Refurbishing/Restoration Process

[C4Fan]

I would like to know the thoughts, opinions and experiences of fellow ZR-1 owner's who have had refurbishing and restoration work done to their cars. Mine is a '91 with about 53,000 miles - runs and drives fine and looks good. I love this car and plan on keeping it for a long time. My free time is very limited so I need to entrust the work to reputable shops and specialists. I'm in NE Florida.

What I'm interested to know is about work process order for restorations. What have you done with your car and in what order? For example, did you have the engine area worked on first and then the chassis and finally body/interior? I'm thinking you start with mechanical work first and then finish with body.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to share your process experience and tips working with Corvette Shops and Specialists. I appreciate the feedback. I'm new to posting on forums so please excuse me if my replies are slow or mis-directed, but I'm learning.

[gbrtng]

I'm in the wait 'til it breaks mode yet, but the 'ol turq's nose is getting pretty beaten up so
paint comes next ...

[mike100]

Mine had 26k miles on it, but had specific deficiencies.

found a couple of missing pieces, repaired the Bose speaker amps, fixed the oil cooler line leak and just cleaned the whole engine bay with radiator removed etc. The engine doesn't leak a drop and all the electrics worked, so I just concentrated on the broken parts, old injectors, plenum porting work etc. Traded for a quieter exhaust and raised up the (previously lowered) front suspension once I figured out how to do it. I did spend about 3 weeks playing with burning a chip to be a little more emissions friendly after I examined the two chips I owned for it (we have a chip burner at work- so it was another thing I jumped into).

then the trans came out for a repair and I took the opportunity to put in all new u-joints all the way back and then to rebuild the shocks. I didn't have a plan exactly, but one thing is sure- that minimal cosmetics and no paint and body would be done until the bugs were worked out mechanically.

The car sat in storage so much, it really had some issues being driven. The bulk of the work took about 4 months after hours in my garage (except for the trans job).
If I had a plan or actually realized how much money I was going to spend, I could have jacked up the car once, thrown $5G's at it and dropped it back down, but since I did it one project at a time, I'd say I took the wheels off about 7 or 8 times.

[Kevin]

depends on what you want to do with it. my DS seat needs a little love so I plan to do that, maybe at carlisle this year, and rear hatch weather stripping, I can't seem to keep the DS rubber from cracking. other then that maybe carpet, not sure. my car doesn't need much to it, a good detail would help quite a bit. I mean, i'm pretty good at detailing by hand but I don't trust myself with a buffer. I also would like to have the motor PCed but if i'm doing that I might as well port it too...it's really a slippery slope.

I don't really need to "restore" my car. my paint is still fine, my interior by and large is still fine. Why do you think that your car needs restored? I'm looking to "restromod" mine when the time comes. I'd like to step up to a new set of wheels right now, but I don't have the money to spend on new wheels/tires right now.

my current to do list:
fix my power key
TB coolant bypass
ds lumbar repair
IAT sensor relocation
change out rear lines/calipers to SS lines and GS calipers.
replace rear hatch weatherstripping
general clean up. it's been years since i've had the opportunity to really get dirty and clean my car the way i want. and i'm not going to have time before carlisle either as i'm moving just a few weeks before it. maybe in the spring when i pull the car out of hibernation I can get my normal detail work done to it so i'm not playing catch up all the time.
Sounds like a fun weekend

[secondchance]

I got my second ZR-1, a 94, black on black with about 30,000 miles, in 2000 in Birmingham, Alabama. At the time I was living in Lake Mary, Florida.
It was in pretty decent shape except the motor just wasn't running right based on my earlier car - a 91, red/black.
Anyway I used this car as my daily driver. By the ned of 2008 I had accumulated 107,000 and the car was beginning to show wear and tear from the mileageand years. It was time to decide whether to restore or get rid of.
Hooking up with the WAZOO gang gave me enough confidence and access to a hydraulic lift, more tools then I had ever dreamed of and, above all, a team of dedicated and skilled ZR-1 guys.
First I tackled the motor. The single most important was getting rid of old injectors (all 16 of them for $360 from FIC). Ofcourse, I redid all vacuum, and coils. This made a world of difference. A lot of cleaning was in order and while at it I custom mixed high temp paint to approximate aged factory color, sprayed on with an air brush and sealed it with high temp clear. Oil pan gasket wasreplaced also.
Once the motor was tidied up, I got into drave train - mainly rear bushings, bearings and new shocks.
Now that I was pretty happy with mechanical aspect of the car, knowing all is well and working properly with no major issues, I felt comfortable enough to sink some money in cosmetics. Finally found a good, reasonable, body shop and had the car disassembled, block sanded and topped off with 2 stage paint in original color - black.
Since then I have been making minor repairs as needed and tidying up the interior. Oh, I forgot to mention weatherstrips - stay factory.
Is it over? Hell no!
Following are additional work I have on to do list:
* Headers.
* P & P intake and injector housing.
* Kenwood indash navigation.
* Coil over.
* 18" CCWs and tires.
* Big brake conversion.
* Head porting.
I am sure I forgot something and someting new may get added.

Basically as long as you are mechanically comfortable with the car actual sequence is not that critical. It seems you have a sound car so you can follow your own preference.

As for great shops near you, Burke's Corvette in Casselberry is the best body shop I have ever dealt with. Go and take a look at Tim's ZO6 and you will know what I mean.
As for the mechanicals, for your convenience, Corvette Master's is right in frontof Burke's Corvette. They are both behind Roger's Corvette.

I trust both of them with my Z anytime.

I may go down to Jacksonville this winter since my yonger son is starting his 2nd year at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. Hopefully I will see you then.

[Z Factor]

Originally Posted by C4Fan

I'm new to posting on forums so please excuse me if my replies are slow or mis-directed, but I'm learning.

Hello, and I am glad to see you finally took the plunge with your first post.

You will find that most everyone is helpful here and not the type to give you a rough time for asking questions(unlike some other forums). So feel free to ask for help/suggestions because there is a wealth of knowledge here and forum members eager to help out a fellow KOTH brother.

[C4Fan]

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful answers. I appreciate the input and look forward to the journey. I'm not in a position to do the mechanical work myself so I'll have to seek outside shops and specialists.

All C4 ZR-1s are very special cars and I just want mine to be the best it can be. I specifically bought one with more miles on it so I wouldn't be concerned about using it and adding more miles - but not as a daily driver. I want to keep it looking stock but want everything to work reliably. In other words, I want the car really well sorted so it performs as designed.

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Just don't let anyone squish it with a front end loader and your restoration will be a breeze. I'm speaking from experience.

[tomtom72]

Originally Posted by Blue Flame Restorations

Just don't let anyone squish it with a front end loader and your restoration will be a breeze. I'm speaking from experience.

.... and don't let anyone drive into the rear bumper...

I can't tell you how to find a shop you trust. My off the cuff suggestion is ask a lot of other vette owners, C4 owners if possible, for references?

I would make a list of all the issues that you have found with the car. Then try to match the issues with what you learned about shops near you. I would dare say that with the miles on your car she must have come from an "involved" owner, or owners....do you have any maintenance history? You could use the receipts' history as a gauge as to what may be next ( not touched ) in line or what has expired.

In any event, I would start my own PM program. Just so you know where Zero Time is if you get my drift on all the perishables.....motor oil, trans oil, gear oil, brake & clutch & P/S fluids, coolant service w/ stat.....plugs, a/f, PCV's., gas filter, coils & wires....etc, you know the standard drill. This way you start your maintenance program from zero. Then you can drive her a bit & find the next bigger projects for correction like shocks, brake jobs, any DTC issues & emissions' inspection issues if they apply to you state. In my book the cosmetics come last if I'm driving the car.

The only negative in this whole deal is that it could get expensive having other people do the work after awhile, and there is always a 'trust' issue for me with using a shop. I always look at it from "it's not their car" point of view. JMHO. Sometimes I'm too negative on this issue.

Good luck with your new toy and i hope you get a real bad case of permagrin!

Tom

[VetteMed]

I'm not too familiar with shops in the area, since I do all of my own work, but I'm only about an hour and a half from Jacksonville if you ever want to attempt a plenum pull or other one-day type project!