I just bought a zr-1 - ZR-1 Net Registry Forums

plev · 03-24-2010

I just bought a 1991 turquoise metallic ZR1 with 78k miles. I'm picking it up tonight!

I found a TON of extremely useful information on this site that, hopefully, enabled me get a good deal.

When I put the car on a lift, there were some minor issues such as the brake lines were starting to rust, the e-brake cables were completely shot, Rotors were slightly worn,and there was an oil leak. The mechanic(who admitted to never seeing an lt5 engine before) who looked at it with me thought the leak was the gasket. This was before I knew that loose bolts were an issue.

On the inside, there is a small hole in the driver side seat, the radio (or speakers) don't really work, and the air bladders don't all inflate.

I don't want to trust the oil leak repair to the mechanic who checked the car out for me simply because he's not familiar with the engine. I called a local Chevy dealer and spoke to the service manager who assured me they have someone trained to work on the car. I've read comments about dealers screwing up these engines so my question is...What specific questions should I be asking the service manager to make sure they really DO have someone qualified to work on this?

Anything else I should be doing or I should have checked out? any and all advice is much appreciated as I'm not really mechanically oriented and need as much help as I can get.

Thanks in advance!

tomtom72 · 03-24-2010

Okay I'll take a stab at trying to answer until one of the guys that really know these motors see this and chimes in.

Obvious Q's to ask of the dealer is How many LT5's and how often? Did the tech own a ZR-1 or did he go thru the LT5 service course? The Tech would have to be at least a middle aged person, last yr was 95. I'm not trying to be a wise guy, but I would be more interested in how often & how many LT5's his shop actually works on.

The oil leak is coming from where, as you said you saw it when under the car.
If I understand you, your diagnosis is the pan gasket is leaking. If it is you could try to re-torque the pan bolts. You will have to have the car on a lift or up on jack stands. All the pan bolts are okay to get on save the front ones. For those you take the two cross braces off of the car. I think the are the "K" braces, I think. Whatever they're called you see that the forward ends anchor to the cross member that holds the rack and the aft ends look like they hold the motor mounts. The aft ends Do Not hold the motor mounts. I know it don't look that way, but it's true. The motor mounts are on ears just above the braces you have to remove to get at the oil pan bolts at the front edge of the pan. Just take those braces out and you can get on all the bolts. Please be careful and do not over torque the pan bolts. Just put a socket on them and use a T/Q wrench to test for their present T/Q. If they start to move then check the T/Q number and go from there. In order for me not to over T/Q them I used my 1/4" set to test their tightness before I attacked them with my 3/8" T/Q wrench.

Anything else you need just post up!

Oh, sorry forgot.....Welcome to the Brotherhood!

Tom

scholtmj · 03-24-2010

Very cool! Welcome!

xlr8nflorida · 03-24-2010

I agree with Tom.

I would not bring my car to a dealer, very few mechanics were certified and unless you live in a big city, they have seen a handful at best. My friend is certified and he has probably worked on a few dozen ZR-1's but he also lives in a major city and most of his work is pretty routine because the cars often sit in storage etc.

I'd try to figure out your problems here on the forum or at the very minimum get an independent mechanic who you can trust or will come to your house where you can supervise if you don't wrench yourself.

When I was in my 20's, I had alot of bad experiences at dealerships until I met a mechanic at a GM dealership and we became friends. He is a great honest Christian guy but there are alot of bad eggs at dealers who just want to run your bill up or "throw parts at the problem" instead of diagnosing the problem correctly. Over the years, on the regular C4's I've pretty much learned all the pitfalls as I have had the majority of common problems over the last decade :lol:

The LT-5 can be tricky and say just on something simple like a Vacuum leak or fuel injectors, your bill can get up there in a hurry when half the time, you might not even need what they are selling you.

Good luck

Gunny · 03-24-2010

Congratulations on your new Z. You're going to have a ball.
And welcome to the brotherhood. You've already found the Registry Forum and let me invite you to "find" the ZR-1 Net Registry itself by becoming a member.

First, visit the registry site itself so that you can get an idea of what's available http://www.zr1netregistry.com/

When you're ready to join go to new member to complete your registration.

Any questions, post here or shoot an email to me. Again, welcome aboard.

George Jones

secondchance · 03-24-2010

Congratulations!
Welcome to the forum.

rudolph schenker · 03-24-2010

Congrats and welcome!

tomtom72 · 03-24-2010

Sorry I forgot this plev, a ZR-1 is a C4, mechanically speaking, except for the motor. Therefore any competent auto tech that has worked on enough C4's can handle the oil pan bolt checking job. You can do this yourself easily if you have the tools? It's just a question of having some "mechanical common sense" when it comes to stuff like this. You don't want to just tighten so that you squash the pan gasket out of it's rail or worse tear it from over tightening.

On another note. Trust me I know that this package looks "strange" , but the brotherhood taught me and we can teach you. That's what we're all about. Consider joining up and crack a beer & pull up a tire & stay awhile!

Tom

GOLDCYLON · 03-24-2010

Welcome to the forum and the madness that is the Beast

Huntingbigun · 03-24-2010

I also new to the ZR-1 world but welcome but old hand with vettes, I have my new to me 90 with 60,000 miles torn down fixing a few issuses that you may have so here couple things to check

Seat bladders , when I took the seats apart the bladders has fell apart and the bellows in the pumps were blown, you can buy new bladders & repair kits for the pumps.

My vacum motor was shot that powers the full power on the engine, turn on the valet key and just turn on the ign, listen for the pump should come on (r/h under the headlight when you open the hood) run a few seconds then turn off if not NO FULL POWER, replace pump or if it keeps running fix leaks

Speakers have indv. amps you can replace them easy

Fun car, pretty easy to thinker with just get you a GM manual and have fun.

Have fun

03-24-2010	#1
plev Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: MA Posts: 17	I just bought a zr-1 I just bought a 1991 turquoise metallic ZR1 with 78k miles. I'm picking it up tonight! I found a TON of extremely useful information on this site that, hopefully, enabled me get a good deal. When I put the car on a lift, there were some minor issues such as the brake lines were starting to rust, the e-brake cables were completely shot, Rotors were slightly worn,and there was an oil leak. The mechanic(who admitted to never seeing an lt5 engine before) who looked at it with me thought the leak was the gasket. This was before I knew that loose bolts were an issue. On the inside, there is a small hole in the driver side seat, the radio (or speakers) don't really work, and the air bladders don't all inflate. I don't want to trust the oil leak repair to the mechanic who checked the car out for me simply because he's not familiar with the engine. I called a local Chevy dealer and spoke to the service manager who assured me they have someone trained to work on the car. I've read comments about dealers screwing up these engines so my question is...What specific questions should I be asking the service manager to make sure they really DO have someone qualified to work on this? Anything else I should be doing or I should have checked out? any and all advice is much appreciated as I'm not really mechanically oriented and need as much help as I can get. Thanks in advance!

03-24-2010	#2
tomtom72 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Jacksonville, FL USA Posts: 4,609	Re: I just bought a zr-1 Okay I'll take a stab at trying to answer until one of the guys that really know these motors see this and chimes in. Obvious Q's to ask of the dealer is How many LT5's and how often? Did the tech own a ZR-1 or did he go thru the LT5 service course? The Tech would have to be at least a middle aged person, last yr was 95. I'm not trying to be a wise guy, but I would be more interested in how often & how many LT5's his shop actually works on. The oil leak is coming from where, as you said you saw it when under the car. If I understand you, your diagnosis is the pan gasket is leaking. If it is you could try to re-torque the pan bolts. You will have to have the car on a lift or up on jack stands. All the pan bolts are okay to get on save the front ones. For those you take the two cross braces off of the car. I think the are the "K" braces, I think. Whatever they're called you see that the forward ends anchor to the cross member that holds the rack and the aft ends look like they hold the motor mounts. The aft ends Do Not hold the motor mounts. I know it don't look that way, but it's true. The motor mounts are on ears just above the braces you have to remove to get at the oil pan bolts at the front edge of the pan. Just take those braces out and you can get on all the bolts. Please be careful and do not over torque the pan bolts. Just put a socket on them and use a T/Q wrench to test for their present T/Q. If they start to move then check the T/Q number and go from there. In order for me not to over T/Q them I used my 1/4" set to test their tightness before I attacked them with my 3/8" T/Q wrench. Anything else you need just post up! Oh, sorry forgot.....Welcome to the Brotherhood! Tom __________________ 1990 ZR-1, Black/grey, #2233, stock. ZR-1 Net Reg Founding Member #316 & NCM member

03-24-2010	#3
scholtmj Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 382	Re: I just bought a zr-1 Very cool! Welcome!

03-24-2010	#4
xlr8nflorida Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Posts: 1,093	Re: I just bought a zr-1 I agree with Tom. I would not bring my car to a dealer, very few mechanics were certified and unless you live in a big city, they have seen a handful at best. My friend is certified and he has probably worked on a few dozen ZR-1's but he also lives in a major city and most of his work is pretty routine because the cars often sit in storage etc. I'd try to figure out your problems here on the forum or at the very minimum get an independent mechanic who you can trust or will come to your house where you can supervise if you don't wrench yourself. When I was in my 20's, I had alot of bad experiences at dealerships until I met a mechanic at a GM dealership and we became friends. He is a great honest Christian guy but there are alot of bad eggs at dealers who just want to run your bill up or "throw parts at the problem" instead of diagnosing the problem correctly. Over the years, on the regular C4's I've pretty much learned all the pitfalls as I have had the majority of common problems over the last decade :lol: The LT-5 can be tricky and say just on something simple like a Vacuum leak or fuel injectors, your bill can get up there in a hurry when half the time, you might not even need what they are selling you. Good luck

03-24-2010	#5
Gunny Join Date: May 2005 Location: Georgia Mountains Posts: 918	Re: I just bought a zr-1 Congratulations on your new Z. You're going to have a ball. And welcome to the brotherhood. You've already found the Registry Forum and let me invite you to "find" the ZR-1 Net Registry itself by becoming a member. First, visit the registry site itself so that you can get an idea of what's available http://www.zr1netregistry.com/ When you're ready to join go to new member to complete your registration. Any questions, post here or shoot an email to me. Again, welcome aboard. George Jones __________________ George Jones Founding Member #14 www.zrwon.com

03-24-2010	#6
secondchance Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: McLean, VA Posts: 3,718	Re: I just bought a zr-1 Congratulations! Welcome to the forum.

03-24-2010	#7
rudolph schenker Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: utah Posts: 128	Re: I just bought a zr-1 Congrats and welcome! __________________ 1994 ZR-1 Admiral blue/beige #67

03-24-2010	#8
tomtom72 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Jacksonville, FL USA Posts: 4,609	Re: I just bought a zr-1 Sorry I forgot this plev, a ZR-1 is a C4, mechanically speaking, except for the motor. Therefore any competent auto tech that has worked on enough C4's can handle the oil pan bolt checking job. You can do this yourself easily if you have the tools? It's just a question of having some "mechanical common sense" when it comes to stuff like this. You don't want to just tighten so that you squash the pan gasket out of it's rail or worse tear it from over tightening. On another note. Trust me I know that this package looks "strange" , but the brotherhood taught me and we can teach you. That's what we're all about. Consider joining up and crack a beer & pull up a tire & stay awhile! Tom __________________ 1990 ZR-1, Black/grey, #2233, stock. ZR-1 Net Reg Founding Member #316 & NCM member

03-24-2010	#9
GOLDCYLON Join Date: May 2007 Location: Peoria, AZ Posts: 9,120	Re: I just bought a zr-1 Welcome to the forum and the madness that is the Beast __________________ GOLDCYLON - 91 ZR-1 #2014 GOLDCYLON - 90 ZR-1 #2794, 4L60e (Formerly Schrade's) GOLDCYLON - 11 CTS-V Arizona State Director 91 WHITE/BLACK #2014. 380 P&P&PCed,Ported Heads, Jeal Long tubes, Corsa Exhaust/FIKSE FM-5s /LED TLs, LED Headlights, Front Wilwood 6 piston narrowlite calipers and rear Wilwood caliper street shop mod,CNCed Coolant Pipes,TPI Cvr,Filter cover,Stainless Bolts, DRM/DOM PROM /ZFDOC mod build #102,DRLs,BMAD with stainless Debris Screen,Coplan Air Blaster, Pioneer APP Radio 4,Brey-Krause HB,Sub Bar,Fire extinguisher seat mount,DRM Coilovers,LEDs everywhere,Compass mirror (orange),V1 DIC hidden display, Homelink sun visor, Carbon Fiber top x3 and APSIS Carbon Fiber interior, APSIS CF Steering Wheel/NAPA Leather, Banski trailing arms, Guldstrand front suspension,urethane bushings from Prothane (total suspension) ZFDoc drive shaft safety loop, raptor shift light (orange),AO engineering louver front plate, Console seat cushion, 96CE seats with black custom Sheepskins, ss billet catch can,Viper remote entry/alarm,Cragar Rear Louvers,LED side louver lights, Dewitts Radiator with SPAL fans and a Woods 160 T-Stat 90 RED/BLACK #2794. 4L60e Automatic Stage V by RPM Transmission, TCI Dedicated TCM, OBX Stainless Headers, Corsa Exhaust, SAN Secondaries and Haibeck PROM, Exotic Muscle Coil overs, LED Interior Lights, LED Tail Lights, LED Headlights, 94 Sport seats with black custom Sheepskins , Cragar rear louvers, GS Front calipers, Banski Trailing arms, APSIS Carbon Fiber steering wheel, Front and Rear Baer Eradispeeds, DRLs, Guldstrand front suspension,urethane bushings from Prothane (total suspension), Dewitt's Raditor with Dual SPAL fans and a Haibeck 170 T-Stat 11 RED/GREY CTS-V

03-24-2010	#10
Huntingbigun Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Plant City, Florida Posts: 89	Re: I just bought a zr-1 I also new to the ZR-1 world but welcome but old hand with vettes, I have my new to me 90 with 60,000 miles torn down fixing a few issuses that you may have so here couple things to check Seat bladders , when I took the seats apart the bladders has fell apart and the bellows in the pumps were blown, you can buy new bladders & repair kits for the pumps. My vacum motor was shot that powers the full power on the engine, turn on the valet key and just turn on the ign, listen for the pump should come on (r/h under the headlight when you open the hood) run a few seconds then turn off if not NO FULL POWER, replace pump or if it keeps running fix leaks Speakers have indv. amps you can replace them easy Fun car, pretty easy to thinker with just get you a GM manual and have fun. Have fun