Im probably gonna win this bet.

[rhipsher]

I was getting ready to leave work yesterday and I usually enjoy driving the king to work every friday. One of our customers hired a new Q.C guy and he decided to audit us. So him and the owner were out front talking as I was leaving. This guy says that's a beautiful vette. I say thanks. He asked what kinda HP does it make? Oh 357rwhp. Maybe 400 at the crank. He says if I ever need any engine work done or performance upgrades to call his friends at some performance shop I've already forgot the name to. I said not on that engine. He said any engine. My boss even jumped in and said that's a special motor in that car and that not even GM could build it. They had Mercury marine build it. This guy didn't know an LT1 from an LT5 but by god these guys could work on any engine. I said look dude if these guys could work on an LT5 I would have heard about them. Hell the whole ZR-1 community would know about them. He said if he's wrong he'd buy me a beer. I said that's it. How about a case. He said ok. Its like taking candy from a baby. One case of Saint Polygirl coming up. Lol!

[mike100]

I like educating people about the LT5 and the specialness of the ZR-1 option, but that guy learned the hard way I guess.

[John Boothby]

Yeh. I was getting my Z smogged one year and the guy accused me of changing engines! I always get a bang out of watching the faces of these guys when they lift the hood!

[93RubyZ]

And then there are those times you get a bit (pleasantly) surprised at how much someone does know about these cars.

Several years ago when I lived in CA, I took my Z to a local mechanic that I had come to trust from doing work on my other vehicles. I was going to have him look at my axles as I had that clicking sound. I had called him up previously and let him know I had a Corvette, but only told him the year. So I dropped the car off with him gave him the keys and quickly left. Later when I went to pick it up, he came to me and said "hey, you didn't tell me it was a ZR-1!" He said he even popped the hood to show the engine to one of his junior mechanics. I guess that's not too surprising being that he was a mechanic and a "car guy" but it's still neat to hear someone else get a little excited about the car.

Then a few years ago when we first moved to AZ, we lived in a rental house initially. My wife told me that as she was walking down to check the mail one day, she started talking to one of the neighbors and he mentioned he had noticed the ZR-1 in the garage and he went on and told her that was one of the best engines ever built.

[Paul Workman]

I have found that as a group, the young gearheads (at local cruise nights) are more likely to know something about the LT5 that others.

I suppose it could be because of their exposure and research on the topoic of DOHC, relating to ricers and Ford modular motors...Just a guess.

On the flip side, a C5 dude that knows everything about Corvettes (just ask him) with his cute BFF in tow, walks up and points to the ZR-1. "(in effect) Yeah, that's a C4; POS dogs. A C5 can wipe 'em any day." A fellow in the next boot over asked the dude, if he had any idea of what he was looking at, while shaking his head at the dude. The dude's face suddenly went blank, realizing he might have missed something. However, the dude's BFF, a bit quicker that her companion, flashed realization in her eyes, looked at the dude, and retrieved her hand from the crook of his arm at the same time. It was a priceless moment!!

P.

[Pete]

Rick,it reminds me one of the old Seinfeld episodes.
The guy would bet the girls if he lost the bet he had to take them out to dinner,he would always make sure he'd loose.LOL

Pete

[rhipsher]

That thought would cross my mind if I lived in San Francisco. Luckily those kinda people don't live in T.X.

[USAFPILOT]

i'm sure they could work on it...but nothing would be right afterwards.

[rhipsher]

Originally Posted by USAFPILOT

i'm sure they could work on it...but nothing would be right afterwards.

That's exactly how Ted Zaleski ended up with five of them. People who bought them and couldn't get them to run right and tried everything they could and just gave up and wanted to get rid of them for cheap and Ted would find that it was something simple like a bad coil or injectors and he'd fix them and they were as good as new. The polo green one he recently got was from a shop in California. These guys thought they would take the LT5 out of it and put in an LT4 until they realized that it wasn't going to work. The Ecm is pretty ZR-1 specific amongst other things. So they tried to put the LT5 back together and they couldn't figure out how to put everything back together and just wanted to get rid of it. So Ted said I'll be right there in a few days with a trailer. He got it for dirt cheap. Everything was in boxes when he got it. He put the whole car back together. Not only does it look great but it runs great to. Ted can work on ZR-1s just like Pete but he just does it on his own cars. Not to make money doing it. Ted told me that the problem with these cars is not going to be the engine going bad. Its going to be the electronics going bad. And the 90's are notorious for having electrical problems. Ted said that there is a component for the A/C that went out that is located deep in the dash. And to get to it he had to remove the entire dash and then some to get to it and replace it. It was a nightmare he said. So the electronics are going to be a challenge in the future for these cars. But Ted loves these cars and thinks the world of them.

[Wild and Blue]

Originally Posted by Paul Workman

I have found that as a group, the young gearheads (at local cruise nights) are more likely to know something about the LT5 that others.
.

There was a group of early 20 somethings who showed up at the 1st car show I entered & went wild over my car. I was shocked but they told me the C4 ZR-1 is a stand out on some racing video game, I am ashamed I have forgotten the name. Pretty cool though.