Big Ben's Little Red Corvette
Discussion
Regular readers may recal my Bentley Continental R adventure which ultimately ended in tears.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Almost 12 months to the day from my collection of said Bentley I received an email from the late owner's nephew asking if I was interested in the ZR-1. He sent me some details including that it starts and runs but won't move, his diagnosis being it needed a new clutch. I made an offer on the basis that a new clutch could mean:
i) A new clutch - expensive but solvable
ii) Blown up gearbox - financial ruin
iii) Some other problem - more financial ruin
To my surprise he accepted my logic and very low offer. This was a bit of a shock as I didn't really want a Corvette let alone a non runner.
In the following days I arranged transport and to come down and help with loading (it was the late owner's elderly sister who would be there as per Bentley pick up and I did not want her to deal with loading etc). I emailed and asked if the car rolled so it could get onto the transport.
The next step is where I was f**ked with my own c**k as I then emailed the vendor asking if he knew about 'fly off' handbrakes and how to relese them. It turns out he did not and this information turned the non running car into a running and driving car. Not unreasonably on the part of the vendor a new, but still very good price was agreed, certianly less than my anticipated clutch budget.
I knew the car was quite smart from a cursory look round a year ago, this was what I was greeted with on Saturday morning
TO BE CONTINUED.........
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Almost 12 months to the day from my collection of said Bentley I received an email from the late owner's nephew asking if I was interested in the ZR-1. He sent me some details including that it starts and runs but won't move, his diagnosis being it needed a new clutch. I made an offer on the basis that a new clutch could mean:
i) A new clutch - expensive but solvable
ii) Blown up gearbox - financial ruin
iii) Some other problem - more financial ruin
To my surprise he accepted my logic and very low offer. This was a bit of a shock as I didn't really want a Corvette let alone a non runner.
In the following days I arranged transport and to come down and help with loading (it was the late owner's elderly sister who would be there as per Bentley pick up and I did not want her to deal with loading etc). I emailed and asked if the car rolled so it could get onto the transport.
The next step is where I was f**ked with my own c**k as I then emailed the vendor asking if he knew about 'fly off' handbrakes and how to relese them. It turns out he did not and this information turned the non running car into a running and driving car. Not unreasonably on the part of the vendor a new, but still very good price was agreed, certianly less than my anticipated clutch budget.
I knew the car was quite smart from a cursory look round a year ago, this was what I was greeted with on Saturday morning
TO BE CONTINUED.........
lukeharding said:
I'd love a Corvette, especially a ZR-1. As with the other poster, new tyres please!
Lovely black one for sale over on the Corvette Club UK, the barn find one from The Late Brake Show. Auto funk has a whole series on the restoration and it's a very decent price. OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
R5 KDT said:
In for this, but please change the tyres this time!
Having scanned your Bentley thread.. This. I had something similar happen with old tyres, but I got away with it with a 360 deg rotation into facing the right way on the hard shoulder on the anti-clockwise M23 slip road off the M25. C5_Steve said:
Lovely black one for sale over on the Corvette Club UK, the barn find one from The Late Brake Show. Auto funk has a whole series on the restoration and it's a very decent price.
OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
Yes I saw that one on Facebook marketplace a few days ago. Looked reasonably priced to my eye. Unfortunately I really need to sell cars before going and buying even more OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
Will follow with interest as I love this model of 'Vette, and I have a blue Maisto ZR-1 up in the loft I think from my model car collection as a kid. I'm just back from a family holiday to Florida and a house across the road from our rental villa had a black one of these on the drive in daily use, which was great to see.
lukeharding said:
C5_Steve said:
Lovely black one for sale over on the Corvette Club UK, the barn find one from The Late Brake Show. Auto funk has a whole series on the restoration and it's a very decent price.
OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
Yes I saw that one on Facebook marketplace a few days ago. Looked reasonably priced to my eye. Unfortunately I really need to sell cars before going and buying even more OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
(bet if it was yellow you'd have snapped it up by now!)
C5_Steve said:
lukeharding said:
C5_Steve said:
Lovely black one for sale over on the Corvette Club UK, the barn find one from The Late Brake Show. Auto funk has a whole series on the restoration and it's a very decent price.
OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
Yes I saw that one on Facebook marketplace a few days ago. Looked reasonably priced to my eye. Unfortunately I really need to sell cars before going and buying even more OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
(bet if it was yellow you'd have snapped it up by now!)
It'll be nice to see the ownership experience on here, I have the foolish idea they would make for a great daily.
Jhonno said:
R5 KDT said:
In for this, but please change the tyres this time!
Having scanned your Bentley thread.. This. I had something similar happen with old tyres, but I got away with it with a 360 deg rotation into facing the right way on the hard shoulder on the anti-clockwise M23 slip road off the M25. C5_Steve said:
lukeharding said:
C5_Steve said:
Lovely black one for sale over on the Corvette Club UK, the barn find one from The Late Brake Show. Auto funk has a whole series on the restoration and it's a very decent price.
OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
Yes I saw that one on Facebook marketplace a few days ago. Looked reasonably priced to my eye. Unfortunately I really need to sell cars before going and buying even more OP - Great car, very interested in this. Can highly recommend the CCUK for any questions on it that might come up, folk over there with a huge amount of knowledge on these as they're quite unique.
(bet if it was yellow you'd have snapped it up by now!)
mac96 said:
Great purchase! I have always loved C4s. More pics please!
This is no ordinary C4. ZR-1 was conceived at the time when GM owned Lotus as well as Chevrolet and they wanted some of the (then) Lotus magic to rub off on Corvette, turning it into the world's fastest production car. So the usual pushrod Vette engine was side-lined and a completely new OHC V8 designed by Lotus for the substantially more expensive ZR-1. The all aluminium design was beyond the build capabilities of most engine production facilities so the engines were built by Mercury Marine who had relevant experience with aluminium. Everything about the car was substantially upgraded, including the price.If you fancy buying one, buy with your eyes wide open. There are very few UK specialists who fully understand these cars and parts supply can be "interesting".
More "big red Corvette" than "little red Corvette".
A good story here about how Chevy achieved their claimed 0-60 times in the ZR-1
https://www.goodwood.com/grr/road/news/the-c4-zr-1...
Took it for an MOT today. Was a positive result in the end, a fail but for handbrake efficiency.
Reading up it seems there is a self adjusting mechanism in the handbrake lever which can be used to tighten the cable. Appraently giving it a few good tugs will stiffen it up. I have done this and it feels like there is more tension in the mechanism, re-test spot booked for tomorrow at 12:30.
Hopefully it will be a bit less damp tomorrow so I can go above 3000 rpm
Ben
Reading up it seems there is a self adjusting mechanism in the handbrake lever which can be used to tighten the cable. Appraently giving it a few good tugs will stiffen it up. I have done this and it feels like there is more tension in the mechanism, re-test spot booked for tomorrow at 12:30.
Hopefully it will be a bit less damp tomorrow so I can go above 3000 rpm
Ben
MOT obtained! The tightening procedure obviously worked and it now had 1% over the test limit. The tester was happy as it was his first pass of the day (at 12:30!)
Now it was legal I treated it to a tank of super then went for a short run. The car runs really nicely when warm and pulls very well with bags of torque as one would expect from a 5.7L engine. I have not pushed anything yet as I am really not used to LHD manual car so it is not the most intuitive yet. That said I am impressed by the capabilities of the car.
Next jobs are:
i) The airbag warning light is on - seems to be a common and easily fixed fault, have ordered some bits to read the fault codes (car is pre OBDII) and will investigate tomorrow.
ii) The Tyre pressure monitoring system warning light came on, these cars had early runflats and remote pressure monitors. The fix for this seems to be remove the bulb from the warning lamp.
I have also ordered bits to do a service and fit a different steering wheel to give me more space, I will still fix the airbag system before removing the airbag wheel so it can be replaced when I sell the car.
The other thing to investigate is the car rattles like a skeleton w**king in a biscuit tin when at idle. Video possibly follows:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gf1LMbgXPA2xBvmY9
Now it was legal I treated it to a tank of super then went for a short run. The car runs really nicely when warm and pulls very well with bags of torque as one would expect from a 5.7L engine. I have not pushed anything yet as I am really not used to LHD manual car so it is not the most intuitive yet. That said I am impressed by the capabilities of the car.
Next jobs are:
i) The airbag warning light is on - seems to be a common and easily fixed fault, have ordered some bits to read the fault codes (car is pre OBDII) and will investigate tomorrow.
ii) The Tyre pressure monitoring system warning light came on, these cars had early runflats and remote pressure monitors. The fix for this seems to be remove the bulb from the warning lamp.
I have also ordered bits to do a service and fit a different steering wheel to give me more space, I will still fix the airbag system before removing the airbag wheel so it can be replaced when I sell the car.
The other thing to investigate is the car rattles like a skeleton w**king in a biscuit tin when at idle. Video possibly follows:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gf1LMbgXPA2xBvmY9
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