After spending all day cleaning the car last summer for a concourse show, I jumped in to go to the show and the car ran like crap, rough, stumbling, poor power etc. The dash was showing various codes: check engine, service engine soon, traction control disabled...I can't remeber them all. I tried replacing the battery on the chance that the battery was toast, no effect. I tried plugging in a scanner and got no codes back despite all the chaos on the dash. In the end I had it towed to the dealer and they advised that the number 3 spark plug wire was "damaged". The new wire immediately solved the poor running. I decided to change all eight as a precaution and have not had any issue since then. I did find one reference to this problem/solution on the "other" forum, but there was no simple way to determine if the wire failure was at fault. In the end it took a profeesional type scan tool to find the problem. I messed around for two days and the dealer found the issue in about 10 minutes. I'm sure there is a lesson in there...

This is my 08 Crystal Red Metalic, with about 40K on it now. I have had a couple small issues: TPMS sensor failures (2), replaced the drivers door lock servo and touch pad, spark plug wire failure, glove box latch replacement...I think that's all for repairs. All electrical in nature except for the glove box latch - that one was my lovely wifes fault for yanking too hard. The C6 is an awesome car and so much more civilized to drive on long trips vs my old 93. However on track days I am back to getting my ass kicked. I guess I haven't had enough seat time in the 08 yet.

Keep smiling!

Attach file:

---

  12PER4206x.jpg (994.98 KB)

John Sandford - all the "Prey" novels, John Grisham, Dean Koontz, Kay Hooper, Stephen Hunter, Tom Clancy, etc. Always looking for recommendations for other authors I haven't yet discovered. Mysteries, spy stories, historical fiction, military...???

I spoke to Budget at the Nashville Airport when I left there yesterday and they say they will have Camaros there in the spring so that may be one option...I just really want to make the trip in a Vette. It seems sacriligeous to show up at the NCM in Ford Fusion or Hyundai POS rental.

I will be travelling to Nashville several times this summer and I want to make the run to Bowling Green, but I want to do it in a Vette. Does anyone know a Nashville car rental outfit that has Corvettes or a local GM dealer that might arrange a 2 day rental on used late model C6?

Thanks Gurus!

In any comparison he will always say the european car is better, always. When they came to the US and did a show featuring the Vette, CTSV and Challenger, they all said the Vette was an amazing car...go figure. As a C6 owner I have to admit that the interior is not the best I've ever seen, but who friggin cares? Find a bit of twisty road on a sunny afternoon and start thrashing. Get the RPMs up, make that bad boy bark some...I guarendammtee you that interior build quality will not be troubling you! They are awesome cars to drive and I count myself one lucky S.O.B. that I was able to buy one while I still have enough guts to push it and have fun. Oh yeah, his personal car is a Ford GT...I'm sure there is no bias in his reporting

Are any Gurus planning to attend the BHCC next week? I will be heading down with 17 other cars from the Corvette Club of Manitoba. It should be a pretty impressive turnout as this is the 40th anniversary for this event.

Let me know if you are attending so I can keep a look out.

Drive safe.

www.blackhillscorvetteclassic.com

My votes:
C3 Trae 1976 - love the underhood details
C4 Andrew - I guess I'm a little biased towards yellow vettes, but that is a gorgeous car
C5 Volzfan - I'm not a fan of silver vettes, but that car is a good reason to reconsider
C6 - Gotta go with mine (especially since it's the only one)

Here is my "collection", including the wall of fame.

Attach file:

---

  DSCF7326 (Medium).JPG (91.06 KB)


  DSCF7329 (Medium).JPG (67.48 KB)


  DSCF7328 (Medium).JPG (73.43 KB)


  DSCF7335 (Medium).JPG (49.59 KB)


  020 (Medium).JPG (65.56 KB)

It pretty easy to determine the age of your tires. Find the DOT number, usually close to the bead area. This number is typically 11 characters long and the the letter "DOT" usually are printed very near to the number. Here is a sample - DOT:EK4F 6PN 4410. If you saw this numer you would know that your tire was made in the 44 week of 2010. So just look at the last four numbers in the group and that indicates the week and year of production. Just because a tire is old does not neccessarily mean it should be removed from service. Look at the overall condition of the tire, paying special attention to the sidewalls and the base of the tread between the tread grooves. If you see deterioration in the tread grooves (cracking) or ozone damage on the sidewalls (also cracking) then replacment is advised. Also if the tread depth is 4/32 or less, change 'em.

First off I gotta say tires have been my business for the past 23 years. The thing you have to remember with tires is you truly get what you pay for. If you want consistent performance through the life of the tread, buy a quality name brand tire: BST, FST, MIC, BFG, Toyo. All the rest, you are taking a chance. For a set of 17" tires front and rear on C4 you will probably pay close to a grand mounted and balanced. Tire rack seems to have pretty good selection and prices. I had Sumitomos on my 93 and swapped them for new FST Firehawks. In my mind, the Firehawk is just about the perfect tire for a C4, excellent perfromance wet or dry at a fair price. All that said, buy the best tire you can afford no matter what vehicle. This is not the place to save $$ by making a compromise.

It's called Crystal Red Metalic. A friend has one and it looks excellent in bright sunlight. Only 9 more sleeps 'til I go get her!

It's a GM Certifird used car so it gets a 12000 mile 12 onth bumper to bumper warranty. If there is an extra cost, they are hiding in the price of the car. I don't imagine I will need to use it but you never know, right?

Amen Brudda!!

It's 08 but in very good condition, 1 owner and all that good stuff. The best part is right now I save almost $2K just on the currency exchange. Gotta like that.

Only thing to say to all the "Auto" guys...drive one with a stick... decision made!

LS3 6 speed STICK. It has the F55 magnetic selective ride which is really rare on a manual trans car. Two tone leather guts, HUD, all the electronic toys except nav (I have a new Pioneer unit for that!), upgraded brakes and wheels, both tops and ...get ready for it C4 guys...Warranty!

Can't wait to get it and start playing...

Best part is Momma is onboard too, so no dog house for Daddy! First trip will be a 10 hour drive home all by my lonesome. I can already Chickenfoot and Van Halen blasting from the stereo.

I finally pulled the trigger. I just called the dealer and said I will take it! I love my 93 but after I drove a friends 08 with the mighty LS3, I was completely lost. I will probably sell the 93, but not for a little while. I gotta get used to the idea first.

Attach file:

---

  new c6.jpg (32.07 KB)

Anybody have any thoughts about the collectability of the ZHZ cars? I have an opportunity to pick one up locally at a decent price. I am kinda wondering what the other Gurus think about the long term value of these cars. I know the Hertz Mustangs from the late 60's are worth a bunch - when you can find them. Do the Gurus think this will be true of the 2008 C6 ZHZ as well?

Thanks brothers

JD

Attach file:

---

  7734cge_19.jpg (12.77 KB)

I autocrossed for the first time last year with my 93 LT1 (bone stock) and was only 1/2 second slower than the fastest C6 in my club. The C4s are very capable and a blast to run. Make sure you have good tires though...

Vay to phunny, Ich olmust peed in mine lederhosen.

Go big or ....

Bah! Humbug!

What kind of $$ are looking for? I have a friend looking for a low miles 6 speed right now.

Thanks

JD

Lifting an engine, pulling yourself out of ditch, securing an obnoxious neighbor to a tree...? Lots of fun stuff. It's probably worth about $25.00

Cheers

That doof should have watched Myth-Busters!

If you have ever used an electric fence or know someone who has one you should read this.

The language used is a bit salty, but 'he tells it like it is' without cursing.

If you don't laugh hysterically at this,....CHECK YOUR PULSE ..this is funny....and true. This was sent by a retired dentist.

We have the standard 6 ft. fence in the backyard, and a few
months ago, I heard about burglaries increasing dramatically in the entire city. To make sure this never happened to me, I got an electric fence and ran a single wire along the top of the fence.

Actually, I got the biggest cattle charger Tractor Supply had, made for 26 miles of fence. I then used an 8 ft. long ground rod, and drove it 7.5 feet into the ground. The ground rod is the key, with the more you have in the
ground, the better the fence works.

One day I'm mowing the back yard with my cheapo Wal-Mart 6 hp big wheel push mower. The hot wire is broken and laying out in the yard. I knew for a fact that I unplugged the charger. I pushed the mower ar und the wire and reached down
to grab it, to throw it out of the way.

It seems as though I hadn't remembered to unplug it after all.

Now I'm standing there, I've got the running lawnmower in my right hand and the 1.7 giga-volt fence wire in the other hand. Keep in mind the charger is about the size of a marine battery and has a picture of an upside down cow on
fire on the cover.

Time stood still.

The first thing I notice is my pecker trying to climb up the front side of my body. My ears curled downwards and I could feel the lawnmower ignition firing in the backside of my brain. Every time that Briggs & Stratton rolled over, I could feel the spark in my head. I was literally at
one with the engine.

It seems as though the fence charger and the piece of shit lawnmower were fighting over who would control my electrical impulses.

Science says you cannot crap, pee, and vomit at the same time. I beg to differ. Not only did I do all three at
once, but my bowels emptied 3 different times in less than half of a second. It was a Matrix kind of bowel movement, where time is creeping along and you're all leaned back and BAM BAM BAM you just crap your pants 3 times. It seemed like there were minutes in between but in reality it was
so close together, it was like exhaust pulses from a big block Chevy turning 8 grand.

At this point I'm about 30 minutes (maybe 2 seconds)
into holding onto the fence wire. My hand is wrapped around the wire palm down so I can't let go. I grew up on a farm so I know all about electric fences ... but Dad always had those piece of shit chargers made by International or whoever that were like 9 volts and just kinda tickled.

This one I could not let go of. The 8 foot long ground rod is now accepting signals from me through the permadamp Ark-La-Tex river bottom soil. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to have to just man up and take it, until the lawnmower runs out of gas. 'Damn!,' I think, as I remember I just filled the tank!

Now the lawnmower is starting to run rough. It has settled into a loping run pattern as if it had some kind of big lawnmower race cam in it. Covered in poop, pee, and
with my vomit on my chest I think 'Oh God please die .... Pleeeeaze die'. But nooooo, it settles into the rough lumpy cam idle nicely and remains there, like a big bore roller cam EFI motor waiting for the go command from its owner's right foot.

So here I am in the middle of July, 104 degrees, 80% humidity, standing in my own backyard, begging God to kill me. God did not take me that day... he left me there covered in my own fluids to writhe in the misery my own stupidity had created.

I honestly don't know how I got loose from the wire ....

I woke up laying on the ground hours later. The lawnmower was beside me, out of gas. It was later on in the day and I was sunburned.

There were two large dead grass spots where I had been standing, and then another long skinny dead spot where the wire had laid while I was on the ground still holding on to it. I assume I finally had a seizure and in the resulting thrashing had somehow let go of the wire.

Upon waking from my electrically induced sleep I realized a few things:

1 - Three of the fillings in my teeth have melted.

2 - I now have cramps in the bottoms of my feet and my right butt cheek (not the left, just the right).

3 - Poop, pee, and vomit when all mixed together, do not smell as bad as you might think.

4 - My left eye will not open.

5 - My right eye will not close.

6 - The lawnmower runs like a sumbitch now. Seriously! I
think our little session cleared out some carbon fouling or something, because it was better than new after that.

7 - My nuts are still smaller than average yet they are almost a foot long.

8 - I can turn on the TV in the game room by farting while thinking of the number 4 (still don't understand this???).

That day changed my life. I now have a newfound respect for things. I appreciate the little things more, and now I always triple check to make sure the fence is unplugged before I mow.

The good news, is that if a burglar does try to come over the fence, I can clearly visualize what my security system will do to him, and THAT gives me a warm and fuzzy
feeling all over, which also reminds me to triple check before I mow.

Honey do these jeans make me look fat?

I sympathize with the Beemer weenie...I hate it when douce bags follow me at a "careful" distance. It seems to happen regardless of what I'm driving, either the Vette or my dd Accord. If I drive 3 miles (5km) over the limit some schmuck wants to tag along...Where is the toggle switch for the James Bond automatic oilslick, or the Acme brand Coyote anti-doucebag rear missile?? Do they come standard in the ZR1?

Quote:

No doubt if the need ever again arises for such a determined show of sacrifice and willingness to endure, we will stand and be counted with that generation. I pray that we never see the need for such an accounting.

God bless our Vets and those still serving!

Dad can I borrow the car???

Without question the best of show has to go to the black GTS whose owner is clearly a DIY kinda guy, and not afraid to finish the job with some carefully color matched duct tape, lots of duct tape! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Quote:

Fuel economy is figured in liters of fuel per 100kms. I dont know what bright light came up with that approach, but that's what we're stuck with. In a nutshell, 6lt/100km is good fuel economy and 15lts/100km means your having too much fun! Blame it on Trudeau - he was in power when I was a kid and we switched to metric. Metric is mostly simple, you just caught one of the more goofy applications.

Quote:

Plenty of good old fashion duct tape! Just make sure you put on snow tires first!

With tires as in everything else in life, ya gets what ya pays for. All my familly vehicles are on top tier products: Bridgestone, Firestone, and Uniroyal (Michelin). Just ask what price are you willing to pay for safety and peice of mind? All new tires look good and work well for some period of time, but six months or a year down the road, well thats another story.

What is it about an old guy (us) in a corvette that makes these young punks think there peice of rice burning crap can possibly keep up with any corvette? It seems the only ones ever to feel challenged by my vette are those pimply faced, sideways hatted little s.o.b.s. They drive like idiots on the road, but they never show up at the autocross or the drag strip to be properly schooled. So frustrating! On the road I'm usually content to give a little throotle just to egg 'em on and then back off in hopes that they will run into our ever present constabulary, or better yet, blow through a posted radar camera red light. The best revenge is a $300 ticket in the mail!

That built in depreciation means smart guys like us pay so much less when we buy them in 2 or 3 years... Look at Craigslist and you can find a 06 or 07 for 30k or less and new 2010 is 80K or more. How smart do you have to be to figure this stuff out?

That damage is related to bead deformation, not age or ozone. It looks similar, but the location must be considered, and in this case, it speaks to bead deformation, possibly as a result of dry mounting and tearing or cutting of the bead sole. Most tires have a 4 or 5 year warranty and something like this is typically covered, FYI.

Quote:

I love my 93 and it gets more respect from the average looky loo on cruize nights than even I give it. I guess we take for granted what we have sometimes. You all know what I mean. But like DB, I will get a C6 in the next 3 to 5 years, as soon as I have the $$, storage space and find the right car. I like the idea of buying and keeping a C6 until it's a classic that some futur grandson will drool over. Right now I'm thinking a GS or a ZHZ, supercharged of course

Keep the shiny side up!

Quote:

I keep banging my helmet on it. Also I like to drive with the roof off but notice a lot more chassis movement. Seriously, I am going to have a machinist friend have a go at this project for me and see what he comes up with.

Wow, for that much $$, I might have to try my out my own design...Surely the right amount of Duct tape will keep it rigid and attached. What could possibly go wrong?

I read about this AFS Bar in a post from last summer, but I did not see any information on where to buy this item. Does anybody have any information on where to find one of these?

Thanks CGs

My spec book shows approved rims for a FST 275/40R17 Firewahk Wide Oval are 9.0 to 11.0. I would suggest that you can likely mount the 275s on an 8.5 wheel although this may cause some strees on the bead area of the tire...It's doable, but not recommended. If you really want the look of 275s all around, go ahead, but at least you have all the information before you make that choice.

Bonne chance

Are you running sawblade wheels or something "else"? Stock sawblades for a 92 were 9.5 inches wide, front and back. If there is a difference in the rim width, then you may have ZR-1 wheels or some other aftermarket choice. When I bought my 93 it came with ZR-1 wheels and was shod with 27540R17 on the front and 315/35R17 on the rears. I went back to the stock size for the 93, 255/45R17 front and 285/40R17 rears. IMHO the car handles way better in this configuration. All that said you can probably go ahead with 275s all the way around with issue.

Always good to have another of the Frozen Chosen in the mix. You'll find lots of good ideas and support here. Welcome!

It's like opening a big bag of potato chips, you think I'll just have one...ten minutes later the bag is half empty 'cause once you start, you just can't stop. The first peice probably looked ok, but holy crap, somebody should have smacked that dude. Maybe a women punked him into it..."you know how much I like chrome..."

This was just a demonstration sport at the recent games in Vancouver. Next time, it will have full medal status!

If that Ebay listing were for an '03 white and red, well... That's gonna be my next Vette...Someday...