Oil/Fluid and Battery Questions - Page 2 - ZR-1 Net Registry Forums

FNG90-195 · 04-07-2009

Excellent! Thanks Michael! My mechanic is leaving tomorrow for a one week vacation, but when he gets back (and the 6 inches of snow we just got is melted), I'll take all the parts/fluids and info. to him so I can get the car on the road.

Ccmano · 01-08-2010

Let's see we have a car that's been sitting for several months and has an otherwise unknown service history. I would highly recommend changing the fuel filter as well. It's a high pressure inline unit that is mounted under the car near the passenger side frame rail where it bends in at the front wheel opening. Any auto parts store will have one, it's nothing special and it's cheap insurance!
H

jrd1990zr1 · 01-08-2010

Keep a watch on E-bay. You should be able to locate an owners manual and or a Helms service manual set.

FNG90-195 · 01-11-2010

I was suprised to see this thread resurrected, but since it is, I'll take the opportunity to update everyone. I did change the fuel filter (thanks!

), and found the 3 GM service manuals (main manual, elect. and LT5) plus the glove box owners manual here in Ontario at a very reasonable price from Ken McGee Automotive Literature.

The car is a 1990 with approx. 49,000 miles on it. I drove the car on and off over the summer, but was dissapointed to find out that the third gear syncro was shot, so could only shift from 2nd to 3rd slowly at low rpm, which took some of the fun out of it.

It's a long story, but I bought what I was told was a transmission out of a low mileage ZR-1 wreck that had been sitting on a shelf for a few years, figuring I would just have the transmissions swapped for less than the cost of a rebuild. Unfortunately it turns out the trans. is for a regular Corvette. It's a ZF-06 and according to Bill Boudreau the only difference between them is the length of the input shaft. The new tranny definately as a shorter input shaft than the original. Now I'm pondering what to do. We can't get ahold of the seller, so I have no recourse there. I could;

1. Try and sell the new trans., hopefully for enough to get my $ back. However, since the guy wasn't honest about it being from a ZR-1, I'm worried that it may not be a low mileage unit either, and I don't want to stiff someone with a bad trans. If I did sell it I could then get a synco kit for my original tranny but I would have to have them installed, and once it is opened up there may be damage to third gear or other parts as well.

2. Swap the shafts. Bill suggest this and apparently it can be done fairly easily by any shop familiar with these trans. This may be the cheapest alternative, but then I don't have the original casing and id plate, so if I ever sell the car and anyone checks numbers, it will appear that I have the wrong tranny installed. Also, this assumes that the new trans. is in good condition.

3. Have a local shop tear down the new regular trans. and check it for condition. If it's no good, I can sell it as a rebuildable unit letting the buyer know exactly what is wrong with it. If it turns out that the gears and syncros are good, maybe those could be put into my original tranmission as needed? Basically use the best parts from each trans. into the original case? From what I gathered from Bill, the internals are all the same. This option will let me know the condition of the new trans. before we remove and open up the orig. tranny. I'm leaning toward this option, but I don't know much about transmissions so I don't know if it is feasible or not, and would love to hear opinions/options from you guys.

I know the best way is to just remove my tranny and have it sent to Bill for rebuilding, but $$$ is an issue, not just for the rebuild itself, but there is the shipping, taxes, brokerage fees, etc. over the border, as well as approx. 10% on the US dollar, so I'm worried it will get really costly really fast. I'm looking for the most cost effective way to get the car on the road as a good fair weather daily driver.

I have been lurking a fair bit and absorbing as much knowledge as I can from all the informative threads on the go. As always, I appreciate any thoughts you guys may have.

Cheers

Mark

Hammer · 01-11-2010

Shoot a PM to Flin Ryan in Edmonton. He just got through having Bill go through his transmission on his '93 so he can give a good ballpark on total cost.

04-07-2009	#11
FNG90-195 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Aurora, Ont. Can. Posts: 21	Re: Oil/Fluid and Battery Questions Excellent! Thanks Michael! My mechanic is leaving tomorrow for a one week vacation, but when he gets back (and the 6 inches of snow we just got is melted), I'll take all the parts/fluids and info. to him so I can get the car on the road.

01-08-2010	#12
Ccmano Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Sparks, NV Posts: 2,843	Re: Oil/Fluid and Battery Questions Let's see we have a car that's been sitting for several months and has an otherwise unknown service history. I would highly recommend changing the fuel filter as well. It's a high pressure inline unit that is mounted under the car near the passenger side frame rail where it bends in at the front wheel opening. Any auto parts store will have one, it's nothing special and it's cheap insurance! H

01-08-2010	#13
jrd1990zr1 Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Delanson, NY Posts: 925	Re: Oil/Fluid and Battery Questions Keep a watch on E-bay. You should be able to locate an owners manual and or a Helms service manual set.

01-11-2010	#14
FNG90-195 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Aurora, Ont. Can. Posts: 21	Re: Oil/Fluid and Battery Questions I was suprised to see this thread resurrected, but since it is, I'll take the opportunity to update everyone. I did change the fuel filter (thanks! ), and found the 3 GM service manuals (main manual, elect. and LT5) plus the glove box owners manual here in Ontario at a very reasonable price from Ken McGee Automotive Literature. The car is a 1990 with approx. 49,000 miles on it. I drove the car on and off over the summer, but was dissapointed to find out that the third gear syncro was shot, so could only shift from 2nd to 3rd slowly at low rpm, which took some of the fun out of it. It's a long story, but I bought what I was told was a transmission out of a low mileage ZR-1 wreck that had been sitting on a shelf for a few years, figuring I would just have the transmissions swapped for less than the cost of a rebuild. Unfortunately it turns out the trans. is for a regular Corvette. It's a ZF-06 and according to Bill Boudreau the only difference between them is the length of the input shaft. The new tranny definately as a shorter input shaft than the original. Now I'm pondering what to do. We can't get ahold of the seller, so I have no recourse there. I could; 1. Try and sell the new trans., hopefully for enough to get my $ back. However, since the guy wasn't honest about it being from a ZR-1, I'm worried that it may not be a low mileage unit either, and I don't want to stiff someone with a bad trans. If I did sell it I could then get a synco kit for my original tranny but I would have to have them installed, and once it is opened up there may be damage to third gear or other parts as well. 2. Swap the shafts. Bill suggest this and apparently it can be done fairly easily by any shop familiar with these trans. This may be the cheapest alternative, but then I don't have the original casing and id plate, so if I ever sell the car and anyone checks numbers, it will appear that I have the wrong tranny installed. Also, this assumes that the new trans. is in good condition. 3. Have a local shop tear down the new regular trans. and check it for condition. If it's no good, I can sell it as a rebuildable unit letting the buyer know exactly what is wrong with it. If it turns out that the gears and syncros are good, maybe those could be put into my original tranmission as needed? Basically use the best parts from each trans. into the original case? From what I gathered from Bill, the internals are all the same. This option will let me know the condition of the new trans. before we remove and open up the orig. tranny. I'm leaning toward this option, but I don't know much about transmissions so I don't know if it is feasible or not, and would love to hear opinions/options from you guys. I know the best way is to just remove my tranny and have it sent to Bill for rebuilding, but $$$ is an issue, not just for the rebuild itself, but there is the shipping, taxes, brokerage fees, etc. over the border, as well as approx. 10% on the US dollar, so I'm worried it will get really costly really fast. I'm looking for the most cost effective way to get the car on the road as a good fair weather daily driver. I have been lurking a fair bit and absorbing as much knowledge as I can from all the informative threads on the go. As always, I appreciate any thoughts you guys may have. Cheers Mark

01-11-2010	#15
Hammer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Ideho Posts: 2,647	Re: Oil/Fluid and Battery Questions Shoot a PM to Flin Ryan in Edmonton. He just got through having Bill go through his transmission on his '93 so he can give a good ballpark on total cost.