Advice on my "restoration" plan

[plev]

Before I get to my question, my new toy is a 1991, Turquoise metallic with black Leather, #221.

The car really isn't in bad condition and is all original. I want to do the best I can to bring it back to it's former glory without going too crazy. Tomorrow I'm having the oil and filter changed, the e-brake cables replaced, and the oil pan cleaned (it's dirty from dripping oil) and all the bolts tightened. Hopefully tightening the bolts solves the oil drip problem. I'm also thinking of possibly having the plugs and filters replaced even though they looked ok. Opinions on this would be welcomed.

Thursday I'm having it professionally detailed. The exterior isn't really that bad but the inside is filthy

Here are the rest of the things I KNOW need attention: A couple of panels on the drivers seat need to be done as one panel is extremely worn and one actually has a whole in it (former owner was a large guy!) The drivers side carpet has a severly worn spot to the left of the clutch, about 1/2 the size of a dollar bill. The top of the center console is pulling up on one side. I may be able to just snap this back in place. The radio is all static, and neither the CD player nor the tapedeck work. Air bladders don't work nor does the power antenna. All the weatherstripping could stand to be replaced, although nothing leaks.

I'd like to keep everything as original as possible with the exception of the stereio and speakers. i think I'll just replace them (i'll keep the originals in case anyone is more ambitious than me)

Any thoughts? Order to do the work? other stuff I should consider and or check

Thanks!

[JThomas]

Okay, I'll jump in. First off, welcome to the madness, you have purchased a very important piece of Corvette history. Your car sounds a lot like mine which I purchased two years ago. Mine is a 1992 and the odometer showed 97,000 miles when purchased.

I had to start with the mechanicals, because it was not running properly. Although the paint and interior were okay, they both needed refreshing, but my primary point of attack was mechanical.

Through this forum, I was able to collect the Missing / Needed pieces to make the car run properly. Once running, I directed my efforts to the interior: repairing seat bolsters and overall cleaning. Next was the exterior.

Because my plan was to keep the car as original as possible, I did not repaint the entire car, simply fixing up spots that "Annoyed" me.

I have replaced all of the weather stripping on the car and have now turned my attention to replacing the shifter, but trying to keep everything original looking.

I brought the car to the Gathering in Bowling Green last year and participated in the autocross event. Even at 100,000 miles, the car did very well.

My "restoration plan" is guided by a survivor mentality. Replace what needs to be done, and maintain the rest of the car. I can provide pictures if you like, just send me a PM.

I will be at the Gathering this year in Bowling Green, 103,000 miles and counting!

Joe

[ZRWON]

Originally Posted by plev

Before I get to my question, my new toy is a 1991, Turquoise metallic with black Leather, #221.

The car really isn't in bad condition and is all original. I want to do the best I can to bring it back to it's former glory without going too crazy. Tomorrow I'm having the oil and filter changed, the e-brake cables replaced, and the oil pan cleaned (it's dirty from dripping oil) and all the bolts tightened. Hopefully tightening the bolts solves the oil drip problem. I'm also thinking of possibly having the plugs and filters replaced even though they looked ok. Opinions on this would be welcomed.

Thursday I'm having it professionally detailed. The exterior isn't really that bad but the inside is filthy

Here are the rest of the things I KNOW need attention: A couple of panels on the drivers seat need to be done as one panel is extremely worn and one actually has a whole in it (former owner was a large guy!) The drivers side carpet has a severly worn spot to the left of the clutch, about 1/2 the size of a dollar bill. The top of the center console is pulling up on one side. I may be able to just snap this back in place. The radio is all static, and neither the CD player nor the tapedeck work. Air bladders don't work nor does the power antenna. All the weatherstripping could stand to be replaced, although nothing leaks.

I'd like to keep everything as original as possible with the exception of the stereio and speakers. i think I'll just replace them (i'll keep the originals in case anyone is more ambitious than me)
Any thoughts? Order to do the work? other stuff I should consider and or checkThanks!

Congratulations on your ZR-1.. Im sure you'll be proud of it. The more you drive the ZR-1 the more you'll appreciate the uniqueness of it...especially your color. Only 87 ZR-1s were that color; 13 in '90 & 74 in '91. I agree with JT...take your time in doing your restoration and use the resource of the ZR-1 net registry. This is a valuable resource and an excellent group of talent to help you.
I too owned a '91 ZR-1 like yours. Look carefully at the front corner. See anything looks different?

[HIZNHRZ]

Congrats on your new to you ZR1 and welcome to the Registry.

Pretty much everyone who owns a ZR1 has been where you are today. I'd consider having the Bose system repaired. The place many of us has used is Dr Dons:

http://www.doctordons.com/corvetteradios.htm

The factory system is not bad when working properly and you may find you like the LT-5 music so much you don't even use the radio much. I'll bet you'll find the cost of Dr Dons service to be very reasonable and fast. I'd also leave a little budget available for a few of the other known issues you're likely to face. If they haven't already been replaced you can count on needed a set of injectors.

Enjoy and good luck. Post some before and after pics!

[Z51JEFF]

Congrats on your car,love that color.The stereo will cost about $600 to completely go through but it is worth it,the stock stereo sounds excellent when everything is 100%.The seat bladders or the pumps are dead,parts for these are out there and the repair process info is hear,just ask.ANY question you would ever ask,somebody will have an answer.The problem with the console cover is the cover is too close to the plastic panel or the right,when the cover is opened the plastic panel pushes the the console cover up at the edge.Most likely this has been deformed for so long its ruined.The carpet worn in the carpet next to the clutch pedal is common.What I did in my car was to take a small piece of clear vinyl attached with Velcro too the plastic piece to the left.Instead of my foot brushing the carpet it hits the vinyl and doesn't kill the carpet.

[PhillipsLT5]

That is Phillip Bender, I bought his Red 91 #1258, he also owned the car in photo

[ZRWON]

Originally Posted by PhillipsLT5

That is Phillip Bender, I bought his Red 91 #1258, he also owned the car in photo

YEP, Phil bought it from me all by internet and pictures. Just before I sold it to Phil the OEM windshield got a stone crack and I had just replaced with what everyone said was the last perfect unused one known to be available; Got it from Kurt White perfect with no delamination problem. ...$3800 installed paid for by State Farm. Also it had Power Effects Exhaust. Phil sold the power effects to bigmaxx in palm desert and about a yearor so later sold it to some one I think in Ohio. I've seen the car pictured on the Registry net. Someone said Phil also replaced the windshield with a standard one. It was a well cared for ZR-1...see my web page in signature. Did you also notice what is different on front end and why?

[tomtom72]

Plev,

This is just MHO on the mechanical aspects of your Q. I like to start with a clean sheet of paper so to speak. When I got mine from it's orig. owner I just did all the fluids: trans, rear, motor, brake, clutch, P/S. Some are easy, the brake, clutch & P/S are a bit of of PIA. I had a BG treatment done on the P/S. The clutch fluid I emptied the M/C and re filled till the fluid was staying clean looking. The brake fluid was easy, speed bleeders and time. I knen when I was done because the fluid stopped looking like black coffee.

Parts I used were the usual: plugs, PCV's, air filter, Fuel filter, O/Filter, posi additive for the rear, Castrol TWS 10w-60 for the trans from the BMW dealer see link.
http://www.velocitymotorcars.com/castrol.html or any BMW dealer. I changed the stat & O-ring along with the drain, flush & coolant refill. After all that I knew that I could start my own maintenance schedule because most of the stuff was new, no guessing about a fluid's age.

The coils & wires I did when I had to replace the injectors. At that point you would take care of the usual stuff under the plenum that would become issues if left alone. Lastly I did the hoses and oil cooler lines and pulled the radiator to clean up the debris that collects there, and also did the screen for the air intake. http://zr1netregistry.com/ZR1_howto.htm

Not all of this was done my first year with the car. Fluids & the tune up parts were, and the rest was done in following winters. Along the way there will always be stuff that comes to light. My reasoning was to protect/renew the stuff that was obvious first to protect major systems.

I know it looks like a lot. Just break it down into same vicinity operations. For example you have to put the car up on stands to do the oil change, well slide on back & drain the trans & then drain the rear and do the fuel filter while you're under there. This way you spend some time eye balling what's going on under the car also. Like using the feeler gauge to check the wear on the lower ball joints and maybe pumping some grease into all the lube points...you have the wheels off so eye up the brakes & shocks & the rest of the suspension...you get the idea.


Tom

[Huntingbigun]

Welcome to the club i was in your shoes about 6 weeks ago so here what happened to my project.

started out just to touch up paint, fix seats & clean carpet.

ended up new paint,seat covers, seat foam, seat bladders, seat pumps, weatherstripping, full doc don radio o/h, carpet kit, tires i think i will stop before my wife reads this.

So feel free to pm me I give you the cost on all this. The problem when you go into say the seats to fix the bladders you find 20 year old foam, the bladders fall apart & the pumps are bad. you will find out why ecklers and others carry certain parts but be good for another 20 years. So I just decided to close my eyes and do it all. work around your budget and tackle each part knowing what it may cost. This site has all the answers you just have to supply manpower & money