanks for the information. Looking forward to the tech article on brakes. Your article on shocks is great. I'll be referring to it when I install them this spring. It's really too bad more people don't frequent this forum. It has lots of experienced Vette gurus and great info. Thanks again.

First, welcome to the guru! Hope you enjoy the stay!

OK, Brakes.....hopefully we will get an official tech tip up soon on it.

First, I would use what has been recommended by GM in the system which is DOT 3 or Delco Supreme II.

Second, I have never had a problem getting the bleeder valve loose, but it may not be a bad idea to spray some penetrating oil on it if there is rust in the area.

You will only have to bleed the system, however, if air gets into it. You can change the pads without "opening the system".

You will need just a large C-Clamp and some wrenches.
Remove about half of the fluid from the master cylinder. Put the lid back on. Take your c-clamp and carefully position it against the back of the caliper with the other end against the opposite pad. Its hard to describe, but what you are doing is pushing the piston back into its hole. When you do this, its going to push the fluid back in the master cylinder(thats why we took some out).

You will have to use two wrenches to get the calipers off, one on the nut and one on the guide pin. There are two bolts. Once that is done you can pull the caliper away and replace the pads.

It has always been my practice, whether needed or not, to buy new rotors or have the old ones turned. If you elect to have them turned, make sure you mark how they came off exactly, so they go back on the same way.

Put the calipers back on, tightener up, and add new fluid. Slowly pump the brakes to get the pads back next to the rotors. You shouldn't have to bleed.

As for the types of brakes, I would get the best you can afford. The better ones emitt less dust and are quiter.

Good luck!

My first post and it's good to see some familiar names from the Forum I usually frequent! This spring I plan on installing new brake pads and I also want to bleed the brakes as it hasn't been done since I owned the car. I've never done this before and consider myself a novice when it comes to servicing my cars. I think I know which brakes I'm going to choose and I also plan on getting some speed bleeders but I'm a little nervous about the whole thing. I've got some good books on how to do it but I'm looking for any hints or advice including any special tools I'll need. For instance should I go out and hit the bleeders with some PB Blaster a couple of days before to make sure I don't break them off and end up needing new calipers? Is there a better way to bleed the brakes? Do I buy el cheapo pads or spend a little more on Hawks? Do you sand the rotors as some recommend? Synthetic fluid or not? Those are the kinds of questions I looking for answers to. I appreciate any and all replys. Thanks.

Alright, sounds good. Thanks. Are the pads all I need or do I need some other parts?

Its not hard. Do it yourself. You certainly aren't going to screw up the ABS.

Just bleed the brakes correctly after you install the new pads. I use the old fashioned find a friend to pump the brakes and add fluid when needed. Wait for the outside line to quit letting out any air bubbles and your done.

I was gonna put new rear break pads on my '96 myself but a friend told me without the right equipment I could ruin my ABS. Should I get it done at a shop or is it not too hard to DIY? Thanks.

The menu page is up. Now I just need to get the actual specs up. 1984, 1985 and wheel specs are up now.

The Vette Top 100 has reset its rankings for the new year. So, we would much appreciate it if everyone would take a moment to click the link to the left and give us your vote!!

Thanks!

it sounds very healthy especially with a gutted cat

They look great! How do they sound?

as promised here are the pics of the mufflers installed, and as i was at it i installed my wheel cones,a nd knock-offs