Refurbishing/Restoration Process

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by C4Fan

I've followed your progress with the '88 prototype Blue Flame and I am envious of your technical skills. Your project is coming along nicely.

Thank you for the very kind offer VetteMed. Very cool of you. I see you once had a Red/Saddle '91. Mine is a 1991 Red/Saddle VIN 1464 that I found and bought in the For Sale section of the ZR-1 Net Registry. I really like that combo. Your #302 sounds interesting - love to keep mine healthy like that up to 189,000 miles and beyond!

all ya gota do is drive the car and do standard maintenance

[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

[C4Fan]

Thanks Tom. That's good advice. You're right, it's good to know that starting point for maintenance. I'm working on my list right now.

My ZR-1 has had a few owners and its moved around the country a bit in its life. The fella that I bought the car from had about five years worth of records so it gives me a good starting point. Going further back, the picture gets cloudy.

I'm enjoying the exchange with fellow ZR-1 owners thanks to the Net Registry so I think I'll continue with your advice to get to know other C4 owners and listen to their experiences.

By the way, does anyone know why I have L98 under my name? I'd much rather have the cool LT5 designation like most everyone else on here. How do I change that?

:-)

[secondchance]

Originally Posted by C4Fan

By the way, does anyone know why I have L98 under my name? I'd much rather have the cool LT5 designation like most everyone else on here. How do I change that?

:-)

Designating is based on number of posts, I believe.
Trust me. You will end up with LT5 designation before you know it.

By the way, what is that green bow tie or blocks below my handle?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by secondchance

By the way, what is that green bow tie or blocks below my handle?

blocks, i think it has to do with rep