Serious Concerns Over Parts Availability

[TX '90 ZR1]

Dynomite:
Per your statement: Oh.....and guys and gals.....get yourself a NEW Hood Support as the Stock Hood Supports loose gas pressure in their old age.

Well? There's something else for me to add to the "must have" list!
I went and ordered my self 2, yes TWO, can condoms after all the hoopla about them!!
Oh well, if it's fun and feels good, go for it !!!!!

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Concur 100% as before...…….. and after the dissertation

Oh.....and guys and gals.....get yourself a NEW Hood Support as the Stock Hood Supports loose gas pressure in their old age. A New Hood Support will actually lift the hood back to the top if you lower the hood 6 inches.
Ecklers Corvette Hood Support with New Outer Sleeve

Agree strongly with the first;
and even more strongly with the second.


I am amazed at pristine C-4's that come here, and I watch the owner struggle with the hood as if it were normal.
They replace unbroken things for no reason other than "preventative", yet
miss these seemingly obvious and important things.
Replace the aged support, and splurge on one of Carter's safety pieces when it is open as an added and useful precaution.
Marty

[spork2367]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Concur 100% as before...…….. and after the dissertation

Oh.....and guys and gals.....get yourself a NEW Hood Support as the Stock Hood Supports loose gas pressure in their old age. A New Hood Support will actually lift the hood back to the top if you lower the hood 6 inches.
Ecklers Corvette Hood Support with New Outer Sleeve

Edited for correctness...


How these threads go:

Question: "Are there going to be enough parts to support these cars into the future?"

Attempt at presenting the facts: "There are definitely some hard to find parts that are only going to get harder to find."

Perception based conjecture and wishful thinking: "There are lots of parts, great people to help, and where there's a will there's a way."

Pure opinion irrelevant to original question: "These cars are the best and we love them no matter what...it's just about smiles per gallon."

Present solution to non-issue, unrelated to original question: "Hey, here's a non-critical part that's already being reproduced...go buy one."

[32valvZ]

Quick, everyone go to your garage and light your ZR-1 on fire,,,, then set yourself on fire too.. as you and your ZR-1 get older, parts of you will wear out!! Put an end to both of you before it happens!

[spork2367]

Originally Posted by 32valvZ

Quick, everyone go to your garage and light your ZR-1 on fire,,,, then set yourself on fire too.. as you and your ZR-1 get older, parts of you will wear out!! Put an end to both of you before it happens!

I can't set the garage on fire, that's where I'm hoarding all my spare parts!

The decision that owners will eventually need to make:


Keep moderate to low mileage to not risk value of car hoping that it eventually climbs.

Drive car, enjoy, maintain as best you can, be willing to accept that it will lose value and may one day not be worth repairing.

[KJL]

I think as a ZR1 community we all should be aware of this issue and actively try to assist those few individuals that are trying to keep these cars alive and also try to help ourselves as well by getting involved with assisting after marked companies to develop aftermarket solutions and locating salvage ZR1s and pooling our resources to generate a parts bank for those hard to find parts. Perhaps creating a forum just to support this effort. I guess unlike some, I am not satisfied sitting back allowing others to deal with this problem.


This whole thing really struck me when I did some clutch work on my car, after putting it all back together I have an oil leak out of the transmission slip yoke seal which had been replaced. the oil was dripping onto the exhaust which passes directly under it so I had to be fixed. After determining the issue was excessive play due to spline wear, which is very odd for a car with just 24,000 miles on it, I decided to order another one. No-can-do. One of those parts that slowly disappeared from the shelves. With the help of Bill Boudreau (ZFdoc) we found a yoke with the same spline count but was a 1330 so I had to use a 1310/1330 conversion Spicer joint which are also hard to find plus he had to do some machining to the yoke by shortening 30mm so it would fit. Re-sleeving is another option.

My point is I post all the things that I do to the car (mostly on the Corvette forum because is is easier to post pictures) but this wealth of knowledge all goes away in the technical forum at some point. Why can't we have a rant free forum that strictly deals with solutions to known issues that don't have a shelf life?



In the mean time I will be keeping an eye out for parts.


Also, why is it so difficult to build aftermarket electronics for these cars? This may be a stupid question but why doesn't GM sell the specs for these devices so they can be reproduced?

[We Gone]

I'll just drive mine until It can't be fixed anymore than sell it for parts and move on! I'm sure I'll be long gone before that happens..

[lfalzarano]

You can alway stuff a big block in there and still enjoy driving a Vette!


Lou

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

Lou,
Scary.
I was thinking the same thing.


I then mused about an LS9 or maybe even the new LT5, just to keep it in the family.
Marty

[KJL]

I am sure my 72 will still be on road long after my ZR1s are sold for parts. We gone, let me know when that happens, I will be happy to take one off ur hands ! Just keep driving it a lot so I don’t have to wait too long.