Project HI OFCR: 1988 Corvette coupe

Well I only have a few picture from my facebook page, I am in Panama working for the next week.
Well the 69 is a coupe. Has a built 350 4 bolt main, World research heads, competition cam, roller rockers, hi rise, and a 750 Holley. Running a Tremek 5 speed. Not terribly fast for todays standards, but it will do.
Only picture I found was a shot of car before I bought it (Michigan plates)



The second is an 05 vert. Candy Tangerine. Procharged with all the fixins. Runs low 12's on street tires (at over 5000'). Dynoed at 540hp and 507 torqe (I think it's been a few years)

Lee what intake was on it for the carb set up and which carb was they attempting to use

JRiggs wrote:Lee what intake was on it for the carb set up and which carb was they attempting to use

They had a Weiand intake. No idea what the carb was as it was long gone by the time I bought the car.

Later,

Lee

Nice progress.
Where did the LO5 come from again?

Tell that sorry Wayne to get over there and get the motor pulled HAHAHA
I know he's helped you tremendously on black betty!

TAHOE wrote:Nice progress.
Where did the LO5 come from again?

Tell that sorry Wayne to get over there and get the motor pulled HAHAHA
I know he's helped you tremendously on black betty!

Yeah, Wayne has been a huge HUGE help and I've learned a great deal more working with him. The tentative plan is to pull the motor on Sunday afternoon after church. Then I can look it over, disassemble it and then roll the 'vette outside to pressure wash it.

The L05 came from a good friend of my uncle Danny. It was in a '92 GMC stepside. Untouched and unmolested...just lots of miles. The A/C even worked! I got it for $400 but sold off all of the brackets and accessories on CL for $50 to a guy who needed it all for his Caprice. I scrapped the TBI and intake.

Later,

Lee

Updating the last few weeks...

My buddy Wayne and I pulled the busted motor. What we found was astounding. It had a brand-new LUK clutch (I just saved $190!!!), brand new lightweight pushrods, the motor was punched .060 over with new pistons and the cranked was turned .010 and it, along with the block, had the oiling holes chamfered. Plus it had been coated with Glyptal. So, someone had a solid game plan and spent some serious cha-ching to lay down a good base. And then it all went to pot. They re-used the factory L98 cam and lifters along with the old timing chain and gears and old oil pump. They scorched the main bearings and then, after that happened, we figured they pushed it aside in the barn with water only in the block. That shattered the block at first freeze. We also discovered that although this was a roller block it was NOT the orginal L98 block. Thankfully they had re-installed the very desirable Corvette-specific #0113 aluminum heads. These are the same as what is found on the ZZ4 motor.

Anyhow, the crank had a small rust spot on the #4 journal and since it was already .010 over we (sadly) could not save it. However we did salvage the rods/pistons and I got $50 for 'em. So that helped the budget and helped a fellow gearheads from Williamsburg, Ohio. Here's the first update.



The block had 10 quarts of oil and water in it...UGH!



No good...





Chocolate milkiness



No more busted motor!



Later,

Lee

Next up I rolled her outside the following weekend for a pressure wash and to take stock of the interior. The car has some funky half-arsed undercoating in the wheel wheels and underhood surfaces. ODD. Anyhow, it was not too terribly gunky and it cleaned up fine with no degreaser needed. So, here we are...





Thomas helped out too! He aimed and I moved the wand left to right. Good times with my son.



I then turned my attention to the interior and ridding the 'vette of the nasty mouse feces and nests. It DID stink like a hamster cage left alone for a year. UGH. Anyhow, they had mounted the car alarm in the rear hatch area. What a mess!







Later,

Lee

So, last week I started by removing the rear hatch area carpet and what was left of the sound deadener. It was soooooooo bad I had to back off of the car three separate times...once with my eyes tearing up. Unreal. Cars in barns=BAD IDEA. Anyhow, I got it all removed and then proceeded to take the front carpet sections out as well. I then pressure washed them and went over them with my hand-held steam cleaner. They came out pretty good for being 26 years old and with 92K miles of use on them. Plus all of the mice pee smells are all gone now. I will still hit them with a quality pet odor remover just to be 100% sure.

On with the show!

This nest (one of two in the car) went all of the way into the back of the wheel well.





Door jambs before cleaning...



Mouse house #2 behind the radio/HVAC/console. Amazingly the little buggers did not do ANY damage to the wiring in the car. VERY thankful for their discriminant tastes!



Drivers side floor...



Passenger side floor..



More to come..

Lee

And here we are as she sits today. Carpets are all cleaned up and the inside floors and hatch areas have been pressure washed and then wiped down with a bleach/water mix. The smell is still there some though. Part of this is from the roll-up security cover in need of removal and replacement due to pee smell. I'll also go over the car again with a bleach-only wipe-down once I remove the console and parts of the dash support. I did get the radio/HVAC and instruments removed for cleaning as well. The digital dash looks to need some love. That's $320 for a full-on rebuild/update. So, that is the next thing I am saving up for.

So, here we are...

Cleaned rear hatch area carpets...



Floor and hatch side carpets...



More tomfoolery...looks like this was some kind of cell phone mount and they kept drilling into the tranny tunnel. Some people should never be allowed near tools let alone repair a car. UGH.



Here is what happens when you jack up a C4 Corvette by the 'pans...I-D-I-O-T-S. Both pans are damaged.





Later,

Lee

Finally a few pics of the dash. The mice left the wiring alone. The prior owner(s) did not however and jacked up some of the fuse block to (I assume) disable the VATS, fuel injection and who know what else. This will be a simple repair though as they yanked instead of cut...and I have the factory service manuals.

Next update when I have some more done! The remaining parts came this week...radiator, hoses, water pump, damper and lifters. Wrapping up the motor is next to do before it gets too cold out. I also need to swap the 'vette oil pan on and paint it as well.










Later,

Lee

Nice work Lee! Before you know it she'll be burning up the asphalt!

911TAZZ wrote:Nice work Lee! Before you know it she'll be burning up the asphalt!

I hope so! If all works out as I hope/plan I'd like to turn the key come November/December. I still need to get the interior cleaned up and back in (at least the instruments) and go thru the brakes for sure. I'd also like to change the tranny fluids (this has an O/D unit) as well as the rearend gear oil.

Later,

Lee

Makin some good headway!!

Cratethis wrote:Makin some good headway!!

Thanks! It's a load of work for sure but it will be worth it.

Later,

Lee

I had a hard time seeing those last interior pics, the reflection off those pale white legs was horrible BAWAHAHAHAHAHA

Sure is coming along nicely! Wished I could make that much headway on a couple of my tractors.

Yeah, winter legs in the summer...only on an Eskimo, Marty! It was LOADS of fun getting in and out with no seat there. The BIG no-no getting out of C4s is no grabbing/pulling on the steering wheel as it busts up the column internals. Plus my wheel is just sitting the shaft so it will pop right off.

It's moving along fairly well. I'm trying to get some of this stuff done while the weather is in my favor (warmish, no rain and sunshine for the paint work and interior cleaning). Everything else I can get done in the winter. I'd like to have the motor in by then end of October. Once that is in place then it gets pretty academic and can be done with just a heater in the garage to take the nip off on the cold days. If all works out well I hope to twist the keys by sometime in November.

I hope you can get some time on your tractors soon, buddy. You really got a knack for them suckers.

later,

Lee

Yea, the steering wheel thingy was a bad issue with my '87 K5 blazer too with tilt. Having it lifted, it was a bad habit grabbing wheel, I had to have that column torn apart twice and tightened up.

Once of these days I will get to my tractors, gotta get that bedroom built first so we can actually move.

TAHOE wrote:Yea, the steering wheel thingy was a bad issue with my '87 K5 blazer too with tilt. Having it lifted, it was a bad habit grabbing wheel, I had to have that column torn apart twice and tightened up.

Once of these days I will get to my tractors, gotta get that bedroom built first so we can actually move.

That era of GM tilt columns is notorious for issues...and yanking on them makes it worse. Even dangerous. The ones in the 'vette and in Shelly's TA are pretty tight actually. We just try to be as careful as we can with them.

Once you get moved in I hope you can get some good time in on the tractors. I have our Craftsman sold tonight and am buying a good friend's 40" Murray for what I am selling my old Craftsman.

Later,

Lee

Nanook wrote:

 I have our Craftsman sold tonight and am buying a good friend's 40" Murray for what I am selling my old Craftsman.    

Later,

Lee

Bascially the same thing

Actually Craftsman of your era was made by AYP company, MTD made Murray

I will get back on them someday, sucks having to move 4-5 tractors that do not run and are in parts

Yeah, I knew the Craftsman was an MTD-based rig. The Murray is FAR newer and runs/drives better. Just need better tires out back for my hills.

Keep the faith on your tractors. Your time will come. Need to get another Camaro though, dude.

Later,

Lee

Nanook wrote:Yeah, I knew the Craftsman was an MTD-based rig.  The Murray is FAR newer and runs/drives better.  Just need better tires out back for my hills.  

Keep the faith on your tractors.  Your time will come.  Need to get another Camaro though, dude.  

Later,

Lee

No Sir--- The Murray is MTD, the Craftsman was made by American Yard Product, which is now owned by husqvarna and only make selected models for Sears.
Sounds like it maybe a better tractor so it's all good!

Not sure about another camaro. I have my mind on one specific F-body if I get back in that game, but he still won't let it lose just yet.
My neighbor has a beautiful 1970 442 for sale right now, I just don't have $15K to drop on a toy...and you know me and 70-72 Cutlass's
I still have a short bed 85 pickup that I haven't started in 1 1/2 yrs. Wayne rebuilt the carb, I got it to fire and that was that. Rusting away in the back yard.

Oops my bad on the mowers. I'll post up a pic and the specifications. It's in nice shape and the motor was rebuild just two or three years ago. Plus Dennis added a nice light to go with the headlights and it's been taken good care of. The guy who bought the Craftsman was pretty happy. Also sold that White 800 chipper/shredder for $100 (more Corvette money!). It had sat since 2012 but ran fine when parked. Guy came from Pikeville to buy it.

I know about the F-body...and I hope you get it. That would be a sweet score and I'll admit a bit of envy. It would be nice to see you get the '85 truck running and driving.

That Cutlass would be sweet but that's money a working stiff like you and I doesn't have.

Later,

Lee

P.S. I rolled the 'vette back in last night and I'll be painting/cleaning in the engine bay and sorting the wires a bit before we drop the L05 in.

Got the console removed and wiped the transmission tunnel, lower dash, under/behind where the radio/HVAC stuff goes and in the air vent areas. It's all wiped down with straight bleach now and is just about smelling as good as a 26 year old car can be LOL!

Also removed the ECM and ordered my chip and adapter.

Later,

Lee

Nice, keep plugging away Lee it's looking like progress is being made daily.

911TAZZ wrote:Nice, keep plugging away Lee it's looking like progress is being made daily.

Thanks! It's coming together but it just takes some time. I won't really be able to mess with it much until the 18th. I am hoping to get the cam, valvetrain and timing set in place then. If things work out we'll see about dropping the engine in on the 25th. From here I can basically start putting the interior back together. The seat tracks need to be washed and painted. The carpet is ready to be reinstalled and what's left is to wash/clean the console, speaker covers and radio/HVAC controls and then install the rear speakers so that the hatch area is buttoned up.

Later,

Lee