Getting back on the road again
Discussion
Well, after 8 years of daily driving the C5, I've had her tucked away in a heated garage for the last 18 months or so. Well, it's out now and coming back to make some noise.
I wanted to do a couple of things to it before getting an MOT and tax. She had a nice 5 hour clean and polish at the weekend. Will properly clean the carpets, feed the seats and detail it a little more asap, but just wanted to see what I had under 18months of dust.
I put a new battery on, and she fired up straight away, no drained, clattering lifters or anything which was a surprise. Running as smoothly as ever, clutch and gears all ok, brakes work fine but I am gonna strip and check the calipers at the weekend just in case. I did an oil and filter change (computer said 90% but hey ho, you know me) and she's starting to look good.
2 new window regulators and motors were installed this evening after finishing work (surprisingly easy job) and all unseen areas of glass and difficult to get to stuff were cleaned in the doors while I had the panels off.
It still has winter wheels on which look horrid, so will go back to the shiny ones as I do the brake and caliper checks at the weekend. I have some brake pipes to replace as I did not like the look of them when I tucked the car away so that's another job I will not let go even though the brakes seem to be working fine.
Will set up an MOT test next week, don't foresee any issues so should be rumbling around straight after. It will be going into a trusted body shop soon after to have the mirrors and nosecone sprayed to remove stone chips, fix some historical issues with lacquer on the rear end and she will be back to properly gleaming again.
I am very pleased so far. Laid up for soooooo long, and absolutely no mechanical issues at all when I woke her up. It's just my usual anal approach to maintenance to catch up on now.
Great cars these.
I wanted to do a couple of things to it before getting an MOT and tax. She had a nice 5 hour clean and polish at the weekend. Will properly clean the carpets, feed the seats and detail it a little more asap, but just wanted to see what I had under 18months of dust.
I put a new battery on, and she fired up straight away, no drained, clattering lifters or anything which was a surprise. Running as smoothly as ever, clutch and gears all ok, brakes work fine but I am gonna strip and check the calipers at the weekend just in case. I did an oil and filter change (computer said 90% but hey ho, you know me) and she's starting to look good.
2 new window regulators and motors were installed this evening after finishing work (surprisingly easy job) and all unseen areas of glass and difficult to get to stuff were cleaned in the doors while I had the panels off.
It still has winter wheels on which look horrid, so will go back to the shiny ones as I do the brake and caliper checks at the weekend. I have some brake pipes to replace as I did not like the look of them when I tucked the car away so that's another job I will not let go even though the brakes seem to be working fine.
Will set up an MOT test next week, don't foresee any issues so should be rumbling around straight after. It will be going into a trusted body shop soon after to have the mirrors and nosecone sprayed to remove stone chips, fix some historical issues with lacquer on the rear end and she will be back to properly gleaming again.
I am very pleased so far. Laid up for soooooo long, and absolutely no mechanical issues at all when I woke her up. It's just my usual anal approach to maintenance to catch up on now.
Great cars these.
Hi Dave - indeed it is.
I like the simplicity of the mechanicals on the Vette, but hate the electrics / electronics combined with the plastic body. The fun I had a couple of yeas ago trying to resolve ABS error codes split across an axle when I felt they shouldn't have been, only to find that the published DIC code listing was wrong was a real mare. After a lot of cleaning of all earth points, swapping of left/right wiring harnesses and all sorts of other luddite diags at home after a Vette nameless specialist couldn't work it out on their computer, I nearly gave up and replaced the whole lot (which was their approach) before I spotted the error in the manual. Fortunately, there is nothing to do with sparks or manuals this time, just good old iron.
I have been getting the rust off the old spannering skills a fair bit this spring. It all started by replacing 5th gear & synchro hub on the Rav, some consumable stuff (oil filter pads etc), a few minor jobs on the kids cars. With the spirits stirred, now some basic jobs on the Vette is really enjoyable and rewarding (and cheap labour rates!).
And it's not just the cars. I needed to make pullers/pushers when doing the Rav gearbox, and I think I need to flush my trolley jack tomorrow as it did the "handle-ping-up and sag" routine whilst on full extension jacking the daughter's car (thank you axle stands). So the hydraulics / ball valve probably needs flushing to reseat, or perhaps, more safely I should spend a few quid on a new jack. Shame as I have only had it just over 30 years!
However, I do prefer driving then to laying under them, so can't wait to get the legal paperwork in place and have a little pootle around over the May bank hol.
Are you putting another Z on steroids yet? I saw that you may have had some plans a few weeks ago...
I like the simplicity of the mechanicals on the Vette, but hate the electrics / electronics combined with the plastic body. The fun I had a couple of yeas ago trying to resolve ABS error codes split across an axle when I felt they shouldn't have been, only to find that the published DIC code listing was wrong was a real mare. After a lot of cleaning of all earth points, swapping of left/right wiring harnesses and all sorts of other luddite diags at home after a Vette nameless specialist couldn't work it out on their computer, I nearly gave up and replaced the whole lot (which was their approach) before I spotted the error in the manual. Fortunately, there is nothing to do with sparks or manuals this time, just good old iron.
I have been getting the rust off the old spannering skills a fair bit this spring. It all started by replacing 5th gear & synchro hub on the Rav, some consumable stuff (oil filter pads etc), a few minor jobs on the kids cars. With the spirits stirred, now some basic jobs on the Vette is really enjoyable and rewarding (and cheap labour rates!).
And it's not just the cars. I needed to make pullers/pushers when doing the Rav gearbox, and I think I need to flush my trolley jack tomorrow as it did the "handle-ping-up and sag" routine whilst on full extension jacking the daughter's car (thank you axle stands). So the hydraulics / ball valve probably needs flushing to reseat, or perhaps, more safely I should spend a few quid on a new jack. Shame as I have only had it just over 30 years!
However, I do prefer driving then to laying under them, so can't wait to get the legal paperwork in place and have a little pootle around over the May bank hol.
Are you putting another Z on steroids yet? I saw that you may have had some plans a few weeks ago...
Hey well done mate,manual error sounds deep,i bet that felt good when you cracked it.
FYI costco have some nice jacks at the mo,aprox £100.
Yeah i have another z06 hope to get it running real soon,get a load of parts together and rip it apart later this year,but for now just enjoy.
That said i hope not to be tempted to pull it apart again in 3 weeks of driving.Nice problem to have eh.
Cheers bud
FYI costco have some nice jacks at the mo,aprox £100.
Yeah i have another z06 hope to get it running real soon,get a load of parts together and rip it apart later this year,but for now just enjoy.
That said i hope not to be tempted to pull it apart again in 3 weeks of driving.Nice problem to have eh.
Cheers bud
Yeah, it was a bit of a result. They had transposed a couple of codes and descriptions to the wrong side of the car! I was initially using a search within the document on the computer to find the codes which were a way apart in the manual, so did not notice it until is started trawling though a paper version line by line and noticed the pattern change "right left right left right left right left right left left right right left"... WTF was that, and then it all made sense, but I wish I had got there earlier before load of "swapping" diags, which of course did not change error locations at all!
Anyway, I bet your Z doesn't make it thru May as a standard car. There's two Bank Holiday weekends you know.
My jack was buggered - no amount of flushing would reseat the ball valve, so it's for the recycling. I picked up a cheapo low-slung 2 ton jack at lunchtime from Halfrauds. I only ever lift a corner at a time so it should be okay going forward.
Tried to book the car in to my local guy who has looked after all my strange cars over the years for an MOT. I also want him to replace the front brake lines before too (can't find pipe flaring tools and it's a pain to bleed on my own - yeah, excuses). He is stacked with work at the moment and I won't take it anywhere else, so now my problem is that he can't take it for 2 weeks! There goes my Bank Holiday weekend fun
Did a little bit after work tonight for an hour and a half. Popped the wheels off all round for a brake check. Cleaned up the disc surfaces, checked pads (ok but will do the fronts after the MOT) and thought, "well while I am under here, let's clean off all the gear I can see". Looks a bit better now. Lubed up rear handbrake mechanisms & springs, popped on the shiny wheels, and ready for some more at the weekend - probably inside, I feel the carpet shampooer coming out if the weather is good enough to leave the roof off and a fan heater running inside.
Of course, I haven't taken it for a local untaxed / un-MOT'd test drive to make sure it pulls up square constable, but my best guess is that had I done so (not that I would of course Mr HMRC), it would have been fine...
Anyway, I bet your Z doesn't make it thru May as a standard car. There's two Bank Holiday weekends you know.
My jack was buggered - no amount of flushing would reseat the ball valve, so it's for the recycling. I picked up a cheapo low-slung 2 ton jack at lunchtime from Halfrauds. I only ever lift a corner at a time so it should be okay going forward.
Tried to book the car in to my local guy who has looked after all my strange cars over the years for an MOT. I also want him to replace the front brake lines before too (can't find pipe flaring tools and it's a pain to bleed on my own - yeah, excuses). He is stacked with work at the moment and I won't take it anywhere else, so now my problem is that he can't take it for 2 weeks! There goes my Bank Holiday weekend fun
Did a little bit after work tonight for an hour and a half. Popped the wheels off all round for a brake check. Cleaned up the disc surfaces, checked pads (ok but will do the fronts after the MOT) and thought, "well while I am under here, let's clean off all the gear I can see". Looks a bit better now. Lubed up rear handbrake mechanisms & springs, popped on the shiny wheels, and ready for some more at the weekend - probably inside, I feel the carpet shampooer coming out if the weather is good enough to leave the roof off and a fan heater running inside.
Of course, I haven't taken it for a local untaxed / un-MOT'd test drive to make sure it pulls up square constable, but my best guess is that had I done so (not that I would of course Mr HMRC), it would have been fine...
Keep going mate you will get there.
Brake lines the metal one`s,can`t understand why gm don`t sell pre bent stock one`s they can only supply bulk pipe and the fittings,and yeah flaring is difficult at best.
My latest z had some braided hoses on it which were a bit knackered turns out they had the wrong seat for the stock hard line ie male flare ,hose should of had female but no they had male as well.
Small thing but keeps ya busy
you will get there.Brake lines the metal one`s,can`t understand why gm don`t sell pre bent stock one`s they can only supply bulk pipe and the fittings,and yeah flaring is difficult at best.
My latest z had some braided hoses on it which were a bit knackered turns out they had the wrong seat for the stock hard line ie male flare ,hose should of had female but no they had male as well.
Small thing but keeps ya busy
Keep going mate you will get there.
Brake lines the metal one`s,can`t understand why gm don`t sell pre bent stock one`s they can only supply bulk pipe and the fittings,and yeah flaring is difficult at best.
My latest z had some braided hoses on it which were a bit knackered turns out they had the wrong seat for the stock hard line ie male flare ,hose should of had female but no they had male as well.
Small thing but keeps ya busy
you will get there.Brake lines the metal one`s,can`t understand why gm don`t sell pre bent stock one`s they can only supply bulk pipe and the fittings,and yeah flaring is difficult at best.
My latest z had some braided hoses on it which were a bit knackered turns out they had the wrong seat for the stock hard line ie male flare ,hose should of had female but no they had male as well.
Small thing but keeps ya busy
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