How do you fix this?

[Jetjock]

The plate for the antifreeze has leaked and I replaced the gasket but the damage was already done. I want to do NCRS on the car but that looks really bad. The guy in charge of the C4 judging said leave it alone but I don't know. I painted the other ZR-1 but matching this paint may be impossible. Showing the car as well is problematic. Any thoughts? I had to repaint the gills and the rockers because of the damage done to them but this is different.


Roy

[tccrab]

Refinishing the plenum is the obvious choice, however matching the paint will likely be the most difficult hurdle. I'm sure it can be done, but at what price?
You could always find a replacement plenum without the damage. There are a few around, but again the paint likely wont match very well.
Since plenums aren't stamped with the vin# your NCRS judging wont be affected.

Someday i will have my LT5 refinished in bright silver. Ive seen a couple done by Marc Haibec and they really stand out.

Crabs

[WARP TEN]

I suggest that before you refinish the plenum or that cover, you first solve the problem that caused this. The rather simple solution is a coolant bypass so there is never any more coolant in the throttle body area. Marc Haibeck offers this throttle body heat bypass (http://www.zr1specialist.com/HAT%20W...t%20bypass.htm) but you can also do it yourself. Many ZR-1 owners have had this done. --Bob

[Jetjock]

I talked to Tom Barr and he said to just sand it and paint it. It's a common problem. He suggested the bypass as well. Now I have to find someone that can do this.


Roy

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by Jetjock

I talked to Tom Barr and he said to just sand it and paint it. It's a common problem. He suggested the bypass as well. Now I have to find someone that can do this.


Roy

If you feel like a plenum pull in the winter, Marc Haibeck can refinish the plenum for you if you send it to him. He can get pretty close to the look of original paint. I had my '95 engine done in Fine Silver and reused the stock black bolts. It was fairly close to the stock color but did of course look a bit brighter. I was thinking about me or some future owner possibly wanting to seek NCRS approval; the Haibeck 510 lettering on the plenum is just removable decals so it would have been close to stock looking if they were removed. You could even have him port it just for fun.... --Bob

[JT ZR-Won]

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

If you feel like a plenum pull in the winter, Marc Haibeck can refinish the plenum for you if you send it to him. He can get pretty close to the look of original paint. I had my '95 engine done in Fine Silver with reusing the stock black bolts. It was fairly close to the stock color but did of course look a lot brighter. I was thinking about me or someone possibly wanting to seek NCRS approval; the Haibeck 510 lettering on the plenum is just removable decals so it would have been close to stock looking if they were removed. You could even have him port it just for fun.... --Bob

Great looking motor!

Jay

[Z51JEFF]

I painted mine years ago because of the same thing,I mixed up some paint,matched it and painted it then did the bypass. A quality paint shop can easily match the paint.

[5ABI VT]

Could always find someone who is about to powdercoat or paint their entire top end and just swap a stock throttle body with them.

[Jetjock]

All nice ideas but plenum pull is not possible as the throttle body torx screws were mangled the last time somebody took the throttle body off. Right now, I ordered the bypass from Marc and I will do that installed. I think that I found a shop that can repair that.


Roy

[fastpace]

Originally Posted by Jetjock

All nice ideas but plenum pull is not possible as the throttle body torx screws were mangled the last time somebody took the throttle body off. Right now, I ordered the bypass from Marc and I will do that installed. I think that I found a shop that can repair that.


Roy

Order new torx screws and deal with the struggle now while you can plan ahead for it. Not being able to remove the plenum isn't going to work for maintaining these cars. Everything is mounted under the plenum, so you're just setting yourself up for a bigger struggle when the time comes to replace something more critical like starter, AC compressor, ignition coils, etc.