97 Corvette Daily Driver

So my other LEDs didnt work. I just put some single LEDs in, they arent very bright but they are better than the factory ones.

Finally took off my black outs, and euro lights.

Without black outs.

Without Euros. (just the OEM tails)

Also bought a used right side visor, to replace my missing one. BTW the aftermarket replacements are currently not available, due to lack of mirror/light assembly suppliers. So if you have some C5 visors laying around now is the time to sell them.

Replaced the weatherstripping on the front of the halo, it was torn in a few places, and looked really bad with the targa off, replaced it with some used stuff.

After

I am currently waiting on my newest order, which includes a new right fog light (my bracket is bent and will not allow proper aiming), new upper radiator shroud (mine has two broken tabs which I epoxied and proceeded to break again), a used 97-00 MAF (got it for free with another deal, and I have a sneaking suspicion it currently has the later 85mm maf, but am too lazy to check right now to verify), and a used Vararam, and some 5K HIDs for the fod lights which are OEM projectors.

I will install all this at the same time as the front wiring harness I ordered a while back, probably next week.

After that I will address the leaking diff, sways and shocks,

I got some low mulage c5 chocks and sways if you want them. Makeme an offer. Right now they're dead weight helping hold my shop diwn on the ground.

Appreciate the offer but I'm gonna go with c6 parts.

The zo6 stuff is a great bolt on.

New stuff HIDs, turn signal harness, new right fog light.

There is a vararam and 97-00 MAF in there.

Old harness, it was haggard, much surgery.

Pretty sure what happened was, he took it to a mech for turn signals not working and the E36 M3ty mechanic said its a chevy needs sockets, put them in and still nothing, so he tracked it back to the connector and he berkeleying jumped it. What an shiny happy person. It had a pin that had been pushed back and one bent pin, literally took 10 seconds top fix the connector with some pliers and a pick, then I had to fix his ass hattery of cutting wires for no reason. I despise electrical work especially when I fixing someone else crap.

Anyways I got it fixed heat shrinked it and plugged and unplugged the connector a few times to verify it wasnt going to just break again. New bulbs and turn signals work again.

New upper radiator shroud, Well used. It looked like crap but i scrubbed it up and threw some back to black at it. Once the back to black fades a little, if it looks bad Ill paint it.

Hopefully this is the last of the ghetto ass intake. Until I had it off I never realized how tiny the filters are.

I got the vararam on. It fit like E36 M3. New MAF. Will get some pics, it got dark before I finished so Ill get pics in a day or two. Made a HUGE difference, car is much faster. Think it is a combo of getting the right MAF on (the later style 85mm will work good enough to run and not throw a code but its outputs a different signal and sacrifices a bunch of power) and taking the crap intake off.

HIDs in, a ballast is dead, contacted vendor, waiting to hear back.

Picked up the C6 Z06 shocks, and new metal end links, waiting to install the end links until I throw some C6 z51 bars on and waiting to install the shocks until I find someone in Ft Worth to erase the F45 option and now screw me on a 5 minute job.

Now sell that intake to some hipster with a "rat rod".

I want a Vette to play with.

Thank goodness you got rid of those blacked out tails, that was horrid.

In reply to bgkast:

Already threw that E36 M3 in the trash.

Got a new ballast from JW motoring, they were quick to send another out once they got the email, overall a good transaction, much better than my last attempted purchase from a corvetteforum sponsor. Plugged it in and everything worked like a charm.

Tried to aim them up a little bit, could only get a few turns because of the socket, I think they are a little low, but ill drive with them like this for a little and see what I think, if they are too low Ill buy me a new socket and aim them up.

Headlights on. Realized I have two different bulbs, gonna buy some new low beams tomorrow.

Vararam In. Like I said this think fits like E36 M3. Seriously considering buyig a new one with a power duct or switching intakes.

New parts include C6 Z06 Shocks, C6 Metal end links, and a TPMS sensor (not pictured). I had another sensor die, but my 39 dollar titan TPMS sensor is still going strong so I ordered another. Still cant find anyone with a tech 2 to delete to F45 RPO code, so Ill probably have to take it to the dealer and just pay whatever, so I can get the shocks on.

After that its sways, and fixing the leaking diff and greasing and torquing the axles (apparently they make noise, and the grease prevents that, and the nuts back off for some reason.)

How do C6 Z06 shocks compare to C5 aftermarket performance shocks?

Almost ran some bilstein, some complain they are harsh. Since I'm just going to be DDing it I decided on the c6 stuff, everyone says they drive nice and perform well. If I don't like them after swapping sways and doing everything else, I'll switch to the billies.

Did my oil change today, think I got close to 6K miles on the last one going off the oil life monitor. Drained out the Mobil 1 and installed Penzoil Platinum 5w30 because walmart was out of single quarts of Mobil 1 (I need 7 qts, big jug and two singles) and I always ran it in the Z28 and the engine was spotless when tore down.

Drained a little over 6 qts put 6.5 (actual capacity) back in so it looks like I burned under half a qt in 6k miles. I'm okay with that, still need to put a catch can on.

Also checked my clutch fluid again, dirty as hell, did the ranger method a few times and ended with clean stuff, will probably do this at every oil change, from now on.

Also had a low beam go out on me, just dropped in to Pepboys and bought the brightest non blue painted bulb they had.

Threw them in, and it made a big difference. before I thought the headlights were out of adjustmemt because the hot spots were in way different areas, but I pulled out two different E36 M3ty blue painted bulbs, and now that I have matching bulbs they appear to be aimed fine and are WAY brighter, makes night driving much better. Ill get a picture tonight.

A few days later a high beam went out, Ill order something similar on amazon since I can wait a few days on a high beam, and dont feel like paying 50 bucks for bulbs again.

Yesterday i was sitting around with a few buddies and we saw a super clean cherokee, the engine bay was spotless and you could see shiny white paint on the fenders and firewall with no stains, and my buddy said he wanted to pressure wash the bay on his truck but was scared to. I told him the vettes bay looks like E36 M3 I was gonna spray it. They all advised against it citing how many electric gremlins c5s already had it probably wasnt a good idea to bring water into the mix. He told me, "please dont spray 2000 psi of water into your engine bay." I told him I wouldnt....

Id spray 2500 psi into the engine bay. BWAHAHAHAHA

I covered the alt and fuse block with plastic bags and jacked the rear of the car up to aid in drainage under the intake manifold, so I didnt flood the knock sensors and kill them. I then proceeded to spray the crap out of everything, right up on it to, intake, coil pack, throttle body. EVERYTHING. IT WAS A BLOOD BATH. Just wanton negligence, according to the internets and the people who are scared to drive their vette in the rain on corvette forum.

Before:

After:

Came out great, cant really tell from the pics, but there was grime all over the top of the engine and leaves and dirt, and its just clean now, not shiny but clean, even able to get all the gunk off the subframe.

I was a little worried but figured if it broke I'd just fix it, but she fired right up afterwards so I went and drove it and got it real hot and didnt have any issues.

Main reason I did it was, the frame rail under the coolant reservoir looked like crap, most of the paint was gone from the coolant leak the PO was too cheap to fix, so I shot some rustoleum on it prevent rust.

Still havent installed the shocks, went to my buddies shop, he had a tech 2 but was unable to delete F45, so Ive decided on some plug in eliminators, just havent ordered them.

Gonna order me some hood struts, and I have a lead on a fast intake for a decent price now.

I have become convinced of something.

When a corvette gets driven in the rain, it shrinks and turns into a miata.

I told that to my customer that tracks a c5 z06. He didn't think it was funny. His cousin, that tracks a camaro ss, laughed his ass off.

Fyi the c6 zo6 shocks are an awesome upgrade, i just did it this weekend. And with the f45 you can just remove the sensors and zip tie them out of the way still connected. Easy and free.

In reply to chiodos:

Not sure what you mean

Ordered some resistors for the shocks, hood struts, and some 9011 for the high beams. Apparently you can cut the mounting tabs and make it so it fits in a 9005 housing and it puts out like 2300 lumens and I only paid like 18 a bulb.

Also seriously fighting the urge to order some sways. Ill probably get the shocks in and test them before the sways.

Philips X-treme vision low beams installed, along with the HIDs in the fogs. really need to reaim the fogs, they a re pretty much aimed at the ground right in front of the car.

How do you like the HIR/HID combo? Is wiring in HID lows worth the effort or would you just do HIR highs and lows again? This is on my shortlist, after brakes and fixing the dim HVAC. Found Vettetronics on eBay will fix the display for only $50.

Inreply to Mazda787b:

Not sure what you mean. I have some of the higher end readily available 9006s in the lows. The philips xtreme vision. I like them , they are a huge upgrade to what was in there and exponentially better than the upgraded Sylvania sealed beams in the z28, but I do plan to switch to a projector lens with a real hid in the future, but I have no problem driving at night like I did in the Z28, probably as good as I can get with a correct fit halogen in the lows.

The fogs are a hid kit, they are a factory projector lens. They do make a difference but really need to be aimed higher up, they point really low right now.

I'm putting the HIR replacement bulb in the highs. Not in yet, so I have no comment on them. I didn't run then in the lows because of the glare. They do not have a cap on the bulb and are not meant to be run in a housing without a shield, the vettes do not have a shield, but I don't care about the highs, I won't be blinding anyone because they'll be off when other people are on the road.

An FYI about HIRs, as far as I know they are no longer available. 9012s and 9011s do not use the infrared coating that made them famous, philips use a special gas charge to add extra head to the filament and meet the hir spec without the coating. I looked for legitimate HIRS and couldn't find them.

So Ive had the C6 Z06 shocks for a while and been having issues trying to get the F45 deleted. Found a Tech 2, wouldnt work, thought about simulators, but they are like 200 and I was being cheap, so I went the resistor route. You just cut the connector on the chassis side and solder in a 10 ohm 10 watt resistor

I started with the rear.

Got the first one out.

Wasnt too bad. So I was mentioning soldering in a resistor, well I didnt want to do anything not easily reversible, and I despise soldering on a vehicle, on a table working on a board or wires no problem, but I hate doing it at some weird angle with limited room on a car, and Im really lazy.

SOOOOOO

I used quick splices to wire in the resitors and ZERO berkeleys were given.

Then taped it up and taped it to the harness.

New shock in, some simple green and a pressure washer.

I didnt really want it to be show car shiny, I just want it to be less miserable to work on, Currently I get SOOOOO dirty when I work on it, so I try to leave things cleaner than when I started. Took me a long time to get the Z28 that way but eventually I got most of it cleaned up and it just took a little maintenance here and there to keep it from getting bad and I wouldnt be covered head to toe with dirt grime and grease after a simple repair.

Im getting quicker at this.

Couple things to notice.First, the new shock is full compressed, and held that way with just a couple of zipties, second, these shocks didnt come with those little plastic straps that keep the shock compressed, that like every other shock comes with, I was sad, third, the new shock is fully compressed....notice the old ones are close to the same length, at rest, they would compress super easy and wouldnt rebound by themselves, with no load. I dont know if this is because they are completely worn (what I suspect) or because they are magical magnetic shocks and have no power to them.

Number 2, Installed, resistored, and pressure washed.

At this point I put her back on the ground and went for a quick test drive. I didnt get any messages on the DIC about the lack of mag shocks so I guess the resistors and E36 M3ty splices are working. Just the rear shocks made a huge difference in the way the vehicle rides, handles and brakes. Took her back home and onto the fronts.

Soak the top bolt in pb blaster before anything, Ive twisted off too many shock shafts to know better. I really hate these types of mounts.

And for anyone doing this setup at home, you will use the C6 Z06 shock's top mount's bottom bushing (no washer between the boot and bushing) and reuse the C5's top mount's top bushing, washer and nut. This made me stop and think for a while because the shaft lengths are different.

Resistored up

New shock compressed ready to go in, the fronts took a ton of zipties to keep compressed long enough to install and even with this many ties it was still slowly slipping, the fronts are STIFF.

Resistor taped up and zip tied to subframe, new shock, and pressure washed.

I think they cleaned up pretty well, looks like most of the road grime, oil and grease are gone from arms, subframe, and fender well.

Pass side was more of the same, got it done but ran out of daylight for pics. If any of the resistors give me trouble it will probably be the right front, there was very little excess harness to work with, so i had to work with my face pressed against the rotor, working by feel.

All four done. Probably gonna put these up for sale, see if anyone will give me something for them since the electronics work and replacements are really high.

Also installed some new hood struts, old ones would drop sometimes, but never til you got comfortable enough working under it to not pay attention, then BAM right on the dome.

Job went pretty smoothly, if it wasnt for the F45 option, this would have been a pretty quick job, the resistors were the worst part. On a side note I did get to taste a new automotive chemical. I still dont know what it was, I'm used to coolant, every once in a while, Ill be working on the car and put a pinch of snuff in and notice its got a little more kick then normal, this was worse, I managed to get it on my lip, and couldnt get it off, and every time i tried to wipe or wash it off it got in my mouth, and make my tongue or lip numb, it wore me out. Overall though, pretty uneventful.

Havent test drove it with the fronts, I will tomorrow when I put the new high beams in, if the fronts make near the difference the rears did it will be a huge improvement.

Did you at least pack the scotch locks with dielectric grease before installing them?

Scotch blocks are the devil incarnate. Once I am Benevolent Dictator of the Universe I will ban them and the masses will thank me for it.

Couldn't you have cut the connector off the old dead shocks. Soldered in the resistors to the ends of the cut wires and plugged them back into the car? That way it truly would be a plug in solution, now you have cut into the car side wiring and introduced a corrosion point.

I did not pack them with any grease, I just taped them up and called it good

I could have made my own simulators using the plug on the shock side, and considered it but, even used with high miles the F45 shocks are worth About a hundred dollars each so I didn't want to cut them up before I try to sell them.